Enlightened Northeast

I'm thrilled that one of my favorite German comedies (and let's face it, nobody does comedy better than Germans), Erleuchtung garantiert (Enlightenmenbt Guaranteed) is finally out on DVD after nearly a decade of waiting. It's sort of a funnier, more profound version of Lost in Translation and perhaps more culturally sensitive. I like it, in part, because it shows Tokyo not just as a weird and expensive place but one with cemeteries, homeless people and ATM machines whee Hello Kitty babbles while eating your credit card and refusing to give a cash advance.

In an early scene, a many almost exactly my age is visited by a feng sui expert who advises him that as someone born in the year of the fire monkey, the Horthest is the favorable direction for him. "Not the South," he explains. "In the South accidents happen for you." Enlightenment guranteed.

Jan Crouch Zen

Not to my pleasure, a You Tube video I did about Jan Crouch nearly two years ago has been my most viewed, topping over 9,000 hits. I won't even link it here, but I will share this very Zen view of Jan. Starting slowly, she eventually hits a near trance like frenzy a little past midway, followed by peaceful, healing waves Jan never intended. And, in case you can't make it out, her deep, slowed down voice is saying: "I haven't worn that for six months, and somebody's gonna love it!" A reference to her bra or pink wig?

This clip brings me great serenity to face the week.

The Zen of Jordy

Am I seeing things or did pint-sized, ultimately exploited, early 1990s disco star Jordy grow up to be Eckhart Tolle? Maybe it's just me, but the resemblance is uncanny. Dur dur, d'etre une New Age Guru. Just don't tell Oprah.