The Bushmen of the Kalahari

The Bushmen of the Kalahari desert live in one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth and yet, with primitive stone age technology, they actually only "work" about fifteen hours a week to procure food and sustenance. 

Why do we all work 40 - 60 hours a week? Out of love? Out of fear? Because of threats? For a more peaceful coexistence? To finance the war machine?  To make the bankers rich?

Why do we work so many hours a week?


copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

How Many Years worked funding the military?

I spent 40 years working. During the whole time I paid taxes. 12.5% of my income goes directly to supporting the military industrial complex and building weapons.  Therefore, I worked about five solid years where ALL the money I made was used to build bombs, planes, ships, guns, and missiles, and I had nothing to say about it.


Actually the number probably is greater than five total years working just to give all my money to the military industrial complex, because of hidden costs.

But for our example:

Years worked for military spending =
0.5 (military percent of Federal budget) x 0.25 (Federal income Tax rate) x 40 (years worked)
= 5 years (total years worked to support military spending = 5 years).


copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Hollywood Forever

As long as there is the remote possibility to make money "hand-over-fist" without getting your suit wrinkled or your fingernails dirty, then there will ALWAYS be a Hollywood. Movies may be "over." TV may be "over." But Hollywood will always generate media content and the most optimistic victims will always get exploited, and used, by the moguls of the future.




copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Sad Hercules

Sad Hercules
Oil on Canvas
1994 copyright (c)
William Schaeffer

Go Dodgers

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Capitalism is fundamentally anti- human

Capitalism is fundamentally anti-human.  When all your human relationships are reduced to financial transactions then you have no real friends.   You are alone and have no real connections to anyone or anything.  Nobody cares if you are dead or alive.

For example, your connection to the people you work with is a shared mutual need to earn money.  If you did not share the same employer, you most likely would have never met.  Once you stop working for the same employer, you will rarely see each other ever again. These people may be nice, thoughtful, and friendly, but they are not your real friends. You can genuinely like and admire these people, but they are not real friends.   If you are in real trouble, they will not help you in any appreciable way.   If you need to be rescued, they will not help you.  You spend the majority of your working day with people that you have no real friendship, or significant connection with, at all.

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Brain Evangelists

One sixth of the entire population of the USA America is presently taking anti-depressant medication. One sixth of the population is taking a medication for which there is no good scientific model and no measurable component of the body that is being monitored (i.e no blood chemical level, no broken muscle mechanism, no nerve signal monitoring). The entire practice in anecdotal and superstitious and a mockery of real science and real medicine. The entire practice is designed to sell pharmaceutical products for which there is no real need - because no component of the body that can be identified is actually broken in a way that can be described scientifically.

This book describes that better:

https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Evangelists-Psychiatry-Far-Fetched-Treatments/dp/0995190607/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509021286&sr=8-1&keywords=brain+evangelists


"In Brain Evangelists, renowned psychiatrist Gordon Warme, MD, blows the whistle on modern psychiatry. In irresistible, darkly amusing prose, he argues that, in the long history of medicine, biological and chemical "abnormalities" in psychiatric patients have never been identified. He insists that labels such as schizophrenia and depression are misleading metaphors that dehumanize patients and authorize psychiatrists to do the unthinkable: remove patients' civil rights, hospitalize without warrant, and administer powerful drugs against patients' wills."


copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Baseball

Baseball
Oil on canvas
copyright (c) 1992, 2000
William Schaeffer

The Man Behind the Curtain

The Man Behind the Curtain
Assembly Art
copyright (c) 2012
William Schaeffer

Dinner with Xavier

Dinner with Xavier
Assembly Art with found objects
copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

The Garden of Earthly Delights

The Garden of Earthly Delights
Assembly Art of found objects
copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Absolute Mathematics

In mathematics it is necessary to talk about and deal with absolutes; i.e. absolute hard edged concepts with no fuzzy gray area at the boundaries where there is a clear delineation between YES and NO.  Even though this is at best only an approximation to real life, it is paradoxically the ONLY reliably consistent way to measurably verify whether what you know is actually TRUE or FALSE.  Ironically, that is why mathematics and mathematical concepts are so prevalent in our ordinary life -- so we know what is actually TRUE.  So we know that the thermometers are all reading the same temperature and the cars are all moving at the same speed; so the buildings don't fall down and the tree removal does.

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Thought for the day: There is always a solution

1. There is always a solution.

2. It is a new day.

3. All you have is the future.

4. Nobody knows WHAT the future will bring.

5. Duty now for the future

6. Keep moving.

7. It is harder to hit a moving target.

8. Thanks for the memories.

9. The future is an illusion and the past is a lie and all that is real is the present moment.


copyright (c) 2017 
William Schaeffer

Halloween

Halloween Trivia:

1. Halloween is the only holiday that the United States Postal Service still delivers the mail.

2. Halloween is the only non-patriotic and non-Christian holiday.

3. Halloween is perhaps the oldest holiday and dates back to pre-Christian, and pre-Roman times.

4. The Mexican "Day of the Dead" holiday was originally celebrated in August, but the Spanish Christian Missionaries moved the date to the end of October to coincide with Halloween and "All Saints Day"

5. The Christian feast day "All Saints Day" was specifically placed the day after Halloween to counter and minimize the Pagan influences in culture, and (of course) to remind people of the "Truth."

6. The pumpkin is an indigenous North American plant.  Irish immigrants invented the jack-o-lantern.  In Ireland they used the turnip to make "glowing spirit heads" but in the "New World" substituted the pumpkin -- to great effect.

7. In Celtic lore, on Halloween night, the spirits of the dead wander the Earth looking for victims and the people must stay up all night around bonfires for mutual protection.

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Lost in the Woods

Lost in the Woods
Assembly Art
copyright (c) 2007
William Schaeffer

Prima Facie

Prima Facie
oil on canvas
with permanent marker.
copyright (c) 1/7/1992
William Schaeffer

Acting tips

-Peter:

Hey! Bill! How do you book that so often? I know you are non union al that but ... Do you have a calling service?

-Bill:

1 . I do not know. I will not stop dialing the phone until I talk to someone, or the show is booked. I work to cultivate a consistent persona -- in my case that is "professional, upper class, educated, lawyer, doctor..."

2. I will dial up to 200 times or for an hour straight.

3. I work at perfecting my wardrobe to fit my character with the right colors and textures. I am clean shaven. I am statistically average sized - in the center of the bell curve (lucky).

4. Work to understand how people view you.
THEN -- work to become the best manifestation of that stereotype. Do NOT try to be all things to all people. Work at being your "authentic" stereotypical self.


5. Only wear solid colors. Never wear prints EVER. Study color theory and learn what colors are best on camera.

6. Comb your hair.

7. Work to please wardrobe department. Stay quiet on set. Take acting classes or read a book. Study film theory. Practice movement like tai chi, or modern dance.


copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

I was programmed to be exploited by the State

"I was programmed by the State to be economically exploited by industry.  And as a young boy, trusting in the good will of authority, there was no way I could defend myself, or even know.

I was not given any useful skills to manage personal finances, live a healthy lifestyle, or most importantly form lasting friendships throughout my life.  I have no friends, because I was programmed in Grade School to have no friends.  As an adult, I have no real friendships in the USA.  And, I am not alone in this.

I have spent that vast majority of my waking life being employed and pretending to be the good employee that my employers wanted to hire, but at no time was I allowed to be my authentic self while I worked.  I had a job to do.  I was not allowed to follow my thoughts or inclinations, or inspirations.  What I thought did not matter, unless it increased productivity.  Even if physically distressed, sick, or ill, I had to ignore my feelings and continue to create productive work, or else I would be disciplined, or fired.  This is not unusual in the USA.  This seems to me to be a common, "natural" and "normal" relationship of most citizens to their own employment in the USA.   Your only value as a human is your "economic value" to industry.

This is the life we want to live? 
These are the values we hold most high?
This is our pride and glory?
This is the society we want to continue?" - Whizz Kidder


copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

From Creativity and Psychological Health

From Creativity and Psychological Health
by Frank Barron,
D. Van Nostrand Co. Inc., 1963


p.138

Cluster II Items descriptive of aggressiveness; power-orientation, and disregard of the rights of others

1. Takes an ascendant role in his relations with others.
2. Is competitive with his peers; likes to go ahead and to win.
3. Emphasizes success and productive achievement as a means for achieving status, power, and recognition
4. Is aggressive and hostile in his personal relations.
5. Manipulates people as a means  to achieving personal ends; opportunistic; sloughs over the meaning and value of the individual.
6. Is rebellious toward authority figures, rules, and other constraints.
7. Is sarcastic and cynical.

The good thing about bad times

"The good thing about bad times is that they yield good stories to tell when things get bad again." - Whizz Kidder

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Educational Deceit

"Not only a system of indoctrination, but also a system of marginalization and classification according to usefulness in the economic system. For example, At University of Illinois from 1940's through the 1980's there was a regular academic policy in the School of Engineering of flunking out 10 - 15% of each class every year. The result of this policy is that only 50% of the incoming freshmen received B.S. degrees from the Engineering College at the University of Illinois. This was a regular academic policy based on percentages. The result was a crop of educated and reliable young engineering candidates and an equal size group of students whose academic career, and most likely professional career were ruined forever. Was the success of the University college of Engineering school and its graduates worth the destruction of an equal number of lives? No one ever told any freshman student in my class that they had only a 50% rate of survival at University of Illinois. No one ever told any college applicant that they had only a 50% rate of survival.

This "academic strategy" can only be described as "a crime against humanity." To destroy the lives of hundreds of unknowing young men, just because you want a better reputation and a little more money is a crime against humanity. It is a deceit, and a deception and a cruel administrative strategy that I experienced first hand at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Some of my room mates from that era are deceased and no longer with us and it is in their memory that I dedicate this essay." - William Schaeffer

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Here and Now

The most important thing is to conduct yourself with honor and equanimity in the here and now.  Do not be overly concerned with the future or the fate of your person (or the fate of your "soul").

If it is a fair and just Universe that we live in, then you will be rewarded for your efforts and you will see the fruits of your labors in the long run, so do not be concerned about that today.

If it is a randomly capricious and malevolent Universe that is unpredictable and cruel, then it is impossible to predict the future and it is not worth thinking about.  It is even more important to concentrate on proper behavior and thought in the here and now (as a "best protection" against impossible-to-predict events).

Either way, the most important thing is to work on proper, efficient, thoughtful, empathetic, productive behavior in the here-and-now and leave the future to take care of itself as best as it can.



copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

facebook description

Renegade bandages hide blistering crystal nightmare of possibility, optimistically fabricated for joy

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Spirit Rock has been Destroyed

Spirit Rock has been destroyed
and the condominiums they were
going to build
need to be refinanced.

In the meantime
the property has become
a toxic waste dump
and an environmental hazard.

Some people think the area
can be revitalized and is
good for tourism.

Other people want to
start an artist colony
devoted to learning and truth.

But most people are
just leaving town and
going to live with their cousins,
or their parents,
or get a real job in the city.

Who really knows?

But they sure would have been
nice condominiums.

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Life is too short

"Life is too short and memory is too long." - Whizz Kidder

copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Dancing in the Background

I once was paired with a woman in a ball room scene. After a short time, I noticed that she was moving me around so she could position herself to look at the camera. I just went along with it and everything was OK, until she started fighting with another woman for floor space, in the middle of the shot. That was strange experience and I avoid that woman when I see her on set. I don't like to gossip, but this was such a humorous and unusual experience that I had to share it.

In fact, because of this experience I formulated the axiom: "Let the camera find you" --

Idea: If you are the perfect manifestation of your character and act so believable that even the crew and other BG's forget who you really are, THEN you will be on camera. The camera will be unable to avoid you. Your essence will draw all attention to your performance and people will be unaware that it is even happening. BUT, you must be absolutely authentic character and have no ego at all, because "You" have disappeared.

copyright (c) 2017 
William Schaeffer

Thoth says

Thoth says:

1. Do the Research.

2. Read a Book.

3. Write it down.

4. Do the Math.

5. Double check your answers.

6. Get a second opinion.

7. Brush your teeth.

8. Comb your hair.

9. Share the wealth.

10. Change the motor oil.

11. Always pay cash.




copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

The more you do it...

No matter how slow 
and stupid you are:

The more you do it, 
the better you get.



copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

we no longer know

"A nation of lies is governed with the guarantee of deceit.  A nation of dreamers is waiting for rewards that never will arrive. Instead, they will be surprised by the real predators. We have lost our way and betrayed our promises.  We no longer know what is right, and what is wrong.  We no longer even know where we stand, or what we are looking at." Dr. Infinity



copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Three Philosophies

1. Everything happens for the best -
(even if we have no idea why or how).


2. This is the best of all possible worlds -
(because this is the world that exists).


3. Nobody knows what the future will bring.




copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Does it ever get any easier?

It never gets any easier.
Life becomes more and more difficult
until finally it is so difficult that
You will die.

There is no escape.
You cannot win.
You cannot break even.
You will die.

The final result is a forgone conclusion.
Enjoy the day as best as you can.
Good Luck.   Eventually,
You will die.





copyright (c) 2017
William A. Schaeffer

Advice to college students

The fact of the matter is that NOBODY can predict the future. NOBODY predicted the internet, facebook, youtube, cell phone video, video drones, and many, many other features of our present life. NOBODY predicted any of the different Stock Market crashes, or the housing market crash. NOBODY predicted that Detroit would become a wasteland with 75% of the single family homes abandoned or destroyed. NOBODY predicted personal computers, the ipad, or cable TV being obsolete. NOBODY predicted the further consolidation of wealth in the possession of fewer and fewer people. NOBODY predicted AIDS. NOBODY predicted LSD. NOBODY predicted Rap Music.  The fact is that None of the features of the current economy, or job market were easily predictable at any time in the past. Likewise it is near impossible to predict what careers will be useful in the future. Additionally, you have to work for at least 40 more years and probably 50 - 60 more years. YOU HAD BETTER BE DOING SOMETHING YOU ENJOY. If you choose the easy path of a safe and predictable future you are choosing DEATH instead of LIFE. You must enjoy the employment you choose to some degree, because if you don't -- you will die a slow spiritual death and will end up in an early grave. YOU MUST FIND SOME SATISFACTION IN THE WORK YOU CHOOSE Or YOU WILL FIND THAT YOUR LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING. I am almost 60 years old and have been around the block once or twice.


copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Live in the present

When enlightened beings tell you to live in the present, they do not mean, "Never think about the past"

They mean, see the present as it is.
Be aware of what is really there --
"right here and right now."

Respond to what is actually there.  Do not respond to the environment as if it was your own memory replaying itself.  Do not reenact previous experiences in your life by using this present moment as actors and stage props.

You must always remember and think about the past experiences you have had.
You must always remember the things that you have learned.
You must always think about the future life that you work towards
You must always think about the future environment and Universe that will unfold
You must always be aware of your present surroundings.

You must always live in the past, the present, and the future all at once. But you must respond only to the present moment.

This is like music which exists in the present but replays the past and works towards the future, following a script that is familiar and yet still surprising enough to be beautiful.

To advocate forgetting, or not thinking about the past, is to promote the destruction of the personality and the denial of basic human nature.  What are we other than the past experiences we have had?  If we had no memory, we would not be fully human.  We would not really be human at all, but just some strange type of cyborg, or android.   We need our memories -- ALL our memories -- the good and the bad -- to be fully, and completely, human.


What we need to learn to do is to let the memories be memories and always be aware of where we are in the here and now at the same time.  And if we do not like where we are in the here and now, we can work to move to a better future.  But we will never get to a better future if we do not know where we came from or have no memories of the past at all.

To advocate forgetting is to advocate the death of the mind and the death of the person.  To advocate forgetting is paramount to a crime against humanity itself.

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer

poem of the day

cybernetic pizza


piano

phone

pepperoni

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer

How to develop the left hand piano

Summary.

1. You need to develop the ability for your hands to operate independently.  You need to grow a second brain for your left hand.  I frequently have to watch my left hand while I perform to "keep it in line."

2. Don't play classical music, Don't play fully written scores, Don't play with a bass and drummer,  Don't play with a drum machine.  Just jam on the piano by yourself.

3. Pick a simple bass line and chord pattern.  Play the bass line over and over and over, trying to improvise with your right hand at the same time.

4. It take five to ten years to grow a new neuron and it takes about the same time to learn a simple rhythmic pattern so you can play it flawlessly.  I can only play about five different rhythm patterns myself and the last patterns (Tango, and "embellished" Tango) each took about five years (or more) to "master."

5. Surprisingly, it is possible to improve your skill on piano as you age.  The effort does not take as much physical abuse as either guitar, drums, or saxophone.  Some piano players have their premier performances in their old age.

6. The most important thing is to be willing to be stupid and be willing to sound bad and awkward for a long time.  But slowly you will improve whether you want to or not.  Your brain is lazy and it really hates working any more than it has to, so reluctantly it learns new skills and abilities.

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer

Capitalism is fundamentally Anti- Human

"Capitalism is fundamentally Anti- Human" - Dr. Know

 Today there are no homeless in Russia. Just try and find a picture of a homeless camp in Russia on the internet and post it here for the rest of us to see.. At the time of the Bolshevik revolution 60% of the factory workers in Russia were homeless. They slept under their work benches with their families and routinely worked 12 hour days six days a week. It is a legacy of the communist revolution in Russia that the government protects you against homelessness -- you are guaranteed a place to live by the Russian constitution. Compare this with the 40,000 homeless on the streets of Los Angeles, and I leave it to you to be the judge as to which society today is more compassionate, or just.

The organizational ethos of the society is the key here, In Capitalism, profit is paramount and above all else in importance. Profit is actually the only variable that is even measured, or considered, when evaluating outcomes of business decisions. Almost nothing is important except money and generating a profit.

In my mind, the success and glory of the top 1% hardly compensates for the exploitation and misery of the least successful 50%.  But when the only thing that is counted, or recognized, is the magnitude of the monetary gulf that separates them, the awareness of the suffering of the lower half of humanity vanishes into obscurity and oblivion.

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer

Central Casting Speed Dialing Mind Control

I look at calling in to Central Casting like a form of Ninja Mind Control. How many times can I dial the phone before I falter and get distracted? How soon can I regain my composure and start dialing again like a Ninja Speed Dial Master? What total Number of Dials can I reach before the job is filled or I get work? How many hours a day can I continue to dial relentlessly like a Supreme Ninja Master of Total Patience and Control?

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer

Deciphering the DADA Doorway to Delight

The first one who decodes the secret DADA declaration will be decorated with an important DADA medallion and receive a dubious distinction of demerit.   DADA delivers.  DADA delivers daily doses of disinformation.


Do not doubt the determination of DADA.
DADA is destiny.  DADA is a duck.

"Quack, Quack," says DADA the Duck.

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer

Day of Judgement

I work as an event security guard. A part of the job is to evaluate and assess who the person is that we are (or preferably will be ) speaking to and if they could present a threat, or if they do not. We have to make this decision in a very short period of time.

This type of evaluation and classification is part of survival and part of being human.

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer

Are you a sociopath?

https://www.cheatsheet.com/health-fitness/signs-someone-is-a-sociopath.html/

Are you a sociopath?

1. Compulsive lying

2. Emotional detachment

3. Narcissism

4. A reckless attitude

5. Anger

6. Manipulation

7. A revolving door of friends

art work copyright (c) 2017

William A. Schaeffer

Communicate

"Communicate effectively. Communicate frequently and often. Use a polite tone, but be correct and accurate with your facts. Listen attentively.  Good communication is the key to effective problem solving." - Mr. Atwater









copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Five hundred dead and counting

Since the tragic even in Las Vegas last weekend, over five hundred people in the USA have committed suicide. FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE. This is almost ten times the number that died last Sunday. TEN TIMES THE NUMBER OF DEAD VICTIMS. Who is remembering these unfortunate souls? Who cares about these people? Why do we not hear about THIS in the news? R.I.P.

Similarly, in every single month since January 2002, more people have killed themselves than the number that died in 9/11. Why do we not hear about THIS? Since 9/11 almost 200 times the number of people have killed themselves than died in 9/11. Why do we not hear about this? Who cares about these people? R.I.P.


 Statistically, you are more likely to be a victim of suicide than either a murder victim, or in a fatal car accident. This is a fact. I would think that you should be concerned, just out of self interest. How well do you know yourself? How many people will help you after a life changing accident or tragic economic reversal? How confident are you of the quality of your relationships in difficult times? How confident are you in yourself in an increasingly competitive society, when your own skills are eroding with age. Who calls you on the phone? Who cares about you? Just curious...


copyright (c) 2017
William Schaeffer

Capitalism in Anti- Human

Capitalism is Anti- Human

In the corporate balance sheets of profitability, there is no room for people who cannot produce more than a certain amount of wealth and value.  These people are thrown away. 

It is only the vestiges of human centered legislation from the 1930's that saves those people today from the horror of homelessness and living on the street.

And still, around 40,000 people live right on the streets and sidewalks of Los Angeles.  There is no place for those people in the USA American economy.  They have been "thrown away."  Almost nobody even cares.


At the heart of the philosophy, Capitalism is Anti- Human.


There is only one variable that is analyzed to evaluate the results of business decisions: Profit


In the past is was tacitly assumed that "what was good for business was good for society" and therefore good for people in general.  This may have been true at one time, but today in the "advanced designer chemical infused cybernetic marketplace of the internet" this tautology no longer holds true.  For today: global warming, environmental degradation, overpopulation, illness epidemics, pollution contamination and more are all the result of seeming careless business decisions of the past. We can no longer assume that profitability is an appropriate guide to success, suitability or "the common good."


There can be only one priority in any organization,  There is only one primary objective.  If the primary objective is to make the greatest profit possible, then there is almost no concern for the people involved.

Capitalism is fundamentally Anti- Human.     

Welcome to the future.  Welcome to reality.  You have no intrinsic value.

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer

Bushmen of the Kalahari

The Bushmen of the Kalahari spend and average of fifteen hours a week on food and sustenance.  People living with stone age technology are living in one of the most inhospitable landscapes on Earth and they ONLY spend FIFTEEN HOURS A WEEK actually working; working for a living.  The rest of the week is spent singing songs and playing games.  The Bushmen really know how to enjoy life.

Now ask yourself, "Do I love my life?"  or,  "Is my heart filled with joy?"  or,  "Do I love the people I work with?"   or,  "Would I do this work if I did not get paid?" 


If the answer to any of these questions is "NO", then ask yourself, "Why am I working 50 or 60 hours a week?"  or,  "Do the additional 35 hours a week bring twice, or three times, as much joy?"   or, "Is this the best possible life I can imagine?" 


And then ask yourself ,"Would I rather work fewer hours a week?"  or,  "How can I do it?"  or, "Why am I living this 'overtime' life?"

Good Luck.

copyright (c) 2017

William Schaeffer