Last night I went to my dear old friend Dave Naz’ DVD release (and I do mean release) party at Beauty Bar in H’wood for “Sugartown” his adult film for Vivid-Alt (Vivid Video’s alternative line of porn movies which veer into subcultures like the worlds of Hot Rods, Punk Rock…and for this one Blacksploitation flix of the ’70s).

I was chatting with Naz’ buddy Greg who was in seminal punk band (God do I hate that cliche phrase but I used it) Circle Jerks, and is now in Bad Religion. He said he was there because Circle Jerks’ music is (appropriate to the meaning of the band name) in Dave Naz’ upcoming adult film “Circa ‘82.” This one is–as title implies–about the 80s…the punk scene to be specific. And though neither Greg nor I had seen it we winced just a bit at it being ‘a little too close to home’–though I’m sure Naz gave it the best of his reverence–he is a true counterculture whiz. 

Having been an out-of-control teen who dated one of the members of the South Bay pop/skate/punk band the Descendents for two years, I was just a little skeeved out to see a promo of a dude with his shlong out wearing a Descendents t-shirt being serviced by a cute very young looking girl. Truth be told, way back when, I became a woman in Dave’s Beverly Hills studio–where my much much older then-boyfriend and I first met amidst carpeted walls, drums and other musical equipment.

In the promo for “Circa ‘82,” Naz even shows, gasp, a flash of a very uh well-matured Don Bolles (of Germs fame). A big yikes on that one as drinking and driving don’t mix and I fear neither do Bolles and a porn movie. I met the former at age 15 and at about that same time was hanging at Naz’ studio regularly. Naz was the king pin teen of the late ’80s L.A. punk scene. He used to have all of LA’s underground bands practicing at his studio–from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Redd Kross to Descendents and The Pandoras. Sophia Coppola, who was at the time dating a Red Krosser, was one of the regulars.

Wonder if she’ll feel inspired by the hey-day to create her own cinematic record of the times..

Today is the day 3 Kan in the Mayan Tzolkin calendar (one of the many calendars the ancient Meso-American civilization spawned). It is my Mayan birthday; that is to say on the date of my birth it was also 3 Kan. Because the Tzolkin is a 260-day calendar and does not correspond to our 365 day calendar, one’s Mayan birthday changes every year.

To me this is a significant birthday because it falls so close to the Mayan shift into the “Sixth Day” period heralding a time of rebirth (which calendrically parallels the bloom of the Flower Children in the ’60s). Since I am fully in my Mayan energy (Note: so is Brian Eno, who shares my 3 Kan Mayan birthdate), I feel compelled to share with you some simple wisdom that has sought me out.

Back in the psychedelic Flower Power Timothy Leary era, there was a ubiquitous expression, “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out,” meaning to get conscious and drop out of the society constructed by “the man” (to paraphrase). I am suggesting that in light of the recent shift we co-opt that phrase and update to fit our Post-human era dilemmas and issues.

I believe we need to “Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop In.” As much as I love my iPhone, the Internet, television and so on, I am keenly aware of the fact that the more I allow my mind to suck it all up (like the drug that it resembles), the less in touch with my intuition I am–the less centered, the less able to make decisions and to process all that’s going on around me and know what’s ‘right’ from ‘wrong.’ I’m suggesting routinely Turning Off such devices. I’m not going to be extreme about this and suggest we all live like Grizzly Adams and unplug for life. But there should be times when we willingly sacrifice the barrage on information provided by these devices in favor of silent primal knowledge (something we’ve lost). We are so concerned with facts that our brains and nervous systems are practically plugged into Google 24/7. I feel like we need to live in the comfort of ‘not knowing’ (which in turn is the comfort of inner knowing).

Let’s similarly Tune Out the myriad voices of critics and the external world from time to time. Sometimes my life feels like I am a marketing director conducting focus group after focus group. Everyone has an opinion and we are being inundated with too many opinions drowning out any possibility of discovering true answers (answers that we have within).

We need to Drop In to see our friends in person from time to time. And though I cringe a little at this because I love my privacy, I do think that the occasional surprise drop-in is healthy. It keeps us on our toes, interacting with society and other humans–our tribe. It’s not enough to text someone, call them or send them an email–or even to videoconference with them on Skype. In-the-flesh meetings are more of a needed part of our Millennium diets than ever before.

We’re on the verge of something big here, folks…in the best of possible ways. Perhaps some people don’t acknowledge that consciously. Maybe they feel anxious or overwhelmed a lot–completely lost yet somehow liberated by it. Not everyone verbalizes a mass consciousness shift the same way. Maybe people will find themselves doing the things they have always wanted to do (but never dared to), erratically, irrationally and spontaneously…and that is THEIR shift. Old relationships seem to dissolve. Or–in my case–dreams become rich and psychically predictive or even (as was the case last week) I have a dream that I was in a certain locale and a friend of mine calls me the next morning to tell me she drempt of me in that particular locale.

Let’s embrace all of this bizarre phenomena because that, I believe is the first step to learning to master it. See you in my dreams…

As if you hadn’t already been feeling it since Obama’s election…we are in the throes of a large-scale energy shift. For many this has been an emotional time as we move towards a new sphere of influence. Beyond my immediate friends/surroundings, I have witnessed this emotionalism first hand as strangers share thoughts with me and well up with tears and I have seen one woman tear up as she announced a project at a film festival. There is something going on for sure. Carl Johan Calleman’s rendition of the Mayan calendar sees the shift this week (November 12th by some accounts, November 13th by others) as the beginning of a ‘renaissance’ energy lorded over by the Mayan midwife goddess. Since November 2007 (shortly before Benazir Bhutto was assassinated) we have been in the “5th night,” an energy pulse ruled by the god of darkness. Of course all these gods and goddesses are just archetypal forces, not to be taken literally.

As we stand on the threshold of the next pulse we can already sense through the inspiration Obama has given to (not just the U.S. but) the world that we are trying to pull ourselves out of the darkness. This change occurs on a global scale but also on a personal one. For many, this year has been a conflicted one–’the best of times, the worst of times,’ and for even others just a foray into their own personal dark sides. Now we lift ourselves up to embrace possibility, the seed to be planted.

The most potent day to plant the proverbial seeds in your life is this Thursday, the 13th. Residue from the full moon will bring emotions out of the trenches. In the Mayan Tzolkin calendar it is the day 13 Imix. Thirteen is the highest (ascension) energy in the calendar and Imix is the first sign/day in the calendar so it represents ‘beginning.’ Do yourself a favor and really think over the next couple of days, about what you ‘really really want,’ to quote one bubblegum pop reference. And then embody it on the 13th. Even pragmatists and stoic realists will be surprised at just how accurate and effective the answer to this call will be.

As an aside, earlier tonight I found myself on the patio at Bar Lubitsch craving an American Spirit cigarette (I don’t smoke but those chemical-free ones are the only ones I occasionally cheat with). A cute Northern European looking guy was smoking so I asked–pulling him out of a reverie–”Do you have an American Spirit?” He paused thoughtfully and between post-election hollers from inside the bar answered, “Well, I was born in America.”

President Elect Obama. This is HUGE in so many virtually ineffible ways… This changes everything… The shame that we felt when visiting other countries and admitting to being American (i.e. from Bush country)…gone. The sense that the president was out of touch with the people…gone. Now he represents the new face of America: of mixed race, raised by a single woman…I’m almost speechless…really just processing it all, letting the emotion seep in from everyone around me and from personal experience.

Tonight, beyond the instant gratification of finally being unshackled from eight years of servitude to fear, paranoia, mistrust and divisiveness, I found myself thinking back to circa 2000/2001 when “it” all started (the nightmare). I remember being in Amsterdam watching the returns come in on CNN, feeling such devastation. “It” all started in 2001 which coincidentally (or not) was one of the worst years of my life. On some level I feel like the last eight years were some of the most challenging for me on a personal level. Between some good times there was an undercurrent of anxiety, malaise and despair which now, looking back, I understand was the result of the pall cast on this world by this neo-con administration.

Suddenly, everything looks clear and possible. There’s a future ahead of us, one that we must begin to manifest NOW!!