Social Commentary has often been at the center of many films – Morality, insight and wisdom gained from mistakes made and lessons learned when common themes are explored. Now that Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is approaching and Christmas lists are being planned, its appropriate to pick a holiday that speaks sociologically to cultural values. Especially unique are the movies involving the myth of St. Nicholas, known by many names in different cultures as Santa Claus or Papa Noel, El Espiritu De La Navidad.

All legends about Christmas resonate the themes of sharing, sacrifice and generosity. Over time, Santa Claus became the image of great wisdom  reflected as an old man always ready to offer millions of gifts every year. “I have been coming to this planet for thousands of years  from a distant galaxy, to be on Earth,  a beautiful place to exist. Blessed with the power of precipitation,  my mission is to radiate contagious joy and share with everyone my knowledge of life in other parts of the universe.”

A cinematic version of this fable was explored in a 1964 Science Fiction film, Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. Directed by Nicholas Webster,     the screenplay was unknown. It received notice at the Canned Film Festival in 1986, and appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The plot originates on Mars and covers several themes using martian family relationships, exploring how the martian culture educates its youth. Momar and Kimar are unhappy about their kids watching too much Earth TV, but they notice the positive effects that Old St. Nicholas have  on their children when he is interviewed on Nickelodeon from his workshop in the North Pole. The couple seeks the  counsel of the 800 year old sage, Chochem the wise.  He had long  criticized martian culture for being too strict in the methods of educating their children, “fed knowledge into their brains through electrodes connected to machines,  they are not allowed individuality or freedom of thought.” He suggests this path is stifling their creativity. “The only way to correct this control is to allow the children freedom to have fun.” He argues that a Santa Claus figure like the one on Earth would give the children the spirit they need, enhancing joy and happiness in their lives. One of the martian children, Girmar, is played by six-year old Pia Zadora, in her dramatic film debut.

Unfortunately, advice is often not interpreted as intended. The leaders devise a plan to kidnap Santa Claus and bring him to Mars to work in one of their factories created for him, to make toys for martian children, and bring laughter and happiness to all the land.

Kimar flies to earth with other members of “the council”, and Torg, a robot, (an anagram of Gort, the beloved robot appearing in  The Day The Earth Stood Still, 1951), and use a freezing ray on Mrs. Claus forcing Santa to go Mars.

There are many complex subplots, the special effects, makeup, and robotics are   cheesy, however the morals conveyed by the movie supersedes all that. Perhaps this film contains wisdom for adults and children alike. Don’t use TV as a babysitter; Be careful how you interpret the words of great sages, oracles and mystics; Don’t steal Santa Claus’s from other planets, and “It really is” all about education, not assimilation (as in the Borg Collective).

As the film ends Santa is returned to earth as the martians choose one of their own to become the Santa Claus of Mars. Chochem, the guru would probably have said: “Listen up folks, you can’t find laughter and happiness by stealing it from someone else, but by finding it within.”

And so the tale ends as the spirit of Santa Claus conquers Mars, bringing laughter and cheer and a Ho Ho Ho.

According to Quantum Possibilities, “Clairgustance is the ability to taste substances without putting them in your the mouth.” The premise is that some people possess special insight to perceive the essence of something from the ethereal realm through instinctive taste, minimizing the need to use memory to catalogue them within the interior mind.

Part of the problem is that this particular claim contains obvious flaws which distracts from its credibility. How can one identify flavor without having first placed something on the tongue allowing texture, form and smell to be recalled at a later time? It is inconceivable to be able to do this unless some base of reference, dependent on memory is created to guide the interpretation of qualities unique to a substance.

In general, clairvoyance is closely associated with paranormal studies historically found in most cultures. Clairvoyants are often defined as religious or shamanistic individuals who meditate and are able to  exert high levels of personal discipline. They can also exist as the focus of cults who proclaim them as having “clear experiences,” strongly suggesting that their pronouncements are reliable and above suspicion. These people attract large numbers of individuals uncertain about the future, seeking those who they think can access energies that can help them avoid pain and suffering by creating  better choices or convincing illusions foretold from such a vision.

According to some historical documents, the earliest record of clairvoyance was made by Marquis de Puységur, who in 1784 was treating a peasant man, Victor Race, identified with feeble intelligence. It was reported that when in treatment, Race would enter a trance state and undergo personality changes that made him noticeably articulate. He proceeded to diagnosis his own disease and prescribe a course of treatment, as well as many illnesses of strangers. When the trance ended, he returned to his limited mental capacity totally unaware of anything he had said.

Although Puységur used the term clairvoyance, there is no evidence to support a belief in the paranormal since he was a follower of Franz Mesmer, the founder of the Mesmerism school of thought which included certain spiritual phenomena and magnétisme animal as its basis. The evolution of Mesmer’s ideas and practices led Scottish surgeon James Braid to develop hypnosis, a respected tool of psychiatry, in 1842.

There are a number qualities identified as part of the clairvoyant experience. They are usually refinements of the known senses of hearing, seeing, touching, taste and smell, extending into some realm that can only be individually perceived. They can suggest images from the past, visions of the future or be connected to objects such an heirloom.

Most skeptics argue that clairvoyance is the result of self delusion and a failure to consider chance occurrence, “If you test a clairvoyant in a scientific experiment, they will inevitably get a number of answers correct during a series of trials, much like the 20% chance of picking the correct possibility in a multiple choice test with five unknown choices.” This does not mean that there are any special abilities at work other than guessing. Non believers are quick to suggest that the clairvoyant experience should be amenable to established scientific scrutiny in order to be considered valid.

Try and explain that to someone who has had such an event that changed the course of their life and opened them to things they never knew they had. For them, there is no need to justify their ability since they implicitly understand the solitary and unique nature of the introspective experience.

According to Japanese myth “good fortune follows a child conceived under the fiery plasma emanating from the Earth’s magnetosphere.” On the other hand western scientists and theologians might argue that it is not possible to know the precise correlation between “expelling billions of electrons funnelling to and from a pole,” and mitosis, immersed in a field of magnetically charged particles under the Aurora Borealis.

A peaceful place, calm and harmonious, where the energy of the planet is as vibrant and subtle as the stars flickering  through the  aqua red  sky of the northern lights, an ideal place to think about philosophy, religion or contemplate the breath of Japanese myth and the Ho Ho Ho of Old St. Nick.

Unfortunately, busy professionals are often unable to travel to the Arctic regions to find the northern lights to breed a child of good fortune. For them, a unique solution has been devised to bring the lights to their location by thinkgeek.com called the Aurora Projector. “This unique object uses three colored LED’s and a frosted lenses to simulate the ice of the northern region that is now melting due to global warming from the products of the industrial revolution,  to project twisting swirling misty lights on your wall or ceiling. Four triple-a batteries power it for up to 20 hours to avoid any interruptions in a thoughtful conception. The controls are simple to master – On, Off, and  a Timer  which  shuts it off after 30, 60, 90 and  120 minutes, especially thoughtful  for those who are in the geriatric age range. Plus, the lamp is hinged, so if you are concerned about straining your neck muscles or pinching the wrong nerve to stare at the light show on the ceiling, you can tilt it vertically, and project the pretty colorful lights on the wall instead. The size of the contraption: H13 x W18.5 x D11 cm. The 4 AA batteries it takes to run this thing are not included and it doesn’t appear to have any plug in components.”

Now for the right yen and $39.00 you too can conceive a child of good fortune that will make parenting as easy as baking a souffle.

During the Roman Empire, a group of large carp like fish known as genus Barbus were domesticated in marble tanks under the bed of guests invited to lavish Roman Orgies  signifying their fascination with underwater life that led to aquariums. But, it wasn’t known until much later that goldfish like others in the Carp family are social animals who frequently become bored with their environment when left alone without other fish to interact. For them, a stark, un-embellished bowl of water just wont do because their inclination when happy is to be curious. In fact this quality is believed to have encouraged the development of elaborate fish tank rock formations, miniature sunken ships and the R2 Fish Training Kit. which made Albert the goldfish pictured above a member of the Guinness Book Of Records as the fish with the largest repertoire of tricks of any aquatic vertebrate with scales.

According to historical records, The concept of fish school, not to be confused with a school of fish was first founded by Dean and Kyle Pomerleau in 2004. Kyle who was seven years old at the time won two common goldfish at a school fair spending hours watching them for several weeks. He suspected that there was more going on in their brains then most people were willing to give them credit for. On a whim, he and his father decided to see if it was possible to train fish to do tricks using techniques frequently associated with  training dogs, cats, and circus animals.

In an attempt to give fish their just due as responsive pets rather than some kind of decoration at risk for being flushed down the toilet or eaten by a house cat, their scientific investigation led to the Fish School Training Manual, initially written in French. The basic principles set forth in the pamphlet are positive reinforcement and shaping which uses the fish’s innate curiosity to encourage behavior modification. After all, Kyle  claimed,  “Fish have often been served in various cultures as religious symbols, deities and the subject of art, books and films such as The Incredible Mr. Limpit,” a 1964 live action/animated film by Warner Brothers about a human who mysteriously turns into a talking fish and helps the US Navy defeat the Nazis using his “thrum,” an intense  noise that disrupts underwater  instruments and weapons long before Finding Nemo won the Oscar as best animated feature in 2005.

The notion that humans only use approximately 10% of their brain has been perpetuated without any evidence. No one really knows its origin, perhaps a misunderstanding of the words of William James (1842-1910), an American psychologist and philosopher who wrote in his 1908 essay, The Energies Of Men, “We are making use of only a small part of our potential mental and physical resources.” Among his other notable works is, The Subjective Effects Of Nitrous Oxide.

Myths are notoriously difficult to trace, partially because they have multiple sources and are often culturally defined, adding and synthesizing the moral implications at its core, but, assuming it was true, it would mean we could still function if 90% of the brain were removed. A difficult statement for any credible scientist to agree with, and yet so many people still believe we only use a fraction of our brain.

Ask any neurologist and they would probably say, “Neural pathways are difficult to map although removing part of the brain can have devastating effects on behavior,” a meaningless statement to co-notate that science still knows very little about the brain, suggesting we probably have not tapped its true capability assuming that it could be measured scientifically. When was the last time you heard anyone say, “I’ve lived up to my full potential.”

On the other hand, it is difficult to disagree that education affords the opportunity to increase latent ability, it’s still unclear whether that means more brain utilization is involved. Perhaps motivation or some unknown force is at play, although intelligence is known to be more than what is measured by the IQ test. Parents however still proudly beam when their children achieve a high mark. Many still associate increased brain capacity with smartness and imagine super human abilities of memory, telepathy or telekinesis. Whether this is delusion, the work of science fiction or fact yet to be revealed, there is always hope that brain function can be enhanced as evolution proceeds.

One way to increase and train brain skills in the privacy of your own home, aside from reading, is known as The Brain Fitness Kit, a wonderful gift idea for Christmas found on latestbuy.com. “It contains 108 fully illustrated giant puzzle cards designed to test both logical and lateral thinking! Plus it comes complete with a set of instructions and a timer. Play it on your own and beat the clock or compete with a friend and beat them senseless by showing off your grey matter at an affordable $14.95.”

Read more about brain myths at neuroscience for kids (http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html)

Although the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” may portend attitudes’ interpretation of the fates deem inevitable, it can also reflect fatalistic expectations of future events within a cosmic play seen from a skewed perspective, just a nebulous notion or delusional state, demarcating individualized affect that attributes its own meaning to what images are suggested by “control”.

If seeking domination of circumstances to impact a specific effect is sought despite infinite unanticipated external possibilities, then personal thought, balanced upon positive and negative experiences, impress the ironic futility to any such endeavor. Now technology has an input into this very notion.

A variety of products developed for the enlightened individual who wants to take charge of his/her environment has been explored by slashgear.com; a reservoir of unimaginable ideas made concrete for anyone to redefine their personal surroundings.

First there is the color coordinated, Control Your Man Or Women Remote Control. Pink for the men and dark gray for the women who have issues with their paramour and require additional prodding instead of spending thousand of dollars in counseling or legal fees sucked up by lawyers to win a divorce settlement. The remote control claims to get them to do what you want on a whim, without the hassle of free will, free speech or love potion #9, conjured in a burning cauldron of witches brew so eloquently memorialized by The Three in MacBeth, Act 1, Scene1: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air,” as an inspiration for the evil queen, stepmother of Snow White, as she transforms, a result of a dark potion,  into the ugly contorted witch in the sweeping 1940 animated epic Disney masterpiece Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, surrounded by thunder, swirling wind and lightning and the poisoned apple, cackling her narrative to the mesmerized gaze of children and adults sitting in the audience. Although not a new concept it does have a soundly presented atmospheric charm all its own.

“Press a button and it yells at your significant other to do the task of your choosing. Both remotes emit obnoxious noises. the pink one sounds boyish  while the dark gray, whiny and ‘girlish.’” One remote is priced at $17.95, while the set, an amazing steal at $29.95. Perhaps behavior modification reminiscent of Psychology 101, the classic Lab Rat experiments devised for the quest to find the biological basis of behavior can apply here, or not.

Atmosphere is also a worthy condition to exist by making all life possible especially in a party environment within an array of merging amino acids. Now there is a way to test, and yes, manipulate your surroundings, and the people who comprise its milieu. Another genius invention shown on slashgear.com. Its the Portable Voice Stress Analyzer, particularly made for the paranoid of heart. Trapped in an affair with numerous people, the voice stress analyzer is small enough to slip into your purse or briefcase and works “by measuring the tremors in the audio signal from the vocal cords. It then assesses how honest the people surrounding you are,” a consideration of note when attempting to cultivate a sense of intuition.  Advertised on nerdapproved.com for $58.40 “with an easy to read LED layout makes determining innocence or guilt quick, easy and unequivocal,  so you can falsely accuse and alienate anyone you want, anytime, anywhere.”

The final piece to this triad effectively designed for any diagnosed or undiagnosed control complex is The Sonic Nausea Gadget to make those around you feel queasy enough to leave. “Sonic Nausea is a small electronic device which can really ‘boom’ one’s stomach. It generates a unique combination of ultra-high frequency sound waves which soon leads most in its vicinity to queasiness. It can also cause headaches, intense irritation, sweating, imbalance, nausea, or even vomiting. The unique sound wave characteristics make directional source determination difficult.  Powered by one 9-volt battery (not included). For extended run time six AA batteries in a battery pack with transistor clips (available from most electronics stores) can be used instead.  Use with extreme (paranoid) discretion.” $29.00. This product is also advertised on shomer-tech.com, which specializes in law enforcement and military equipment.

All of these treasures are a  testament to whoever said, “Things always comes in three’s”

My Percepto Rating: Its a secret. See if you can cajole it outta me.

Shopping for its own sake rather than searching for a specific item can be fun. A way to spend time absorbing creative ideas by provoking curiosity and imagination hopefully evoking a sense of humor depending on what one sees.

Spending an hour at Hammacher Schlemmer, the landmark store on 57th street, just off of Lexington Avenue in New York is always a treat for curiosities made for the “inner geek”, especially those with an aristocratic taste for innovation. Well chosen oddities with new and creative applications often of old ideas that consume the hidden recesses of one’s mind with an unusual variety of things to focus on that are not found anywhere except in obscure novelty catalogs.

This is where I first encountered the Eco-sphere, displaying the wonders of the universe on earth, a science tool for children and an artistic statement: “It is a complete, self-contained and self-sustaining miniature world encased in glass, carefully crafted to achieve an aesthetic, meditative beauty that can soothe any environment, exploring the inter dependence of animal and plant life with Earth’s most precious element – water (see the picture).” It survived over four years and had these tiny creatures that swam around in the water. A reflection of life enclosed and perfectly balanced under my total control. It comes in a variety of sizes and shapes, spherical for the scientist at heart or an egg-shape for those with a philosophic sense. Perfect for the home or in a conference room at a business meeting, possibly on Wall Street, to distract from the erratic behavior of the Stock Market. As one would expect, the larger ones cost more money.

Hammacher Schlemmer also has a vast array of time pieces and innovative alarm clocks, confirming the existence of a cultural obsession with time, a necessary evil to draw our attention from life’s sleep to shift gears and deal with each day’s agenda, a tick-tock perception of movement through space aka The Fourth Dimension.

Here for example is a truly bizarre time measuring device. It is known as The Temper Throwing Alarm Clock reviewed on nerdapproved.com also found at Hammacher Schlemmer. Anyone with young children will understand its effect. This is the alarm clock “that pounds its fists and opens its mouth while ’shouting’ its alarm. As your selected wake-up time approaches to within five minutes, its feet and body will begin to glow, and when the alarm sounds, it begins tapping its arms lightly, but if you are dilatory in touching its snooze sensor by more than one minute, it launches into its full whining tantrum. A sensor on its head also allows you to ‘pet’ the clock, causing it to “smile” and move its fists in appreciation. Its eyes will flash red when its four AA batteries (required) get too low, or it can plug into AC. 9 1/2″ W x 7 1/2″ D x 5″ H. (2 1/4 lbs.), 49.95.” A wonderful reminder that dropping the kids at their grandparents house can provide a few hours of relief.

For the same price of $49.95, there is yet another variation of clock. It is called the Peaceful Progression Wake-Up Clock, designed for those with an ‘OM’ in mind and who revere Transcendental Meditation and a soft gentle awakening from your very own subconscious reality. A stark contrast to the jarring noise of the temper tantrum alarm. “This clock uses a gradual increase in ambient light, stimulating aromas, and peaceful sounds from nature to awaken sleepers. Easy to use, simply set the desired wake up time, place some aromatherapy beads (included) into the supplied aroma bowl, and choose a natural sound setting (Nightfall, Thunder Storm, Zen Melody, Mountain Stream, Songbirds, and Ocean Surf). Thirty minutes before wake-up, the clock’s light begins to glow softly, subtly brightening over the next half hour. As the light increases, the warmth from the lamp releases the faint scent into the air to stimulate the olfactory senses, speeding the waking process. Fifteen minutes before wake up time, the clock’s speaker generates the sleeper’s choice of nature sounds.”

Perhaps it’s possible to create your own sounds, intimately unique, a reflection of inner thought, personal fantasy, or an after life experience communicating with someone on the other side. But wait, there is more. “This clock can also be set to operate in reverse, gradually diminishing light, scent, and sound at night to usher sleepers into a relaxed slumber. The clock has a night light setting as well. ‘What’s more, this keeper of time plugs into a standard household outlet, and uses two AA batteries for backup power, ensuring that time and alarm buzzer functions remain operable in the event of power loss. It measures 7 1/2″ H x 5 1/4″ W x 6 1/4″ D. (3 1/2 lbs.).”

All this and so much more at Hammacher Schlemmer, New York’s premiere department store for the unusual aesthetic sensibilities.

My Percepto Rating is : Insignificant . This store is on 57th street and Lexington avenue, the location speaks for itself…

Imagine the first day you moved into your house or new apartment, maybe that high priced condo which is now plummeting in value. The first morning brew of fresh Peruvian coffee permeates the air, beans grounded just minutes before in your brand new coffee grinder bought from the basement level of Macy’s on thirty-fourth street, sold in the kitchenware’s department. The refrigerator door yields the container of milk and while reaching for the sugar bowl the unhappy realization dawns that it is completely empty. Panic sets in until a thought crystallizes: “perhaps this is a wonderful opportunity to borrow a cup of sugar.”

Knocking on the door of the adjacent apartment, it opens and the fantasy of meeting your idealized soul mate as the words “How do you do?” resound through the air as a soft echo in mind’s eye. Those words have special meaning. They are in fact the basis that led to the creation of one of the baby boomers’ most beloved television icons: Howdy Doody.

A simple marionette controlled with twelve strings became a friend to millions of children. A creation of puppeteers Velma Wayne Dawson and Rufus Rose, Double Doody Howdy – one of the stand in puppets used on the show – is now a coveted part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. A pioneer in children’s programming with a western theme, it was the place we first met Clara-bell, the clown who was mute and communicated with horns and the notorious seltzer bottle. Originally played by Bob Keeshan, the beloved Captain Kangaroo, who as captain of his enterprise fostered warm relationships between grandparents and children.

Buffalo Bob Smith was the first voice of Howdy and remained his human alter ego for its entire thirteen year run (1947-60) – an amazing hallmark of television history. In fact, Photo Doody Howdy, used in photographs and parades, was sold at auction in 1997 to a private collector for $113,000.

All this and more from a fantasy encounter with a cup of sugar.

“It’s Howdy Doody time,
It’s Howdy Doody time.
Bob Smith and Howdy, too,
Say howdy doo’ to you.
Lets give a rousing cheer,
‘Cause Howdy Doody’s here.
It’s time to start the show,
So kids let’s go!”

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