Lord Andrei's Blog

Rev. Fred McFeely ‘Mr.’ Rogers passed today at the venerable and respectable age of 74 in his home in Pittsburgh.

You can say what you will about Mr. Rogers, but the mainstay of children’s programming for slightly more years than I’ve been alive, is gone. A man who advocated children and peace, and still managed to keep his strong religious views out of the program should be hailed a true American Icon.

Yes, like everyone I passed thru my childlike love of the show into my teen mockery of it’s lithiumized feelings. But the show touched me in my young adult hood like nothing else has ever done.

When I was in college studying theatre, film, and TV production I had the opportunity to take an intership at WQEX/WQED. I was taken on a tour of the studios. Passing X and Henrietta’s tree was one thing. Going into the studio and seeing Mr. Rogers neighborhood house was something incredibly different.

We often talk about on how tv it’s never real. But the truth is… Mr. Rogers was. Every interview I’ve read, said that he lived life like he projected it to children. The stories (and parables) albiet softened were still of truth.

I walked around the set. The sofa, the closet, the fish tank, the kitchen, and the little trolley. 100% real and solid. I was in my early 20’s and something in my cried like a small child feeling oddly safe.

Then I turned around. The landscape that the camera pans at the start of every episode was there. It was a table model about 6 feet square. I could see it all. And the hardest thing for me to deal with was that the model was of the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. The buildings were softened, but the street layout couldn’t be missed. The camera came up 5th Avenue and turned right into his house where WQED was. Where I was standing. I followed the street mentally. (I knew the area having lived there 10 years.) And there it was. The intersection I lived on.

Your in your early 20s and learning that you live in Mr Rogers Neighborgood. And it all seems… Okay.

Will the world be less of a place without Fred Rogers? I don’t think so. I think it’s more of a place for all the lives he’s touched either in the peace he offered in his programming, the conviction of his beliefs to those that followed him, or the satire he generated by those that still were infected by his neighborly spirit.

“Term of all that liveth, whose name is Death and inscrutable, be thou favorable unto us in thine hour. And unto him, from whose mortal eyes the veil of physical life hath fallen, grant that there may be the accomplishment of his True Will. Should he will absorption in the Infinite, or to be united with his chosen and preferred, or to be in contemplation, or to be at peace, or to achieve the labour and heroism of incarnation on this planet or another or in any star, or aught else, unto him may there be granted the accomplishment of his true will. Yea, the accomplisment of his true will.”

Peace unto you Fred Rogers.. And Blessings… and most importantly, thank you from you for being my neighbor.

(This thought has actually, brought me to a bit of a tear.)

“… I’ll be back when the week is new.. And I’ll have more ideas for you… you’ll
have things you want to talk about. I will too. See you next time neighbor.”

This was taken from a post by hex_kitten

The request simply was:
Tell me something about yourself using quotes from movies.

This fascinates me, because I am very cinema-centric.

So, I posted there, and now cross post here, to hear what others have to add…

to start off… here are mine…

So, now that I’m not itching to bite people’s heads off. Either physically or personally, here’s more on the process and some comments along the way.

The % I’ve been posting is the amount of time of the 2 days that the purification should take. I commenced at 1pm yesterday. We’re approaching 24 hrs out of 48. So about 50%.

The purification I’ve been discussing with Bill (w3woody.) My idea was to get as much of the toxins out of the system. I elected to use the “Hollywood 48 Hr Diet” Now, I made a slight error. This is not a protien suppliment drink. This is a carb suppliment drink. Translation, one sip would probably kill anyone on Atkins. It’s 100 calories per serving; 0 protein; and about 25% carbs.

I’m not using this to diet, I’m using this to cause the body to go into a minor state of shock that it’s time to clean up and get ready for the real stuff. Bill suggests that the purification should be including the cleaning of influences around me. Perhaps removing bad food from the house. I like this and will be doing it today.

I spoke to Fra K.A. last night about my plan. He seemed to like the idea of applying ritual to diet. I asked what happens when the wee-beasties attack during the purification. He said, perhaps that’s why it’s meant to be short. But this experience alone gives me yet another way to look at ritual and what goes on during the components.

Perhaps, now for the honesty. I went to Yoga last night… I wound up leaving half way thru because I was losing focus. And the food offered was making me very uncomfortable. I went home. I tried to rest. But was too shaky. I watched Buffy. I made one or two cursory passes by the fridge but behaved myself. I watched 24. I was kinda trance like. My body was on its own. I passed the fridge 4 more times. There were some plain buffalo wings from Dominos. I ate about 5. My weakness. Went to bed feeling sick. Woke up. Back on again. Not giving up depsite that. I look to it that my body absolutely needed protein. It was a small (less than my goal diet sized) serving of good protein. So, I don’t feel that I’ve undone the main purpose.

The concecration comes next. That is the dedication of the tools and purposes. I’ll be finding my diet guides and shopping for food for the diet. Also getting the necessary stuff together to work in a gym.

So far this has been quite an ordeal, but sayeth the Bill, “Besides if there is nothing but pain and death…think Saturn will go well...”

I’m also preparing for the invocation and evocation. Which will be at noon time tomorrow. I’m looking for suggestions of God forms that represent control and discipline. And I’m looking for forms that represent doubts and failings. This will be an invocation and evocation.

I’ll also be using Thoth for Invocation. Paritally, because there is knowledge and Magick in him. Partially, because I’m still riding this Jazzed Wave off the invocation, and partially, because the statue looks good without a shirt 😉

The Oath is the declaration of my intent. I will be working on that later today. It will be the statement of goals and plan for the diet.

Finally the license to depart (a feast) and a banishing.

I may wind up inviting some close friends to dinner tomorrow.

Spirits are higher. So is hunger… Will be weighing in tomorrow morning again.

93!
(P.S. I posted on 93 the other night, but the post vanished. I’ll repost today)

My initial diet plunge will be 1/10th over at 5:48pm

My evening is off to set up the weekly tape for Buffy and 24 and then head off to Thelema 101’s Yoga class at Raven’s.

I need to really thank shimmeringjemmy, gwenix, and fuego for being really nice and helping my mood lift up. And of course w3woody the dear friend who is the sane and rational voice of kill them all cynicism 🙂

More on the diet tonight after yoga and entertainment. Keep your fingers x’ed.