As I write this I’m sitting on the porch of a cabin, in the heart of a five hundred acre spiritual retreat, gazing through the trees, out at a magical lake that’s home to fish and alligators and, I suspect, water spirits and angels. I’ve been coming here for most of my adult life—and this place has always nurtured me, renewed my spirit, expanded my consciousness. Filled my heart with a profound and inexplicable love. No internet here, no television. No CNN Reality screaming for my time and attention. This is the deeper, truer reality that lies beneath the skin of the world. The line between conscious and unconscious, God and man, thins and vanishes in these woods. Synchronicities, miracles, abound—and the living presence of my spiritual master, Avatar Meher Baba, is everywhere.
I’ve been here for over a week now—which explains the radio silence at Creation Point. When I get home, I’ll go through the comments that have been piling up and, with a little luck, return to regular blogging. (This has been a busy and creative summer—many new projects, many pressing deadlines—and I haven’t posted nearly as much as I’d like to.) Till then, I’ll continue to enjoy the peace and stillness, the magic and the miracles. The trick, of course, is to bring it all home with me. To remember that the face of God isn’t just hidden away on these five hundred acres, it’s everywhere.
I’ll post this the next time I have an internet connection. Hope you’re all having a wonderful August.
Sounds (and looks) heavenly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder/ glimpse!
You're welcome, Brian.
DeleteI'm home now, brain-fried from wayyyy too much driving, but what a wonderful retreat. And now...lots of work to catch up on!
Books on tape (well, "tape," probably more mp3s or discs at this point) are a good salve for the traffic blues!
DeleteTrue. My wife is addicted to books on tape (or whatever). I'm an Old Time Radio fan, as is my daughter, so we spent quite a few hours in the car listening to vintage Jack Benny radio shows.
DeleteLove Old Time Radio!
DeleteMy apartment is one of the few areas in Chicago that gets Audio Noir over the air. Johnny Dollar (and Horatio Hornblower, and Lights Out) get a lot of airtime when I'm cooking.
Interesting you mention this. On a recent review of something, I won't bore you by saying what, the reviewer mention in comparison how people runaway from the quiet. How they need to be entertained all of the time, especially with iphones available. And while that certainly helps you run away from the quiet. Really baby boomers perfected the whole need to be entertained thing, and the distractions from it thing really started in the 20s with more people than living in the city than not, along with the invention of TRUE mass media.
ReplyDeleteHis point was that by losing this you loose the ability to really know peace, and that you have trouble really knowing yourself and looking deep because if the distractions. But the quiet will eventually get you.
I'm with you though Dematteis. I enjoy the calm... or quiet. And while I may not go for long vacations to quite out of the way spots like you, though I have, I find the moments in smaller ways everyday. A good walk on still nights. standing outside, a hike in a state park. siting in a room with no electronics (okay sometimes just the radio). But I find them, and I wouldn't trade them. Maybe I would even say I need them. Point is I feel you.
As far as driving goes. I personally find that long driving is never that much of a brain frying experience in itself, its ALL THE OTHER FAKAKTA CARS DRIVING YOU NUTS! That's just me though.
Wishing you nothing, but goodwill and hipness from here to the stars,
Jack
That calm and quiet, both internal and external, is so important. We all need to periodically step away from the world, empty ourselves, then step back in with a new perspective.
DeleteThe hardest part of the driving is getting stuck in traffic. The other day we sat in bumper to bumper traffic for two and a half hours!
So much great stuff, but my all-time favorites are Benny, X-MINUS ONE, DIMENSION X, BURNS AND ALLEN and just about anything with Orson Welles. I also discovered GUNSMOKE a couple of years ago and it's quite good.
DeleteNo the wordt part is being in bumper tho bumper traffic with 2 of the 4 lanes closed, and some jerk thinking the rules of the road don't apply, trying to shove himself in, in 90 degree heat with air conditioning non-existent for your car, and having to go tho the bathroom.
DeleteAs for the old time radio, I agree. Great for travel. Especially the terror ones when you drive at night. creepy. the Shadows are great too, but not as much for travel, sure they work, but not as well. And Batman ripped him off., and now he is the most popular superhero of all, where is the justice?
As for the quiet. Not everything you experience there is pleasurable, but it is still good to do. The key is being able to step away, without really going anywhere.
Wishing you nothing, but goodwill and hipness from here to the stars,
Jack
We've all got our traffic nightmare stories!
DeleteI prefer comedy on the road. Especially the aforementioned Jack Benny. I've raised both my kids on Old Radio. My daughter did a presentation on Jack Benny in grade school.
Not typical of her generation, that's for sure!
Did you ever see the Looney Toons with Jack Benny as a mouse? Weird.
DeleteWell, I'm certainly glad that our public schools are focusing on pop culture figures who have been dead for decades, instead of foolish things like history, math and science. Tax dollars well spent for sure. Oh I kid.
I never could get into the comedies in the car. They're great as a passenger, but as a driver... well there is something very unnerving about laughing a lot. Of course being from Brooklyn, I wouldn't imagine that proper driving skills and safety would be that much of an issue. And wouldn't living in NY have made you comfprtable with traffic jams?
As for your daughter, as one person who knew of older things from a young age (probably including the same distance from birth, as well as closer ) I empathize.
Seriously though, where's Kent Allard's justice! Batman's frst adventure was a rip off of an earlier adventure... how does that rich-boy Bruce out shine the original?!
Wishing you nothing, but goodwill and hipness from here to the stars,
Jack
Yes, I have seen that Benny-as-mouse cartoon. It IS weird...but weirdly wonderful, too.
DeleteListening to the comedies in the car relaxes me. The dramas tense me up a bit more.
I remember when my daughter was little and we'd show her lots of classic movies—she had an excellent pop culture education—and some of her friends just couldn't bear to watch something in black and white! But my daughter always felt more connected to the 40's than the current day. In many ways, she's still that way.
That cartoon was my first introduction to Benny Hill, I was probably 3 or 4. I remember thinking it was good, but also realizing there was a larger joke, and I had to know what it was. In the end I think that is sort of the explanation of all the stuff I like that is older than me. I want to be "in on the joke." someone said to me once that, that is why people have trouble getting into comics, they're just not in on the joke. My point to that would be that you can't get the joke if you walk away from it (besides wasn't that the fun of comics).
DeleteAnyway, connection to an older time (or in my case times) isn't a bad thing... so long as it doesn't consume you or fill you with stars creating a world that never was. But I assume that isn't the case with your lass.
I remember Film Noir being a huge pull for me towards interest in the late 40s when I was even a little kid, because of all the parodies, I wanted to know the real thing. And that didn' happen until High School.. On the plus side I picked up more info on the era because of it. Such a great style/sub-genre.
still can't explain why The Shadow came up short, huh?
Wishing you nothing, but goodwill and hipness from here to the stars,
Jack
The Shadow-Batman connection is a fascinating one, Jack. Much has been written about it. I can't explain why one took off and not the other. I just assume that, despite the fact that Batman took his inspiration from the Shadow (and other pulpishness), he became his own man, with his own unique world, very quickly. And for whatever reason, Bats resonated—and continues to resonate—in the collective consciousness in a way the Shadow never did.
DeleteBenny Hill? You mean Jack Benny, of course. A 1940's Warner Bros. cartoon starring Benny Hill would be...simply shocking! : )
Because he's Batman!! 'nuff said.
DeleteJeez Louise, this is what happens when you have a first name for a last name Benny.
DeleteYes that is what I meant.
Maybe Batman lasted longer because, Batman got a bit gentler in the post war years, where as the Shadow stayed hard edged. It seems the times he's sayed in the 30s were the more enjoyed revivals.
However, it seems whenever there is a large influx of interest in the Bat, like the DKR-(1989) Batman or the Nolan films, people new to it always ask why he doesn't kill and why he needs a sidekick anyway. Well, us comic geeks get it, but for those folk, it seems the Shadow would be right up their alley.
Maybe it is more just the visual element. Seeing is believing after all.
Wishing you nothing, but goodwill and hipness from here to the stars,
Jack
I think there's what we see on the surface of a character and the mythic heart that escapes the eye but resonates in the collective consciousness. It's as if Batman (or Superman or Mickey Mouse) becomes a container for something bigger, something perhaps ancient that has found a new form for a new age. A little heady, I suppose, but I believe it.
DeleteAm I the only one who really enjoyed the 90's SHADOW movie with Alec Baldwin?
You know what, you may be. I did however like the Billy Zane Phantom movie, and I'm in the minority there, so I feel ya.
DeleteThe weird thing is that the Shadow WAS in the public consciousness for 20 years. people who never heard the the radio show could finish the line "who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men?" If he was on a pulp cover with title obscured everybody could tell you who he was, even if they didn't even read the medium. But somehow he just dropped out of the public mind.
Oh yeah, and the Shadow movie had its moments, but most were at the beginning. A Shadow movie in my mind should be set in the 30s, be very film noir, but also contain good old fashioned 70's crime-flick grit. The first 10 minutes or so should be almost like a pulp Astro City, it is about low level criminals being afraid, as the shadow swoops in. and kills them. After tat we focus on the Shadow, but never really get to now him. We are almost afraid of him. He can be charming in his alter ego, but always there is something cold and stern in him. There is no doubt he is a hero, but though he is liked by us the crowd, we also need to understand we don't want him around. He isn't like us. At once he is better and worse than us. So he isn't a monster, but he isn't quite human either... at least not in way we are comfortable. He has moments of joy and pleasure. He can loose himself in the lighter side, but the Shadow is still there, he still is never really at ease or relaxed, only comfortable, in control and happy. Truly a tough acting task.
or, I have an even better idea...
Wishing you nothing, but goodwill and hipness from here to the stars,
Jack
I think the problem with the Shadow had more to do with licensing problems than popularity. When copyright holders are too tightfisted about their characters, or want to maintain too much control, they fade from public view. The Green Hornet was hit the same way. Rick
DeleteWhat I liked in the movie (and I don't know if this was part of the original story) is that he starts out as an evil, barbarous guy...and then becomes the hero we know. THat, to me, is fascinating.
DeleteAs for your insights: Congratulations! You have now been hired—in my imagination, at least—to write a new SHADOW movie!
That said, Rick, Shadow has had a number of opportunities over the years to find a new audience and hasn't quite clicked. I wonder if he's too tied to his era? That said, it's a great concept and there's no reason the right creatives couldn't make it fresh and exciting and relevant.
DeleteYay? And I didn't even say what the even cooler idea was.
DeleteLike I said though, the movie had good ideas, and the villainous past was one of them. But it just didn't quite hold water for me. I think part of it was taking the "cloud men's minds" from the radio. And one part that really bugged me was the whole atomic bomb thing. That sort of thing always irks me.
The Shadow has had some good returns though, The Gerard Jones written Shadow Strikes, and the Dark Horse Works come to mind. And I am cautiously optimistic about what Dynamite is doing right now.
I do think it is worth noting that the crime ridden and economically slow days of New York in the 70s is when the first revival from DC happened.
Wishing you nothing, but goodwill and hipness from here to the stars,
Jack
Honestly, Jack, it's been so long since I saw it that I don't remember much of anything about THE SHADOW. Just that I like it. I'm not making a case for it being a classic or anything, just that it was an enjoyable piece of entertainment.
DeleteGood point about the Shadow and hard economic times.
Fantastic, JM. Looks peaceful, tranquil, and idyllic. Just checked in to see how things were going, and it sure looks like "quite well" is the answer. Good for you. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ken. Things are very good indeed. Hope all is well with you, too!
DeleteI am having a peaceful August, and i see you are as well. Can I ask you something, Mr. Dematteis? I am getting ready to attend New York Comic Con in October, and i was wondering if you were going to be there Friday or Sunday? Thank you for answering in advance.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment there's just a VERY slim chance I'll be at NYCC, although that could change.
DeleteIf it becomes clear that I will be attending, I'll be sure to post the news here at Creation Point. Thanks for checking in!
Since you're an old time radio fan, you may want to find old copies of the Mysterious Traveller. From what I have read, that's the real origin of the Phantom Stranger. Sorry you probably won't be at NY Comicon.
ReplyDeleteI'll check it out, thanks. (Any excuse to listen to OTR!)
DeleteHope we can meet at another convention if I don't make NYCC...
You can find copies in the public domain at archive.org. Rick
DeleteThanks, Rick. I LOVE archive.org. What an amazing site!
DeleteThe Shadow movie with Baldwin didn't make much of an impression, but it has been a long time since I have seen it. If it were redone, however, it probably ought not be in film noire style because they don't do well at the box office (I do not consider The Dark Knight film noire) I liked Spirit and Sin City but the film noire effect felt forced and fake. Perhaps an update in which his conflict with the real Lamont Cranston would fit a more modern, gritty feel. Rick.
ReplyDeleteI think there's tremendous potential in the character, Rick. It's just a question of the right creative team taking it on. Might be perfect for television, now that I think about it.
DeleteRe: the Baldwin movie. I make no claims for it being a classic, or even good!; all I remember is that I sat back, relaxed and enjoyed it. After this discussion, I'll have to seek it out and watch it again (haven't seen it since it came out). Be interesting to see how I feel about it today.
To be honest, I think PS would make an even better TV show for the CW. But, I'd modify him a bit and give PS more of a "James Dean" in "East of Eden" persona with white hair. He could ordinarily wear his classic trenchcoat while interrelating with others, and only wear the costume in special sequences (dreams, hallucinations, clashes with mystical forces, etc.).
DeleteBy the way, I also liked the Rocketeer movie even though it had slow sections and didn't get great reviews. As I recall, the early scenes had a particular charm. Rick
A PHANTOM STRANGER TV show would be wonderful, Rick. You could use the character as the basis for a series that could feature both TWILIGHT ZONE-ish stand alone stories and an ongoing mythology ala LOST and FRINGE.
DeleteAnd, yes, the comic book costume would have to be toned down just a little. A trenchcoat and hat are all he'd really need.
I remember liking THE ROCKETEER when it came out, but I haven't seen it since so I remember next-to-nothing about it!
Hi Again, J.M.
ReplyDeleteKnow that photo (and place) well:) Did you happen to drop by the new Sheriar Books? Really nice, much more so than the old address.
Anyway, cheers...and I dug The Shadow flick AND The Rocketeer, too. There's something inherently cool about those pulp characters, but then again I've always been attracted to that 30s - 40s style despite being a child of the 80s (a decade NOT synonymous with style, y'know?)
Yes, Brian, I did go to the new Sheriar bookroom and it was delightful. (The air conditioning and wifi didn't hurt, either.)
DeleteI, too, love the 30's and 40's. Give me classic black and white movies any time.
Thanks for stopping by. And Jai Baba!