Serenity

I didn't mean for this to be a 'once-a-month' blog, but I have been keeping busier than normal. My apologies. I'll try to do better in the future. With emphasis on the word 'try.'

According to sources, the Serenity DVD will be out December 20, just in time for Christmas. I know what I want for Christmas!!! But the soundtrack is out NOW!!!

I was somewhat disappointed in that the portions that I liked were so short. And I understand that writing the score is different than taking excerpts from existing songs. But all in all, it makes for some interesting background music when one is concentrating.

I absolutely love track 3, Serenity, and track 23, End Credits. Track 20, Funeral / Rebuilding Serenity, still leaves me with goose-bumps. I was even surprised to hear a short X-Files-type 'riff' in Jane (sic) & Zoe / Final Battle that I didn't catch in the theater.

From the insert, Joss Whedon speaking of David Newman:

"He gave me my space western, my multi-cultural mishmash, my movie, which is so much more than mine.

"Because the ship doesn't fly by itself. or with just one person inside. As the actors, the cinematographer, the editor, and others had all shown me before, it takes a crew to fly a ship, especially an odd little bird like mine. I'm incredibly proud of my crew, especially this guy, the last man on board. I may have designed Serenity, but it's David Newman that made her soar."

You don't know about Serenity and the late-lamented TV-series, Firefly, that sparked a cult following? Where have you been?

Just to get you started, read Claire Wolfe's comments here and here. Then go out and Google to your heart's content. I hope that you like it half as much as I do.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to download my music to my MP3 player.

F. Paul Wilson quote!

I've been rearranging my bookcase and unpacking boxes of books with the intent of deciding which books I keep forever and which I can live without. I have too many books.

I have noted several references lately to F. Paul Wilson's words and works on several blogs that I visit more or less daily, so when I ran across his books during my unpacking, I set them aside for special attention. Today I finished two of his books: The Barrens and Others and Masque.

Now, while I'm not a big fan of his horror and (gasp) Repaiman Jack books, I do like his sci-fi works. As a matter of fact, I think his An Enemy of the State to be a defining libertarian work. And his political philosophy bleeds over into his other works. (Pun intended.)

Masque is about a mime. Not the mimes we are familiar with, however. From the back cover of his book, a mime is "an artificially created human whose metamorphic DNA can be programmed with 'masques'--genetic copies of anyone--over and over and over again. Until his body breaks down." Mimes are owned by corporations in circumstances that equate to slavery. Is a mime a person or is he property?

Mr. Wilson made a point that I'd like to pass on. He said, "A slave can't ask the master for freedom. A slave must take it. By deceipt or force or stealth, by whatever means necessary." I may, at a later time, explain why this means so much to me.

Definitions

As noted science fiction author Philip K. Dick opined, "The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words."

There are a couple of words I’m going to use quite a bit, so I thought it would be a good idea to define them.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my surname happens to be the German word for “freedom.” My father died when I was quite young so I never got a chance to ask him why he named me Max. My mother told me that I was named after a family friend. I suppose it could have happened that way.

Now I don’t believe my name had anything to do with my classic liberal views; I never made the connection until later in life. In any case, I have a very big “thing” for the concept of freedom, and freedom’s handmaiden, liberty.

Now, most people equate freedom and liberty. They believe the two words mean the same thing. They don’t.

I’m sure that most of you have watched Mel Gibson’s movie, Braveheart. I direct your attention to the line that Gibson, as William Wallace, delivers so well, “…they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!"

Liberty can be taken away, freedom cannot. You were born into freedom; you are granted liberty by your fellow man, or not.

When I need to make the distinction between the terms freedom and liberty, I will point them out. Until then, I will yield to common usage and pretend that they mean the same thing.

So what does liberty/freedom mean? Let’s see what others had to say about the subject:

“Live and let live.” -Friedrich von Schiller.

"Freedom is the right to live as we wish." -Epictetus

"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." -Albert Camus

"The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or to impede their efforts to obtain it.” -John Stuart Mill

“I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other men's rights.” -Abraham Lincoln

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’, because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” -Thomas Jefferson

I especially like Jefferson’s definition although I have to admit that Lincoln did state it rather succinctly as well.

But notice that there are two distinct components to liberty: what we have the freedom to do, and the limits we place on ourselves due to the equal freedoms of others. Most people have trouble understanding this. Sadly, most Libertarians have that same trouble.

But again, I wax cynical; I point out distinctions that most people don’t want to see.

I’m going to leave you with what I consider to be an excellent explanation of The Philosophy of Liberty.

Four Boxes

Based on my training and professional experience, I recognize the need for a mission statement--why am I doing this; what is my goal; that sort of thing.

I’ve always enjoyed the writings of cynics. For example, Ben Franklin is reported to have said, “In the affairs of this world men are saved, not by faith, but by the want of it.”

Ambrose Bierce, in his Devil's Dictionary, defines a cynic as “A blackguard whose faulty vision causes him to see things as they are, not as they ought to be.”

Not only do cynics see things as they are, they have the nasty habit of pointing them out to others. I hope to do that on these pages.

Bierce is also reported to have said, “... Democracy is defended in 3 stages. Ballot Box, Jury Box, Cartridge Box." Later, some unknown person updated and clarified his quote to read, "We have four boxes used to guarantee our liberty: The soap box, the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box."

This blog is my “soap box.”

Later I'll be adding more blogs and links referencing the "four boxes."

A New Beginning

I don’t know what there is about sitting down and starting a blog that strikes fear into the heart of man. OK, maybe not fear, but at least, “writer’s block.” Not so much from what to write, but "Where to begin, where to begin? So many targets, so little time..."

I was glad to see that I was not alone in this regard. One of my favorite bloggers, Bob Smith at No Force, No Fraud, in his July 27, 2005, post makes pretty much the same point.

I know where I want to go, but what is the best way to get there with the resources at hand? So, I guess since I’m having to learn as I go--I have to learn HTML? What the heck is that?--the best thing to do is get something on the scoreboard, learn the ropes and try to improve as I go. You'll have to be my judge on how well I do.

I'm not new to the Internet. I have been on many forums, both local and national. But time constraints have limited my involvement in online discussions. And email has opened up a new side of me that I hadn't know existed. I never used to write paper letters. But these "electron letters" are great. So I try to maintain an active email correspondence as well. Although some would complain not as active as they would like.

In any case, there are still many things that I want to say, things I need to get out. This seems like the way to do it.