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 By
Victoria Alexander
Las
Vegas: Satan Vacations Here
Shamans of Refugio Altiplano, Dubai, U.A.E.,
Blueberry Ayahuasca, Sacred Symbol Reclaimed, Anyone Know a
Hacker?,Survival of the Sickest, Kundalini Tantra, New Movies and
more...
 Shamans
of Refugio Altiplano. When I go to Refugio Altiplano
www.refugioaltiplano.org in July, I will be working with Refugio’s
two shamans. The Refugio engages reputable and experienced teachers and
shamans for various individuals and groups depending on the need and
wants of the groups. Curandero Walter Martinez Guimoa belongs to the
Shipibo-Conibo tribe and he comes from Nuevo Paraiso community in
Pucallpa. His experience and knowledge of Amazon medicinal plants began
thirty years ago. The plants speak through his "icaros" (shamanic
chants) which carry incredible strength, power and opportunity. His
spiritual communication and concentration during ceremonies is most
beneficial for participants whom he guides and heals with his chants in
a wonderful way.
Curandero Mauro Huatoto belongs to the Huitoto tribe. He is Refugio’s
latest addition to their shamanic crew. His skill with medicinal plants
is very useful with Refugio’s new botanic gardens as are his powerful
and focused icaros in the healing of guests.
Gail Imel has written a wonderful article about her stay at Refugio.
Anyone interested can read about her retreat on a website devoted to
traveler’s experiences.
http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/13663/1
 You
Should Be Happy I Cast You. Actress Taryn Manning says
that starring in the 2005 movie "Hustle and Flow" was "an incredible
experience." The experience of not being paid, however, was just awful,
she tells Patrick Carone in next month's Stuff magazine.
"The one thing that sucked was that our contracts weren't really honored
by [director] John Singleton," said Manning. "The movie sold at Sundance
for all this money, and we really just got nothing . . . It's such a
joke because the guy completely [bleeped] us over." Last year, after
actor Craig Brewer claimed he had not been paid, Singleton told the L.A.
Times the actors got "great careers" out of the film.
 Perfect
Stranger, Disturbia, Fracture. “Perfect Stranger.”
According to IMDB.com’s trivia for “Perfect Stranger,” starring Halle
Berry and Bruce Willis, “The filmmakers filmed three different endings
to the film, each with a different character as the killer.” Well, at
least they didn’t feel obliged to go with the killer in the original
screenplay. Was the killer chosen by committee or preview audiences?
Berry plays an investigative reporter who quits when her paper refuses
to run her story on a senator fooling around with his young male
interns. She has a creepy investigative hacker/love-slave played by
Giovanni Ribisi. Without a job, she has time to help a childhood friend
get even with a cheating mega-millionaire advertising executive played
by Bruce Willis. When the friend is found brutally murdered, dumped in a
river, and pregnant, Berry goes to work at the executive’s advertising
firm to solve her friend’s murder.
When writing a screenplay, if you can’t figure out how to sneak into
someone’s house, get their passwords or credit card purchases, all you
have to do is write in a hacker character. I’ve never meant one of these
guys. How does one find a hacker? Do I post on Craigslist? Can I trade
movie passes for hacking work? If you know one of these geniuses, email
me.
 “Disturbia.”
This updated teen version of “Rear Window” took number one at the box
office this past weekend. There will be no stopping star Shia LaBeouf
(pictured). Who is behind the rise of LaBeouf? Didn’t anyone learn
anything from the stardom-forced-on-us debacles of Ben Affleck, Josh
Hartnett and Chris Klein? There is no stopping the stardom juggernaut
that is rolling out Shia LaBeouf. Hailed as the savior of cinema at
ShoWest 2007, LaBeouf has been announced as Harrison Ford’s co-star in
Indiana Jones 4. Trust me here. He’s got nil sex appeal and his tween
support (“Holes”) will not follow him. I blame LaBoeuf for ruining
(“Constantine.”) Why isn’t Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“The Lookout”) being
positioned as the next Brad Pitt? Go see “The Lookout.” Gordon-Levitt
has a smoldering sex appeal and he can act. “Disturbia” lacks the
sophistication of “Rear Window” and Alfred Hitchcock’s troubling
voyeuristic complexity.
 “Fracture.”
I saw an advance screening of “Fracture” starring Anthony Hopkins and
Ryan Gosling. This movie is terrific and intelligent. When John gets
back from Abu Dubai, I’ll gladly see “Fracture” again. (What is John
doing in Abu Dubai? I know his lecture will be brilliant, and I hope
he’s making friends and fielding offers to return accompanied by his
wife.) Hopkins’ plays a rich aeronautical genius who kills his wife and
quickly confesses. Gosling plays an assistant D.A. ready to jump to a
prestigious law firm but takes on this last case. With two weeks left in
the D.A.’s office and a confession in hand, it looks like an easy case.
But it is not and the case collapses as Hopkins’ character makes a fool
out of the D.A.’s office and threatens the career of its outgoing star.
This is one well written, smart movie. I really enjoyed its intelligence
and there wasn’t one hacker moment.
 What
I’m Reading. I’m reading “Kundalini Tantra” by my guru
Swami Satyananda Saraswati (my son’s name is Vladimir Satya Lacas) and
“Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need
Disease” by Sharon Moalem and Jonathan Prince. Moalem was a guest on The
Daily Show. Moalem asks why debilitating hereditary diseases persist in
humans and why we suffer from the consequences of aging. His approach to
these questions is rooted in evolutionary theory, and he shows that each
hereditary disease confers a selective advantage to individuals who
carry either one or two alleles for inherited diseases. Each condition
offers enough positive evolutionary advantages to offset the negative
consequences; however, with the constant movement of people and
intermarrying, will science and medicine be able to supersede mankind’s
evolutionary ability to combat diseases?
 Blueberry
Ayahuasca. A friend sent me to shamanicjourney.com to
view a 10 minute film by French filmmaker Jan Kounen. It is the best
representation of what an ayahuasca experience is like – if you remove
the participant waving a gun and the scary elements of his visions. But
the imagery is startling. Kounen must have taken an awful lot of
ayahuasca. Shamanic Journey says “Blueberry is probably the most
expensive to make film in French history, and probably the most
psychedelic piece of art that the film industry has managed to produce
in some time. Without doubt it is the most visually stunning and
realistic portrayals of psychedelic trips ever, founded on director Jan
Kounen's (http://www.jankounen.com)
personal ayahuasca trips.”
http://www.shamanicjourney.com/article/5980/blueberry_ayahuasca
 Swastika
and its Religious Significance. I have an antique
swastika necklace from India. Of course, I do not wear it since no one
can easily recognize it as an ancient sacred symbol and not the symbol
of Nazism. A new friend came by our house and noticed it in my bedroom
and explained: “What is a Nazi swastika doing hanging up in your
bedroom?”
When the U.K.’s Prince Harry was photographed wearing a replica Nazi
uniform there were calls for the symbol to be banned (on the grounds of
being racially offensive) in the UK. The Hindu Forum of Great Britain
got into the act and decided to start a campaign to create awareness
amongst the general public about how an ancient Hindu symbol had been
misappropriated by the Nazis. The Hindu Forum launched a national
campaign to reclaim the swastika.
The word “swastika” originates in Sanskrit. In ancient Indo-European
cultures, it was put on objects to symbolize good luck. The right-handed
clockwise swastika is considered an auspicious symbol of the sun or of
Lord Vishnu, the sustaining aspect of God (in the Trinity of Brahma,
Vishnu and Maheshwar). It also represents the world-wheel around a fixed
and unchanging centre, God. I am not sure about the first appearance of
the word or the symbol in ancient Indian texts but it has been in use
since antiquity.
As a symbol, it has been used for several millennia – not just in India
but also in other ancient civilizations (e.g. it has been found in the
ruins of the city of Troy). It has also been used in Buddhism, Jainism,
and Native American cultures. In earlier times, the swastika was used
freely by Sumerians, Hittites, Celts and Greeks, among others.
The major difference between the Nazi swastika and the ancient symbol of
many different cultures, is that the Nazi swastika is at a
slant, while the ancient swastika is rested flat
If you would like to contact me about
this column, or be included on my private distribution list for a weekly
reminder, just email me at
Masauu@aol.com.
Copyright 2003-2006
FromTheBalcony. All rights reserved.
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