>> The Switch
>> Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
>> The Other Guys
>> Salt
>> Inception
>> Cyrus
>> The Last Airbender
>> Grown Ups
>> Toy Story 3
>> The Human Centipede

Opening 9.10.10
>> Resident Evil: Afterlife (R) [trailer]
>> Bran Nue Dae (Limited) (Not Rated) [trailer]
>> Heartbreaker (Limited) (Not Rated) [trailer]
>> I'm Still Here (Limited) (Not Rated) [trailer]
>> Legendary (Limited) (PG-13) [trailer]
>> Lovely, Still (Limited) (PG) [trailer]
>> The Romantics (Limited) (PG-13)
>> The Virginity Hit (Limited) (R) [trailer]

Coming To DVD/Blu-Ray 9.7.10
>> Supernatural: The Complete Fifth Season [buy]
>> The Office: Season Six [buy]
>> Smallville: The Complete Ninth Season [buy]
>> Jillian Michaels: Shred-It With Weights [buy]
>> Criminal Minds: Fifth Season [buy]

Las Vegas: Satan Vacations Here
by Victoria Alexander
April 16, 2007

Shamans of Refugio Altiplano, Dubai, U.A.E., Blueberry Ayahuasca, Sacred Symbol Reclaimed, Anyone Know a Hacker?, Survival of the Sickest, Kundalini Tantra, New Movies and more...

Shamans of Refugio Altiplano. When I go to Refugio Altiplano www.refugioaltiplano.org in July, I will be working with Refugio’s two shamans. The Refugio engages reputable and experienced teachers and shamans for various individuals and groups depending on the need and wants of the groups. Curandero Walter Martinez Guimoa belongs to the Shipibo-Conibo tribe and he comes from Nuevo Paraiso community in Pucallpa. His experience and knowledge of Amazon medicinal plants began thirty years ago. The plants speak through his "icaros" (shamanic chants) which carry incredible strength, power and opportunity. His spiritual communication and concentration during ceremonies is most beneficial for participants whom he guides and heals with his chants in a wonderful way.

Curandero Mauro Huatoto belongs to the Huitoto tribe. He is Refugio’s latest addition to their shamanic crew. His skill with medicinal plants is very useful with Refugio’s new botanic gardens as are his powerful and focused icaros in the healing of guests.

Gail Imel has written a wonderful article about her stay at Refugio. Anyone interested can read about her retreat on a website devoted to traveler’s experiences. http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/13663/1

You Should Be Happy I Cast You. Actress Taryn Manning says that starring in the 2005 movie "Hustle and Flow" was "an incredible experience." The experience of not being paid, however, was just awful, she tells Patrick Carone in next month's Stuff magazine.

"The one thing that sucked was that our contracts weren't really honored by [director] John Singleton," said Manning. "The movie sold at Sundance for all this money, and we really just got nothing . . . It's such a joke because the guy completely [bleeped] us over." Last year, after actor Craig Brewer claimed he had not been paid, Singleton told the L.A. Times the actors got "great careers" out of the film.

Perfect Stranger, Disturbia, Fracture. “Perfect Stranger.” According to IMDB.com’s trivia for “Perfect Stranger,” starring Halle Berry and Bruce Willis, “The filmmakers filmed three different endings to the film, each with a different character as the killer.” Well, at least they didn’t feel obliged to go with the killer in the original screenplay. Was the killer chosen by committee or preview audiences?

Berry plays an investigative reporter who quits when her paper refuses to run her story on a senator fooling around with his young male interns. She has a creepy investigative hacker/love-slave played by Giovanni Ribisi. Without a job, she has time to help a childhood friend get even with a cheating mega-millionaire advertising executive played by Bruce Willis. When the friend is found brutally murdered, dumped in a river, and pregnant, Berry goes to work at the executive’s advertising firm to solve her friend’s murder.

When writing a screenplay, if you can’t figure out how to sneak into someone’s house, get their passwords or credit card purchases, all you have to do is write in a hacker character. I’ve never meant one of these guys. How does one find a hacker? Do I post on Craigslist? Can I trade movie passes for hacking work? If you know one of these geniuses, email me.

“Disturbia.” This updated teen version of “Rear Window” took number one at the box office this past weekend. There will be no stopping star Shia LaBeouf (pictured). Who is behind the rise of LaBeouf? Didn’t anyone learn anything from the stardom-forced-on-us debacles of Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Chris Klein? There is no stopping the stardom juggernaut that is rolling out Shia LaBeouf. Hailed as the savior of cinema at ShoWest 2007, LaBeouf has been announced as Harrison Ford’s co-star in Indiana Jones 4. Trust me here. He’s got nil sex appeal and his tween support (“Holes”) will not follow him. I blame LaBoeuf for ruining (“Constantine.”) Why isn’t Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“The Lookout”) being positioned as the next Brad Pitt? Go see “The Lookout.” Gordon-Levitt has a smoldering sex appeal and he can act. “Disturbia” lacks the sophistication of “Rear Window” and Alfred Hitchcock’s troubling voyeuristic complexity.

“Fracture.” I saw an advance screening of “Fracture” starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. This movie is terrific and intelligent. When John gets back from Abu Dubai, I’ll gladly see “Fracture” again. (What is John doing in Abu Dubai? I know his lecture will be brilliant, and I hope he’s making friends and fielding offers to return accompanied by his wife.) Hopkins’ plays a rich aeronautical genius who kills his wife and quickly confesses. Gosling plays an assistant D.A. ready to jump to a prestigious law firm but takes on this last case. With two weeks left in the D.A.’s office and a confession in hand, it looks like an easy case. But it is not and the case collapses as Hopkins’ character makes a fool out of the D.A.’s office and threatens the career of its outgoing star. This is one well written, smart movie. I really enjoyed its intelligence and there wasn’t one hacker moment.

What I’m Reading. I’m reading “Kundalini Tantra” by my guru Swami Satyananda Saraswati (my son’s name is Vladimir Satya Lacas) and “Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease” by Sharon Moalem and Jonathan Prince. Moalem was a guest on The Daily Show. Moalem asks why debilitating hereditary diseases persist in humans and why we suffer from the consequences of aging. His approach to these questions is rooted in evolutionary theory, and he shows that each hereditary disease confers a selective advantage to individuals who carry either one or two alleles for inherited diseases. Each condition offers enough positive evolutionary advantages to offset the negative consequences; however, with the constant movement of people and intermarrying, will science and medicine be able to supersede mankind’s evolutionary ability to combat diseases?

Blueberry Ayahuasca. A friend sent me to shamanicjourney.com to view a 10 minute film by French filmmaker Jan Kounen. It is the best representation of what an ayahuasca experience is like – if you remove the participant waving a gun and the scary elements of his visions. But the imagery is startling. Kounen must have taken an awful lot of ayahuasca. Shamanic Journey says “Blueberry is probably the most expensive to make film in French history, and probably the most psychedelic piece of art that the film industry has managed to produce in some time. Without doubt it is the most visually stunning and realistic portrayals of psychedelic trips ever, founded on director Jan Kounen's (http://www.jankounen.com) personal ayahuasca trips.” http://www.shamanicjourney.com/article/5980/blueberry_ayahuasca

Swastika and its Religious Significance. I have an antique swastika necklace from India. Of course, I do not wear it since no one can easily recognize it as an ancient sacred symbol and not the symbol of Nazism. A new friend came by our house and noticed it in my bedroom and explained: “What is a Nazi swastika doing hanging up in your bedroom?”

When the U.K.’s Prince Harry was photographed wearing a replica Nazi uniform there were calls for the symbol to be banned (on the grounds of being racially offensive) in the UK. The Hindu Forum of Great Britain got into the act and decided to start a campaign to create awareness amongst the general public about how an ancient Hindu symbol had been misappropriated by the Nazis. The Hindu Forum launched a national campaign to reclaim the swastika.

The word “swastika” originates in Sanskrit. In ancient Indo-European cultures, it was put on objects to symbolize good luck. The right-handed clockwise swastika is considered an auspicious symbol of the sun or of Lord Vishnu, the sustaining aspect of God (in the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar). It also represents the world-wheel around a fixed and unchanging centre, God. I am not sure about the first appearance of the word or the symbol in ancient Indian texts but it has been in use since antiquity.

As a symbol, it has been used for several millennia – not just in India but also in other ancient civilizations (e.g. it has been found in the ruins of the city of Troy). It has also been used in Buddhism, Jainism, and Native American cultures. In earlier times, the swastika was used freely by Sumerians, Hittites, Celts and Greeks, among others.

The major difference between the Nazi swastika and the ancient symbol of many different cultures, is that the Nazi swastika is at a slant, while the ancient swastika is rested flat.

If you would like to contact me about this column, or be included on my private distribution list for a weekly reminder, just email me at Masauu@aol.com.

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