Power of Campbell

Happy Birthday Dad! Everyone tell my dad "Happy Birthday" if you see him today!

And in comes the humidity...... starting to really feel like summer now even though the solstice is next week.

I've had a recent obsession with reading and watching programs dealing with Joseph Campbell who was one of the foremost experts in Mythology. Watching the PBS broadcasts of his The Power of Myth from the late 80s. He died in 1987 but his ideas and message still ring on in epic stories today. Most of this recent obsession came from the History Channel's Star Wars: The Myth which used a lot of Campbell's ideas to show how Star Wars is just a modern version of any other story of mythology whether it be Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Budhist, or even Christian. One of the most interesting analogies was in the discussion of the Hero. The typical story of the hero is one of delayed maturing or reluctance to finally accept their mission. Luke Skywalker isn't quite sure what his purpose is, but then he gets thrown into the trash compactor. He sees the potential of death, but then after this experience he's a man who understands more fully his mission. Sound familiar? How about Jonah and the whale? If you're too lazy to read the story in your Bible, go watch the Vegitales version (which is actually pretty funny and usually on HBO somewhere).

Other themes deal with the Mentoring relationship (Obi Wan to Anakin, Qui-Gon to Obi Wan, Yoda to Luke) that also happens to the heros in other stories of Mythology (think of King Arthur). You'd be surprised how many modern religions have so many similarities whether it be Christianity, Budhist, Hindu, Islaam..... and even some of the stories from the ancient Indian Civilizations. Think of the Incas and their ritual of sacrifice... it's a theme that follows others that believe one must have to die in order to live. Sound familiar?

Anyway - Joseph Campbell was a huge expert in the field of world religions and their mythology. I love how he is able to tell how all of us around the world... aren't so different after all.

The Apple iPhone is coming out very soon. While I'm intrigued, I'm not convinced it's worth the extreme pricetag. There are other cell phones that offer similar realistic capibilities (not sure I need the mp3 player function when I already have multiple mp3 players) that are desired. I also think that the lack of a physical touchpad or keyboard is going to make the usability difficult. There's something to be said about feeling the keys you're punching. Same thought I have with the virtual keyboards - they will only slow me down! I do hope the other phones out there take a note with the higher amount of flash memory, plus the very nice screen on the thing. Yeah, I'm in the market (somewhat) for a new cell phone..... not ready to commit yet. I think the iPhone competition will catch up with some of these concepts by this fall so that might be a good time to go shopping.

BTW - I have a SUPER HOT DATE Friday night!!!!!! I know, you're all shocked. Too bad she's a #99 fan:(

Haiku of the Day
Carl is not cute
Pretty lame to do a flip
Plus he drives a Ford

Entertainment of the Day - It was recommended that I check out Sliding Doors which is an English movie with Gwyneth Paltrow from 1998. Interesting concept how it follows two parallel lives of herself based on whether or not she catches the subway train at the beginning of the movie. I think the story was good, but I wasn't totally blown away by the movie. Still a good watch - maybe worth a redo with a larger budget:)

Weblink of the Day - A memory game to get you frustrated with this morning..... first thing you need to do is click the music OFF as it is very annoying.