A route towards space hindered by a lack of budget (http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-scope/china-ramps-up-space-exploration-as-us-program-shrinks/11869), yet the space between being explored more so than ever. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider)

Osama is dead, and ends up Obama was born after all.

Technology is improving so quickly that we now have prototypes for everything from bendable LCD screens to light sabers. Yes, light sabers! (http://gizmodo.com/5560206/the-spyder-iii-pro-arctic-is-a-real-life-lightsaber)

AIDS is close to having a universal vaccine, literacy rates are rising through out the world.

Things seem on the up and up.

If you love the future and seek an incredible perspective, do yourself a favor and watch “Transcendent Man”, you can get it on Netfliks, even though they suck now.

OK, so all this is happening, and it feels like the world is speeding up at an exponential rate, which is actually the case with technology.  We watch movies like Wall-E and Minority Report and think, wow, what a cool world that is. Truth be told, we’re not that far from either of them. Cars without drivers, machines taking more and more of the menial tasks that were once assigned to humans, nano-technologies and quantum computing that is beyond anything we are able to contemplate.

Me personally, I have no fear of these things. I look forward to them. You either embrace change, or you get passed by.

Computers have beat our greatest Jeopardy champion, robots are running faster than the fastest person, and they are even developing a sense of humor. (albeit still a programmed sense at this point) My guess as to which will be the last and most complex things that they will be able to master will be the arts. With this I encourage all of you to engage yourself in the creative as much as possible in the coming year.

2012 could be the last year on Earth(doubtful) or the greatest year in the history of mankind(more likely). One thing is for sure, it will not be boring.

Follow your bliss this year and get ready for incredible movements forward.

Love, Love, Love,

ZMP

Lean times filled with lean minds, what we’re hearing is nothing but blind rhymes

Concealed, filled with zeal, no appeal for the other, trying to see round the corner but it’s around another, no man too shy to lift up his eye, when presented with love and a nice sounding “Hi.” I see more blocks than Mutumbo, holding everyone back, perhaps you do need me, perhaps you do see me, perhaps the time has come for you to hear my name. More likely is the case, that I’ll break open like a levee, analogous to none and not from the Levi’s, the Levi’s, the tough guys with no left eyes to surmise a possible other side, feet cemented in the base of the building, no room for wriggling, you can’t even breathe, 6 walls to your early tomb, no early reprieve.

You want a way out? A way to live free? Spend 500 hours on Braveheart and you’ll be like me. None but ourselves can free our mind, you couldn’t take my path if you tried. I’ve hung upside down for years in caves wondering if I’d make it out alive. Gandoff the grey had to fall through the earth and battle a demon, before his rebirth to a man who loves semen. Free he fell and you will too, if woman with glasses comes and finds you. She’s not like the rest, nor will the mind rest, for a glimpse at the truth is what she does best. But nothing more than that, than something you’d never be able to understand when she tells you, but as you grow, it becomes the thing that compels you.

Take the red in case you haven’t figured that yet, unless your left brain figures right into debt. Which very well might be exactly the case, if you only live once, what’s the point of the chase? To get to the top faster than Bobby and Pop, so you can sit there and sleep while I never forgot? A life of meaning and love is really what you’re after, it’s about the people around you, so drop that damn stammer that’s hammered into your speech like a leech, chastity belt on your tongue because you’re too dumb to know where you come from, let alone where you’re goin, ocean’s flowing in and you’re under the water, surrender to the tide and love your own father.

Where do you go when you try not to know? Is it into your head or somewhere below? Or drowned out in front of box filled with lights, forgetting you’re present will no alleviate your frights.But you won’t change, because you can’t, no matter how many rhymes I put into a rant, because the chant of your left brain has left you insane, recanting thoughts of your youth has turned your lion tame.

The key is the thing you seek, and thus so you shall find, but even the keymaster can’t show you your divine. Somewhere in the spine, somewhere in the brain, connected to the heart and attached to something outside of the physical realm which we inhabit-that is where your key lays. Tell it you love it and tell it no lies. Despise notions that vibration is sin, realize every moment is ready to begin, and please,  keep your mind open to possibilities. Cynicism is the most evil thing in the world.

Much love,

ZMP

It doesn’t really matter how you put it, it still sounds really nice. Occupy.

I’m a man who considers himself somewhere in the middle of the political spectrum. On one end, hippie liberals screaming for a total overhaul of the system, on the other, old money not willing to budge. Born to a blue-collar father who even in this economy has found a way to make his own way, then educated with the elite at Harvard where half of my friends went to work for the largest banking institutions in the world, I’ve been privileged to see both sides, and I love them all.

I love the man who makes a million dollars his first year out of college because he knows how to restructure companies. I love the man who followed his passion and became a NatGeo photographer. I love the Caveman living in NY, speading the good word of the Paleo movement, which aims at returning to a healthier more primal way of life. (www.hunter-gatherer.com)

One thing I can say is that no person deserves to starve, when we have the resources to provide them food. The current system might argue that it is simply natural selection, and that their deaths are actually good things. In this system, they may have a point. So, if we can come to an agreement(and I hope we can), that people should not die from starvation, then perhaps we have a two fold solution. One, start to limit the population just as China has done. We all need to take responsibility for the worlds overpopulation problems. Two, change the system so that it supports more people, rather than crushing those who aren’t in the top 5%. Check out the Zeitgeist Movements ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z9WVZddH9w) It will help you contextualize the current world as a monetary system, instead of simply accepting “the way things are” as the only way to be.

Very simply, we have the resources to take care of every person in the world. We need to limit breeding and increase education worldwide to ensure the next generation’s utility is maximized.

War is death for all. I say we end that too. How about it people?

CANdemia…coming soon

Much love,

ZMP

The second part relates to reading, or gaining knowledge from the past. As they say, “A smart person learns from their mistakes. A wise person learns from the mistakes of others.” If you have any inclination or drive towards being wise, I suggest you stop watching TV immediately and pick up a book. Here are some suggestions (Documentary style video is also acceptable):

1. Iron John: A must read for all men by poet and author Robert Bly. Iron John is a Grimm Brothers story, and Bly contextualizes it as a classic coming of age story. From youth, to adolescence, and finally the move into manhood, the imaginative world of the Grimm’s told with Bly’s psycho-analytical descriptions makes the book fly from start to finish.

2. A New World: Oprah’s love child Eckhart Tolle’s follow-up to The Power of Now. I read this one first, and felt let down when I read The Power of Now as most of the information was included in A New World.  Read this book for incredible insight into the human mind, and a step by step guide of how to find the true you.

3. Zeitgeist the Movie(and Movement): This is one of the most eye opening documentaries I have ever seen. I don’t want to say it’s anti-government, but one of it’s resolutions includes doing away with the current monetary system all together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z9WVZddH9w Very powerful film making, and very true in its concern for the planet, and aims for sustainable living on Earth.

4. Atlas Shrugged: Ayn Rand’s masterpiece on productivity and the free market. What would happen if the most productive people left society? Who is Jon Gault? I read this with an open dictionary, prepare for the same, as well as a fascinating journey that should have been made into a much better movie.

Wisdom provides us the context to write our future. Educate yourself. Educate me if you have a good suggestion.

I moved back to West Hollywood a month ago. When I look out my balcony I have the Hollywood Hills perched to my right, the ocean ahead and south LA/projects to my life. I am in the middle. I wish we all were, but that’s another blog all together.

Much love,

ZMP

Get the title? Reading…then West Hollywood=my favorite show ever with Lamar Burton.

If you’ve never fasted for an extended period of time, say longer than a day, I suggest you do so. You’ll immediately recognize that not only are the above actions unnecessary, but they are in fact  harmful to our existence.  Breaking the pattern of consumption is the hardest part, but your mind is much more powerful than your stomach, I promise you.

Why do we continue to live our lives in vice? I chewed tobacco for 6 years in college, and one day I realized I didn’t even enjoy doing it. So why do it? I did it because it was something to do. I was bored.

Eradicating boredom from a person’s life may be the key to unlocking serious mental illnesses. When I was depressed in college, I wasn’t doing much. Mariokart was my main activity, and though I am now perhaps the greatest Kart-er of all-time, I didn’t regain my vitality until I was playing sports, and being more social.

Immediate pleasures are dangerous because they misrepresent the feeling of happiness. When you smoke a joint, worries seem to disappear, and you can smile and laugh freely. At least you should be able to, otherwise you should not smoke pot. However, this momentary bliss is fleeting, like every other conjured escape we take from “reality”. What we need to realize is that reality is everything, and everything is reality. Just because you cease to think about responsibilities does not mean they no longer exist. In short, there is no such thing as escape. You’re in it whether you want to be or not.

Really, it’s the easy and unsatisfying route vs the harder and greater route. Two quotes that  speak volumes here, the second of which the title of this blog stems from:

-If it were easy, everyone would do it.

-”You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage-pleasantly, smiling, non-apologetically, to say no to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger yes burning inside.” -Stephen Covey

A bigger yes burning inside. Every single decision we make is a yes or no that paves our path. I want a bad-ass six pack. After reading this quote, I drove by McDonald’s, hungry as hell, but let that inner yes for a shapely stomach burn brighter than my immediate desire for grease.

It’s not easy sometimes, fuck that, a LOT of the time, but it is ALWAYS(and I don’t like using absolutes) more satisfying to work towards a long term goal than to satisfy yourself in the moment. (Read: stop masterbating so much)

When I was working at Skolnick & Shiff, P.A. last year, Bill Skolnick gave me some powerful advice. He said, “You make hundreds of decisions a day. You’ll never get it perfect, but the goal is to get as many right as possible.”

I am sending you all great intention that you may make the choices that you know to be right for your life.

Much love,

ZMP

1. Off-shore wind farms are being created off the coast of Rhode Island. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/17/rhode-island-offshore-wind-farms-ken-salazar_n_929426.html) A projected 1,000 gigawatts could be produced, which the article claims could power the majority of the United States. I am not sure how accurate these numbers are, but I am optimistic about the alternative power source nonetheless.

2. The FDA is implementing a law that will require cigarette companies to post graphic labels on packs. These images include a corpse, rotting teeth, and blackened lungs. (http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/17/cigarette.labels.lawsuit/) Though the tobacco companies are currently suing the FDA on claims that their first amendment rights are being breached, it is a welcomed change of pace to see the government attempting to curve the sales of one of the great killers of all time. 1,200 people a day in the United States die because of cigarettes. It still blows my mind that a company is allowed to sell a product that has been proven to kill people. This FDA requirement is a very important step.

3. Abercrombie & Fitch has severed ties with Jersey Shore. This was perhaps my favorite news of the day. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/17/abercrombie-situation-idUSN1E77G1AO20110817) A&F is literally paying the cast members to stop wearing their clothes. My dream is that the Jersey Shore crew will take this as a sign that America does not love them. This will in turn motivate them to fly to Alaska and hibernate for the rest of their lives. Then our children can find real role models.

You know what they say, cleanliness is next to Godliness….New clean fuel, attempts at cleaner lungs and health, and cleaning up the image of an American clothing brand.

Good things do come in threes.

Much love,

ZMP

We never saw this under W. With W, the rhetoric was as vague and bottled as a some guy’s Coca-Cola. His answer to difficult questions was either “God” or “We will win this war”. Given, those answers are attractive to a good portion of people who would still have him be president, if it weren’t for the 2-term limit.

Here is a video of Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann http://front.moveon.org/not-even-michele-bachmann-understands-what-michele-bachmann-is-saying/#.Tkl8TxBWd5x.facebook She seems to be a front runner for the GOP nod, so I posit this to you all. We cannot allow for any politician, regardless of party affiliation, to sit in front of our nation and not explain their views on pressing issues. This type of round-the-box speech is not only false, it’s also insulting to our intelligence as a people. If you hate gays, then say it. Run your campaign on truth. Don’t try and sit behind slanted words and lies that you think people won’t notice.

She makes me want to throw up.

Being transparent, besides politics, as frightening as it can be, often times proves itself to be the best way to live. There is something to be said for being cordial and satisfying social norms, but sometimes those norms need a bit of tweaking, and that only comes about when we allow our own truths to be spoken in social climates. I do my best to practice this daily, and I’ve become comfortable saying things in groups that aren’t necessarily the most comfortable things to say. These things need to be said.

Bottom line, do and be you, whatever that means. Have no fear, and if you do, tell it to fuck off every once in a while.

Much love,

ZMP

I believe in me. I am worthy of being liked and even worthy of being loved. I am a lovely person.

Somehow,  saying the above translates into being cocky, arrogant, selfish, narcissistic, egocentric and a straight up asshole.

If this be the case, then I am all of those things and more. I am tired of fighting definitions, and if we as a culture label our best and most creative as crazy, then I never want to be normal. If being great requires that you be shunned by the general population, or never understood, then I choose the route of exile over acceptance.

Perhaps this rant is self-dooming, and in sending such intentions to the universe, I’m fixing even more definitions upon myself. Perhaps that’s the point. Perhaps it’s my perception that needs to change and not the world’s.

I’m open to it.

Send me some good mantras.

Being an athlete means beating the enemy, whatever it takes. Even with the great wisdom of Kenny Novak guiding me, “Knock them down, then help them up. Then knock them down…and so on…”, I have accumulated a hatred for the mentality that in order to better ourselves, we must beat others.

There are two kinds of people in this world, those who aim to make you better and those who try to bring you down. Some may claim indifference is possible, but I doubt it. There could be an argument made that in dealing with those people who would aim to destroy us, we become more powerful, and I would agree, but I still wouldn’t choose them as my primary company.

Back to the point. I was playing in a basketball league the other night, and a torrent of old, childish emotion came spilling back into me. Now, don’t misinterpret my newly found disgust with athletic competition as me not wanting to win. I love winning, perhaps more than Charlie Sheen(so played, I know), it’s simply that I’ve found a better way to experience winning without having to physically and/or mentally destroy the man next to me.

My new kick is competing with myself. I suppose it should have always been this way, but it wasn’t. For the better part of my 28 years, it has been about beating the other guy. The switch in mentality, attitude adjustment, conscious in-action mantra, call it what you will, that I have taken on allows me to win even when I “lose”. If I am getting better, I win. When I choose to do something, and I follow through, regardless of outside influence, I win. When I do something I haven’t done, and when I battle through fear, I win. (Notice, usually doing=winning)

There are so many battles that we face on a daily basis, some are doomed from the get go and others push us to our limits. This is why it is hugely important to make note of those times when you win!! Give yourself credit for the good you do! Even if it’s a silly thing. For example, a car wanted to merge into my lane, and I slowed down so that they could. I exercised patience, and that was a win. Small, but they build.

My mantras as of late have included, but are not limited to:

-Build people up

-See others as yourself (Or…See yourself in others)

-I want to spend time here and now, with you

This last one has been especially powerful, and I’ve noticed the quality of my engagements increasing due to my “wanting” to be in a place instead of constantly trying to escape to somewhere else.

Tangent, yes, but you’re used to that at this point.

Intense, perhaps, but you know what’s really intense? Camping. Get it? In-Tents? Gets ‘em everytime…

“I’m not in competition with anybody but myself. My goal is to beat my last performance.”
- Celine Dion

That’s why she’s the best. It’s not about comparing yourself to others. My mom told me that for years, yet another thing that she ended up being right about. It’s about pushing yourself to be the best you can be, and encouraging those around you to do the same.

I would totally out-act Zach from a month ago, that feels good.

Forward and up,

ZMP

PS Check out wimp.com. It’s a plethora of interesting videos, ranging from TED.com talks(go here first if you haven’t), cute kitten videos, extreme sports, aged philosophers, English pranksters and general awesomeness. If someone took all the BS out of youtube, wimp.com would be left.

In the next 30 years, 1 of the 2 following things are likely to happen. 1. Nuclear fallout and the destruction of the human race, or 2. Advancement of technology to the point of Singularity that will fundamentally change the way we will live. (possibly that we all become cyborgs, but that’s besides this point…)

Enjoy your life now. Do what it is that you dream and yearn of doing. Stop making excuses and barriers for yourself. Stand up, turn off the TV and make something happen, because…something is going to happen…

If you need inspiration, go watch TED.com or for slightly more entertaining inspiration(which includes some TED talks), go to wimp.com and listen!! I watched a video from some philosopher yesterday, in an interview that lasted all of 1:30. In it he delivered an amazing message. It was something as follows, “I don’t know who I am, I don’t know what I’m meant to be or what the world and universe mean. I don’t think I ever have or ever will. A turning point in my life was when I sat back and became ok with this.” That made me take a deep breath.

Not to say that we’re not meant to figure out the larger questions, only that these things called quantum computers might have a better shot at it than our primitive biological brains. Then again, maybe there’s something special about us that computers will never be able to replicate-regardless, something is going to happen…

Get up!! NOW!! GO, DO BE!! USE WHATEVER CLICHE IS NECESSARY!! BE THE CHANGE!! MAKE THAT CHANGE!! MAN IN THE MOTHER FUCKIN’ MIRROR!!

Let me remind you, something is going to happen. I’m doing me. Here’s hoping you’re getting your kicks before 2040!! You’re the only one who can do it. No one can stand in your way, PASSION KNOWS NO NO!!!

Ok, I think you get the point. Did I mention…SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN??!!

hehehehe, much love,

Aristotle