Matthew Wayne Selznick

Holy crap.

There’s a new hominid on the family tree — a tool-making, raft-building species that stood three feet tall!

They lived on the islands of Indonesia as recently as 18,000 years ago, which makes them contemporaries of Homo sapiens. Only these little guys were probably descended from Homo erectus.

The media’s calling them hobbits.

How about that?

I just came back from a five day trip to the Bay Area to satisfy some training requirements of my day job. The training was interesting in so far as the context, but here were the real “take-aways,” to use some corporate speak:

I read Philip Sudo’s “Zen Guitar.” This was recommended by Michael W. Dean in his “$30
Writing School” book, and I dug it.

There’s so much for creative people to gain from the Zen approach to their art — this is a valuable book for anyone who creates.

Reading it helped me maintain “mindfulness” while I
was staying at the hotel.

One of my favorite moments came one night when, alone, I walked the few blocks from an Italian restaurant back to my hotel. The road took me through an industrial park that was lined with tall trees and small artificial brooks and streams. A light, misty rain fell. For the first time in many years, I was silent and aware enough to really see the energy around me. Wonderfully grounding.

Equally invigorating was the little group of folks I gravitated toward during the “off-hours” away from the training session. The company I use to pay my bills attracts a lot of very creative people, but it was a special joy to discover that I was sitting at dinner with a film-maker, an actress, a musician, and a writer. I mean, right there, we had every person we need to make a film. Maybe one day we will?

There are distance constraints, and life constraints, and time constraints, but I hope the enthusiasm, camaraderie, and friendship we shared will continue to advance and develop.

As Hank Chinaski used to say, “To all my friends!”

Man oh man, but I do love Godzilla.

I?d say it?s a guilty secret, except that I have no guilt and I don?t keep it a secret by any means. I get a very deep sense of well-being and satisfaction when I see a Godzilla movie. Any Godzilla movie? except the one made by that dude who did Independence Day.

See, to me, Godzilla represents the very primal force of the Earth itself. He / she / it is a guardian dragon in the classic sense, whether the beast is portrayed as the villain or hero of any particular movie.

So when I see that majestic, slow, lumbering saurian crest the waves, or loom over a hilltop, or stride through a cityscape, I am very willing to suspend my disbelief ? in fact, if Godzilla and the other giant monsters of the Toho mythology existed in this world, I actually believe it would be a better place.

Is that crazy, actually wishing for a world where physically impossible monsters could rise out of the ocean, or a volcano, or fly in from space, at any moment and do more damage than any weapon of mass destruction made by human hands?

Not so much. Think of Godzilla as a nuclear deterrent that is not controlled by any of man?s nations. A living weapon of the Earth that stands eternally in the wings, ready to lumber onstage when we humans get too full of ourselves, too damaging, or too disrespectful of the gifts we?ve been given.

What kind of world would that be?

Would the Soviet Union and the United States have danced their Armageddon dance for so long, knowing that Godzilla could unilaterally insure their destruction at any moment? Would there even need to be such a thing as the Kyoto Accords to control global warming, when Godzilla would break free of the first melting iceberg and march into the industrial world, a stern and unstoppable slap in the face of the First World?

Would there be terrorists, when a four hundred foot bipedal lizard with atomizing breath loomed more real and more immediate than any of Abraham?s gods?

I?m just sayin?, y?know?

Something to think about.

Well, it just occurred to me that I can write about things in a way that I can’t in the “Founder’s Corner” at MWS Media.

It’s a matter of context, see. MWS Media is my business, it’s where I focus on a very specific part of my art — supporting and encouraging DIY folks and hopefully earning a little bit to help with my own endeavors.

This blog, though — it’s just my head pouring out into the aether.

I can yak about anything I want — I can reveal idealogical views about myself, I can rant, I can pontificate. Of course, only a monkey would truly expect my readers to keep my words here and my works elsewhere seperate. I know one will reflect the other. But I will try to keep them separate!

So, today, for example, I can talk about… what?

Ahhh! Too much freedom!

That’s the albatross of the internet I’m feeling around my neck…

Okay, that’s all for now. I’ve got house upkeep to battle with — fix some leaky sprinklers, wash the dog, change the cat box, mow the lawn, and so on.

I may come back to this “freedom of the internet” thing, but then again, so many others have said so much more on it, and better.

Cheers!

“Scribtotum” is my piss-poor latin word meaning “To write many things.”

I just didn’t want to call this a blog, you know?