Netherworld Cinema: Lions (Humans and Spirits) Part I

How Warren Buffett Would Invest a Small Sum of Money

You know, a paltry sum like three million or five million. Pocket change.

~DJ Helena~

Crime Patrol

The True Crime Re-Enactment type of program has pretty much the same style the world over. Although I couldn't understand the words they were saying, what was transpiring was easy to see.

~DJ Helena~

Reflections on the 2012 Production of Anna Karenina

There have been many adaptions of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel. This 2012 production was wonderful. The performers were evidently very enthusiastic about their involvement, and it shows.
As of this writing, the film can be viewed here.

~DJ Helena~

Robert DeNiro Wants To Make Sure You Get the Point

Aaron and Amanda Crabb: Take Him To The Place

A to Z Blogging Challenge 2015: U is for Understated

So much of the music scene is flashy. It's refreshing to find artists like young Hannah Trigwell, whose stripped-down performances focus on their music rather than on themselves. Sometimes an understated presentation is the most effective, because there is no splashy spectacle to detract from the delivery of the words and melody.

~DJ Helena~

A to Z Blogging Challenge 2015: G is for Goof

A goof or spoof is generally more light-hearted than a lampoon. It is a humorous variation upon or send-up of given material, or of a person. The creators of the above video show various ludicrous ways in which The Dark Knight Rises could have ended, as well as goofing on Batman and other characters from the Batman universe.

~DJ Helena~

The Heartland: Jack and Mallory

The way he says "that will be fun," you get the feeling that maybe he thinks it will be a respite to have her out of his hair!

Heartland is a Canadian TV series. It follows sisters Amy and Lou Fleming and their grandfather Jack Bartlett through the highs and lows of life on a horse ranch in cattle country. The story details how, although Amy and Lou's mother was killed in a car accident, they continue to keep their mother's dream alive by healing abused and neglected horses through their family business.

Jackson "Jack" Bartlett

Amy and Lou's grandfather and Marion's father. After Marion dies, he helps Amy and Ty maintain Heartland and its horses and is the one to fix everything.

Mallory Wells

A friend of the family who visits frequently. She is mostly known for talking too much and getting into everyone's personal lives, which often gets her into trouble though sometimes she does have her own wise moment. She has two love interests throughout the series whose names are Jake and Badger. She is hired by Lou to babysit Catherine, which sometimes annoys her, though she really does like helping everyone out.

Information from the Heartland Wikipedia page.

~DJ Helena~

KHEL 666 Real Kool History: The Reconstruction of Richard III

I've always been fascinated by this sort of thing. If I could go back in time, I'd get the training necessary to become a forensic pathologist and forensic artist. 

Imagine, this amazing historical figure being buried under a parking lot. Wonder what he thinks of that!
Great information in this one, but the robotic voice is a bit off-putting.
For those of you who really want to go in depth, here is Jacob Abbott's full audio book. Dive in, history buffs!

~DJ Helena~

Rage Quit: The Impossible Game with Night is SicK

Somehow this reminds me of how much I suck at Breakout, which my brother was always good at and would make fun of me for how bad I was.

Come to think of it, I sucked at most video games, but there were some I liked anyway.

I'm sure I'd suck at this game. I'm not sure how much I'd like it. It seems like you have to have a joystick, which I don't, and I can't be bothered to get one.

~DJ Helena~

Review of Naruto #629

This young man does an excellent job with his review of this episode in the Naruto series.

Naruto is a Japanese manga, which was first published in 1997. It was later made into an anime, which ran from October 3, 2002 to February 8, 2007.

The folks from Monday's Music Moves Me reminded me that it's Labor Day in the U.S. I'm going to do something a little different and dedicate this Sad Songs collection from Naruto to my kindred spirits who labor on in a life with mental illness. 
Every member of the KHEL 666 Krew lives with mental illness. I have type 2 bipolar disorder, and I know that what comes easily to normal people is often a struggle for those of us who are mentally ill. For us, staying alive can be a struggle, and not everyone wins the battle.

We've all heard the well-meaning advice. "Just cheer up. Just stop that stinkin' thinkin'. I know just how you feel." 

The problem with the last one in particular is that if the person saying those words doesn't have a mood disorder, then they really don't know how it feels.Think about how you felt the last time something really bad happened to you. Sometimes we feel that way for what would seem to be no reason at all. It can become impossible to perform optimally when just getting out of bed is a struggle.

We've also heard things which are far less well-meaning. Lazy. Crazy. Stupid. Words like this certainly don't help. In fact, this kind of stigma causes people living with mental illness to remain ostracized and to be ashamed to seek help. In some cases, these words even kill.

It seems like many creative people struggle with mental illness. In fact, the same areas of the brain responsible for creativity are also heavily involved in conditions such as bipolar disorder, so there is a strong correlation. However, not all creative people are mentally ill, and not all mentally ill people are creative.

Creative pursuits can help people with mental illness cope with the difficulties they face. I wish I could say I was artistic, but I'm hard pressed even to draw stick figures. I like to write because it gives me an outlet for my emotions, and, for a time, takes me away from a life which has been very difficult in many ways.

Whatever your Labor in this life--whether you have a mental illness, a physical handicap, or are simply trying to keep on keeping on in this sometimes harsh world, I wish you well today and every day.

Peace,

DJ Helena

Cross-Posted to:

Crazy Town in Looney Land

KHEL 666

Music Monday/Monday's Music Moves Me: Celebration and Truth

The theme for today's Monday's Music Moves Me and Music Monday is a song of celebration and a song that describes ourselves. The first is a song celebrating the summer solstice.

Here is a lesser known song by Elton John which describes how misunderstood I tended to feel in my youth. Depressive with an interest in the "supernatural" and the "occult," sure didn't fit in with the local church youth group. Believe me, the rumors flew. 
Like Lady Samantha, I was "harmless and empty of anything bad." I guess the rumors about me being a blood sucking fiend from beyond the grave were more interesting than the reality that I was just a shy, lonely young woman with a vivid imagination who happened to like wearing black.

I still like wearing black, and while it's nice to be understood, if people don't want to make the effort, I'm not going to do bend over backwards trying to make them like me. I've got better things to do with my time.

~DJ Helena~

Stumper: What is This Song?

Can anyone tell The Variety Guy what song this riff comes from? He believes it's from the New Wave era. I came of age during those years, but I can't pinpoint the tune. If you can, go to his You Tube channel and give him the 411!

~DJ Helena~

Strange Forces Acrobatic Dance

I'm blown away by the strength and agility it takes to do what these guys are doing.

Apparently, there is a B.A. Honors degree in Circus Arts. So, if you are far more flexible and agile than I am (of course more than half the people on the planet are, if I'm honest), you may want to check it out!

~DJ Helena~

Morrissey: He Knows I'd Love to See Him

It's not part of the A to Z, I just want to play some Morrissey!

~DJ Helena~

Qaadir Howard: Texas Chainsaw Massacre Guy

I'm loving the hilarious Qaadir Howard. I was thinking that he and Chris Tucker should be in a movie together. They have that same fast-paced style of delivery.

~DJ Helena~

Jersey Polka Richie: Happy Fellow Polka

Wait--first she shares Fiddy Cent and says she enjoys the stories he tells through his songs--now she's sharing polka. What???

It's a melting pot, Folks. I always liked that concept. We haven't entirely lived up to what it should mean. There's still a lot of inequality in the division of opportunities and resources. But I'm not going to go into that at length here.

My background is primarily East European. I'm a Heinz 57. I'm a mixture of most of the world's whitest countries. My complexion is so pale that when the lights go out in a room, I glow. 

In my youngest years, I lived in an area where there were a lot of East Europeans. Germans, Poles, Hungarians, Austrians, Lithuanians, Russians--people who liked cabbage and sausage! They believed in keeping traditions alive. There were festivals of all kinds--any excuse for a festival was a good one. There was always music, and hence, my love of polka!

My family moved away when I was ten years old for a better opportunity for my father, but we went back often, usually around Christmas. 

Those old traditions are dying. Almost all of my grandparents' generation is gone now. My father has been gone for five years. One memory stands strong in my mind. It was not long before we left. I remember his dark curly hair with the threads of gray, his big schnozz that he joked about, his smile, beer in hand. He always regretted leaving. He became kind of a different person after we did, but he was stubborn and would never admit defeat.

Dementia and strokes stole his mind. It happened fairly early on. He was dead by 75.

I was ten years old during that last festival before our move. I had no idea just how young forty was.

I suspect now that my father may have had a mood disorder like I do, and that may have been in part what prompted the sudden decision to move on for "better opportunities." He would sometimes fly into frightening rages. Other times he would be very withdrawn. He worked hard, never missing a day for illness. However, I learned after his death that his personality tended to get him called on the carpet. He was toeing the line most of the time.

I think that there were times when my father was genuinely happy. So for him, here's the Happy Fellow Polka. I like to remember him that way.

~DJ Helena~

Hip Hop History: 50 Cent

"What the hell, DJ Helena? Why would a middle aged white broad be interested in 50 Cent?"

The man is a survivor. He came from very bad circumstances and turned himself into something. His songs tell stories, they don't glorify violence. Except for a completely ridiculous video game (50 Cent: Bulletproof) I've enjoyed his body of work.

(

He was shot nine times: in the hand (a round hit his right thumb, to where the bullet passed through and out his little finger), arm, hip, both legs, chest, and his face (his left cheek). The face wound resulted in a swollen tongue, the loss of a wisdom tooth, and a small slur in his voice. He maintains a bullet fragment in his tongue because it was thought that taking it out would further damage his nerves and taste buds. His friend also sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. They were driven to the hospital where Jackson spent thirteen days.(From the Wikipedia entry.)

 "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back.... I was scared the whole time.... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh @#!*% , somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'"

 "After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life... How much more damage could that shell have done? Give me an inch in this direction or that one, and I'm gone"

Jackson has a tattoo of "Marquise" (his son) with an axe on his right biceps. "The axe is 'cause I'm a warrior. I don't want him to be one, though," he explains. He also has "50", "Southside", and "Cold World" inscribed on his back because "I'm a product of that environment. It's on my back, though, so it's all behind me."

~DJ Helena~

A Very Bipolar English Lesson

This is one of those quirky random finds that fall into my lap occasionally when I'm searching for something else.
It's an English lesson which contains poetry, philosophy, and a bit of psychology.
It's a nice illustration of what it's like to walk this world with a bipolar brain.
I personally don't flip a switch on my moods at the drop of the hat most of the time. I can generally tell when I'm cycling from up to euthymic to down. However, things can happen which can push me into a horribly depressive mood when I was in a fairly good one.
I just thought it would be fun to share this with all my other mental misfits!
~DJ Helena~