A Moment of Pregnant Pause Silence

Whispers In The Darkness of Ted Kennedy's Passing
I will start off by mentioning a connection I will not make: Paul McCartney and Lorne Michaels, being two of the main "characters" in my March 2007 "Frozen" video, and not being two people one frequently associates as being in relation to one another, together rendered their portrayal of baseball fans on August 26th, the day after Senator Ted Kennedy died. Though both McCartney and Michaels frequently tip their hats in my direction, and though Kennedy - is - politics - is - Michaels, I will not see this as being designed to make one such as myself think of Kennedy in relation to the raising-the-dead focus of my "Frozen" video. However, the possibility that this is McCartney's and Michaels' joint intention is not something I can completely overlook. Experience and intelligence can pre-condition us to consider seeing certain things in our own way, or to consider seeing certain things invisible to the majority, which is something I will be expounding on more extensively at some point during my fifth incarnation as a giraffe (unless that psychic fortune teller was lying to me).

Boston Crane Shot
In my August 1st blog I posted a videoclip that put into context Regis Philbin's and David Letterman's discussion regarding "Boston Legal" (my videoclip demonstrated to those bothering to read the evidence that this discussion grew out of something contained in my July 30th blog). On August 26th, in celebration of Philbin's birthday on August 25th, Philbin and Letterman ended Letterman's show by following up on that "Boston Legal" discussion:



I seem to be several days late for Regis' birthday, but I wish him a happy birthday just the same. If it had been up to me I would have posted this clip a day before his birthday.

Alone With Monk De Palma
And finally, exactly what kind of week would it be without my weekly Monk/Steinhoff videoclip?

Graffiti Is In The Eyes Of The Typesetter

If These Gods Could Talk
To begin, I am pleased to announce that I have begun work on my next new video, "In Orders We Trust," which will be a very limited animation. The May 2006 script was initially emailed to two big producers I once knew, Stuart Cornfeld and Sean Daniel, back when Saturday Night Live would always include fragments from my ideas on that week's show thru my emailing to Stuart and Sean. That time around I was surprised when no fragments from my latest showed up on that week's show, but later someone wrote a book ("Gods Behaving Badly") based on it, afterwhich Stuart Cornfeld (thru Red Hour, the company he runs with Ben Stiller) purchased the rights to that book for development as a TV show. I posted my script on my Angelfire website, and recently at archive.org. Imagine if they had actually given me credit for once.

Many Are Cold But Few Are Frozen
Now to go on about myself via describing what I perceive to be another reference on TV to my "Frozen" video. As seems to be the case with every piece of information I speak to, it is necessary to refer to a set of things in order to make my point:

• In my August 8th blog I was astute enough (someone's gotta say it) to observe that the August 7th "Monk" seemed to include, among its many references to my material, my video, "Frozen". In addition to the cumulative references to my material on "Monk", which I regard as a context-defining factor, I felt this way specifically because of my video's mixing together of things from different eras in American entertainment as if they all belonged to one era, which also occurred in that episode of "Monk". (By the way, I did not mean for that blog to suggest that no one had ever before handled different eras that way.) I found it important in that this is the last season of "Monk," the end of the character essentially, which can be seen as containing a general relevance to my "Frozen" video for its sustenance by extraordinary means (cryogenics) of its "characters" (two of The Beatles).

• Something I previously overlooked regarding the August 14th "Monk" episode in relation to my "Frozen" video: Monk tells someone he should stop playing his flute, he is no Louis Armstrong at the Filmore West. Those familiar with my "Frozen" video and my observation regarding the August 7th "Monk" (see previous bullet item) would agree that this August 14th Monk remark is of the same fabric.

• In the weekly Monk/Steinhoff videoclip included with my August 8th blog, I noted the occurrence of something I encounter from time to time, one show acting in conjunction with another show in relation to me/my work. It specifically pointed to an instance of this regarding the show "Real Time With Bill Maher" in relation to "Monk" in relation to myself.

• The August 21st "Real Time With Bill Maher" seemed to clearly act in conjunction with the "Monk" episode airing that same day, August 21st, by Maher doing an editorial on his show about apologizing (published by Maher earlier that day or the day before on Huffington Post as well), and the idea of Monk apologizing/not apologizing being a repeated element in that day's "Monk" episode. This did not relate to me, but it tends to reaffirm my assertion of two weeks before that Maher's show had acted in conjunction with "Monk".

• I believe I also spotted a reference to my "Frozen" video on Maher's August 21st show, though it would seem a questionable observation to those who do not see it in the context I have tried to present here. Specifically, Maher said, "Remember the terror alerts, remember when it was like, oh my God, it's yellow today, bring a sweater. I, we never knew what to do." In "Frozen," Ringo responds to George's description of his experience being cryogenically frozen by writing a note to self, "Bring a sweater." In both cases the punchline is, "bring a sweater". Again, I would not make this observation if not for the entire context I see of recent references to "Frozen" on "Monk" and recent actions by Bill Maher (also: my July 11th blog includes mention of an additional Maher/Steinhoff occurrence, which I was able to prove).

This Week's Monk/Steinhoff Videoclip
And finally, this week's Monk/Steinhoff videoclip:

It's A Jungle Out There Sometimes

Seans and Lennons
I've finally found a way to express an important concept that I've been working on for some time, the manner of expressing it that is, though it certainly seems quite possible that someone already arrived at this ahead of me. Nevertheless, I'll plant my flag on it until I learn for certain that my discovery is unoriginal:

When one encounters a forest within a forest within a forest within a forest within a forest, one may take one step back to avoid not seeing a forest for the trees, but whether or not this accomplishes the intended purpose is not self-evident.

I will immediately put this encapsulating of a crystallization to good use, by using it as an excuse for not formulating an immediate opinion regarding an experience I had yesterday: I went to see a performance by Sean Ono Lennon at The Anthology in San Diego.

The moment I walked through the door of this small though important dinner and show venue, Sean was standing but several feet from me. I was powerfully prepared for this historic moment in both of our lives, if not the lives of millions: I took out a pen and asked him if he could autograph my green Post-It (more of an olive green than one can see here):

One thing this brought to my mind was the time, back in 1987, when I had a leftover ticket from the World Trade Center in my pocket (they failed to collect it from me during a visit there several weeks before), and an opportunity to use it towards a similar historic moment in relation to Sean's mother. This difference in the specific objects upon which these autographs were signed may actually be something worth noting, but I expect that to be a thought more stimulating to the spiritual and cosmic among us (as I sometimes consider myself to be) than for the meat and potatoes crowd, who only know the value of a signature when it's on a legal document.

I don't believe I expect Sean to ever be the musical genius I regard his father to have been (a blatantly unfair comparison, and I myself happen to be one who personally loathes the thought of my creative work being compared - attempts at apples to apples comparisons in matters pertaining to the human soul are ultimately absurd, however interesting they may be). Yet the exuberance and sense of personal accessibility that emanated from Sean Lennon onstage between songs did unmistakably bring one particular other person to mind.

I did not realize until I got home that a most peculiar "coincidence" had occurred during the show: In my blog of the previous day, August 13th, I referred to Sean Lennon in relation to Sean Daniel, including a description of a silkscreened T-shirt that I related to both. By the way, this time around I am able to offer a clearer version of the specific image on Sean Lennon's T-shirt (thusly making it easier to see why I compared it to the image of a griffin - nor am I the first to compare a chimera to a griffin).

Yet I digress from the "coincidence": One of the main things I created in Sean Daniel's silk screen shop during that summer at Buck's Rock Camp (again, please see my blog of August 13th) was the artistic lettering of the words, "Static Electricity," which I printed onto all the T-shirts I owned (I may have spared one T-shirt from this "tattoo"). So what was the running theme of the banter between Sean Lennon and his girlfriend/musical collaborator throughout their time onstage? Static electricity. An electric shock when they kissed was described, and an electric shock dramatically encountered by Sean Lennon whenever he touched his microphone, as he demonstrated through his reaction and remarks each time he touched his microphone. One might see how I am perhaps the only person who was there who is now wondering whether this static electricity might in fact not have been genuine static electricity, but rather, something we who make static electricity T-shirts refer to as, "make-believe static electricity". I am not sure whether or not Benjamin Franklin knew of this "make-believe static electricity", however, thus far no Benjamin Franklin writings on this particular subject have yet been discovered.

Monk
This brings me to the TV character who tends to respond to all human touch with a handi-wipe, Monk, and my weekly Monk/Steinhoff videoclip:



I will only add to this videoclip by stating that, once again, I might have edited it differently, that again there were other things that could have been included (such as a correlation between the flower baskets lying ominously unattended on the ground in "Gosk" after the girls had seemed so involved with collecting the flowers; as compared with the ominous image in "Monk" of the just-purchased groceries lying scattered on the street after we are given to understand that the owner of the groceries has been struck by a vehicle). Instead I was again somewhat selective in what I chose to include, and hope that those who went to the trouble of offering up other things do not feel that I was being too random.

Time For T

A few things that I'd like to call "Beatles-Related News Pertaining To Me I Believe":

Beatles-Related News Pertaining To Me I Believe

1. As I describe in my June 28th "Jolly Fun" blog, specifically in the videoclip posted there, I find there to be circumstances when the words "fun guy" or "fun girl", when used in conjunction with certain other words, are deliberate references to my "Fun Guy (aka 'Karma Movie Idea')" movie idea, an idea I wrote in 2002 that led to something other than a movie, namely, the creation of the TV show, "My Name Is Earl." It being that Mr. Paul McCartney is no stranger to inside-references in relation to me (which I regard as a major understatement), I found something in a recent interview he gave to be just such an instance:

"....he (Michael Jackson) was a fun guy. And what happened
eventually was that he bought the Beatles catalog.
And I was quite excited because I thought, now he’s historically placed to
rectify a wrong that had been going on for many, many years...."

2. These photographs of Sean Ono Lennon from a few days ago particularly struck me, particularly owing to the T-shirt he is wearing. It immediately reminded me of when I was a camper at Buck's Rock Camp in 1971 and Sean Daniel was a counselor in the Silkscreen Shop. In addition to being the first person from whom I learned of the college I attended, CalArts, Sean Daniel has other claims to fame as well(!). He was a friend of each of The Beatles (and other people, including Spielberg), as well as heading David Geffen's film company (before Geffen formed DreamWorks and after Geffen was with Lennon at the moment Lennon was killed). Pandora, a girl at Buck's Rock, created a great silkscreen of a griffin, and Sean organized an opportunity for those interested (including myself) to line up and have the griffin printed onto their T-shirts. Sean Lennon's T-shirt resembles a griffin T-shirt. Sean Daniel's birthday is the day after tomorrow (August 15th). My experience (which may be quite different from the experience of most of the people who have ever lived) tells me that these two Sean griffin/griffin-like T-shirt incidents should not necessarily be seen as disconnected. And though I was not the only one to have a griffin printed on my T-shirt that day in 1971 (courtesy of Sean Daniel and Pandora), a few things have occurred since 1971 that cause me to consider this, if there is a this, as being aimed towards me. For one thing, I once sent a fax to Sean Daniel regarding a movie he produced, "Mummy 2," wherein only one word throughout my fax was written in caps wherever it appeared, which was occasionally: "griffin". After my fax, "Mummy" star Brendan Fraser named his son Griffin. Should one wonder if there was a Sean for whom Sean Lennon was named?

Time Marches Sideways

There have been a number of little tiny, eency-weency things since last time, furthermore, I mean things that are references to me/my work, on television to be specific, some things I would compare to whispers in the barely audible range. I'm not going to bother with everything, but rest assured, I heard it. Even things that weren't there.

For example, I know that the show "Monk" makes inside-references for me in just about every episode, but was that a reference to my "Frozen" video on the August 7th show, when they put a new Beatles album into a timeframe that wasn't quite historically accurate? Like in "Frozen," where the Beatles are in the 21st century but the SNL TV studio is out of the '40s and '50s? Or when Natalie calls to Monk to revive him at the moment of need to be the hero, as in "Frozen," when John and George are awakened at the world's moment of need, to become the heroes? It being that this was the season premier of the final season of "Monk," which was something the episode played off of here and there, doesn't that make it more valid to correlate the episode's sleeping hero to the cryogenic sleep of John and George in "Frozen"? "Monk" the TV show will soon be gone, as will Adrian Monk, but in TV land could there not someday, in response to a public need, ever be some form of revival of Adrian Monk? A TV commercial for a household cleanser perhaps? The phrase "better off dead" comes to mind.... okay, but how about a TV movie for a reunion? Obviously a real possibility. And then the time in-between would just seem like some sort of "timeout"....



I unfairly have print going by in that videoclip at the same time you're supposed to be listening to the explanation that nearly every episode of "Monk" makes inside-Steinhoff references, almost as if I thought we lived in an age where you could pause things, read, then hit play, or play that part of the videoclip twice. I know it's just plain bad videoclip editing. Oh well, maybe it's only there for people who are really willing to take the trouble, instead of those who would just as soon have it be in one ear and out the other. By the way, many of my other "Monk" videoclips can be found either on YouTube (where I'm "Zoomsteinhoff") or within my previous blogs.

I have another exciting installment of Steinhoff and Conan for you as well:



An additional thought regarding Conan O'Brien also crossed my mind, regarding the clear indications that people connected with his show follow me: Are Conan O'Brien's people following me around because they're trying to work up the courage to offer me a job as a comedy writer because I'm really funny sometimes but can't find the courage because there are other times when I'm not funny but maybe those other times I'm not really trying to be funny I'm only sort of trying to be funny?

And finally, as is often the case with Paul Giammati-related matters, his appearance this past week on The Daily Show brought me to mind. Allow me to explain. I've occasionally included in my videoclips pieces of a class film I was involved in when I was a first year film student at CalArts. The film, made in 1973-74, is called "Limbo," and is about a gorilla named Limbo. It so happens that Tim Burton, who also went to CalArts but wasn't part of the "Limbo" class, though Mr. Burton has been influenced by me to a substantial degree, did a remake of "Planet of the Apes". In that film, Paul Giammati played a gorilla, by the name of Limbo. And so, sure enough, The Daily Show, which has also been influenced by me to a substantial degree, chose the night of Paul Giammati's appearance to do a lengthy bit with John Oliver about chimpanzees versus orangutans. One may also wish to correlate the word "limbo" with the word previously focused on in the "Monk" videoclip in this blog, "time-out".

This past week I also happened to see a look-alike for Steven Spielberg, who is yet another person on whom I have been an influence to a substantial degree (Spielberg, not the look-alike). The absence of a beard made it something of a challenge, but I'm mostly doubtful that it was Spielberg himself. Nevertheless, the whole thing leaves me up in the air.

And speaking of Spielberg, limbo, being left up in the air, frozen and timeouts, I should mention that I will be putting together a videoclip regarding the most recent "Mummy" movie to make it to the premium channels as soon as the most recent "Indiana Jones" movie does likewise. I intend to include the Sean Daniel-Steven Spielberg connection as it applies to these two films. I certainly hope the suspense isn't killing anyone.

Silence Needs To Shut Up Sometimes

Brevity is the. And in that spirit (a spirit sometimes but not all the time in direct conflict with the articulation of complex things that should be communicated but aren't because idiots go way too far in the presumption that they truly understand the implications of brevity is the so they arbitrarily assess lengths of communications and attach cutoff points instead of individually assessing what content a particular matter calls for, and what distortions might be implied and spread in a pervasive manner through the absence of extensive communication), I will just mention this time around that my newest little video is complete, and can be viewed either at archive.org or on YouTube. I feel I should add that it is entitled, "Larry Houdini and Napoleon Escape (video excerpt)". I also feel I should add that I do not believe its value has anything to do with the idea of ridiculing insane people, who I love from afar (the further the better), but rather, that through the medium of humor, it permits a metaphoric point of focus regarding people connecting with people, or not, beginning with the disconnects residing inside and outside the insane. And this great little video of mine (how I go on) doesn't even read as anything so complex when you don't wish it to!

Excavating The Truth In Seven Words Or

Before I let you see this videoclip, I feel I should first make a certain point that I've made from time to time regarding some of the videoclips I've posted on this site: nothing is proven by it, unless you read my July 30th blog when it was published and not two days later. Because this here blog site may indicate a publication date, yet one finds that it can misrepresent the actual date of publication, whether one wishes to have this site serve as a reliable record of the date of publication or not. For this reason, I did not create this videoclip to prove something, I made it to pass something along to those who already believe in my veracity, and to those who may someday believe in my veracity (as opposed to those who presume me a liar, an idiot, or delusional).

For that matter, those things I've copyrighted with the Library of Congress are scarcely proven to one and all as having been created when the copyright states they were, in the sense that those who cannot access these works through the Library of Congress wouldn't get their proof of the exact work's date of publication until such is demonstrated in a court of law. And as for common-law copyright, even if a hundred people saw a 1993 video of mine in 1993, you don't get to see those hundred people bearing witness to the fact that it was indeed created no later than 1993, and you wouldn't have to believe them if they did bear witness. Then there's the stuff of mine posted on sites where the date of publication presented is to be relied upon and cannot be tampered with. Yet who knows, perhaps someday those sites will be gone, or my works banished from them. Because in order for me to show that I'm the major influence I claim to be, I don't just post my own original videos - I also post videoclips like the one you'll see in this blog, videoclips that contain things copied off the TV (a no-no that leaves me vulnerable). I post such videoclips in order to be able to make a clear point, by way of inter-editing my works with the works they've influenced, showing the cause and the effect side-by-side. Because, fancy that, I'd like people to see what I mean about my being a major influence.

One thing I might be saying here is, despite my considerable and extensive influence on innumerable works by others, from The Beatles to Starting Up A Brand New Day to the Rolling Stones to Spielberg to you-name-it, I'm still left at square one, no doubt because it serves the interests of the powers that be - which might be more tolerable if not for the fact that I am so major an influence. Is it possible that this ultimately taints the works of all who found their rationale for leaving something essentially of a historical nature in such a convoluted state? God knows. It is unfortunate that I am not made out of rubber, able to exhibit flexibility in all matters of consequence. And so I still look for something to happen regarding this situation.