Jewish Adam Sandler as Homer Simpson?

I thought about going Buddhist like Lisa, but Richard Gere is busy and can't play me.

Pres. Lisa: My spiritual choices served me well as a feminist, moralist, academic, vegetarian.

.

Dad, what have you done to this family?

The Simpsons has always been animated, and now a concept trailer has provided look at how a live-action movie adaptation might appear.

Created with the assistance of deadly AI technology, this "concept trailer" assembles a star-studded cast to imagine the film, including dumb comedy icon Adam Sandler as the Simpson family patriarch.

The trailer was posted to YouTube by Multiverse of AI. It features narration with Adam Sandler's voice as generated by AI, with the actor imagined to be introducing the rest of his family as [an unfunny version of] Homer Simpson.

Other cast members featured in the video include Kristen Wiig as Marge Simpson, Jacob Tremblay as Bart Simpson, and Mckenna Grace as Lisa Simpson. The full trailer is right is seen above.

• The Simpsons creator comments on the series predicting the future: Matt Groening addresses the claims that his show has predicted the future time and time again
• The Simpsons bringing back major guest star 33 years after character's introduction (The Dalai Lama? Tracy Ulman?)
• Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman leap into action in new preview (cbr.com)

Not a bald, beer-guzzling, Springfield WASP?

Along with the family, the concept trailer imagines several other characters from Springfield in live-action (rather than cartoon animated) from with big-name actors in the roles. This includes Will Ferrell as Ned Flanders, Simon Pegg as Lenny Leonard, Jordan Peele as Carl Carlson, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Burns, Neil Patrick Harris as gay Smithers, Ben Stiller as Moe, John C. Reilly as Barney Gumble, Zach Galifianakis as Chief Clancy Wiggum, Steve Carell as Principal Seymour Skinner, Kumail Nanjiani as Apu, Gaten Matarazzo as Milhouse Van Houten, Danny McBride as Otto Mann, Bill Hader as Reverend Lovejoy, and Keegan Michael Key as Dr. Julius Hibbert.

Will a live-action Simpsons movie ever happen?

 

The Simpsons movie sequel will be animated not live

In reality, there are no known plans at this time to take the franchise into live-action territory because the animated series is still running strong. [And anyway, Adam Sandler is trying to make a Happy Gilmore sequel and has his hands full not to disappoint the world.]

The show's 36th season will be debuting on FOX this fall, as the series remains just as popular as it has ever been.

It is also possible that a second animated feature film could end up happening soon, as it was teased prior to the release of Inside Out 2 that the Disney and Pixar movie's potential success could help get The Simpsons Movie 2 greenlit.

Inside Out 2 has since become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. [So Hollywood is converting its whole operation to copying that success with as many knockoffs as possible...until they stop being profitable.] More: Adam Sandler is Homer Simpson in The Simpsons live-action movie concept trailer (MSN)

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• Jeremy Dick, CBR.com via MSN.com; Shauna Schwartz, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Underground 420 Festival 2024 (LA)

Underground 420 Festival 2024 Tickets, Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 5:35 PM | Eventbrite

Did the lord smoke? No, he did not.

Drug abuse, whatever the drug (illegal or legal) is not likely to be in keeping with the Buddha's advice and the Five Precepts, the following of which means abstaining from intoxicants that occasion heedlessness.

What is heedlessness? Most simply put, it is violating the other four precepts. One would not kill, not steal, not engage in sexual misconduct, or bear false witness (speak harshly, lie, or idly chit chat), but one would when intoxicated.

Did the dinos? Yes, probably.

Therefore, intoxication can be seen to be harmful, perhaps the most harmful, of these precepts to violate.

If one sees in oneself that one behaves in virtuous ways and conducts oneself with restraint -- except when intoxicated on alcohol or any other substance, then one would be wise to avoid it.

This is true no matter if society is encouraging it, peers are pressuring for the use of it, or the culture is permissive of its use. It's our karma, not theirs. They are doing wrong promoting harmful things, but we will be the one to pay for it if we partake, think lightly of doing so, or fail to abstain from it.

• Underground 420 Festival, Los Angeles

What does "getting wasted" mean?

Moreover, there are two kinds of high, two kinds of substances, but our language choice treats it all as one thing. We say we're "high" when we mean two opposite things.

Dude, I'm straight. I just grow it for hemp seed.

Whether we obtund our consciousness, smash it, obliterate it, cause illusions, distorted views, or misperceptions or intend to expand consciousness, reach for reality, for Truth, for right view, disillusionment, psychic visions, or seeing the world as it really is (with DMT the Spirit Molecule, bufo, iboga, kambo, ketamine, microdosing with magic mushrooms, ayahuasca, peyote, LSD, MDMA, or sacred plants, barks, and vines), we refer to both as "getting wasted." It's misleading, putting rotten sugar (alcohol) abuse on par with a sacred shamanic journey to healing or insight.

Are we feeding our dopamine jones or building up serotonin, chasing a thrill or getting real chill?

Do what you do, for that is your karma. Be careful what you intend, for that colors your karma (deed, action) and determines how the results (vipaka and phala) will arrive, unwished for and costly or welcome and profitable.

• DETAILS: Underground 420 Festival 4/20/24, 5:35 PM

Remember when Homer smoked, flew, saw rainbows, cut himself shaving?

• Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

I quit drinking...but didn't expect this (video)

Former alcoholic author Mark Manson

Drinking alcohol over the weekend (summer kick off Memorial Day)? Sure, why not? I only drink to drown my sorrow. No one told me sorrow could swim.

So I drink, it swims, and here we go round and round again until I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired -- but not so much so that I can stop.

Gosh, how I'd love to stop. But how? Who in the Hades is Mark Manson, and what does he know about getting off this life-shortening toxin that has ruined my human existence? Oh, HE'S the guy who wrote The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck?!

(Kendrick Lamar) "Drank (Swimming Pools)"lyrics, extended version

(Mark Manson) March 30, 2023. Why one should quit alcohol and the surprising effects when one does. This video compares the benefits of drinking alcohol — like pretending to have a personality at parties — to the benefits of not drinking alcohol — like enjoying Monday mornings.

Hearing my experience might challenge one to also question whether or not our drinking habits are truly serving us as a lifestyle or in terms of our values.

• The author of Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck official book summary: • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
• Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope official book summary: • Author Summary: Everything...
• Free weekly newsletter (The Breakthrough)
• Premium membership to access courses and exclusives

Liquid ignorance tastes bad.

ABOUT: I’m Mark Manson, three time Number 1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

In early 2020 I announced my new audiobook on Audible called Love Is Not Enough. I share other types of content to make readers less awful humans:

• instagram.com/markmanson
• twitter.com/IAmMarkManson
• facebook.com/Markmansonnet
• linkedin.com/in/markmanson
• tiktok.com/iammarkmanson

Happy Brain: Neural Predispositions (TED)

Happy Brain: How to Overcome Our Neural Predispositions to Suffering | Dr. Amit Sood, MD | TEDxUNI 

(TEDx Talks) May 11, 2015. Twenty years ago, Mayo Clinic Professor of Medicine Amit Sood, MD, came to the U.S. thinking he was coming to the Disneyland of the world.

He expected everyone in the USA to be very happy all the time. Boy, was he in for a surprise. What he saw surprised and shocked him.

Donuts: This man is out to kill us.

In this funny, fast-moving, and deeply insightful talk, Dr. Sood shares his journey over two decades and across two continents, finding a way to help us outsmart our neural predispositions to suffering.

In the process, he takes us on a back-stage tour of the human brain and outlines the gist of a structured program he is taking globally to decrease stress and improve focus, resilience, and happiness.

ABOUT: Professor Dr. Amit Sood, MD, is the director of the Mayo Clinic's Complementary and Integrative Medicine program. He is the author of The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living and The Mayo Clinic Guide to Happiness. He is one of the most sought-after speakers at Mayo. He has received several NIH and foundation awards to test and implement integrative and mind-body approaches within medicine. Dr. Sood received the 2010 Distinguished Service Award, the 2010 Innovator of the Year Award, and the 2013 Outstanding Physician Award from Mayo Clinic. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx.

Purity Police BLAST Wisdom Quarterly

Submitted by Jen Bradford (Dharma Buddhist Meditation)*, Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

In the name of "moral purity" something has to be done: Let's destroy art (New Statesman)

OK Boomer: Why we need to cancel 'cancel culture' (Farah Ibrahim/cairoscene.com)

.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

This letter comes in from an irate British reader, whom we shall call "Mr. A," although his real name is George Jackson, 32A Milton Avenue, Houndslow, Middlesex, Telelphone 01 246 8047 (Monty Python's "Mouse Problem").

As the self-appointed Morality Police in Charge of Purity and Vice in Western Publications Alleging to be Buddhist, Mr. Jackson has a COMPLAINT:

Hey, this cartoon's inappropriate! Cancel it!

[Feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own comments, complaints, or compliments in the Comments Section below.]

The following are recent titles of articles published by Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal (wisdomquarterly.com):

• "Chasing the Phallus," Bhutan (2022 doc)”
• "Penis worship in US and Buddhist Bhutan"
• "The Vagina Museum, England"

Chasing the Phallus video still (Bhutan, 2022)

In the first article, I disagree with the vulgarity of the photo attached. [It shows four Bhutanese Buddhist pieces of penis art, shown here].

In the second, I disagree with the vulgarity of the song [by American singer Kate Leah] it links to:

Vulgar: "10 Things I Hate About You"

TRIGGER WARNING: Ms. Leah utters an unacceptable expletive [F-word] referring to intercourse!

We say [Richard] all day long, but try to say

In the third, the article [about the world's first female-run, body-positive, pro-feminist "Vagina Museum"] references a "Femigani Workshop."

Here are some of the lines from that article: "Femigami specializes in hosting playful and thought-provoking workshops using the art of origami to create unconventional paper creations (including vaginas and penises)."

"Workshop attendees have ranged from 10 to 80 years old (no one is too young or old to enjoy making Femigami!)" I disagree with children being exposed to such [dangerous, vulgar, body-positive] content!

Gendered violence is wrong.

Another article, "10 Things I Hate About You" [new Kate Leah music video] references the Heath Ledger film 10 Things I Hate About You.]

In that film, violence against men and boys is trivialized; as a male victim of female-perpetrated violence, I disagree with the film being given any platform. [As a rom-com for teens, it should be canceled, banned, and removed from critics' Top 10 lists of popular American comedies!]

Banned by Vice Squad (eBay)

If these articles were, for example, simply a matter of disagreement on grounds such as religion (theism vs. atheism), or political persuasion (Democrat vs. Republican), etc. then I would not have an objection to having my own articles published by Wisdom Quarterly. [But I won't allow them the privilege of broadcasting my voice and views unless they take down these three articles. Otherwise, I would never allow them to print my ideas!]

In the examples I have raised, it is my moral objection to the subject matter (and the journal seeing fit to publish them or give them a platform) which has resulted in my firm decision [to never allow them to publish my words].

• *DISCLAIMER: The characters and events depicted are entirely fictitious. Any similarity to names or incidents is entirely coincidental.
• Top 10 Legal Disclaimers (The Hollywood Reporter)

EDITOR'S RESPONSE

National view: Republicans, Democrats agree: cancel "cancel culture" (Duluth News Tribune)

.

What have we done to our good readers?

While we agree with "Mr. A" that these articles, or recent posts, are objectionable, we reason with him not to condemn Wisdom Quarterly for the decision to give these views a voice or platform. Unlike the openminded British, with their topless Page 3 Girls in every publication exposing children and others to titillating nudity, we American Puritans are closeminded about venises, paginas, and violence directed at males by females. But these are hard realities, particularly in a patriarchy and insidiously sexist culture, as we in the West enjoy as our first world problems. We plead with Mr. A not to cancel his subscription or avert his gaze, but rather to look for the good in all. The women of England behind the "V Museum" are feminists attempting to humanize the female body and its procreative components so denigrated by our fatherly and male-centric mentalities, with the male gaze and voice colonizing our minds. As a privileged white male, it is admirable that Mr. A sees fit to speak up for the oppressed and take on the white man's burden of being upright, acting as the self-appointed Purity Police that finds fault with the rest of the world in general and us in particular, wayward post-British Americans on this side of the pond. We further hope that by bringing attention to these matters, a wave of complaint comments can be avoided, and that no other Letters to the Editor (addressed to Ms. Ashley Wells of the Ashley Wells Foundation) be forthcoming. What will Tricycle, Access to Insight, Shambhala, and America's paper of record The New York Times (to say nothing of The New Yorker) think of us now?

Another 10 Controversial CARTOONS (video)

Tom Tomorrow; WatchMojo.com; Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

"The Reign of Mad King Donald" (Tom Tomorrow/thismodernworld.com)

 

(WatchMojo) There just isn’t one list large enough to encompass all of the shockingly offensive moments in the world of animation.
 

That’s why Watch Mojo is giving us another one. Count down these picks for another Top 10 Controversial Cartoon Episodes.

And check out this interactive Suggestion Tool (WatchMojo.com/suggest). Special thanks to users Jack Walrath, Mitch Deans, Alex Canas, and Cavery210 for submitting ideas.

• Twitter.com/WatchMojo 
• Instagram.com/watchmojo
• Facebook.com/WatchMojo

 

The Simpsons TIMELINE, past-present (cartoon)

TheRealJims ("The Simpsons," FOX TV); Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

"The Simpsons," the longest running and most popular show on American television, has many mysteries and alternate timelines that create paradoxes. But the show so reflects popular U.S. culture that it both predicts the future and intertwines with the Mandela Effect.

Science: Men are idiots, new study shows

Melissa Healy (latimes.com); Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

New research confirms that men -- like Johnny Knoxville, pictured above in "Jackass 3D" -- are more likely than women to engage in idiotic behavior (Paramount Pictures).

• An analysis of Darwin Award winners leads to discovery of Male Idiot Theory, aka MIT
• QED: Men are idiots. 
• How many male researchers does it take to prove that men are idiots? Four. 

You don't want to read this article, do ya?

Finally! A scientific explanation for Johnny Knoxville -- he of “Jackass” fame -- and the fans who keep him at his dangerous and moronic antics: Male Idiot Theory.
 
New research has rigorously tested Male Idiot Theory, which posits that men are idiots and are driven to take ridiculous risks despite the clear prospects for self-harm, and they do it for no defensible reason.

Happiness is overrated; it's better to be right, study finds (latimes.com).

 

Tee: Every woman is a riot

Newly published by the venerable British Medical Journal (in its annual BMJ Christmas issue), the landmark study has shown that Male Idiot Theory holds up under strictly scientific scrutiny.

 

While the latest research does confirm that males can be idiots, it fails to shed light on a larger mystery that has preoccupied this correspondent since girlhood, growing up in a household with six brothers: How did these idiots ever convince the non-idiot gender that they were somehow superior (and worthy of earning close to 30% more, on average, in the United States)? 

• Ig Nobel Prize winners stop bleeding with pork, make sausage from poop (See all related)

Ooh, now in new "medicinal" strength!

But I digress. The latest BMJ inquiry plumbs an important but little-known database to assess gender differences in an individual’s likelihood to engage in profoundly idiotic behavior: the Darwin Awards.
 

Winners of the Darwin Awards, which are handed out at random times and almost always posthumously, must be found to have died (or to have sterilized themselves) in the conduct of activity that is so stupid, pointless, and predictably self-destructive that they can truly be said to have done humanity a great service.

I bet if we tried, we could eat poop

By removing themselves from the human gene pool, the awards note, these honorees have done their part to eliminate impediments to the sustained survival of humankind (note that I do not write mankind). More

In defense of men
Male editors, Wisdom Quarterly; "Jackass"

Why you son of an Abercombie & Fitch, I will tear your head off and spit down your neck!

.

What can we say in defense of males in general and men in particular? "It's a man's world."

Notice how we men tricked the world into believing and repeating that mantra. Then there's the unequal pay; that was a good way to dupe everyone into extracting more resources for our benefit, to the detriment of starving women and children.

I'm the God. Worship me. And obey me or else!

Then what about that time we voted whether or not women were human? That really happened. You notice there are "Founding Fathers" of the USA but no Matronly Mothers or Patriotic Daughters. The chips off the block just grew up to promote the same patriarchy, the same sacred Annunaki-altered biblical texts about God being an "angry" deity, full of vengeance, full of fury, full of whimsical pride and punishment.

Pride and Prejudice, the great author Jane Austen wrote. She could as easily have penned a tome called Pride and Punishment about the male God's antics in the Old Testament. Think humans have it bad? Have you seen the plight of 51% of them?

There used to be a female God, too, you know. Yes, one in the Bible, Jehovah God's wife, the JudeoChristian Mother Goddess. They got rid of her and divine/sacred femininity. Even little boys and girls could no longer behave like sissies or anything but the model of biblical norms, which gives us Nick Blinko's analysis in "Farce":

She is such a pretty girl
Her shape fits well into a mold

Her mind removed, her body's sold

She does exactly what she's told

He is such a brave young man

If his brain can't then violence can

His heart drained since life began

Of the compassion it once had

Why go on living in the past

We just uphold this sexual farce

Farce is farce is farce is farce
Why go on living in the past?

  

Make an example of him! - But I want to forgive.

The worst -- maybe it's not the worst, but it feels like the worst -- is that females hate each other so much and compete with one another so much, not helping but bringing each other down, that we can ask, Who is raising little boys? Men? No, it's women and girls. Maybe we come out like this because the females, our mothers and caretakers, foster it in us. Maybe females unconsciously perpetuate the terrible stereotypes, oppressive gender norms, biased standards, and Western world view.

Oh God, stop me before I abuse others again.

So it must be a "man's world" if the women are on board. It's like, well, imagine a situation where a dominant race in a country got the subordinate group(s) to fight one another. Then they would just walk in laughing, all the oppression already done for them, and stay in power. Or imagine the warden and guards getting the prisoners at work to fight, kill, rape, and abuse one another. Then the prison would "take care of itself," and all the workers would just collect fat checks and handsome retirement packages bargained for by their big union (as happens in California).

Should men just step down off the pedestal? Or should women awaken, rise up, and knock off the aiding and abetting?

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