Second Anniversary of the Carbon Freeze!

So, it’s been two years to the date that theCarbonFreeze.com has been a thing.

I had some ideas to commemorate the occasion, like a “best film/media to consume to be put in each emotion” or something like that.

Another idea was to talk about psychedelics, because the tide is turning on these substances thanks to promising studies and personal anecdotes. It’s a heavy subject and I’ve wanted to throw in my subjective experience for a long time now.

In the meantime though, I decided to change some of the features and links of the site as a whole, and in the process the formatting of several old posts got really messed up. This frustration kind of took the wind out of my sails when it came to working on my blog, so I’ve been putting it aside for the last two weeks. But I plan to get around to it soon. I appreciate the patience.

In the meantime, here are some thoughts that have been going through my head these past two weeks in place of my blog.

Music: I Dolci Inganni Soundtrack

Here’s the I Dolci Inganni (1960) aka Sweet Deceptions, aka Les Adolescentes soundtrack in its entirety. I particularly recommend tracks 9 through 12 and 32, though it’s all really beautiful stuff.

Movies: The Anonymous Venetian (1970)

This is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It’s a love story without the BDSM or nudity, so please feel free to check it out even if my usual recommendations aren’t your cup of tea. I genuinely believe everyone should watch this at least once. I’ve had Anonymous Venetian on my list since the beginning, because it’s another film scored by Stelvio Cipriani, whose music brought me to Femina Ridens and Uccidere in Silenzio. I held off until now because there was some trouble finding subtitles, but I got some now which sync up well, one or two awkward translations aside. You can turn them if you watch on YouTube.

[sorta spoilers]

What I really appreciate about this film is that it explores what happens when long standing above between two people can build to a variety of emotions years later. They’re an estranged couple who’ve been living apart for the last few years, there’s been custody disputes over their son… So, at this point, there’s as much bitterness and resentment as there is tenderness between this couple. The script follows them over the course of one afternoon, as their character dynamic leads to all sorts of fascinating conversations. Every now and then, we get a brief flashback of younger, happier times, when they were starting out together.

Anonymous Venetian feels like somebody made a movie out of the excised Johnny Fontane subplot from Mario Puzo’s novel, The Godfather. (Unlike everyone else in the world, I read the book first, I really liked Johnny’s tragic relationship with Ginny, and was devastated to see it cut from the screen adaptation.) If you don’t know what I’m talking about, basically Johnny married his childhood sweetheart Ginny, who loved him even when he was nothing. Then he abandoned her for the first hot young starlet he could get his hands on. Thereafter, Johnny realizes the huge extent of his mistake, and appreciates the great thing he had in Ginny, but to ask her to come back would be humiliating for both of them. So they go on in a broken, injured yet somehow loving status quo.

Anonymous Venetian isn’t exactly the same scenario, but it’s close. Even down to our protagonist being a musician. Sometimes, when a relationship “ends,” it can’t be fixed even if both partners regret what happened, and even if they’re still forced to be in contact for some reason. I love stories that deal with uncomfortable, but realistic scenarios like that. I feel like Italian films, at their best, were more successful at capturing these complex emotions than their American counterparts.

Pseudo-Religious Aquarian-Themed Musings

Be the Change.

If there’s a role you see in the world, that you think ought to be filled, and nobody is up to the task, then be the Gandalf you’d like to see in this world. Even if you’re a humbled, weak old man or a vulnerable youth in a world full of strong nefarious adults…you’ve got to come as you are, and do the best you can with the role you are able to fill. Even if you’re the less influential, less famous, less flashy Grey to Saruman’s White, be proud of what you are. Play the role you’ve been given to the best of your abilities. Even Gollum had a part to play in the world, y’know what I’m saying, Hades?

Don’t be like Saruman, don’t let resentment over past slights destroy your entire future. Don’t get so greedy that you cant appreciate the good fortune of being “the White.” Don’t assume multiple glories for yourself: from Saruman of Many Colors, to Commodus with 12 honorific names. Have the self awareness to be thankful for the giant tower full of the worlds largest known library that’s in your possession. And when you see a Grey or a Brown in life, respect the unique collection of culture and wisdom they have to offer. Recognize their role in life as different, but equal in importance to your own, if only for accruing these experiences for posterity. Approach every interaction with the intent of gathering knowledge and allies. Benefit from the free trade of goods and ideas.

Take after Gandalf; don’t be resentful of the giant tower you don’t have. Be proud of your garden–your corner of the world, however small, which you strive to improve everyday. Sometimes, by being a good influence in a local community, one can be in the position to do great things in the future–like George Bailey. You can go on to become a better White Wizard than the White Wizard himself. If Saruman is not doing a good job, then be what Saruman should have been!

Galadriel’s Garden: It Takes All Kinds To Make Fruit Cup

Humans aren’t the strongest or most perceptive animals but we can show empathy to our fellow man. We alone can pass down knowledge across tribal groups and generations. That’s the role we should play in the world, and trust that it serve a purpose in the history of our planet. We need to establish a society of equal opportunity, of universal respect across all boundaries which have traditionally divided mankind against itself. Every would-be thinker and innovator, who was robbed of the ability to use their skills in furtherance of mankind, due to some inherent characteristic or circumstance of birth, is a self inflicted wound to progress. Humanity has been operating at under 50% of its potential since its inception.

We live in a society where evil exists in the hearts of all men as the result of inescapable injuries sustained over the course of each person’s lifetime. Whether it be crippling or not, each of us came into the world happy, optimistic and intellectually curious. We all lose that spark of light to some extent, through bad influences in our upbringing and/or humiliation and failure. This is our shared legacy of trauma, which has negatively impacted the course of countless lifetimes, and compounded injustice over eons. This is the birthright of humanity, and the struggle we all face is how to minimize that negativity. How can one pluck the weeds in life and keep the garden healthy? The answer is altruism, education, individuality, oration, and understanding. These qualities facilitate communication and empathy among diverse populations.

Creating an empathetic, egalitarian Earth requires overcoming our own biases as much as forgiving past grievances. We also need to come together to reform these corrupt, divisive power systems which have thrived through our collective neglect. These include corporations use slave labor, imperialistic governments wage unnecessary wars, the media keeps us fighting each other, organized religion entrenches outdated belief systems, even DRM/artificial scarcity/poor infrastructure/loss of net neutrality/region locks/forced incompatibility and planned obsolescence stifles the effectiveness of the information superhighway to facilitate mass communication.

All barriers to Free Thought and exchange of ideas are a long-term hindrance to the success of mankind. The larger our body of experience, as well as our collective processing power, the greater our odds of shared success. Just as monoculture in genetics leaves species vulnerable to devastating blights, so too will monoculture of perspectives lead us to intellectual stagnation.

The Five Istari

In an inter-personal sense, be a friend to all. Be a strong advocate for the media you love. Approach each new experience with an open mind. Defend the People in your sphere of influence from harm. Make sure even the most seemingly heinous individual gets a fair trial. Protect diversity of ideas, people and nature. Be the best thing in someone else’s life, inspire them to their full potential. Be a light of hope in a weary world.

In a socio-economic sense, be the Mediator between the Head (investing/ownership class) and the Hands (labor/working class.) I’d even add consumers to that metaphor. They’re the true Heart of the system. Make sure all their interests are met.

In the political sense, advocate for bottom-up structures and multiple checks against each actor within the system. Never lose sight of your constituents, make it part of your duties to go door to door and ask “what do you need? How has the system been treating you? How can I help?”

In the spiritual sense, be the Prism bridging the rainbow of people, the masses in dignified humility, with the White Light of God(s), the pantheistic Creation of the Alpha (Big Bang) and Omega (Big Crunch). Be the emissary between tribes on Earth and existential planes of reality. Show them all that we are one in our diversity.

And in an Individualistic sense, carry these goals with you in life, whether it be in the service of the White, Brown, Blue, Grey…or maybe even other colors we don’t know about yet! Be Cassandra the Purple, be Mr. Pink in the Diamond Heist, and be the best character in the story, better than both the salami and the bologna combined but without having to proclaim it. Because any man who must say “I am the King is no True King.” Amiright? Be proud of what you are, because your role just might be more important than you think.

The Three Wise Men

There were three great turning points in modern US history that doomed us. The first is post-1966, when the Disney Corporation abandoned Walt’s original EPCOT design. Never before would such a great visionary be afforded the means to not only imagine such a revolutionary project, but to make it a reality. And they threw away that opportunity. And then ruined copyright law and consolidated media ownership instead.

There were three great turning points in modern US history that doomed us. The second is post 1967 where Brian Wilson never finished SMiLE. That album had so many challenging themes, which have the power to change peoples outlook on life. (I speak from experience.) And coming from the Beach Boys, this divinely inspired message would have reached a mass audience who never would have sought out such music. It would have taken the world by storm, and left a profound if subtle impact on the boomer generation. (For the better, obviously.)

There were three great turning points in modern US history that doomed us. The third is the landslide defeat of George McGovern in 1972, forever dooming the cause of bold, unapologetic progressive policies in America.

In such a fallen world, the best that we Aquarian disciples can do is bring the message of Love to an Overlooked Niche. At the end of time, in the Singularity of Souls, the Collective Whole Will Say Unto You: “All the Good Ye Hath Done in Service of the Green Order, Ye Has Also Done For Me.” The glory of the White Wizard belongs to the one who paved the way for Many Colors to come after them.

Amen.