o-<

[Sir Realist]

If my words are yours, can you hear my Father?
Can Bill know my Father, keeping his eye on me?
Can I bone Kai and Butchie know my Father instead?
My Father's shy doing his business.
Kai helps my Father dump out.
Bill takes a shot.
Shaunie is much improved.
Joe is a Doubting Thomas.
Joe will save Not-Aleman.
Joe will bring his buddies home.
This is how Freddy relaxes.
Cup-o'joe, and Winchell's variety dozen.
Mitch catches a good wave.
Mitch wipes out.
Mitch wipes out Cissy.
Cissy shows Butchie how to do that.
Cissy wipes Butchie out.
Butchie hurts Barry's head.
Mister Rollins comes in Barry's face.
My Father runs the Mega-Millions.
Fur is big.
Mud is big.
The stick is big.
The word is big.
Fire is huge.
The wheel is huge.
The line and circle are big.
On the wall, the line and circle are huge.
On the wall, the man at the wall makes a man from the circle and line.
The man at the wall makes a Word on the wall from the circle and line.
The Word on the wall hears my Father.
The zeroes and ones make the Word in Cass's camera.
In the Word on the wall that hears my-Father-in-Cass's-camera.
The good one Mitch catches doesn't wipe Cissy out.
In the-Word-that-hears-my-Father, Cissy shows Butchie something else.
In-my-Father's-Word, Cissy shows Butchie in Shaun.
In-my-Father's-Word, Tina raises Shaun at lunch.
In Cass's-camera, Butchie lays the court out for Barry, and Mister Rollins watches, and he doesn't come on Barry's face.
In Cass's-camera, Butchie knows Kai kept the faith.
In-my-Father's-Word, the Wave lifts them up.
In Cass's camera, Bill doesn't bump his head on the stairs.
In Cass's-camera, as long as he's being stupid, Bill gives Lois a kiss.
In His-Word-in-Cass's-camera, the Internet is big.
Nine-Eleven is big, but not every towel-head is eradicated.
In His-Word, We are coming Nine-Eleven-Fourteen.
In my-Father's-Word, Bill sees how Freddy relaxes.
In Cass's-camera, Ramon wants to know who's hungry, in the courtyard and Room Forty-Five.
In my-Father's-Word-to-come-in-Cass's-camera, Doctor Smith calls Ocean Properties.
In Cass's-camera-to-come, my Father stares Not Aleman down, and Freddy sees Bill much-improved.

You will not note my-Father's-Word, nor remember Cass's-camera, but you will not forget what we did here...

[Prope]

A child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play.
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today,
I got a lot to do." He said, "That's ok."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed,
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I'm gonna be like him."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
"Son, I'm proud of you. Can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile,
"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later. Can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

[CaptainBallz]

there's a road by my home
Where the oleanders grow
And down that road
you can see me to go
each Sunday morning,
In my mother's hand,
I'd stray from that road
is what I never planned.

Now I was afflicted.
Hated by ghosts.
I played always
But mine was worser than most
Well I tried to wash
Those ghosts from my head
But what I washed away,
Was my whole life instead

Now my heart is frail
Some find me mean
If you find me pale
and my vision obscene,
If you find me drunk
And my tale's too tall
Would you leave me to lay, Lord
If you find me at all.

Forgive me the pain
my ways have caused.
The things I love mostest
Are the things that I've lost
Go stand by my mother,
She cries for me
She's hurt from the light,
that won't let her see

That my heart is frail
Some find me mean
If you find me pale
And my vision obscene
If you find me drunk
And my tale's too tall
Could you leave me to lay, Lord
If you find me at all
Could you leave me to lay, Lord
If you find me at all
Could you leave me to lay, Lord
If you find me at all
If you find me at all
If you find me at all

[Prope]

I try to discover a little something to make me sweeter
Oh baby refrain from breaking my heart

I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you gimme no reason why you make me work so hard

That you gimme no
That you gimme no
That you gimme no
That you gimme no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please
Give a little respect to me

And if I should falter would you open your arms to me?
We can make love not war and live at peace with our hearts

I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
What religion or reason could drive a man to forsake his lover?

Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no
Don't you tell me no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please
Give a little respect to me

I'm so in love with you
I'll be forever blue
That you gimme no reason, you know you make me work so hard

That you gimme no
That you gimme no
That you gimme no
That you gimme no

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please (give a little respect)
Give a little respect to me

Soul, I hear you calling
Oh baby please (give a little respect)
Give a little respect to me

[gbergman]

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

[Prope]

Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto
I've lived all over this town

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey
I ain't got time for that now

Transmit the message, to the receiver
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, couple of visas
don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, trucks are loading
everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nightime
I might not ever get home

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no mudd club, or C. B. G. B.
I ain't got time for that now

Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, PA?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
somebody might see you up there
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
to last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers
ain't got no headphones
ain't got no records to play

Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time?
Can't write a letter, can't send a postcard
I can't write nothing at all
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
I'd love you hold you, I'd like to kiss you
I ain't got no time for that now

Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
we blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines
I know that ain't allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives
or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
don't know what I look like!
You make me shiver, I feel so tender
we make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving
you ought to get you some sleep
Get you instructions, follow directions
then you should change your address
Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day
whatever you think is best
Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won't help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace
the burning keeps me alive
Try to stay healthy, physical fitness
don't want to catch no disease
Try to be careful, don't take no chances
you better watch what you say

[Sir Realist]

I don't know Butchie instead.

[Unregistered]

As per the original post, John From Cincinnati was a big ol' PASS for me.

[Pick a name, Buddy]

It was an early morning bar room,
And the place just opened up.
And the little man come in so fast and
Started at his cup.
And the broad who served the whisky
She was a big old friendly girl.
And she tried to fight her empty nights
By smilin' at the world.

And she said "Hey Bub, It's been awhile
Since you been around.
Where the hell you been hidin' ?
And why you look so down ?"

But the little man just sat there like he'd never heard a sound.

The waitress she gave out with a cough,
And acting not the least put off,
She spoke once again.

She said, "I don't want to bother you,
Consider it's understood.
I know I'm not no beauty queen,
But I sure can listen good."

And the little man took his drink in his hand
And he raised it to his lips.
He took a couple of sips.
And he told the waitress this story.

"I am the midnight watchman down at Miller's Tool and Die.
And I watch the metal rusting, and I watch the time go by.
A week ago at the diner I stopped to get a bite.
And this here lovely lady she sat two seats from my right.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was alright.

"Oh she was so damned beautiful that she'd warm a winter's frost.
But she was long past lonely, and well nigh unto lost.
Now I'm not much of a mover, or a pick-em-up easy guy,
But I decided to glide on over, and give her one good try.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was worth a try.

"Tongued-tied like a school boy, I stammered out some words.
But it did not really matter much, 'cause I don't think she heard.
She just looked clear on through me to a space back in my head.
And it shamed me into silence, as quietly she said,
'If you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me.
Cause I know I'm going nowhere, and anywhere's a better place to be.
Anywhere's a better place to be.'

"I drove her to my boarding house, and I took her up to my room.
And I went to turn on the only light to brighten up the gloom.
But she said, 'Please leave the light off, Oh I don't mind the dark.'
And as her clothes all tumbled 'round her, I could hear my heart.
The moonlight shown upon her as she lay back in my bed.
It was the kind of scene I only had imagined in my head.
I just could not believe it, to think that she was real.
And as I tried to tell her she said 'Shhh.. I know just how you feel.
And if you want to come here with me, then that's all right with me.
'Cause I've been oh so lonely, lovin' someone is a better way to be.
anywhere's a better way to be.'

"The morning come so swiftly but I held her in my arms.
But she slept like a baby, snug and safe from harm.
I did not want to share her with the world or break the mood,
So before she woke I went out and brought us both some food.

"I came back with my paper bag, to find out she was gone.
She'd left a six word letter saying 'It's time that I moved on.'"

The waitress took a bar rag, and she wiped it across her eyes.
And as she spoke her voice came out as something like a sigh.
She said "I wish that I was beautiful, or that you were halfway blind.
And I wish I weren't so dog-gone fat, I wish that you were mine.
And I wish that you'd come with me, when I leave for home.
For we both know all about loneliness, and livin' all alone."

And the little man,
Looked at the empty glass in his hand.
And he smiled a crooked grin,
He said, " I guess I'm out of gin.
And know we both have been so lonely.
And if you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me.
'Cause I know I'm goin' nowhere and anywhere's a better place to be."

[Prope]

John from Cincinnati was the suck.

[fquaye14ten]

I went to the free clinic, it was filled to capacity
Now how bad can a piece of ass be?
Very bad, so I had to make the trip
and thank God, I didn't have the drips
I was there so a hoe couldn't gimme that
Just to get - twenty free jimmy hats
Now look who I see
Ain't that... yeah, that's the bitch from up the street!
With the big fat tail
who always told Cube to go to hell
She thought she was wiser
Now she's sittin in the waitin room, burnin like heat-mizer
Yeah I see ya
First Miss Thang, now Miss Gonorrhea
Man it's a trip how the world keeps turnin
It's 1991, and look who's burnin

Now everybody is a victim, you can go see 'em
and you'll hear more claps than the Coliseum
Sittin there all quiet and embarrassed
Whup - there go that bitch who was careless
I remember - she wouldn't give the cock
to anybody who lived on the block
Now hoe, look what you got
BEND THAT BIG ASS OVER for the shot
Cause somebody is pipin hot
Drippin like a faucet, I'm glad I didn't toss it
Got you a college boy, who was worse than me
and he probably fucked the whole university
Still wanted him to dick you down, kick you down
with some bucks, now who got fucked?
With a nigga for the money he's earnin
but ask for some water bitch, and look who's burnin

Yo, it ain't my fault you got the heebie-jibbies
but you still try to act like you didn't see me
So I walk over, and say "Hi,
bitch, don't try to act surprised!"
You shoulda put a sock on the pickle
and your pussy wouldn't be blowin smoke signals
Man, this is gonna kill 'em
Guess who got a big fat dose of penicillin?
They'll ask, "Who?", and I tell 'em you
The new leader of the big booty crew
And after the day, I'm sorry to say
You come through the neighborhood, you couldn't give it away
To a nigga, who's out to get major paid
but you'll have him, pissin out razorblades
But a bitch like you..ll be returnin with the H-I-V, R.I.P.

[Sir Realist]

John From Cincinnati was the best television show ever. The fact that it only survived for 10 episodes is evidence that the dumbing down of America is nearly charging full speed ahead.

I got my eye on YOU. Mother of God, Cass-Kai............................

[Sir Realist]

That's true.

T.V. is furniture. Theatre is art. Film is life.

[fquaye14ten]

:rolleyes:

poetry is the supreme fiction, madame

[SABRSox]

A friend of mine summed it up real well when he said, "'Entourage' is written for us, 'John From Cincinatti' is written for nobody, and 'Transformers' was written by nobody."

[fquaye14ten]

could be

[Sir Realist]

:rolleyes:

poetry is the supreme fiction, madame

Isn't all art poetry?

[Rabid_Llama8]

Everybody dance now
Give me the music
Everybody dance now
Yeah yeah yeah
Everybody dance now
Yeah yeah yeah
Everybody

Here is thedome back with the bass
The jam is live in effect and I don't waste time
Off the mic with a dope rhyme jump to the rhythm
Jump jump to the rhythm jump
And I'm here to combine beats and lyrics
To make you shake your pants take a chance
Come on and dance guys grab a girl don't wait make the twirl
It's your world and I'm just a squirrel
Trying to get a nut to move your butt to the dance floor
So you what's up hands in the air come on say yeah
Everybody over here everybody over there
The crowd is live enough as I pursure this groove
Party people in the house move

Left to right (groove) work me all night
Come on let's sweat (sweat sweat) baby
Let the music take control (control control)
Let the rhythm move you
Sweat (sweat sweat) sweat
Let the music take your soul (soul soul)
Let the rhythm move you
Everybody dance now

Pause take a breath and go for yours on my command
Now hit the dance floor it's gonna make you sweat till you bleed
Is that dope enough indeed I paid the price to control the dice
I'm more precise to the point I'm nice
Let the music take control of your heart and soul
Unfold your body is free and behold
Dance till you can't dance till you can't dance no more
Get on the floor and get ablow
Then come back and upside down easy now
Let me see you move left to right groove
Work me all night

Come on let's sweat (sweat sweat) baby
Let the music take control (control control)
Let the rhythm move you
Sweat (sweat sweat) sweat
Let the music take your soul (soul soul)
Let the rhythm move you

[the fluffer]

DUNKIN DONUTS!!!

[Unregistered]

John From Cincinnati was the best television show ever. The fact that it only survived for 10 episodes is evidence that the dumbing down of America is nearly charging full speed ahead.

I got my eye on YOU. Mother of God, Cass-Kai............................

I just think people with a good intellect and an appreciation for TV are rare.

That's true.

T.V. is furniture. Theatre is art. Film is life.

:jagoff:

Right... the ol' "if you didn't like it, you just didn't GET IT, maaaaan" line. How 'bout just because it's obtruse doesn't always mean it's deep and meaningful? All sorts of jags are walking around with smug looks on their faces claiming people just didn't "get" JFC, but I think it was just that average people didn't feel the need to invest in a show that prided itself on being something that had to be "gotten." I'm not falling for the high art angle on this one. I just thought the show was garbage and catered to people who wanted to pretend like they got it, when the fucking show got cancelled before there was even anything to get.

Here's a pretty solid wrap-up: (courtesy of TVWP (http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/portal/site/TelevisionWithoutPity/menuitem.766266d5c663f366b180b41045001d30/?vgnextoid=768eaf254fe54110VgnVCM1000006dc1d240RCR D&vgnextfmt=default&ShowName=John+From+Cincinnati&currentPage=17))


There's a tendency, I think, to view shows in extremes -- either something is great and brilliant or terrible and unwatchable, with very little room for nuance in between. I suppose some of my more caustic comments over the life of these recaps suggest that I fall in the terrible/unwatchable camp, but I really don't. Some things about John From Cincinnati I liked, other things I did not. Oh the plus side of the ledger was the acting -- Brian Van Holt and Ed O'Neill in particular. The dialogue, as you might expect, from a Milch-helmed show, was lyrical, and certain imagery was truly breathtaking. And on the minus side? Well, there's that problem of coherent narrative and engaging storytelling. I don't doubt that John From Cincinnati probably struck a chord with some viewers; I just wasn't one of them. Part of the problem is that the themes of the show -- once you managed to wade through all the hoo-doo and mysticism -- were fairly ordinary. People feel better when they belong to part of a larger community. It is better to be part of some sort of family than not to be. We'd do a much better job understanding each other if we actually stopped and listened to what the other person was saying. True sentiments and all that, but not exactly earth-shattering stuff. The show always seemed to claim a profundity it never actually earned, at least from my point of view.

I don't much cotton to the notion that if you found the narrative approach of John From Cincinnati somewhat dense and unapproachable that the problem was somehow with you -- that you either have to appreciate every ambiguous utterance from John and company or you're a mouth-breathing simpleton who should just go back to watching the Full House reruns you deserve. Again, there's a lot of territory between those particular extremes. A significant number of creative people are able to make compelling, demanding programs that compel close viewing but nevertheless hew to some sort of discernable narrative -- The Wire, I'm thinking right off the top of my head, though if I gave it more time, I could probably come up with a few others. I wouldn't exactly say that The Wire spoon-feeds its viewers, though advancers of the "if you don't like John From Cincinnati, you obviously hate challenging television" school of thought are arguing precisely that. That's a bullshit argument, quite honestly, and I'm glad I won't have to hear it anymore.

:helloexactly:

[fquaye14ten]

Isn't all art poetry?

no. that's what practitioners of the lesser arts tell themselves

[Sir Realist]

I think it's pretty obvious John From Cincinnati was WAY over the heads of the majority of the American TV viewing public.

MONADOLOGY

The Monadology (Monadologie, 1714) is one of Gottfried Leibniz’s works that best define his philosophy, monadism. Written toward the end of his life in order to support a metaphysics of simple substances, the Monadology is thus about formal atoms which are not physical but metaphysical.

WHAT IS A MONAD?

Monads are non-extended, soul-like, metaphysical simples. Every material that exists, according to Leibniz, is composed entirely of monads. These monads have no causal relationship to one another, or to any other monads, and are moved about (and appear to affect each other) through what Leibniz called pre-established harmony. In other words, without God overseeing and directing every action of every monad, the entire universe would fall apart.

Our souls are of a special kind of monad, termed dominant, or rational, monads. These dominant monads give us consciousness, which is a reflection on what happens to us, and which Leibniz terms apperception. All other simple monads have two basic qualities, appetite and perception, while some monads also have memory. Monads are eternal, having existed since God created each one, indestructible, and immutable.

The rational ground given by Leibniz to the monads in his works is quintuple: Mathematical, through infinitesimal calculus and its antiatomistic conclusions (against materialists like Epicurus, Lucretius and Gassendi). Physical, through the living forces theory and its implicit criticism to Cartesian dynamics, whose experimental errors were shown by Leibniz himself. Metaphysical, through the principle of sufficient reason, which, like Ockham’s Razor, cannot be infinitely multiplied and needs a start in every action.

Psychological, through postulation of innate ideas, especially in the New Essays on Human Understanding, which inspired Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Biological, through the theory of preformation or encasement of the bodies and its functional subdivision in its organic development.

The Monadology is written in short logical paragraphs, generally following each one from the previous, completing a number of ninety. Its name is due to the fact that Leibniz, imitating Marsilio Ficino, Giordano Bruno and Anne Conway, wanted to keep together the meanings of “monas” (in Greek, “unity”) and “logos” (“treatise” or “science”, literally "word" or "speech"). Therefore, the Monadology came to be the monad’s treatise or the science of the unity.

The text is reasoned in a dialectical way, facing questions and problems that help the reader to advance in his learning. Thus, for instance, it can be accepted that composed bodies are something derived, extended, phenomenical or repeated according to simple substances (which will be later expressed by Kant in his dichotomy phenomena-noumena). Is the soul a monad? If the answer is affirmative, then the soul is a simple substance. If it is an aggregate of matter, then it cannot be a monad.

CONTROVERSY IN RATIONALISM

When it was written, the Monadology tried to put an end from a monist point of view to the main question of what is reality, and particularly to the problem of communication of substances, both studied by Descartes. Thus, Leibniz offered a new solution to mind and matter interaction by means of a pre-established harmony; in other words, he drew the relationship between “the kingdom of final causes”, or teleological ones, and “the kingdom of efficient causes”, or mechanical ones, which was not causal, but synchronous. So, monads and matter are only apparently linked, and there is not even any communication between different monads, as far as they act according to their degree of distinction only, as they were influenced by bodies, and vice versa. Leibniz fought against the Cartesian dualist system in his Monadology and tried to surpass it through a metaphysical system considered at the same time monist (since only the unextended is substantial) and pluralist (as far as substances are disseminated in the world in an infinite number). For that reason the monad is an irreducible force, which makes it possible for the bodies to have the characteristics of inertia and impenetrability, and which contains in itself the source of all its actions. Monads are the first elements of every composed thing.

PARADOXES

Monads are matter, since they are everywhere, and there is no extension without monads. They are, then, the plenum, that is to say, the condition of an infinitely dense universe, but nevertheless they are unextended. However, this doesn’t mean that they lack of any function (as far as they project and reflect force), matter (since they come with it) or that they are extended (considering that they don’t interact with anything in the world).

Extended matter would be the impenetrable quality of the unextended—the monad, without any doors or windows—as passively transmitted according to movements which, together with perception and apperception, compose action. In spite of that, monad cannot remain placed in matter, which follows the monad itself, previously to the generation of matter in time. So, extension and monads coexist acausally by the means of a timeless creation, although they are reciprocally bound according to the appearances.

In brief, Leibniz states that matter is extended, but not only extended. It is, in addition, formed by unextended monads. Then, is matter both extended and unextended? No, accepting that, as far as monad constitutes matter, matter is nothing in itself, as an isolated being.

PHILOSOPHICAL CONCLUSIONS

This theory leads to:

1. Idealism, since it denies things in themselves (besides monads) and multiplies them in different points of view. Monads are “perpetual living mirrors of the universe”.

2. Metaphysical optimism, through the principle of sufficient reason, developed as follows: a) Everything exists according to a reason (by the axiom "Nothing arises from nothing"); b) Everything which exists has a sufficient reason to exist; c) Everything which exists is better than anything non-existent (by the first point: since it is more rational, it also has more reality), and, consequently, it is the best possible being in the best of all possible worlds (by the axiom: "That which contains more reality is better than that which contains less reality").

The “best of possible worlds”, then, is that “containing the greatest variety of phenomena from the smallest amount of principles”.

More Monadology (http://www.rbjones.com/rbjpub/philos/classics/leibniz/monad.htm)

[Sir Realist]

I just now starting to watch King of Queens. It's not a bad show. I really like the big black dude that plays the best friend. He may be the best second banana on a sitcom of this nature since Art Carney or Barney Rubble.

[Unregistered]

I don't even know what John From Cincinnati is...

Exactly. So shut your mouth, LBTigerFan. :omg: :hangloose:

[Prope]

I personally think The Wire is one of the best shows on television. :shrug:

[Pick a name, Buddy]

And all this time I thought a monad was a person with only one testicle.

[Prope]

^ :rolling:

[Sir Realist]

If my words are yours, can you hear my Father?
Can Bill know my Father, keeping his eye on me?
Can I bone Kai and Butchie know my Father instead?


What does it all mean? For starters, John is describing the eternal connection between man and the divine from the moment that the primitives first became conscious of a higher power. He speaks of fur, fire, mud, the wheel, cave paintings and primitive cave writing made from nothing more than lines and circles. Such primitive self-expression allows man to create, to think and to ponder and to ultimately consider the existence of the divine.

He is also making the point that communication down through the ages is still as simple as a line and a circle. In the modern digital age sounds, images and data are captured on cameras, or transmitted across the internet by a series of zeroes (the circle) and ones (the line).

This point is highlighted by his drawing of a stick figure with is shoe in the dirt using a circle and 3 lines: as simple a depiction of man as ever existed since the birth of human consciousness.

He also distinguishes between three different points of view: "Cass's camera", "the word" and "his father's word." He speak of past events, current events and future events, at different times from these different perspectives.

The scene then flashes to the three rows of characters. The back row has Mitch, Butch, Shaun, Tina and Cissy standing side-by-side as if a united family. The middle row consists only of the corpse of Mr. Rollins. The front row has Butch and Kai seated next to each other without Mitch, Cissy, Tina or Shaun. It's important that the only character in more than one row is Butch. He is standing in the back with his entire family, while a the same time he is seated in the front row with only Kai. It's as if the corpse of Mr. Rollins stands between what could have been for the Yosts, especially Butch, and the reality of what is: he has no real connection to his mother, his father, his son or Tina, only Kai.

John begins his speech by asking three rhetorical questions.

JOHN'S THREE QUESTIONS.

1. If my words are yours, can you hear my father?

This question is posed to no one in particular. John routinely responds to people by repeating, as positive statements, the questions they have posed to him. For example, when John wins the clock flip with Butch to determine who gets to use the toilet first, Butchie asks John if he is "shy about doing his business?" John responds positively "I am shy about doing my business Butchie". He also speaks the hidden thoughts of other characters directly to them during their interaction. A good example of this is when he sneaks up on Vietnam Joe demanding that justice be served on the vato that stabbed him. While Joe is thinking John tells him that he "saw enough of that over there" (referring to killing and war in Vietnam). Joe brusquely let's John know that he doesn't care how often John can say out loud the thoughts that Joe is privately thinking, he isn't going to give up any herb.

The important point in each such instance is that John is speaking the words of the other character: his words are actually theirs. John is asking each character then if, by parroting their words or revealing their hidden thoughts, they can hear John's father. But just who is John's father? With only the knowledge of facts revealed in the show so far hinting that John has some connection to a higher power the only assumption I can make is that when John refers to his father, he is referring to God. Consequently John's first question seeks to determine if, by using the characters' words as his own, he has been able to allow them to come to a knowledge of the existence of God: can they hear God through John's use of their own words? Can someone come to know, find or prove the existence of God by listening for him? Some of the characters whose words John uses, like Butch, seem to be coming around, slowly, to such divine recognition.

2. Can Bill know my father keeping his eye on me?

This question is directed only to John's effect on Bill, who initially suspicious of John and his motives, has told John that he has his eye on him. John wants to know if such a close scrutiny has allowed Bill to come to a knowledge of the existence of God? Can someone come to know, find or prove the existence of God by keeping a dedicated eye out for him? While not quite there yet, Bill does exhibit a willingness to allow that at least one miracle has occurred since he began keeping his eye on John (Shaun's recovery, which Bill referred to as a miracle in episode three). He has also seen John act as a medium allowing Bill to communicate with his deceased wife Lois in episode six .
continued... (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=216741084&blogID=290354065)