movies

0736 – Upgrade (2018)

timespace coordinates: near-future Melbourne

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Upgrade is a 2018 science fiction body horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell. A co-production between Australia and the United States, it stars Logan Marshall-GreenBetty Gabriel, and Harrison Gilbertson. The film follows a man who is implanted with a chip that allows him to control his body after a mugging leaves him paralyzed. Critics called it “one part The Six Million Dollar Man, one part Death Wish revenge fantasy.” (wiki)

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movies

734 – The Giver (2014)

timespace coordinates: futuristic dystopian / utopian society after a calamity, referred to as The Ruinc1aa7d398a8d3749788993a04578f657The Giver is a 2014 American social science fiction film directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Jeff BridgesBrenton ThwaitesOdeya RushMeryl Streep and Alexander Skarsgård. The film is based on the 1993 novel The Giver by Lois Lowry.

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movies, quotes

0726 – The Book of Henry (2017)

timespace coordinates: 2010’s suburban town in the Hudson Valley

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The Book of Henry is a 2017 American drama film directed by Colin Trevorrow and written by Gregg Hurwitz. The film stars Naomi WattsJaeden LieberherJacob TremblaySarah SilvermanLee PaceMaddie Ziegler, and Dean Norris. The story concerns a plan hatched by a young genius to save the girl next door from abuse.

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“Violence isn’t the worst thing in the world. What is then? Apathy.”


imdb   www.gravillisinc.com

documentary, quotes

0713 – The City Dark (2011 documentary)

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THE CITY DARK is a feature documentary about the loss of night. After moving to NYC from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question – do we need the stars? – taking him from Brooklyn to Mauna Kea, Paris, and beyond. Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights – including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars. (imdb)

The City Dark is a documentary film by filmmaker Ian Cheney about light pollution. It won the Best Score/Music Award at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival and was nominated for at the 34th News & Documentary Emmy Awards. (wiki)


 “It looks like the stars have been scattered across the ground. Have you ever … Have you ever seen anything so full of splendor?” Dolores Abernathy

books, quotes, Uncategorized

705

Do psychedelics give access to a universal, mystical experience of reality, or is that just a culture-bound illusion?

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https://aeon.co/essays/is-psychedelics-research-closer-to-theology-than-to-science


“Silicon Valley billionaires are putting their blockchain millions into funding psychedelics research, and corporates are preparing for a juicy new market. The counterculture has gone mainstream. Turn on, tune in, sell out. ”

“Perennialists tend to rank religions and mystical experiences hierarchically. All religions are one, but some are more one than others. Unitive non-dual experiences are more true, while dualist experiences (ie, personal encounters with God or a spirit) are less true. Accordingly, Buddhism, Hindu mysticism and Taoism are more true, while Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Shamanism are less true. The psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins follows this theological ranking. It uses the Hood Mysticism Scale to rate people’s psychedelic experiences – unitive experiences are scored as higher and more ‘complete’ than dualist experiences.”

“Western spiritual tourists can have a culturally naive idea that their experience of ayahuasca is the same as indigenous people’s experience, that everyone goes to the same Magic Kingdom where we all meet the same entity: Mama Ayahuasca.”

documentary, music, quotes, Uncategorized

701 – In Pursuit of Silence (2015 Documentary)

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In our race towards modernity, amidst all the technological innovation and the rapid growth of our cities, silence is now quickly passing into legend. Beginning with an ode to John Cage‘s seminal silent composition 4’33“, the sights and sounds of this film delicately interweave with silence to create a contemplative and cinematic experience that works its way through frantic minds and into the quiet spaces of hearts. As much a work of devotion as it is a documentary, IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE is a meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, with sound, and the impact of noise on our lives. (rottentomatoes)

“The etymological roots of the word silence
are somewhat contested. There are two words
in particular that people go back to. There’s the Gothic term ana-silan, and then</i> desinere. One of them has to do with
the wind dying down and the other has to do with
a kind of stopping of motion. They’re both to do with an
interruption, not just of sound, but the roots of silence
are also to do with the interruption of our own… The imposition of our own egos
on the world.” GEORGE PROCHNIK

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documentary

685 – The Magic of Mushrooms (2014 documentary)

Professor Richard Fortey delves into the fascinating and normally-hidden kingdom of fungi. From their spectacular birth, through their secretive underground life to their final explosive death, Richard reveals a remarkable world that few of us understand or even realise exists – yet all life on Earth depends on it. In a specially-built mushroom lab, with the help of mycologist Dr Patrick Hickey and some state-of-the-art technology, Richard brings to life the secret world of mushrooms as never seen before and reveals the spectacular abilities of fungi to break down waste and sustain new plant life, keeping our planet alive. Beyond the lab, Richard travels across Britain and beyond to show us the biggest, fastest and most deadly organisms on the planet – all of them fungi. He reveals their almost magical powers that have world-changing potential – opening up new frontiers in science, medicine and technology. (docuwiki)

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