The Rashomon Effect

I finished watching the Japanese film "Rashomon" last night.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa the movie tells the story of a bandit who rapes the wife of a samurai in 9th century Japan.

The story is told by a witness of the crime and as the movie unfolds we realize that four variations of the same story are creating alternate realities.

In otherwords, the flashbacks only reflect perception and not the reality. We never find out what really happened but we learn lessons along the way.

We learn that murder can bring greater social acceptance than telling a lie.

We learn that humanity is full of deceit, lies and sin.

We also learn that humanity can be redeemed by the act of a single good man trying to do what's right.

I have to admit that watching Japenese films from the 1950s isn't the most entertaining evening -- it involves a level of intellectual commitment and mental endurance.

But Kurosawa is an expert of making a great film about a single idea.

"Rashomon" makes us realize that each individual has a different perspective on life.

"Ikiru" teaches us that we all have a reason for living that is greater than our day-t0-day life.

Kurosawa's other films certainly teach other lesssons and I'm excited to learn those lessons as I get time to watch those movies.

My challenge to you is to find films, books, magazines, music......anything that challenges your ways of thinking.

I've been stuck on the idea lately that it's truly amazing that most children raised Lutheran stay Lutheran and most Catholics stay Catholics and most Muslims stay Muslims and most Jews stay Jewish.

Maybe I'm the fool but I'm a Lutheran turned Universalist and I'm sure it's because I've done everything possible to expand my ways of thinking.

To take the time to watch films and read books and talk to people with divergent points of view.

And what I've come to realize is that all of our viewpoints on life are both true and false.

That there is no one correct way of seeing the world.

That to some extent all of us are stuck in dead-end jobs and we must find the truth in life that will allow us to overcome the mundane nature of everyday living.

To find the truth that will allow us to....

Enjoy the ride,
Damm

A Bottle of Fermented Grapes

I just purchased this 2004 Rioja and according to the dude in the wine shop it shouldn't be opened until 2013 or 2014. This is my "Do Not Touch" wine for 3-4 years!

A bottle of Sciacchetra dessert wine that I drank following Dammapalooza. Probably should have saved this for a better occasion but it was sure an amazing, sweet white wine.

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Complicated and complex. Simply incredible. Thirst-satisfying. Palate-confounding. Beautifully crafted. Nectar of the gods.

Wine, at some point in many of our lives, becomes a sort of soundtrack to some of the great moments.

We remember the great bottles of wine not necessarily for the wine itself but for the memory it evokes.

The glass of Chianti Classico at the Poggio Asciutto vineyard in Italy in the middle of my 60-mile bike through Tuscany.

The Schiacchetra dessert wine in Cinque Terre, Italy, with my dad and sister as we looked out at the Italian coastline.

The Pinot Noir at Francis Ford Copolla's winery in Napa Valley -- sitting outside with the wine, smoking a cigar and pretending like I was on the set of The Godfather with Al Pacino and Marlon Brando.

A glass of champagne in Lima, Peru, as the Alfredo Baertl family celebrated the birth of the first member of a new generation of Baertls.

Countless bottles of wines with labels now long forgotten as friends and I sat around summer campfires in Forest City.

I will never be above drinking a Busch Light on the golf course or having a bottle of "Two Buck Chuck."

But the dynamic, unique wines of the world have become something that I now happily celebrate.

The wine defines moments of life like songs define a scene in a movie.

Tears for Fears in Donnie Darko. Sam playing the piano in Casablanca. The haunting melody in Pan's Labyrinth. The theme from The Godfather.

The local grocery store provides me with my "go-to" wines that I love to fall back on. The Trapiche Oak Cask Malbec. The Chateau Ste. Michelle Sauvignon Blanc. The various Pinot Noirs.

But as I look across the room at my 12-bottle wine rack, I can't help but think of the moments that will soon be attached to the unopened bottles of wine.

Most of them will probably just insert their flavor into a long night of drinking with friends.

But I'm sure that in those 12 bottles, one of them will connect with another one of life's great moments.

A bottle of fermented grapes attaching its flavor with a day in my life.

Making its mark. Hitting the right notes. Helping me remember the day.

Affectionately allowing you and I to...

Enjoy the ride,
Damm