[UPDATE: I've just put together a new interview with DeStefano, for Shambhala SunSpace. I hope you'll check it out.]
On NBC’s Last Comic Standing, the gruff Mike DeStefano, a seasoned comic, has become an audience favorite. And actually, it’s clear that the comedian’s persona is just that — a persona; at heart he’s a big softy and a family kind of guy. He’s also a former addict celebrating more than a dozen years in recovery.
Buddhism, clearly, plays a part in all this (though DeStefano identifies himself primarily as a practitioner of “recovery comedy”). Last night on the show viewers saw Mike’s monster Buddha tattoo (shown here) and also heard a joke that I imagine we’ll be hearing people repeat for a while:
“I went to a Chinese restaurant… They had a suggestion box, so I wrote ‘Free Tibet’.”
(It’s not “What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?*” but, hey, not bad, Mike.)
Other evidence of Mike’s interest in Buddhism? His new comedy album is called OK Karma. And here’s the cover (left).
He’s also written a book entitled Bada Bing Bada Budda.
Check out Mike online, here.
Update: click here to check out DeStefano’s contribution to the (true) storytelling podcast, the program, titled “The Junkie and the Monk.” It’ll give you a taste of Mike’s personality and background and — while it’s seriously rough stuff at times — it’ll make you laugh. You’re gonna like this guy.
(* “Make me one with everything.”)
Great headline, but say it ain’t so*, Ram Bomjan. (See here.) …And in case you didn’t know: Bomjan, the so-called “Buddha Boy” of Nepal, is considered a modern-day Buddha by some, and is eyed with supspicion by others. Either way, he makes for good copy.
From another account: “The victims said, Bamjan, with the help of a local, brought them to a local’s house and thrashed them saying they were trying to scuttle his meditation.”
Hm. Well, that’s disappointing. But I can’t say I don’t understand it!
* Update: turns out he can’t say it ain’t so….
It’s in Japanese. I don’t speak Japanese. But I do have a pretty good awesomeness detector.
Click the image above or here.
I’m a little confused just how much Buddhism there is or isn’t in this movie — see a review here — but it looks and sounds kinda promising as-is:
It’s apparently premiering at the Japan Society in NYC tonite, so check it out and let us know what you think if you can.
“Despite being a practising Buddhist, Louise Goodman, a.k.a. Blackout Susan, plays roller derby with the Slaughter Daughters.”
The Ottawa Citizen has the story from which this great sentence comes. Go, Blackout!
Remember this great, great, great album?
Well, don’t expect to hear that distinct brand of greatness again. Courtney Love has told the Dallas Observer that:
“Eric Erlandson and myself shall not play guitar together again,”citing that it is for “religious purposes” having to do with them being of different Buddhist sects that are not allowed to be in the same room as one another.
Um, what?
Well, Love is an SGI (Sokka Gakkai International) Buddhist. Erlandson is a practitioner of Nichiren Shoshu, and yes, it seems that never again shall the twain meet. Quoth Wikipedia (because I’m feeling lazy today):
In 1991, Nichiren Shoshu officially excommunicated the leaders of its then-largest lay organization, Sōka Gakkai, for their doctrinal deviations and disputes with the priesthood. In 1997, those non-leaders who chose to remain as members of the Soka Gakkai, instead of becoming members of Nichiren Shoshu, also lost their status as “believers.” The Soka Gakkai now operates as a doctrinally and organizationally distinct group.
Huh.
Is it true?
Who knows? But the rags are all saying she’s using Buddhism to find relief from the pressures of jail.
Quoth The Daily Star (for example):
Wild child Lindsay Lohan is turning to Buddhism to get her through her jail hell.
The off-the-rails star, 24, who has been sentenced to 90 days in prison, has decided to seek solace in the religion in a bid to conquer her demons.
An insider revealed: “Lindsay’s been fascinated in the Buddhist faith for a while as several of her inner circle follow the teachings of Buddhism.
“Lindsay’s devastated about the jail sentence and has been crying non-stop. She’s been told to seek spiritual guidance and find her inner peace.
“She’s decided to study the art of meditation so she can stay calm through breathing techniques while she’s in jail.”
Same old story: Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. Maybe she’s sincere, maybe she isn’t. All snarkiness aside, let’s just hope she gets better. And let’s hope our media does, too.
Check it. This is the Buddha. Well, sort of…:
Actually, it’s “The Buddha Before he Got Enlightened.” Or so says Jon Haward, the creator of the comic Wasted and his “Tales of the Buddha Before He Got Enlightened.” Of course, Haward didn’t “create” the Buddha, and indeed, this “fat Buddha” is not really based on the historical Buddha but on the Buddhist figure Hotei. (A very common mistake, as longtime readers of the Horse have seen.)
The above comic cover was drawn by Simon Bisley, longtime collaborator of Glenn Danzig. So it turns out there’s just one degree of separation between Danzig and Buddha. (That is, one degree other than me.) …Who knew?
I haven’t seen this comic at my fantastic local comix shop. (All hail HUB Comics!) But I’ll see if I can grab one and check it out. In the meantime, you can preview this clearly irreverent new comic here.
That’s right, and congratulations should go not only to him but to the United States for honoring such a talent, and yes, a dharmic force. For those of you who didn’t know about Merwin’s connection to Buddhism, quoth The Poetry Foundation:
“Merwin moved to Hawaii to study Zen Buddhism in 1976. He eventually settled in Maui and began to restore the forest surrounding his former plantation. Both the rigor of practicing Buddhism and the tropical landscape have greatly influenced Merwin’s later style.”
Read about his appointment to US Poet Laureate at the Library of Congress website, here.
It would seem that way. Few had high hopes for this new M. Night Shyamalan movie — least of all Arun from Angry Asian Buddhist — and it seems that said few will in fact never be considered gifted prognosticators. Via Defamer:
“The Last Airbender is the tale of, oh, who the hell knows. It is basically Star Wars with a Buddhist ‘theme,’ and it stars Aasif Mandvi from The Daily Show. You may remember when this movie was being made there was a fair amount of controversy about the cast being largely white, when the characters in the source material were Asian. Attention, Asian community: You seem to have dodged a bullet.”
Yikes.
And: Defamer reports that TLA has a 4% rating on RottenTomatoes.com. That’s out of 100 percent. (Meaning: very, very bad.) Defamer has also collected some of the stunning words of hate, which have to be seen to be believed, already racked up by the film. Update: the Rotten Tomatoes rating is now up to a staggering 6%! But then again, as punk godfathers the Minutemen once posited, “The roar of the masses could be farts.”
(Sorry. But Right Speech, it seems, is not a factor when people discuss this movie.)
But don’t get too discouraged, Mr. Mandvi — you’ll still have a career. Being in intentionally laughable projects suits you better anyway.
If you’ve seen the film yourself, leave a review. And do try to be nice.
