FACEBOOK: The New Drug or The New God?

WAKE UP PEOPLE-

Facebook has ruined it for all of us. We waste so much time on that fucking site updating our current mood and seeing what other people's current mood is. Who cares if I was wiping my ass at 2:15, but then at 4:15 I was at Starbucks? The control it has on us all makes me think its the new God. And our inability to now live in a Facebook free world makes me wonder if its the new Super Drug.

There are those few who live in caves or on the outskirts of town who don't have a Facebook account and I sit there listening in amazement to their stories wondering how they exist. When the walk, I look closely to make sure they don't have some third leg or hoof, or maybe a tail to reveal they are not human and therefore not subject to the mind-control that Facebook has over us.

Facebook has made it unnecessary to pick up the phone and call a friend or loved one. We can just anonymously log on and check up on them. I mean, who really wants to interact with the outside world? Sitting at home on facebook alone, is much like sitting alone with a few grams of cocaine. We have all we need right in front of us and when we close the curtains we can peer outside for a moment here and there and realize that life does exist outside the confines of our computers and phones.

Maybe I am more critical because I am older and remember a time when we didn't live online. I remember a time when four people sitting at a restaurant featured discussion, not four people looking down at that glowing screen in their laps as they eat dinner while checking facebook.

Facebook is like porn without the sex. Its addictive, and takes you out of reality and into a world where you can create a new reality. Change your name. Change your hometown. Change your job. Make shit up.

Soon my 20 year High School reunion is coming up and I see no purpose in going. Seeing as the people I am interested in keeping up with are my friends on facebook. I see what they look like, what their kids look like and what they are doing. Facebook has made the "reunion" obsolete.

How terrifying is it that a website has made human congregation and interaction obsolete?

Mark Zuckerberg was a loser who sat at home without friends geeking on his PC, and guess what, he has now made us all like him. 

He controls us.  We have even gone so far as to create Facebook pages hating facebook.  We have even created events where on a certain day we are all going to shut down our accounts, but no one ever does.

This millionaire fuck is laughing at us all.  Like Lennon when he said the Beatles were more popular that Jesus Christ, so now is Facebook, and to boot Jesus and God have facebook pages.

It's not to late to avoid armageddon.  We need to shut off the computers and talk to each other.  Could the Terminator really be true that there will be a Rise of the Machine's?  Oh wait that has already happened.

Looks like we already lost the war.  Ok, I gotta run, time to go update my facebook status, which I actually did while writing this piece.

The Squirrel Incident: American Patriot Act Version 6

Its been a long while since Dr. Teeth has indulged his senses in any sort of chemical orgy.  No I live the clean life now, realizing that being clean and sober is just as mundane and obscene as being sideways on cocaine or some as of yet unnamed substance I allowed myself to be guinea-pigged for. 

The paranoia still surrounds me.  The voices still echo like a carnival.  There are eyes everywhere waiting for me to fall.  And its during those moments of realization that I realize my true enemy is not people, not they are not. My true enemy is the squirrel.

Upon exiting my car this afternoon I heard the warning chirps of a squirrel coming from above. I peered toward the sky and resting on the edge of a tree limb, bare of its summer coat, was a squirrel chirping out to the other squirrels a warning or maybe it was a call to arms. 

What had I done? Was I safe?  Could any moment be more uncertain and unsettling than this.  I looked around but so no evidence of any other squirrels.  They were readying for the ambush.  They had amassed their weapons and their agenda was etched in the cold ground.  They were ready for battle, and it was me, Dr. Teeth left to fend for himself.

I thought about running back to my car and locking all the doors, but the back doors don't lock and certainly the squirrels already knew that.  And even if they did lock, it doesn't take but ten squirrels to overturn a 95 Honda Accord.  Shit, I've seen six do it to a Prius. 

The squirrel on the limb chirped out again.  I pleaded with him to hush.  Fumbling in my pockets for some cash, quickly realizing that squirrels have no need for money.  God damnit are they self sufficient and angry. 

It mattered not what I had done to insult or irk their kind. I looked at the front door to the building which just seemed further and further away as the seconds clicked.  I was stuck between that door and my car.  If I jumped in my car and drove off, I'd never be able to return, but if I ran for the door and made it inside, I'd never have to leave.

I allowed the adreneline to coarse through my veins and fill me with super energy and just like an olympic runner waiting for the gunshot, I was in position.  In one final moment of defiance I cried out, "FUCK YOU SQUIRREL. TODAY I WIN!!!!!!!"

I darted for the door and panted once inside. I had made it. I was out of breath but I was still alive.  Those nut eating bastards hadn't bested me.

As I stood there celebrating my victory, I noticed my neighbor staring at me in worried amusement. "What the hell was that all about?"

I shook my head smiling and got on the elevator.  "Good luck out there. Fuckin' squirrels"

My hands haven't stopped shaking since.  Fuckin' squirrels indeed.  Not my favorite!  We will do battle one day, but until that day I am alive.

I live.

I Just Wanna Be Friends

Ok, let's face it all relationships end.  Even the ones that end in marriage end!! It's a fact.  But what I don't get and wish would go away is that old female cliche, "I just wanna be friends."

I wish I could Wikipedia or Google who the first woman was who said this to a man. I am sure it was what started the Salem Witch Trials.  And possibly responsible for at least 6 beheadings back when that was the "in thing" to do when you were king.

Women sit you down and tell you how great you are, but that they "just wanna be friends".  What they don't know is that we as men would rather hear, "I fucked you're best friend", because it stings and annoys less than the "Friendship Escape". 

There should be honesty in a breakup, and the friendship excuse is anything but.  When a woman tells you she just wants to be friends she really means she wants you to pack your bags and move to another planet as soon as possible. She wants you to lose her phone number, address and forget what she looks like.

And god forbid you actually lower yourself to trying to be her friend, she'll suddenly never answer her phone or return texts and when you ask to get together she'll say its too soon. And if you actually do get to the final round where the two of you hang out, you're gonne spend that time trying to fuck her while she realizes you need to leave.

I have to admit Norah Ephron was right when she wrote the dialogue for Billy Crystal in When Harry...Met Sally, "Men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way."

How many female friends do you have? Attractive ones? And isn't true you really wanna fuck them?  And how many ugly female friends do you have?  See my point.

Women need to stop using the convienent escape route of saying, "I just wanna be friends", because you don't really want to be friends.  You just want the relationship to be over, which is ok, and you're right. Just don't lace it with that crap phrase. Guys see through it and guys get pissed when they hear it.

How would you like it if a guy walked up to you and said, "I just wanna fuck you"? Sounds crass and a bit insulting, and I am sure guys have said it. 

If you really care about letting the guy down softly then dispense with the cliche, break it off, and move on.  And don't even say, "maybe one day we can be friends."  The word FRIEND should never enter into a conversation about breaking up.

Just sever the head, lick the blood off your hands and move on.

Thanks Ladies!!!!

Dr. Teeth

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HEAT: Pacnio and DeNiro Face Off

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbBLJ1WGwQ

I was home recently with the flu and decided to watch, for the 90th time, HEAT starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro.  Not only is this a great film, but also the project that finally brought Pacino and DeNiro on screen together for the first time ever.

Some looked at this as a match, like in a Rocky movie, who would best the other in acting skills?  It was DeNiro vs. Pacino not only as crook vs. cop, but as actor vs. actor.

DeNiro plays the role of Neil McCauley very restrained, yet menacing.  He is a man in full control but capable of tremendous emotional coldness and violence. 

Pacino, on the other hand, plays the role like its his first acting gig.  He hams his way through the film, overacting and being obnoxious.  We know that he is a great detective and is obviously more dedicated to his work than his family, but with the level of cockiness he portrays as Vincent, one would think it would be DeNiro standing there at the end holding the hand of a dying Pacino.

That is the one flaw in an otherwise great film.  Neil's actions would suggest he'd get away although his undoing is his inability to let things go.  He just had to go after Waingro and finish what had been started. There is that short moment in the car when DeNiro is smiling and there is a bit of light on his face, then suddenly obsession takes over and it get real dark in the car as he swerves over three lanes to ultimately meet his fate.

It makes sense that Neil dies, but it seems hard to believe that Vincent remains unscatched throughout the entire movie.  Neil realizes that living life alone is not worth it, but Vincent truthfully could care less about getting a third divorce.  When his wife allows him to answer the page at the end, he runs down the stairs with such eager glee.

One of Heats great dynamics is that it isn't just about cops and robbers, but also about their relationships with women.  Each crook his a significant other, and their relationships vary from happy to strained, to DeNiro not even really having one.  The Cops also have wives, but the main focus is on the failing marriage of Pacino's.

The most suprising element of the film for me, and the one that makes me get goose bumps everytime, is that by the time the movie ends, Neil and Vincent are friends in many ways.  And Neil reaches for Vincent's hand as he dies not only to show friendship but to feel some sense of safety and consolation as he dies. 

There is a lingering shot of Vincent's face.  We don't see him enjoying his victory over Neil, but rather watch him seem very uncomfortable being forced to console another human being.

I think Neil was the first criminal Vincent saw as human, while the rest were just part of the job.  Vincent has trouble accepting the humanity of people, but revels in the inhumanity of people. 

When Vincent kicks the tv set out of his car, its not because he's angry at his wife, but that he's angry that Neil has seemingly escaped.  Vincent doesn't see three divorces as failure, but he does see the escape of a single criminal as total failure.

With such depth to his character, its amazing to me that Pacino decided to play him so one dimensional and over the top.  He's rude, brash, short, cocky and ultimately he should have paid more of a price for his personality, such as at least being shot. 

But for what its worth if HEAT was DeNiro vs. Pacino, the winner was easily DeNiro. 

Its amazing that these two actors returned 14 years later in RIGHTEOUS KILL and proved that they both could be the shittiest actors in the shittiest role.

I'd rather watch their 5 minute scene in HEAT than all of Righteous Kill.

By the way, Director Mann has stated that the coffee shop scene in Heat consists mainly of take 11.  But that he got most of what he needed earlier. He just wanted to let the actors play a little more, and he himself wanted to get as much of this scene on film as possible knowing it was historical.

Finally, the Urban Legend that Pacino and DeNiro are never really on screen at the same time is total bullshit.  One only needs to actuallly watch the coffee shop scene and the lengthy chase scene at the end to realize they are on screen together.

Two Days in a Row JFT Speaks to Dr. Teeth.

Just For Today Meditations

December 7
Surviving our emotions
“We use the tools available to us and develop the ability to survive our emotions.”
Basic Text, p. 31
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... “Survive my emotions?” some of us say. “You’ve got to be kidding!” When we were using, we never gave ourselves the chance to learn how to survive them. You don’t survive your feelings, we thought—you drug them. The problem was, that “cure” for our unsurvivable emotions was killing us. That’s when we came to Narcotics Anonymous, started working the Twelve Steps and, as a result, began to mature emotionally.
Many of us found emotional relief right from the start. We were tired of pretending that our addiction and our lives were under control; it actually felt good to finally admit they weren’t. After sharing our inventory with our sponsor, we began to feel like we didn’t have to deny who we were or what we felt in order to be accepted. When we’d finished making our amends, we knew we didn’t have to suffer with guilt; we could own up to it and it wouldn’t kill us. The more we worked the NA program, the better we felt about living life as it came to us.
The program works today as well as it ever did. By taking stock of our day, getting honest about our part in it, and surrendering to reality, we can survive the feelings life throws our way. By using the tools available to us, we’ve developed the ability to survive our emotions.
––––=––––
Just for today: I will not deny my feelings. I will practice honesty and surrender to life as it is. I will use the tools of this program to survive my emotions.

What Happened To Robert DeNiro?

Many people have written Robert DeNiro off.  There was a time when saying he was in a movie meant you had to go see it, but then after 1995 his name on a movie meant that the movie was probably garbage?  So what happened?

During the 1980's after a few flops, which happens to all actors, DeNiro stopped starring in films for awhile but rather made cameo appearances in films, or smaller supporting roles.  At one point his star had faded so much that he petitioned to star in BIG, and was turned down. Can you imagine DeNiro dancing on an oversized keyboard with Robert Loggia.

Then he came back to the fold working with Scorsese again in Goodfella's and suddenly DeNiro was hot again.  He still did the ocassional supporting role like in Backdraft, but he was seen as having returned to his former self.  Then in 1995 he concreted his reputation by releasing HEAT and CASINO within a month of eachother, wowing critics and fans alike. 

Since then he has gone out of his way to prove to us how bad and lazy of an actor he really is.  With releases like ROCKY and BULLWINKLE, GODSEND, HIDE and SEEK, ANALYZE THAT, and those awful focking FOCKER movies, DeNiro lost any credibility and reputation he had earned.  Hard to imagine that the same guy who played Travis Bickle is now wearing a fake breast feeding contraption in MEET THE FOCKERS.  The same guy who played Jake LaMotta is now acting in a Jason Statham movie. 

What the fuck happened?

I have a few idea's.  First and foremost is age.  Look at any actor or musician and you'll realize as they age their talent fades.  This maybe cannot be helped.  As we age we get tired and aren't up to the same level of performance dedication we once were.  The Rolling Stones suck, Paul McCartney won't stop singing Hey Jude, and DeNiro can't seem to act anymore. Sure there have been a few exceptions where his performance was decent or good, but it was surrounded by a movie that was lesser than he, such as, MEN OF GLORY, EVERYBODY'S FINE and CITY BY THE SEA.

I personally don't expect DeNiro to gain or lose massive weight or bulk up, I mean the guy is 68, but the scripts and the performances aren't even up to Adam Sandlers quality.

My other theory is that DeNiro is being offered much more money for these films, and is finally taking the paycheck.  If you research his great older films, he wasn't paid much, and they didn't do well at the box office.  Now his films do well, and he gets PAID!!!!!

My final theory, coupled with the theory above, is that he owns TRIBECA FILMS.  This company can only survive by being financed, and financing means doing movies that might suck but pay well.  And if you notice alot of these shit movies he has been in have had Tribeca as Producer.  So he gets paid double.  The money gets funneled back into Tribeca which will exist long after DeNiro is gone from this planet.

It is a shame to no longer look forward to anything DeNiro does, but he has proven himself and has other interests to pay for.  We should give him a break and stop expecting him to perform as if he was 35.  I mean look at what happened to Pacino since SCENT OF A WOMAN, the dude talks with a southern accent in all his movies, has a bad tan, and an awkward looking toupee he is trying to pass off as real. And is currently co-starring with Adam Sandler in JACK AND JILL.

Alot has happened to Robert DeNiro, but unless we ask him why he does the films he does, we'll never understand his thought process. And if you read interviews with the guy, he isn't gonna apologize to you, me or anyone for any of the films he has done.

In 2012 is will be in a film called BEING FLYNN, which looks like a return to some good acting in a good movie. Let's pray this is true because the Irish Mob movie with him, Pacino and Pesci directed by Scorsese will probably never get made.

He could play Jerry Garcia