Girl vs. Girl: "Pitch Perfect" (video)

Amber Dorrian and Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; IMBD.com; Screen.yahoo.com

In one of the best pop films of the year, it's "Beca" (Anna Kendrick) versus the World. Until college and her professor father nudge her into expanding her horizons beyond beats and DJing, she's the lovable indie alt grrl. How is she converted to befriending females and getting out of her shell?  That is the central conceit of the movie -- acapella renditions of very cool songs. This would be a disaster if the music weren't so good. But behind the shiny songs and unreal (unrehearsed) performances that take place spontaneously throughout the story at Riff Offs and elsewhere is a very real story about what it's like among women, our separation, cattiness, and constant counterproductive competition. 

Drill Sgt. Aubrey (imdb.com)

Thank you Nazi Aubrey (Anna Camp), super-sexy "Stacie" (Alexis Knapp), supermodel "Kimmy Jin" (Jinhee Joung), hilarious comedienne "Fat Amy" (Rebel Wilson), freaky-geek Quiet "Lilly" (Hana Mae Lee), and uber-nemesis "Bumper" (Adam DeVine). There's lesbianism (very jokey), there's misogyny, there's promiscuity, there are jerk adults (color commentators "Gail" and John), there are dance offs, and there is that one eternal truth secretly brewing underneath it all, covert competition in a gynocentric cooperative frame. The movie is not all good news; it is almost ruined by the syrupy "good guy" male lead "Jesse" (Loser). Fortunately other men, like "Bumper" and "Donald" (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and "Benji" (Ben Platt), round out the cast, all straight, all acapella. More

NOTE: This review and focus on a commercial success was written under duress after Wisdom Quarterly staff were forced to watch the movie three times by Features Editor Ashley ("Aubrey") Wells, who seemed to be experiencing some kind of enlightening experience or catharsis from the story. Who knows why the Dharma Editor allowed except that he liked the movie, too. It does grow on a person and is not bad but only compared to Hollywood's ordinary output. It has legs; it came in eighth place in the Top Ten this week.

Spirituality: "Sita Sings the Blues" (cartoon)

Writer, director, producer, animator Nina Paley (SitaSingstheBlues); Wisdom Quarterly

(Cinema Nirvana) "Sita Sings the Blues" is a story by American artist Nina Paley based on the ancient Sanskrit epic the Ramayana, which was handed down from ancient India through the Vedas ("Knowledge Books") inherited from the older Indus Valley Civilization.

Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved husband Lord Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India then dumps her by email.

Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this lushly animated interpretation of the classic Sanskrit story.

It is set to the 1920's jazz vocals of torch singer Annette Hanshaw and lives up to its tagline, the "Greatest Break Up Story Ever Told."

The two women, having troubles with their men although separated by centuries, find their stories coming together. A female cartoonist moves from the US when her husband gets a job in India.

While acclimating to her new life, the cartoonist becomes fascinated with an ancient folktale: A beautiful woman who was created spontaneously from the Earth is adopted by King Janaka, pledged in marriage to a brave warrior named Rama, and kidnapped by the demonic leader, Ravana.

Sita's story gets two visual interpretations at once -- a visually striking abstract version and another employing a whimsical cartoon utilizing vintage jazz recordings for Sita's voice.

As the film jumps back and forth between two Ramayana adaptations, the cartoonist discovers that her sojourn in India has taken a turn for the worse when her husband falls in love with another woman. "Sita Sings the Blues" was an official entry at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

It stars: Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally, Manish Acharya, Annette Hanshaw, Debargo Sanyal, Sanjiv Jhaveri.

"Rama's Journey"
Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit of entry Ramayana
The Ramayana (रामायण) is an ancient Sanskrit epic ascribed to the sage (rishi, seer) Valmiki. It forms an important part of the modern Hindu canon, considered to be a historical event (itihāsa).

It is one of the two great epics of India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The other is the Mahabharata. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like father, servant, brother, wife, and king.

The name is said to be a tatpurusha compound of Rāma- (the hero in the story) and -ayana ("going, advancing") or perhaps -yana ("vehicle, transport").

It consists of 24,000 verses forming seven books (kāṇḍas) and 500 sargas. The classic Indian work recounts the story of Rama (an avatar of Vishnu, the preserver in the triumvirate conception of God). His wife Sita is abducted by the demon king of [Sri] Lanka named Ravana.

Thematically, it explores human values and the concept of dharma. More

"Imagine" - Joan Baez visits Occupy Wall St.

(michouberlin) "Imagine" (John Lennon) by Joan Baez

Folk singer Joan Baez serenaded hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters Friday, most of whom weren’t even born when she became famous for singing out against the Vietnam War.

Folk singer Joan Baez, #OWS, Foley Square, Manhattan on 11-11-11 (Enid Alvarez/NYDN).

The irony of Baez performing on Veterans Day was mostly lost on the demonstrators, who had marched from their base in Zuccotti Park to Foley Square, just up from City Hall, for the concert. More

Amy Winehouse: Drugs vs. "Rehab" (video)

In 2006, Amy Winehouse (1984-2011) became a star, the voice of a new generation, by insisting she would not be going to "Rehab." She would be dead within five years.

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Already a star in the U.K., Winehouse makes her debut on U.S. TV with "Rehab."

Singer Found Dead in Apartment

LONDON, England - Troubled British singer Amy Winehouse [with her violent partner in prison] was found dead at her flat in north London, police said. She was 27 years old. The Grammy award-winning [neo-]soul singer struggled with well-documented drink and drug addictions. Her death is being treated as unexplained. "Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square shortly before 4:05 pm (local time) today, Saturday 23 July, following reports of a woman found deceased," a police statement said. "On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead..." More

Drunk and/or stoned, Amy Winehouse is booed during comeback tour, live in Belgrade on June 18, 2011. She then launches into "Back To Black."

Rehab without a "Higher Power"

Recovery from addictions of all kinds is possible in a Buddhist context. Buddhism is nontheistic (not dependent on a God for "salvation"/enlightenment). Many Buddhists are theists, but many others are atheistic, agnostic, or undecided.

Not recognizing a supreme being as a higher power makes traditional 12-Step programs unpalatable. (Of course, the nature of the "higher power" one chooses need not be a god, but that is definitely how most participants treat it as part of their recovery.

Thanks to mavericks like Kevin Griffin, who wrote One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps it is quite possible to successfully overcome addiction and unrelenting craving in a nontheistic context.

A Buddhist Version of the 12 Steps

Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction -- that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step 2 - Came to believe that spiritual practice could restore us to sanity.

Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the power of the Dharma.

Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Step 5 - Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our suffering.

Step 6 - Were entirely ready to let go of all these defects of character.

Step 7 - Humbly asked for our shortcomings to be removed through prayer and meditation.

Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with reality and to live a life with more wisdom and compassion.

Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

World Laughter Day (yoga)

VIDEO: Hundreds practice laughter yoga to mark World Laughter Day

A worldwide sing-along
A heartwarming celebration of friendship is riding a second wave of viral popularity. » See for yourself
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