THE YARD IS THIS SATURDAY APRIL 2

HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE ON APRIL 2 @ THE SYNAXIS AT-THE-SHORE
12:15 - 2:15

THE YARD @ THE GARDEN STATE FILM FESTIVAL 2011

Cryptic weirdness aside, I have to start promoting with all earnest the April 2nd Showing of THE YARD @ The Synaxis At-The-Shore in Asbury Park, NJ. S33 is the locale and the showings start around 12:15 - 2:15pm.

Hope to see you there.
N8

TODAY I AM A FOOL

ICONOLOGY OF THE FOOL CARDS

by Dr. Robert O'Neill

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1 shows the four intact cards from the 15/16^th century decks. The fool appears in a variety of guises from the goitered idiot with feathers in his hair to the homeless man with bells to warn of his approach. In two cases, he is being played with or tormented by children. In all cases he is carrying an object: a staff, a branch, or a belt of bells. In two cases he has a foolscap with the ears of a jackass. In all cases his clothing is inadequate.
There is a fifth image, a sliver of a card in the Cary-Yale woodcut sheet (Kaplan 1986, Volume II, p. 286), this shows a man walking to the viewer's right with a staff and perhaps a pack on his back or perhaps it is a hat with chinstrap that has been thrown back. He appears less disheveled than the fools in Fig. 1 with a cloak and boots and looks like a medieval image of a pilgrim, e.g., Walker (1984, fig. 26). The sliver of a card is shown in Figure 2. I have chosen to show this example separately because of an interesting relationship with the Bagatto card that appears to its left. Notice that the three-tiered pack (or hat) on the Fool's back appears to be the same, or similar, to the three-tiered pack (or hat) on the Bagatto's back. A relationship is also suggested in another woodcut (1). We will return to the interesting relationship between these two cards later in the chapter.
Images of the Fool were common in Medieval and Renaissance artistic traditions. Secular sources, such as Brant's "Narrenschiff" (Basle, 1494) show the fool with foolscap, crutch or staff, barefoot and with leggings falling. Images from this source are discussed by Hind (1935) and an example can be seen here (2).
A fool image also appears in the "Tarocchi of Mantegna" as Misero (3). Another secular image appears in a ~1403 treatise on astrology (Figure 3). Here the Fool appears as a disheveled lunatic, pointing up to the moon and under its dominion.

RELIGIOUS TRADITION

The Fool commonly appears in general religious art. Giotto illustrated one in the fresco of Foolishness, one of the seven vices illustrated in the Arena Chapel in Padua (1306) (4). The Fool appears barelegged, with feathers in his hair and a staff/club that resembles one of the early cards (Fig. 1).
A typical Fool image appears as beggar in a 13^th century illustrated life of John the Baptist (Figure 4). The image shows the foolscap, cane, and bare feet. Interestingly, this version shows, not a pack, but a child being carried on the Fool's back.
The Fool often appears in illustrated Psalters because of Psalms 13 and 52: "The Fool says in his heart: 'there is no god'". Figure 5 appears in an early 15^thcentury psalter as an illustration of Psalm 52. The Fool wears an animal skin and carries a stick under his arm. A similar illustration showing the Fool dancing while the king prays can be found in Davidson (1989, Fig. 4). Other examples from 14^th century psalters can be seen at (5), (6),(7), (8), and (9).

TRIUMPHAL TRADITION

The Fool does not appear in Petrarch's poem and is rare in the Triumphal tradition. The only example I am aware of appears in the middle tier of images at the PalazzoSchifanois in Ferrara, under the Triumph of Minerva (1476-1484)(10).
Moakley (1966) identified the Fool as a character in her Petrarchian festival. But the imagery does not appear. The only real possibility is that the Fool represented Petrarch himself � the non-participant in the procession, that is occasionally illustrated on a hillside in the background observing and learning. But this identification seems forced and really isn't justified by the imagery in the early Tarot cards.

DANCE OF DEATH TRADITION

The Fool seldom occurs in the artistic tradition associated with the Dance of Death. The only examples that I am aware of can be seen at (11) and (12). The rarity is likely due to the enigmatic position of the Fool in the Moral Theology of the Middle Ages. The Dance of Death represents the allegory of various estates of persons, forced to face the moral consequences of their actions. But to commit a serious moral evil, a person must be fully conscious and aware of their action. Fools and madmen are like children and were not morally responsible. Their exemption from punishment after death appears as early as 12^th century tracts (Gurevich 1988) and was confirmed by the Scholastic theologians such as Thomas Aquinas (Davidson 1996). The Fool was outside the normal 'estates' and could face death with impunity.

APOCALYPTIC TRADITION

The Fool does not appear as a character in Revelations and the image of the Fool does not appear in the artistic tradition based on Revelations.

ICONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

The Fool would have been a familiar and recognizable character in the city-states of northern Italy where the Tarot was designed. Living on charity and exempt from the moral and civic obligations of other citizens, the Fool moved freely through late Medieval urban society. Husken (1996) points out that as a street-person the Fool participated in religious, royal, and theatrical processions just as postulated by Moakley (1966).
The Fool frequently appears as a character in late Medieval and Renaissance dramas. These plays provide a unique opportunity to analyze how the Fool was viewed within the society that produced the Tarot. In 15^th century morality plays, the Fool appears as a character called "Nought" who is subject to derision because he plays no attention to morality (Davidson 1989). In an early poem, "A Tale of Three Score Fools" the Fools are under the patronage of Bishop Nullatensis (Davidson 1989). In both these cases, the association of the Fool with zero is clear.
But the Fool also appears as a far more complex character. In some instances, he falls in with a trickster (Leslie 1996), an association that was pointed out earlier in connection with Fig. 2. The distinction is made between the 'natural' Fool who is ignorant and mentally disturbed and the 'artificial' fool who is actually perfectly sane, a sly trickster who pretends to be a fool (Happe 1996). This association may help explain the juxtaposition of the Fool and Bagatto cards in the Tarot deck. This was an association that the card-player is likely to have seen before.
In the medieval morality play, the Fool who lacks discipline and morality is seen as an evil example and temptation for the society around him. In a few illustrations ( see Davidson 1989, Fig. 3), the Fool is depicted as the Devil. In turn, the character Titivillus is actually the Devil but becomes a silly and comic character that causes little harm (Gifford 1974). This enigmatic Fool/Devil association does not appear to have carried over into the Tarot.
In a 16^th century morality play, the main characters find three ladders which symbolize the three estates : church, nobility, laboring classes � each ladder has 7 rungs. This shows an interesting parallel to the structure of the 21 Trumps, but probably simply reflects the importance of the numbers 3 and 7 in the numerology of the times. More interestingly, the church ladder has prudence as its first rung. However, the character in play says it is actually folly (Husken 1996). Perhaps this is another hypothesis to explain the missing virtue of Prudence in the Tarot?
There is a second body of literature which does not bear directly on the Renaissance image of the Fool, but on the combined Fool/Magician as an archetypic image. Radin (1972) points out that the "trickster" appears as a character in ancient Greece, in Chinese and Japanese stories and in the Semitic world as well. Most of the 300 native American tribes, belonging to 7 different language families, have trickster tales. Pelston (1980) discusses the trickster archetype in West African stories. The universality of the trickster, across cultures, was the primary criterion used by Jung to argue for the archetypic nature of an image. Jung argued that such images were produced by the unconscious rather than being transmitted through cultural means (Jung 1954).
Lindquist (1991) examines the Winnebago legends and develops the theme that the trickster is 'everyman'. A life symbol embodying the foolishness, spontaneous wisdom, and human errors of everyone. However, the trickster remains very much a religious figure. The tales are moral lessons on the pitfalls of maturation.
What becomes clear from the study of medieval drama and the archetypic myths of the trickster is that the Fool/Magician is, like all archetypic images, enigmatic. The Fool is lacking in clear rational thought, but can surprise the wisest with spontaneous wisdom. One is reminded of a modern Fool, Yogi Berra, who said that if you don't care where you are going, "You ain't lost". The Fool is devilish in the tricks it plays, but innocent of any moral consequence of the tricks. This enigmatic character is typical of archetypic images. For example, the simple figure "O" can mean both zero/nothingness and also can be a symbol for completion. The essential question is asked by Willeford (1969, p. XV):
" Why is the fool, as bumpkin, merrymaker, trickster, scourge, and scapegoat, such an often recurring figure in the world and in our imaginative representations of it? Why do fools from widely diverse times and places reveal such striking similarities? Why are we, like people in many other times and places, fascinated by fools?"

INTERPRETATION

When we take the archetypic image of the Fool into the environment of the 15^th century card-player, several additional aspects of the image should be emphasized (Swain 1932). Walsh (1996) points out that the Fool, even the Fool supported by the ducal court, was not an honored guest. He was given only table scraps to eat, often beaten, ridiculed and subjected to the playful harassment shown on some of the early Tarot cards (Fig. 1).
The possibility that the fool could do evil through ignorance was never forgotten. But in literature and drama there is also a recognition that the Fool is also a model for the holy (Happe 1996). The Fool was never given the glowingly positive qualities attributed to the Tarot Fool in the modern period (Davidson 1996). But there was always the reminder that the devout would also appear as fools because of their rejection of society's rules (Saward 1980).
Hern-Allen (1979) points out that "Fool" is a term used for the spiritual aspirant in many religious paradigms including Islam and Zen Buddhism. The term was used for some of the early Christian desert Fathers (Krueger 1996). The card-player may not have been aware of these references, but was well aware of 1 Corinthians 4:10 ("we are fools for Christ's sake") and would have heard the revered Saint Francis of Assisi referred to as a fool (Green 1983). So although the homeless Fool of the streets would likely have been the first impression to strike the mind of the ordinary card-player, it is also reasonable to assume that the religious image was sufficiently familiar to have arisen as well.

THE FOOL'S JOURNEY

Modern interpretations of the Fool card often interpret this card as the initiate setting out on a quest for self-development, the Fool's Journey. So the question arises as to whether this concept could have been in the minds of the 15^th century designers. The answer, surprisingly, is that the proposal is quite feasible!
The concept of the religious pilgrimage was, of course, a familiar one: "�strait is the gate and narrow is the path which leadeth to life and few there are that find it." (Matthew 7:14). The card-player probably knew someone who had journeyed to a shrine or repository of a miraculous (i.e., magical) relic or icon. The venacular epics of Dante and Petrarch were well-known examples of the ignorant poet being exposed to a sequential hierarchy of experiences that led to wisdom. Dozens of the 14^th-17^th century epic/chivalrous poems feature a journey/pilgrimage into hell (Turner 1993). Apocalyptic themes were assimilated into the grail quest literature by the 14^th century (Emmerson 2000). In addition, the image in Figure 2 looks more like a pilgrim than the typical Fool.
Even if the card-players had limited access to the courtly poets, they were certainly familiar with the dozens of folk legends of otherworldly journeys (Haas 2000). It is beyond the scope of the present study to review these stories in detail and the interested reader is referred to Gurevich (1988) and Gardiner (1989). These traditional stories range from moral allegory to thinly veiled mystical journeys. And we must agree that at least one of the 15/16^th century cards (Fig. 2) show the Fool as a journeyer.
The evidence is not strong enough to demonstrate that the theme of the Fool's Journey played an important role in the design of the cards. However, the theme was a part of the culture in which the cards were designed. Therefore, we cannot dismiss offhandedly the suggestion that a hierarchical pilgrimage or quest played some role in the design and early interpretation of the cards.

BOY

V2VIFF HAS BEEN POSTPONED

Due to a lack of cooperation, courtesy, funding, volunteers, proper location, and overall honesty the V2VIFF has been postponed indefinitely.

I think the following quote sums it up.

Boom, crush. Night, losers. Winning, duh.
Charlie Sheen

Read more:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charlie_sheen.html#ixzz1G8ByKV5N

:(
N8

DUH, WINNING!!!!

Really!?!

xoxo,
N8

p.s. Really!?!

OSCAR OOPS and Some Other Stuff :P

Two things:

1) If the kid is younger than 10 years old it just might be a BAD IDEA letting the child hold your and several other people's metaphorical symbolic award of a lifetime's worth of sweat, tears, and labor.

2) There is an Oscar Hospital.

Need I say more?

N8

p.s. If you want a ticket click the above title or this link. THE YARD

WHY DOES DISNEY SCARE ME?

Because they have made waaaaaay TOO many child stars that completely freaked out as they sorta became adults. BTW - Here comes a terribly "baddest" grammar moment.  YEAH, dem kids is RICH but dey crazy... Excuse me, I meant to say CRAZAY!!! Rich as Sh!t and Crazay as F*ck ta boot!!


God Bless, America!

Only place on Earth where you can get away with this behavior and call it a living. If I had known crazay made you both FAMOUS and RICH I would so have cashed in on my own insanity years & years & years ago!!!

You think I'm lying? Do you actually think I'm LYIN' to ya'???

Enjoy :)
N8

THESE SONGS ARE FIRE!!!

These are some of my favorite songs on the radio right now. CAREFUL!!!! Kanye actually has an EPILEPSY WARNING in front of his video!!! So if you start seizing out... YOU WERE WARNED!!! (LOL).

N8

SURE THING by MIGUEL


ALL OF THE LIGHTS by KANYE WEST


LOVING YOU NO MORE by DIDDY


ANGELS by DIDDY

WALK IT LIKE YOU OWN IT!!!!!!

Jennifer Berg of the Page Awards mass mailed this email a few nights ago. Even though she is trying to get more people to enter her contest this email was truly INSPIRING and worth posting on my blog. So take her advice and "WALK IT LIKE YOU OWN IT!"

God Bless and Good Luck to all who are in a position to face this type of challenge... I will see you soon enough (lol ;) ) 

N8

Dear Nathan,

In honor of this weekend's Oscar ceremony, I'd like to share with you one of my favorite experiences here in L.A....

I was new in town. I had moved to Los Angeles from the Midwest just a few months earlier and was working as an assistant at a production company. The hours were long and the pay was abysmal. No matter what you want to achieve in Hollywood – whether you want to become a writer, producer or actor – there's one constant: you've gotta pay your dues. But the important thing was that I was learning a lot and making some very good friends.

One of those friends was working as an assistant for Gil Cates, the producer of the Academy Awards show. And though, like me, she put in very long hours for very little pay, her job afforded her one huge, wonderful perk: she got four tickets to the ceremony. And she gave two of them to me. I could hardly believe it...

I was going to the Academy Awards!!

I had never attended an event like this before, and on my tiny paycheck, I knew I was going to have to be very resourceful. (Girls, you'll understand this...) I found a long black dress on sale at Ross for $15, and a pair of strappy sandals for $10. As a substitute for the jewelry I didn't have, I wrapped a long, glittery scarf around my neck (very Isadora Duncan), then found a pair of rhinestone earrings at a little thrift store.

On the morning of the event, I splurged on a trip to the salon, and the hair stylist gave me a gorgeous up-do. On my way out of the mall, as I passed a cosmetics counter, I spotted a make-up artistdoing demos. She told me that if I purchased just $15 worth of product, she'd do my make-up for me. Are you kidding? A total klutz with a make-up brush, I lept at the opportunity. And when she found out where I was going that night, she went all out.

Have you ever watched one of those reality shows like "How Do I Look?" Well, it was like that. When he showed up on my doorstep, my date was clearly impressed. And, wow, there's nothing like a man in a tux!

Driving towards the theater was a long, slow snarl of traffic. Our little Toyota crawled forward amidst a sea of Lincolns, Lexuses and limos -- just a hint of things to come...

Finally, our feet hit the red carpet. It was breathtaking! All the movie stars being interviewed by TV commentators. The paparazzi flashing pictures. And the screaming fans! When they caught sight of an actor they loved, the roar from the crowd was deafening. It's everything you see on TV, but you're actually there.

One thing I didn't expect... The red carpet was extremely long. It seemed to stretch on forever. Just for fun, I decided to walk it like I owned it. My date was shy, and probably a bit embarrassed, but heck, how many times in life do you have an opportunity likethat? As we made our way toward the theater, some of the paparazzi would peer at me for a split second, brows furrowed, "Is she somebody?" The quick conclusion "No!" and their eyes roved on.

I couldn't help but smile to myself. The moment was delicious.

The lobby is where it really hit me... Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Nicole Kidman and Glenn Close. Brushing past Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp. Exchanging a smile withTom Hanks. Since moving to L.A., I had seen a few stars walk through the office where I worked, and had occasionally spotted a celebrity at a restaurant or in a store, but this was overwhelming! Turn any direction and you'd see fifteen famous faces. I don't usually consider myself "star-struck," but on that night I was.

Since there was absolutely no threat our names would be called to take the stage, we were seated up in the balcony. It was perfect! We had front row seats, with a bird's-eye view, looking down on all the glitter and the glam. The ceremony was long – as they always are. And as always, there were some incredibly inspiring moments, along with some moments that made me cringe. But no doubt about it, I would count that event as one of the most memorable nights of my life.

These days, I'm happy to watch the show on TV every year, gathered together with a group of good friends. In our private little party, we dish about the fashion, comment on the commentators, cheer for our favorite movies, and throw popcorn at the screen when we're unhappy with the results.

My wish for you...?


That you will one day have the chance to be there in person – hopefully, as a nominee! – making that long walk down the red carpet. And if so, take my advice... Walk it like you own it!

LIMITLESS - NO ONE MAN SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POWER!

I MUST SEE THIS FILM!!! If you ever wanted to know what a writer's nasty whet dream looks like WATCH THIS TRAILER! And meth is not really a good look on anybody. Of course, the little pill isn't meth... Come on and get real... This guy still has all his teeth (lol).

THE ACTING CENTER L.A.

Having a typical Twitter moment I started following a bunch of interesting people just to see what they were thinking. In the process others began to follow me... Somewhere along the way I made contact with THE ACTING CENTER in LA. Now, I live in Jersey however if I were an actor in this area I would definitely check them out. WHY? Because on their home page they said something that appealed to my former life as an actor. Developing your own technique!!! Knowing different acting styles/techniques will always help you but adhering to one style (which I always hear actors unfortunately boasting about) only creates clones; boring, boring, "my acting coach says..." CLONES! So if any of you out there are taking classes at this center and have a Youtube or Vimeo audition/demo real post a link and I will check you out. If it is good I will even put it on my blog.
BTW - The only reason this pic is on my site is because this female is total eyeball candy and that is waaaaaay cooler than having some logo posted.
N8

Hey Little Sista...

The Lyrics to "White Wedding"


Hey little sister what have you done?
Hey little sister who's the only one?
Hey little sister who's your superman?

Hey little sister who's the one you want?
Hey little sister shot gun!

It's a nice day to start again.
It's a nice day for a white wedding.
It's a nice day to start again.

Hey little sister who is it you're with?
Hey little sister what's your vice and wish?
Hey little sister shot gun (oh yeah)
Hey little sister who's your superman?
Hey little sister shot gun!

It's a nice day to start again (come on)
It's a nice day for a white wedding
It's a nice day to start again.

(Pick it up)

Take me back home

Hey little sister what have you done?
Hey little sister who's the only one?
I've been away for so long (so long)
I've been away for so long (so long)
I let you go for so long

It's a nice day to start again (come on)
It's a nice day for a white wedding
It's a nice day to start again.

There is nothin' fair in this world
There is nothin' safe in this world
And there's nothin' sure in this world
And there's nothin' pure in this world
Look for something left in this world
Start again

Come on
It's a nice day for a white wedding
It's a nice day to start again.
It's a nice day to start again.
It's a nice day to start again 

G.S.F.F. ADVERTISING FOR THE YARD & SAPIEN FILMS

HERE ARE SOME FUN POSTERS AND FLYERS I MADE FOR THE G.S.F.F. 2011 FESTIVAL PROMOTING THE YARD.
ENJOY :)

F.Y.I. - I will be making an announcement about THE V2VIFF in a few days.

N8

Have you ever noticed that no matter where you blow smoke that it always rises up?
Be the smoke, people.

Weird observation I made while smoking a Punch Uppercut. NICE. Yeah, I know it's basic physics.


N8 :)

LOTS OF BROKEN TVs

There have always been a lot of apocalyptic videos with hot scantily clad females in the past but have you noticed the use of desert environments, tons of fire, and all the broken TVs lately? Wait a sec... THESE ARE SOME OF THE HOTTEST VIDEOS OUT THERE RIGHT NOW!!! (Note to self: Burn stuff in desert with beautiful women next to broken televisions in background... become super successful MILLIONAIRE ARTIST!!! WOOHOOO!!!)

BTW - I got the broken tv but I'm gonna need someone to give me a Hell of alotta gasoline and a ticket to Nevada - ASAP!

;)
N8

p.s. Yeah, I know that there were a ton of earlier videos that had all these same elements but that was close to 20 years ago! Hello RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, ICE CUBE and... I had better stop before I date myself. Oops, too fricken late!

Enjoy these GREAT VIDEOS to some of THE HOTTEST SONGS on the charts.

X-Men: First Class - Official Trailer... PEACE WAS NEVER AN OPTION... NIIIICCCE!

SO LOVIN' THIS TRAILER!!!

"Listen to me very carefully, my friend. Killing will not bring you peace."

"Peace was never an option."

SWEET!!!!
N8

G.S.F.F. is showing THE YARD @ SYNAXIS - AT THE SHORE

THE YARD got into The Garden State Film Festival and is showing THE SYNAXIS.

Hit the link below to find out the time and how to get tickets!

Let me clear my throat for a second to just say... WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

THANK YOU ;) FROM YOUR HUMBLE AND EXCITED FILMMAKER!

N8


http://www.gsff.org/synaxis-at-the-shore.php


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuU9R8vyAJ0


http://www.synaxisattheshore.com/site/

STEVE WORKIN' ON THE NEXT SONG FOR OUR NEXT FILM

STEVE HARD AT WORK! I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THE FINAL VERSION.

BAD-TO-THE-MFN-BONE!!

N8

Some Really Important Links To SAPIEN FILMS & The V2VIFF

Here are some important links to keeping SAPIEN FILMS moving forward and to put some much needed  fuel on the PASSIONATE FIRE that is at the heart of my film company!

Your help is invaluable. Your support is priceless.

Thanks,
N8


http://www.gsff.org


http://www.indiegogo.com/SAPIEN-FILMS-FILM-FANS


http://www.visiontovictoryfestival.blogspot.com/


http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vision-to-Victory-International-Film-Festival/174765959208671


http://www.artistswanted.org/portfolio.php?preview=true&artist=nathan099

http://www.v2viff.com