A Civilized Dog

We get lost in a maze of technology, advanced medicine, diets, fads, hobbies, sports, movies...which desensitizes us to our true nature.  Wake up!  We all are just Civilized Dogs...Animals...on the prowl who take no prisoners.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that civilized behavior is bad, but sometimes it can suppress and depress our true selves.  Nothing expresses this inner conflict better than the song "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails.  Please click on the video below to listen to the song and read the lyrics before you move on, thank you.

I was recently at the gentleman's club...aka...the Cigar shop, where mostly men gather to smoke stogies, watch sports and pontificate about stories of the day.  Then, like a train crashing into a mountain, SHE WALKS IN.  

Now granted, in a cigar shop any half-way attractive woman stands out like a perfectly grilled fillet mignon on the plate of a starving beggar; however, the instant change from male banter to silently sizing up in our cave man brains the mating potential of this female is palatable.  Yep, I cannot tell a lie...as the song says, "I want to fuck you like an animal."

We as men have spent millennium in suppressing our most basic instinct...that being to spread our seed, our territory, our influence...to become the Alpha Male.  When this base instinct kicks into full gear and we get out of our own way...truly scaring stuff will happen.  Thus, civilized rules of engagement were developed by church and state to starve this beast within, which has now become our default program.  That is what kept five men in a cigar shop from tearing each other apart to win the female.  We simply reengaged in watching the football game, smoking and laughing at the same jokes we've heard a thousand times over and over again.

After all, the very tenant of our Knightly Band..."Unity Through Diversity"...frowns upon the enhancement of one race, one religion, one philosophy, one man or woman to rule over all.  Yet, that primitive urge wells up in our DNA until we are ready to explode.  And so we continue to allow church and state to dictate how and why we should behave as we journey through our day.

The irony, we want to express our same desires in either beast mode or civilized mode.  The biggest desire of human kind is to find a higher power, to embrace and understand the mysterious, to know, and as the song says, "Get Closer to God".  I'm  one who can feel that way through a sexual act...but the one thing that satisfies my "cave man" the most is to create and get lost in making and listening to music.  In the privacy of my "man cave", or a late night on the deck listening through headphones as I howl at the moon, playing guitar at church, or strutting my stuff live on stage...I let the ANIMAL EMERGE!

It's a cathartic experience...and better yet it keeps me sane in a ever changing and maddening world.  We can't go back, but we can move forward.  As part of embracing Unity Through Diversity, I encourage all Knights and Ladies to enable the diversity within your heart, mind and soul.  Release the animal within, while at the same time remembering the civilized Knight you are.  Most importantly....BE TRUE TO YOURSELF...WHICH WILL ALWAYS BRING YOU CLOSER TO GOD.

Cheers!
Sir Hook the Civilized Dog of Warrick

Carpe Diem Life!

As Knight's of Creativity, Spirit and Ale...one of the most cherished of our endeavors is to create.  Sir Bowie of Greenbriar has recently launched such a project to help us navigate the amazing maze we call life.

I invite you to "Seize the Day" and visit his website and blog.  

http://www.carpediem-life.com

http://carpediemlifeguide.blogspot.com

Carpe Diem!

Sir Hook "who prefers to take action" of Warrick

Catch This Phrase

I woke up this morning and was once again confronted with political ads that make no sense to me.  Some of my favorite (not) "Catch Phrases" are:

• Political Insider
• Career Politician
• Mainstream Media

In regards to "political insider and career politician", the logic of those who subscribe to these catch phrases want you to believe that knowing how to make things work and having experience at what you do are negative things.  Somehow, having no experience qualifies you to win office.  Or better yet, he's a business man who's a political outsider.  As a business man myself, I will 100% let you know that my likelihood of hiring a person with no experience is 0%!

As a advertising and marketing professional who deals in all sorts of media on a daily basis, I can prove that there is no such thing as "mainstream media".  In fact, media has never been as fragmented before in it's history.  Just look back to those decades that are so lovingly looked at as being "Real America", there were only 3 TV networks, plus eventually Public Television.  Funny how the term "mainstream media" never flourished during this time.  Now with literally hundreds of networks, the internet, streaming services, etc....it is impossible to call one entity "mainstream".

In fact, "mainstream media" is used as a scape goat by both the conservative and liberal fringes to attack those who do not, or will not, subscribe to their causes.  So, the next time you actually pay attention to some political add now through election day, ask yourself three things:

1. Are you educated on the issues they raise?
2. Do you think they have the experience to do what they say?
3. Can they work with others inside the system, but outside their belief's?

And remember...

...whatever you tell them!

Sir Hook "the mainstream" of Warrick

The Productive and Destructive Power of Repetition

Being a seasoned advertising and marketing professional I know the power of repetition.   In the advertising world it is known as "frequency of message".  Various studies have proven that it takes a minimum of 9 times for a consumer to hear or see an advertising message to begin to move them off the mark towards making a purchase or take the action you want them to take.  The more repetition, the more powerful your results will be.  

Today we see the power of repetition play out in "sound bite" reporting on local and national newscasts.  Effective speakers and motivators know how to use this powerful formula all too well.  When the message is positive and proactive it can be effective in motivating the masses in a positive way.  When the message is negative and counterproductive it can also motivate the masses towards destructive behavior.

One of the best examples of harnessing this power was Adolf Hitler.  We all know what results he brought to the world and the desperate German people from the 1930's through the end of WWII with his frequency of message.

One of the worst things to happen to American Democracy and the political process in recent times was allowing "Super Packs" to influence the decision making process of voters.  As an advertising professional it disgusts me that these Super Packs are not held accountable to telling the truth.  Truth in advertising simply doesn't exist in politics.  You don't have to prove the "facts" listed as true, you don't have to reveal your source of information, you simply get away with spreading any lie you wish to tell.  The same does not hold true in commercial advertising.  It is truly unfair!

Enter Donald Trump, who knows all too well the power of television to automatically make you an expert, who knows how to use the "sound bite", and who has no problem whatsoever in spreading his small message of lies and hatred.  Crooked Hillary...Lyin' Ted...Little Marco...are just sound bites pounded into heads with enough frequency to make them appear true, while at the same time painting himself as a "winner".

One of baseball's most decorated players, Ty Cobb, spent his entire life trying to debunk the lies spread so frequently about him.  A man, by those who play the game, should be revered as one of the best who ever played, is better known as the most despicable creatures who ever graced the baseball diamond.  The fact remains...they are lies.  Please take the time to read this recent article, which shares the true story of Ty Cobb:  https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/who-was-ty-cobb-the-history-we-know-thats-wrong/

Repetition can be a good thing.  Just be aware when it used to try to motivate you in a negative way.

Sir Hook the Repetitive of Warrick

Unity Through Diversity...Explained Once Again!

As those who have followed us over the years know, The Knights of Creativity Spirit & Ale was founded on the principle of UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY!  There have been several excellent posts written about this throughout the years, which you can read by clicking the links below:

http://knightscsa.blogspot.com/2009/02/unity-through-diversity-lesson-for.html

http://knightscsa.blogspot.com/2008/09/no-more-holy-wars.html

http://knightscsa.blogspot.com/2010/10/unity-through-diversity-time-to-tug.html

http://knightscsa.blogspot.com/2015/03/kiss-meim-human.html

However, with the USA election of 2016, it is once again necessary...nay, obligatory...for the KCSA to speak up about why Unity Through Diversity is essential to progress.  Donald Trump is being hailed by the extreme right and political experts as nothing we've ever seen before.  WRONG!

Trump and his narrow belief system is nothing new at all...in fact, it's just another in a long line of American soar spots that have once again risen to the surface like the virus it is.  American Indians blocked our way to expansion, so they were vilified and swept away.  Italian and Irish immigrants were persecuted and murdered for stealing our jobs in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Mexican Americans have often been the target of hatred since Texas declared independence from them and the resulting wars that followed.  German Americans were forced to drop their language, newspapers and traditions during WWI and WWII.  Japanese Americans were rounded up in camps during WWII, not unlike the German concentration camps, minus the gas and fire chambers, while those same Japanese Americans young enough to fight were sent to fight Germans and became the most decorated unit during the war.  Supposed communists were black listed by the fear and hatred of Senator McCarthy in the 50's.  Now the fear and hatred of Muslims, Blacks, Progressives and basically any Immigrant is trying to permeate our society once again with the help of the likes of Trump.

Walls don't work!  Just ask the Romans in Britain or the Chinese.  Instead of erecting walls we should be embracing diversity!  Fear is the fuel that drives hatred on its destructive course.  Without fear, ISIS will cease to exist.  Trump needs ISIS and FEAR to fuel his hate engine.  We need the strength and grace to embrace diversity.  As my Grandmother Baker told me, "You have to look your fear in the face and make it yours."  Or as FDR so famously stated, "We have nothing to fear except fear itself!"

Besides, if we didn't embrace diversity we wouldn't have such wonderful mixing of cultures that result in wonders like Tex-Mex and Creole food.  The same people who want to build a wall don't have a problem downing chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant.

I have become a better person by embracing diversity in my life.  I'm a registered Republican, who is very liberal and often votes Democrat.  I'm also a member of the NRA, even though I despise how they corrupt our political system.  I love learning about new foods, drinks, cultures and I love to travel.  I was raised Southern Baptist but I'm now a practicing Roman Catholic, though in all honesty I much prefer my Cherokee belief system with a nice glass of Buddhism and a Zen salad.

So, join me brave knights and ladies as we once again saddle up to do battle with the dark side of humanity.  UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY!  NO FEAR!  HAVE THE GRACE TO EMBRACE!

Sir Hook the Diverse of Warrick