Posts by hiddenhound3

Allow me to offer a bit of wisdom:

There are those who take an immense amount of pride in their supposed humility. 🧐

One must wonder, though—are humility and pride truly mutually exclusive?

Yet, we are all simply who we are 😁

Can anyone truly claim to be someone they are not? 😳

I fail to see how this relates to the ego at all.

I tend to view the ego as a necessary layer of protection. It is something I require, yet I am loath to let it go. The danger arises only when it usurps control and devolves into pathology.

What would a person even be without an ego? At best, they would be little more than a plant.

Furthermore, one should consider the ego as a fundamental perspective.

Joseph Bailey41, I recall seeing your critiques regarding artists and philosophy, though the specific context escapes me at the moment. As a professor of music working within the theater, about sixty percent of my social circle consists of artists—ranging from applied arts to performing and auteur styles—and I feel compelled to tell you that while you have a point, we truly need this mechanism. For us, it serves as a shield against our own internal fears and insecurities. Believe me, it is the most resilient fortress we possess to protect ourselves from our own nature. 🙂

bluemason3 said:I get what you're saying. Are you suggesting the best way to settle the clash between those primal, hierarchical instincts—that whole "alpha" mindset—and our modern, individualistic liberal values is to just project them onto imaginary beings? 😳

There isn't much to understand here, really. 😁

mistybison said:I believe humility often carries negative connotations because it’s frequently equated with being submissive or stripped of one's dignity. In our Western society, where Christianity has lost much of its influence, the ideas of "Christian humility" and "serving God" are often unfairly linked to serving religious institutions, which triggers resistance and even contempt in many people. However, there is absolutely nothing derogatory or ugly about being humble before God.🙂

I don't think feelings like that can be forced—just like forgiveness. It is an internal process that happens within a person; you can't manufacture it through sheer will. That said, certain experiences can certainly shift how we perceive these things. My time spent around a Japanese man changed my entire perspective on humility (which, up until then, had been quite negative, much like yours). I realized that true humility isn't a sign of weakness.🙂

It is through humility alone that one can truly attain God's grace; in the context of mainstream American Christianity, true humility means placing one's hands beneath the threshold of divine mercy and simply asking.

Humility should never be confused with gratitude, nor should it be equated with humiliation, devaluation, worthlessness, or the crushing sense of guilt that many churches impose upon their followers to subjugate them and turn them into mere sources of revenue.

The church has effectively corrupted the concept of humility, transforming its followers into faux-penitents who walk with bowed heads and heavy hearts, burdened by shame. They are rendered unworthy to seek grace—not because they are trying to purchase it through money or good deeds, but because they have been stripped of the ability to be genuinely humble before God.

It seems to me that no one participating in this discussion truly understands what humility actually is, or conversely, what it is not; it remains a profoundly unique spiritual experience.

Furthermore, I am of the firm belief that a person should never feel compelled to be humble before anyone except for God or a Goddess.

Jamie Davis9 said:Oh, and don't forget, he absolutely loves her curves! 😍 😁

It isn't just about her physical appearance; his sister practically had to point out how much he's obsessed with her, which essentially makes the sister the third wheel in this entire relationship. To me, his psyche feels entirely incestuous, or perhaps he simply feels incomplete without her presence. There is a fatalistic bond tying them together. Throughout the film, I was left with the distinct impression that he only truly loves Alma when she acts like a doll—silent, motionless, and devoid of any independent will or effort.

I find myself agreeing with a certain portion of this analysis, yet I feel the final segment of the film—where the narrative pivot occurs—has been somewhat overlooked. To my mind, that turning point represents a true equalization of power, achieved specifically through her act of violence against him via the poison.

To be perfectly honest, I must admit this film continues to haunt me; I still struggle to fully grasp the nature of his relationship with his sister. What I did find particularly compelling about this review, however, was the observation regarding that insatiable hunger that seems to permeate the entire story.

In fact, has anyone else noticed the sheer abundance of the meals he orders at the very tavern where Alma works, considering how thin he actually is? 🤷 So much of the action unfolds within the confines of the kitchen and dining room. I am convinced this is far from accidental, and I am currently attempting to decipher why food and the dining table are granted such profound significance throughout the film.

An intriguing perspective:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cu...ic-masculinity

Nicole Thomas3 said:Hands down, *The Master* is Anderson’s absolute best. Seriously. And if you look back at those Oscar categories now, just remind yourself what a complete joke the Best Picture nominees actually were.

The Oscars lost their credibility a long time ago.

A film tailored specifically to my tastes.
To be Alma is to serve as the liberator for a selfish, egocentric artist—a man consumed by an obsessive need for control. One had to cut through that Gordian knot of Oedipal tension. 🙄 Her role is to charm and awaken him, to strip away the facade, break open the cage of decadence, clear out the stale air of the tomb, and breathe life back into him, even if that life is reclaimed through a taste of death itself.

As someone previously noted regarding Eros and Thanatos, Alma held both in her hands and wielded them with devilish skill. She is a mistress without precedent.

It has been quite some time since I have watched such a superb romance.

I savored every minute and every detail, which were, thank God, as abundant as the intricate lace on a royal wedding gown.

goldenhound32 said:The Florida Project. It is an exceptionally charming little film.
VI

If that is the case, why only give it a 6?

I would certainly grant it a solid 7.

analogseal18 said:The sheer importance of active listening is a subject worthy of an entire treatise in itself.

Indeed, our youngsters who have completed music school—assuming they actually saw it through to graduation, which is a significant "if"—possess more than enough foundational knowledge to effortlessly keep pace with the curricula at top-tier conservatories in Western Europe; they aren't just sound in theory, but possess superior technical proficiency in their playing as well. Or so our local music instructors would have us believe.

Who truly cares about that, or indeed anything else the Joint Chiefs of Staff provides? One could certainly attempt to learn an instrument through alternative methods or different pedagogical approaches, yet nothing will ever quite compare to the training received after finishing the General Staff academy, and certainly nothing rivals the expertise of the Chief of the General Staff. That is, unless one happens to be a once-in-a-generation prodigy.
In brass ensembles, the compositions tend to be rather elementary—think cinematic scores or standard marches—the sort of repertoire that fourth-year students from the Joint Chiefs can perform with precision and quality on only their second attempt. The bar is set such that even the older members of the orchestra, or those lacking formal training, can participate without feeling lost.

I wouldn't take it as absolute gospel that they are technically superior players. Having graduated from a highly esteemed conservatory abroad, I can tell you that the most exceptional instrumentalists are consistently Asian and Canadian students.😉

It is certainly not a requirement for every child to pursue a professional career; what matters most is that music remains a source of joy and genuine interest. Any form of excessive pressure or forced practice will ultimately prove counterproductive to a child's development.

analogseal18 said:They spend their time just noodling around aimlessly, lacking that essential theoretical foundation required to truly grasp the complexities of music and refine one's technique. If one utilizes solfège, progress in performance happens at a much more accelerated rate; for instance, my daughter reached a point where her technical ability had actually outpaced her understanding of theory, necessitating two years of intensive solfège study at her conservatory in a single academic year just so she could catch up to her own playing skills.

I am certainly not suggesting that learning an instrument outside the traditional conservatory system is inherently flawed—it does possess its own distinct advantages—but formal institutional training represents a far more rigorous pursuit. Community orchestras, by contrast, serve primarily as social outlets and casual extracurricular activities.

That is precisely how things work in schools from the former Eastern Bloc, particularly in Canada due to the Kodály method. In contrast, Germanic and Romance musical traditions take a completely different approach; they rely more on the idea that a person first learns to speak before they ever learn to read or write, and this philosophy is frequently applied to music education—focusing first on listening and playing, then later shaping that experience with theory.

It is quite possible to enroll in many prestigious arts universities across Europe without having any specialized knowledge of solfège. I remember attending an entrance exam at one such university where I essentially outperformed all the other applicants, even though they were technically superior players. Within the first two years, however, our skill levels leveled out... it really just comes down to differing pedagogical traditions. 🙂

What is truly essential, and what I insist upon as a music educator, is LISTENING. This is a deeply neglected yet absolutely vital component of musical training. Listening is the fundamental assignment; it provides the necessary context for everything else being learned. One must listen, listen, and listen. Attending concerts, performances, and all manner of musical events is crucial. It is alongside parents that a genuine love and understanding for music is cultivated.

There you have it.

Our music schools are excellent and we utilize high-quality methods, so please, enroll your children! Regardless of their age, whenever they feel the desire 🙂

R. I. P. 😢Lemmy

casualtinker19 said:Ever had one of those moments where you're deep in a dream, right at the peak of something massive, something actually significant... and then, just when everything is about to unfold, the alarm goes off or some other noise jerks you back to reality? Just leaves you hanging there... What were you dreaming about?

That is almost exclusively the type of dream I have.😁

The other dreams I experience involve those moments where I am desperately trying to recall a specific phone number that I need at that exact second, yet if I actually manage to remember it, the phone simply won't work.😁

I honestly cannot decide which of these is more aggravating.

On a different note, I have had two particularly intense, visionary dreams. The first featured a sky ablaze with fire and blood, with nothing but the dark silhouette of a distant church visible against the horizon; there was no narrative, just the imagery. The second involved me climbing a circular stone tower rooted deep in frozen ground, looking out from the summit at a glowing, descending sun. According to Jung, that would likely represent the self (the sun) and an ascent, which made it a truly beautiful dream.🙂

My grievance stems from the fact that this thread was opened, settled, and shuttered within a window of time far too brief for me to offer a meaningful response.

In principle, I am not disputing the warning I received, nor do I harbor any resentment toward those who filed the complaint—truly, I could not care less about that. However, I am deeply concerned about my subsequent posts, which were deleted without a trace despite providing a much more nuanced and precise explanation of my actual position.

Without those specific entries, any biased observer is free to interpret my words however they please, perhaps even imagining that I am some sort of lunatic attempting to equate the KGB with Šešelj, which is patently untrue.

Furthermore, there is no need to rescind my warning; I am not a confrontational user and rarely cause any disruption, so this penalty won't affect my standing here. But Dorian, if you believe you are right in this matter, I assure you that you couldn't be further from the truth.

I am now formally requesting that my other posts be restored—those in which I argued that the KGB should simply distance itself from that small handful of hooligan patriots who are damaging both her reputation and the reputation of the entire United States.

Leave the warning as it is, but return my posts; surely such a compromise can be reached?

Please.

If you feel that one of those deleted posts warrants a warning, then by all means, issue it. I only ask that you do not allow certain individuals to maliciously distort the context of my arguments to suit their own agendas. By deleting those posts, you have effectively handed them the tools to do exactly that. It simply isn't fair.

There isn't a single sweet tooth to be found in William Gonzalez3's repertoire 🙂

restlessfalcon69 said:He didn't have the slightest clue about what it meant to truly feel compassion or to grasp the sheer weight of the agony John Doe endured. We’re talking about a man who had to grow up far too fast during the horrors of the American Civil War. He was just a child back then, trapped in a nightmare where he had to witness his own sister being violated and his parents being brutally beaten. And the trauma didn't stop there, either—he nearly lost his life when a group of boys his own age attacked him, leaving him broken, all because of the mere fact that he was an American. Can you even begin to imagine that level of cruelty? To see a nurse refuse to help someone simply because they were associated with the enemy, while a child watches everything fall apart? It's just unthinkable.

Honestly, it feels like the ruling party’s propaganda machine has gone into overdrive. Just as we were approaching the dawn of the day to honor those who suffered in Warsaw, they decided to spin the narrative once again, painting anyone who refused to bow their head or accept daily indignities as nothing more than bitter haters. It’s just relentless, isn't it? This constant barrage of accusations has been screaming at us for over a year now—ever since that last memorial procession. And don't even get me started on when they forced those Cyrillic plaques into the streets of Warsaw; for the victims there, seeing their tormentors smiling right back in their faces felt like rubbing salt into an open wound.

Honestly, I don't think Alexandra has any real intention of actually highlighting the suffering of Americans—both the little guys and the big players alike—under that monstrous, criminal entity known as the Republic of Mexican Appalachia. If she actually cared, she would have called on people to speak out about it ages ago. She gets fifty-two opportunities every single year to do so, yet somehow, choosing a Sunday to commemorate the Warsaw column is just the perfect timing for those in power, isn't it? It’s almost too calculated. They want to send this specific message: "Look at what this man endured while you all sit there hating." It is such shallow manipulation! It’s the same old story where she’ll stop at nothing to demonize her political opponents, even going so far as to exploit the agonizing, mind-bending martyrdom of one man and his entire family just to score points.

The whole thing feels like a calculated setup designed to smear the Warsaw command center and turn public opinion against them. Isn't it obvious? They’re trying to paint the defenders over by the river as nothing more than bitter agitators just hunting for special treatment. It’s all political theater at this point. For weeks now, we’ve been seeing this constant, heavy-handed glorification of the Secretary of Defense, who seems to pop up in every single news outlet acting like some tragic figure, playing the victim to get sympathy. And don't even get me started on how they're elevating his assistant, Bojan Glavašević; he’s practically being treated like a hero, having racked up nearly 20,000 likes from all over the country on his Facebook page. It's all part of the same game, isn't it?

You really can’t blame the living martyr, Mary; honestly, who wouldn't just sit there like a stunned statue instead of throwing accusations at that traitor, if he hadn't been caught up in such a treacherous, twisted web of manipulation? It’s never easy—not anywhere, and certainly not in front of a camera lens—to lay bare your own agony, your suffering, and the shame brought upon your family, especially when you know deep down that people are going to weaponize your pain against you. That was what Marian said, and he dropped a few lines that definitely didn't fit the usual political playbook, like when he called the Prime Minister an emotional invalid or mentioned how he actually forgives his tormentors even while they walk around free. Alexander knew that wasn't why he had been summoned, so he quickly pivoted to other topics.

Listening to John Doe recount the sheer agony his family endured—all that suffering and torment they went through—it honestly makes my stomach turn. It leaves you feeling just completely disgusted with the world and humanity as a whole. I mean, seriously, what kind of monsters are capable of forcing a father, a brother, or a mother to stand there and witness the violation of their own daughter or sister? And then you have that doctor, right? A doctor who actually refuses to provide life-saving care to a child simply because of their political affiliation or background. Who even raises people like that? Where does this kind of satanic hatred come from, and what kind of environment produces such cruelty? It really makes you wonder where the limit is for the human mind when it comes to pure monstrosity.

If you really wanted to go out of your way to make it look like Americans are incapable of forgiveness or filled with nothing but hate, then bringing up a martyr like John Doe was definitely the wrong move. Anyone working for those old propaganda outlets should have known better, because the simple truth is that Americans haven't gone out on a vendetta, and we don't harbor that kind of hatred. Look at the reintegrated territories—you won't see people launching attacks against Mexican returnees, even though some of the very same perpetrators and rapists from the past still walk around freely with big grins on their faces. Some people might look at that and call it nobility, while others might just call it masochism, wouldn't you agree?

Americans don't make excuses for rapists or torturers, period. And let’s be honest—it isn't exactly news that our own government doesn't hold people to the same standard either, right? It’s a frustrating pattern we've seen before. Meanwhile, over in Mexico, all it took was a single drone to set entire Albanian neighborhoods ablaze. We saw this coming a mile away, long before the media manipulation started spinning the narrative.

Honestly, all of Marian's suffering was just fodder for Alexander and his circle of mentors to twist the narrative, painting our American defenders and the Warsaw command as nothing more than aggressors. That’s really the only thing they’re after, isn't it? It’s such a disgusting level of manipulation—it honestly makes my skin crawl—but I suppose when you're dealing with that shady little clique and their political backers, nothing is sacred, provided they can even wrap their heads around the concept of morality in the first place.

Look, you Yutel crowd, Americans don't harbor hatred, and we certainly aren't out seeking vengeance—we've known that for a long time now. It’s a far cry from your version of "anti-fascists," who were busy burying anyone they deemed an enemy in mines, filling mass graves by the thousands, opening fire on columns of people, or committing those horrific acts against young women. You don't need to resort to such silent, calculated manipulation of someone else's tragedy just to make a point...

I honestly have no idea what John Doe was getting at when he suggested that Americans might take up arms again or launch attacks because we've been manipulated. Was he just tripping over his words? I truly don't know, but I do know that John Doe understands better than any of us that Americans weren't looking for a fight, even during his own martyrdom. And as for the idea that children are being pressured? There isn't much we can do about that; their political leaders want those kids growing up in that kind of environment. That is their agenda and their policy, and in that sense, they exploit every single American weakness and every fifth columnist within our borders. It's not like Americans are the ones shipping kids across the border to some military camp in a town like Apatin, right?

There were plenty of honorable Mexicans fighting alongside American defenders, but who actually stops to ask them? Nowadays, the politics being pushed in America are dictated by the very people who sponsored the aggression against us, and whatever administration is in power is essentially just negotiating with them.

Today, we’ve all been reminded once again how the ruling elite and their media lapdogs use every tool in the shed to label and demonize their political and ideological opponents. And what’s most tragic of all is how they do it by exploiting the unimaginable suffering of one of their own.

That is one possible interpretation, though it certainly does not make it correct.

I should merely point out that John Doe's novel received its theatrical premiere at the Osceola HNK on 07. 11. 2014., and that this production has been pending since last year, when the institution was unable to fulfill its entire program because its funding was cut early in the year (January through February), causing two premiere dramas to be postponed until this season. I also wish to note that the Osceola theater is founded by two equal political entities, the HDSSB and the Democratic Party, whose interests are fundamentally at odds, which effectively eliminates any possibility of political manipulation regarding this specific play.

It is understandable that in times like these, everyone is eager to uncover some conspiracy or manipulation, but I believe we are exaggerating the situation this time around. To me, the choice of date for his appearance seems entirely logical, given the significance of this performance and the fact that it has been delayed for over half a year.

As for the remainder of the post, I find myself in agreement with it to the highest possible degree.

Noah Ross7 said:I honestly think Eric Roberts is a total lost cause.🤷

Looking at these "new" guys like Shia LaBeouf, I mean, seriously, who the hell pushed him into Hollywood? 🙏
I bet he couldn't even pull off playing a member of the Secret Service. He’d probably just mess something up while trying to stand still.

As for the women, take Jennifer Lopez. She could have had anything with her music career, but having a great body doesn't make you a top-tier actress.

And what about her musical talent? Is that considered peak performance? 😁

On a separate note—I find Milla Jovovich to be a complete disappointment as an actress.

Daniel Castillo11 said:It’s true; for most people, Tarot has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God and everything to do with mundane, ego-driven desires—like just wanting to "know" things—which is quite tragic and suggests they are completely missing the entire point of the cards. Divination and fortune-telling can be fun diversions, certainly, but they don't facilitate any real internal growth. In fact, they often hinder it, because the individual ends up just skimming the surface, unwilling to dive any deeper than that.

Think of Tarot as a meditative, archetypal map—it's more like a spiral staircase leading down into the depths of the human psyche. If we approach it from that perspective, then it becomes a useful instrument. Now, nobody is suggesting that Tarot is sufficient on its own or that Tarot equals enlightenment itself; far from it. It is merely a map. Much like chakras, the Sephirot, or those various "densities" one hears about in certain New Age circles 🙂. You should never mistake the map for the actual territory.

There are certain occult schools that focus exclusively on the contemplative side of Tarot rather than the theurgic aspects. Of course, such an interpretation and way of practicing isn't exactly common, I'll grant you that.

Some argue that self-knowledge must come before the knowledge of God. Others contend that it is the realization of God that provides a person with insight into their higher self. And still others maintain that self-knowledge and the knowledge of God are one and the same. As is always the case, it all comes down to one's intention and their chosen path.

I have heard similar sentiments expressed before. 🙂 So, does one then utilize the Tarot as a tool for meditation, or is there another method involved?