Trailer here.

But as the LA Times’ Show Tracker blog points out, this was not the first time the song had appeared on TV. It actually showed up in an animated Beatles cartoon, which you can watch here, below. But do check out Show Tracker for more.

Adam Yauch — aka MCA — of the Beastie Boys has died

I can’t believe it either.

Small May 5 update: The story’s everywhere now. And then there’s this “News in Photos” gag from The Onion.

This is going to be good.

If you recall director Ron Fricke’s fantastic movie, Baraka, you’ll almost certainly want to see this, his new “guided meditation on the cycle of birth death and rebirth.” (Or, if you’ve seen Koyaanisqatsi, etc.) And if you don’t recall Baraka, you’ll want to see this AND Baraka. Here’s the story from the film’s website:

Samsara is a word that describes the ever turning wheel of life. It is a concept both intimate and vast – the perfect subject for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, whose previous collaborations include Chronos and Baraka, and who, in the last 20 years, have travelled to over 58 countries together in the pursuit of unique imagery.

Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation that will transform viewers in countries around the world as they are swept along a journey of the soul. Through powerful images pristinely photographed in 70mm and a dynamic music score, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of the nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.

The film has an August 2012 general release date. Visit the website for details.

(Thanks, as always, to Sam DeWitt for the heads-up.)

Photo via Mister 536 (on flickr.com)

To many, it won’t be surprising that the forward formerly known as Ron Artest — now known as Metta World Peace — doesn’t seem to be living up to his name: Sunday night he hit Oklahoma City’s James Harden in the head during play; Harden sustained a concussion.

Oh well. What’s in a name anyway?

For what it’s worth, M.W.P. has expressed regret for the unfair hit — but faces suspension nonetheless.

Update: the suspension happened.

Yes, the “Don’t Tread on Me”-government-hating government worker did go to a meditation center, in a rare moment of deference to his health-nut pseudo-boss Chris (Rob Lowe), who sometimes goes in for spiritual or even New Agey stuff. But Ron’s only along to get chummy enough with Chris that he can keep his plum job of being paid to do as little as possible.

So what did Ron do in there if he wasn’t meditating? Chris may think that a post-sit Ron “radiates mindfulness” but as Ron himself puts it:

All told, we were in there about six hours. And no, I was not meditating. I just stood there quietly breathing. There were no thoughts in my head whatsoever; my mind was blank.* I don’t know what those crackpots [in there] were doing.

Of course, Ron has been warned. When he asks Anne (Rashida Jones) what to expect from meditation, she answers right away: “It’s crazy boring, it lasts forever, you’re going to wish you were dead.”

Chris (Rob Lowe) meditates; Ron prefers to stand

When the obsessively individualistic Ron tells us that meditation does nothing for him, there’s reason to believe him. But then, the important thing is that he’s tried it. Even if he didn’t get anything out of it. The enthusiastic and impulsive (and often wrong) Chris agrees: Ron’s willingness to try meditation (even if he tells us that he hasn’t tried it) is impressive. He assures Ron that his plum-job security will be extended.

Later — there are plenty more meditation jokes in the episode, by the way, and other storylines, too — Ron does revisit meditation, even bringing it into the workplace… but just as a cover for work avoidance.

So maybe Ron Swanson and meditation weren’t a natural pair. Again: The important thing is that he tried it — even if he didn’t get anything out of it.

And even if he really did.

* Note: Yes, some of that ironic stuff Ron is saying about meditation, like about having a blank mind, etc, isn’t quite representative of many meditation experiences, not least Buddhist meditation experiences. And so it could be said that some of the jokes, which are about the fact that Ron actually was meditating, when he thinks he wasn’t, don’t totally work. But then, it’s Nick Offerman delivering the jokes, so it all balances out.  

Related: Watch Steven Colbert challenge the Dalai Lama in a competition to be the more influential of TIME’s “100 Most Influential List”

And for more, be sure to check out io9′s post.

Check them out here: http://dispirited-dave.tumblr.com/. It’ll be fun to see what else pops up there.

I dunno.

Does she stick with it? Well… maybe.

But that’s almost beside the point. Why? Well… why not read about the whole episode in this writeup I’ve just published on Shambhala SunSpace?