On Apr 4, 2009, at 4:37 AM, TurquoiseB wrote:
Can be viewd here :
http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/
Having finally had time to watch yesterday's press
conference, I'll spend a little time rapping about
my impressions of it. I have to say that 1) there
is little question that these people are all well-
meaning and that their hearts are in the right
places, but 2) many of them are *really* not
the sharpest pencils in the box.
Just watched it myself, Barry--fascinating, really.
I'd never seen David Lynch speak before. Now I know
why, if his quote in the subject line is an indication
of *how* he speaks.
He definitely could use some pointers on his public
speaking. Well-intentioned and nice, but
seemed to have some trouble getting to the point at times.
Ringo was jetlagged and thus
rambling and near-incoherent, but he was rambling
and near-incoherent nonetheless.
I thought Ringo was, as always, terrific,
zany and Ringo-like. He said he was jet-lagged
but I didn't see much evidence of it. He always knows
how to get a laugh.
Bob Roth looked like
he's training in preparation for entering the "Keith
Richards Who Can Look The Most Dead While Still Being
Technically Alive" contest.
He should have stayed off the stage.
Hagelin was comfortable in front of the cameras and
a good speaker, but on the whole his schtick reminded
me of the TV preachers who raise money while invoking
the "poor children."
Why do I always feel he reeks of condescension?
Maybe it's just me.
By comparison Russell Simmons
struck me as more intelligent. Donovan has *never*
been the sharpest pencil in the box, and upheld
that tradition masterfully.
I loved him, thought he looked and sounded great.
Paul Horn was cool; it was good to see him again.
He was terrific. If he really is 79, that's impressive.
On the other hand, it wasn't good to see Mike Love, who
is still the same near-illiterate asshole I knew and
tolerated so many years ago. ("It brought tears to my
mind.")
Way too full of himself, and holding at 10 divorces,
I think (at last count) along with numerous abuse charges,
not exactly a ringing endorsement for the mental clarity
TM is supposed to deliver.
Moby was good, except that he outgrew his idea
that TM involved ritual animal sacrifice...someone
should tell him about the Vedic horse sacrifice :-)
He at least can speak without interjecting "Like"
every 3 words...uh...like Mike.
As always, after trotting out the personalities, then
they trotted out the science, introduced again by a
surprisingly not-well-spoken Lynch.
While he was talking, did you catch how they panned
the audience on several occasions, and that numerous
reporters were laughing? It wasn't clear to me whether
or not it was friendly laughter.
I now understand
my Internet friend's stories about the years she spent
as Lynch's secretary and the difficulties she had
explaining simple facets of real life to him. The
teachers themselves, by comparison, were literate
and good presenters.
Personally, I watched it hoping to see Sheryl Crow,
and was a little disappointed she wasn't there. I like
her music, and she's not exactly hard to look at. But
nooooo.
Anyway, on the whole I thought it was an *effective*
press conference, given what it attempted to do (sell
TM by getting people emotionally pumped up about the
poor "children at risk"). I hope the concert is good
and the attendees get their money's worth. The per-
formers are all professionals, so I'm pretty sure
that the music will be good.
As for the program itself, I wish it well. I really
do think that kids would benefit from learning a
simple form of meditation while still kids. That the
form of meditation being proposed is TM I think is
problematic because I honestly believe that the way
it's taught and explained in followup talks is
religously-based and thus inappropriate for American
schools given the Constitution and the clear wishes
of America's founding fathers. But the courts will
decide that.
But as for the concert itself, I hope that any lurkers
here who are attending enjoy it, and that they come
back and give us their first-hand impressions.
I hope they broadcast it at some point so we can all see
for ourselves. I would guess that would happen, probably
fairly soon.
Sal
