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Dane Allred examines the "Abundance" of the universe in his list of "1001 Thanks"
Episodes
Sunday Feb 20, 2011
Sunday Feb 20, 2011
Volatility
by Dane Allred
Unpredictability
May mean instability.
Is that why you say
My bad temper may
End in volatility?
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Monday Feb 14, 2011
Monday Feb 14, 2011
This is the complete episode of Abundance called "Tension" from January 6th.
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Sunday Feb 13, 2011
Sunday Feb 13, 2011
Click here for a complete INDEX
a selection from The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe
I now lay upon my back, and at full length, on a species of low framework of wood. To this I was securely bound by a long strap resembling a surcingle. It passed in many convolutions about my limbs and body, leaving at liberty only my head, and my left arm to such extent that I could by dint of much exertion supply myself with food from an earthen dish which lay by my side on the floor. I saw to my horror that the pitcher had been removed. I say to my horror, for I was consumed with intolerable thirst. This thirst it appeared to be the design of my persecutors to stimulate, for the food in the dish was meat pungently seasoned. Looking upward, I surveyed the ceiling of my prison. It was some thirty or forty feet overhead, and constructed much as the side walls. In one of its panels a very singular figure riveted my whole attention. It was the painted figure of Time as he is commonly represented, save that in lieu of a scythe he held what at a casual glance I supposed to be the pictured image of a huge pendulum, such as we see on antique clocks. There was something, however, in the appearance of this machine which caused me to regard it more attentively. While I gazed directly upward at it (for its position was immediately over my own), I fancied that I saw it in motion. In an instant afterward the fancy was confirmed. Its sweep was brief, and of course slow. I watched it for some minutes, somewhat in fear but more in wonder. Wearied at length with observing its dull movement, I turned my eyes upon the other objects in the cell. A slight noise attracted my notice, and looking to the floor, I saw several enormous rats traversing it. They had issued from the well which lay just within view to my right. Even then while I gazed, they came up in troops hurriedly, with ravenous eyes, allured by the scent of the meat. From this it required much effort and attention to scare them away. It might have been half-an-hour, perhaps even an hour (for I could take but imperfect note of time) before I again cast my eyes upward. What I then saw confounded and amazed me. The sweep of the pendulum had increased in extent by nearly a yard. As a natural consequence, its velocity was also much greater. But what mainly disturbed me was the idea that it had perceptibly DESCENDED. I now observed, with what horror it is needless to say, that its nether extremity was formed of a crescent of glittering steel, about a foot in length from horn to horn; the horns upward, and the under edge evidently as keen as that of a razor. Like a razor also it seemed massy and heavy, tapering from the edge into a solid and broad structure above. It was appended to a weighty rod of brass, and the whole HISSED as it swung through the air. I could no longer doubt the doom prepared for me by monkish ingenuity in torture. My cognizance of the pit had become known to the inquisitorial agents--THE PIT, whose horrors had been destined for so bold a recusant as myself, THE PIT, typical of hell, and regarded by rumor as the Ultima Thule of all their punishments. The plunge into this pit I had avoided by the merest of accidents, and I knew that surprise or entrapment into torment formed an important portion of all the grotesquerie of these dungeon deaths. Having failed to fall, it was no part of the demon plan to hurl me into the abyss, and thus (there being no alternative) a different and a milder destruction awaited me. Milder! I half smiled in my agony as I thought of such application of such a term. What boots it to tell of the long, long hours of horror more than mortal, during which I counted the rushing oscillations of the steel! Inch by inch--line by line--with a descent only appreciable at intervals that seemed ages--down and still down it came! Days passed--it might have been that many days passed--ere it swept so closely over me as to fan me with its acrid breath. The odor of the sharp steel forced itself into my nostrils. I prayed--I wearied heaven with my prayer for its more speedy descent. I grew frantically mad, and struggled to force myself upward against the sweep of the fearful scimitar. And then I fell suddenly calm and lay smiling at the glittering death as a child at some rare bauble. There was another interval of utter insensibility; it was brief, for upon again lapsing into life there had been no perceptible descent in the pendulum. But it might have been long--for I knew there were demons who took note of my swoon, and who could have arrested the vibration at pleasure. Upon my recovery, too, I felt very--oh! inexpressibly--sick and weak, as if through long inanition. Even amid the agonies of that period the human nature craved food. With painful effort I outstretched my left arm as far as my bonds permitted, and took possession of the small remnant which had been spared me by the rats. As I put a portion of it within my lips there rushed to my mind a half-formed thought of joy--of hope. Yet what business had I with hope? It was, as I say, a half-formed thought--man has many such, which are never completed. I felt that it was of joy--of hope; but I felt also that it had perished in its formation. In vain I struggled to perfect--to regain it. Long suffering had nearly annihilated all my ordinary powers of mind. I was an imbecile--an idiot. The vibration of the pendulum was at right angles to my length. I saw that the crescent was designed to cross the region of the heart. It would fray the serge of my robe; it would return and repeat its operations--again--and again. Notwithstanding its terrifically wide sweep (some thirty feet or more) and the hissing vigor of its descent, sufficient to sunder these very walls of iron, still the fraying of my robe would be all that, for several minutes, it would accomplish; and at this thought I paused. I dared not go farther than this reflection. I dwelt upon it with a pertinacity of attention--as if, in so dwelling, I could arrest HERE the descent of the steel. I forced myself to ponder upon the sound of the crescent as it should pass across the garment--upon the peculiar thrilling sensation which the friction of cloth produces on the nerves. I pondered upon all this frivolity until my teeth were on edge. Down--steadily down it crept. I took a frenzied pleasure in contrasting its downward with its lateral velocity. To the right--to the left--far and wide--with the shriek of a damned spirit! To my heart with the stealthy pace of the tiger! I alternately laughed and howled, as the one or the other idea grew predominant. Down--certainly, relentlessly down! It vibrated within three inches of my bosom! I struggled violently--furiously--to free my left arm. This was free only from the elbow to the hand. I could reach the latter, from the platter beside me to my mouth with great effort, but no farther. Could I have broken the fastenings above the elbow, I would have seized and attempted to arrest the pendulum. I might as well have attempted to arrest an avalanche! Down--still unceasingly--still inevitably down! I gasped and struggled at each vibration. I shrunk convulsively at its very sweep. My eyes followed its outward or upward whirls with the eagerness of the most unmeaning despair; they closed themselves spasmodically at the descent, although death would have been a relief, O, how unspeakable! Still I quivered in every nerve to think how slight a sinking of the machinery would precipitate that keen glistening axe upon my bosom. It was hope that prompted the nerve to quiver--the frame to shrink. It was HOPE--the hope that triumphs on the rack--that whispers to the death-condemned even in the dungeons of the Inquisition. I saw that some ten or twelve vibrations would bring the steel in actual contact with my robe, and with this observation there suddenly came over my spirit all the keen, collected calmness of despair. For the first time during many hours, or perhaps days, I THOUGHT. It now occurred to me that the bandage or surcingle which enveloped me was UNIQUE. I was tied by no separate cord. The first stroke of the razor-like crescent athwart any portion of the band would so detach it that it might be unwound from my person by means of my left hand. But how fearful, in that case, the proximity of the steel! The result of the slightest struggle, how deadly! Was it likely, moreover, that the minions of the torturer had not foreseen and provided for this possibility! Was it probable that the bandage crossed my bosom in the track of the pendulum? Dreading to find my faint, and, as it seemed, my last hope frustrated, I so far elevated my head as to obtain a distinct view of my breast. The surcingle enveloped my limbs and body close in all directions save -- SAVE IN THE PATH OF THE DESTROYING CRESCENT. Scarcely had I dropped my head back into its original position when there flashed upon my mind what I cannot better describe than as the unformed half of that idea of deliverance to which I have previously alluded, and of which a moiety only floated indeterminately through my brain when I raised food to my burning lips. The whole thought was now present--feeble, scarcely sane, scarcely definite, but still entire. I proceeded at once, with the nervous energy of despair, to attempt its execution. For many hours the immediate vicinity of the low framework upon which I lay had been literally swarming with rats. They were wild, bold, ravenous, their red eyes glaring upon me as if they waited but for motionlessness on my part to make me their prey. "To what food," I thought, "have they been accustomed in the well?" They had devoured, in spite of all my efforts to prevent them, all but a small remnant of the contents of the dish. I had fallen into an habitual see-saw or wave of the hand about the platter; and at length the unconscious uniformity of the movement deprived it of effect. In their voracity the vermin frequently fastened their sharp fangs in my fingers. With the particles of the oily and spicy viand which now remained, I thoroughly rubbed the bandage wherever I could reach it; then, raising my hand from the floor, I lay breathlessly still. At first the ravenous animals were startled and terrified at the change--at the cessation of movement. They shrank alarmedly back; many sought the well. But this was only for a moment. I had not counted in vain upon their voracity. Observing that I remained without motion, one or two of the boldest leaped upon the frame-work and smelt at the surcingle. This seemed the signal for a general rush. Forth from the well they hurried in fresh troops. They clung to the wood; they overran it, and leaped in hundreds upon my person. The measured movement of the pendulum disturbed them not at all. Avoiding its strokes, they busied themselves with the anointed bandage. They pressed; they swarmed upon me in ever accumulating heaps. They writhed upon my throat; their cold lips sought my own; I was half stifled by their thronging pressure; disgust, for which the world has no name, swelled my bosom, and chilled with heavy clamminess my heart. Yet one minute and I felt that the struggle would be over. Plainly I perceived the loosening of the bandage. I knew that in more than one place it must be already severed. With a more than human resolution I lay STILL. Nor had I erred in my calculations, nor had I endured in vain. I at length felt that I was FREE. The surcingle hung in ribands from my body. But the stroke of the pendulum already pressed upon my bosom. It had divided the serge of the robe. It had cut through the linen beneath. Twice again it swung, and a sharp sense of pain shot through every nerve. But the moment of escape had arrived. At a wave of my hand my deliverers hurried tumultuously away. With a steady movement, cautious, sidelong, shrinking, and slow, I slid from the embrace of the bandage and beyond the reach of the scimitar. For the moment, at least I WAS FREE.LITERATURE OUT LOUD
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Sunday Feb 13, 2011
Sunday Feb 13, 2011
I was the world's worst beginning driver, getting in 6 car accidents during just my first year driving at the ripe age of sixteen-and-a-half. I had tried to get my license right after my birthday in January, but when Mom took me down it was snowing pretty hard, and we were there early. The driving test administrator didn't think they would be doing any driving because of the snow, but because we were there and must have looked desperate, he said he would take me out driving.
It was snowing so hard I couldn't see across the mega-medians they have in downtown Salt Lake, so as I slowed to see the lane I was supposed to be turning left into, the light turned red. I wasn't informed until we pulled back up at the department of motor vehicles. "He turned left on a red," the lugubrious tester said. Then he turned to the other staff in the building and said, "We won't be doing any driving today." I decided to wait to get my license until there was absolutely no chance of snow.
I passed the test in July. That was a long six months to wait, but at least I passed without trying to find the left-turn lane in blowing snow. I almost immediately began to have car accidents, all caused by me. I made up for the delay in getting my license by backing up into another car while trying to get out of a parking space. I swear the other car wasn't there when I looked back, but then you never know when someone is going to pull up behind you and park while you pull out. I dented in her passenger side door pretty well, and the insurance rates started to climb.
I don't remember much about the other accidents during the year, until it was almost then end of my junior year. I do remember packing a healthy lunch and actually brown-bagging it for the first time in high school. I was so proud of that lunch and my decision to eat more sensibly. My usual lunch that entire year was a Suzy Q and a Fanta orange. Very healthy.
As I pulled around the corner up on 9th East in Sandy and headed south toward Jordan High School, I turned right and had to accelerate to get in - as usual. The lunch bag fell to the floor. I reached down to rescue the golden cargo, and when I leaned back up, there was a large truck in front of me. The bumper was high enough to smash through my radiator and shove it against my engine. As I hit the truck without even putting on my brakes or being able to swerve, my head smacked against the steering wheel. The boondoggle wrapped around the cover slashed my head.
Mom was at work, so when they asked who should come get me at the hospital, Grandpa Hale showed up just after they sewed 7 stitches in my forehead. It was all surreal. People trying to help me when all I had done was cut my head, a trip in the ambulance; more attention at the hospital. When it was over, I had a new scar and no car.
I decided to go back to eating a little less healthy. I never packed a lunch again.
I had one other miraculous accident I survived somehow. I had a Yamaha 150 motorcycle that didn't run all that well. It would go pretty well for about 10 minutes, but then it would start to sputter and probably only needed a tune-up. But I was a poor college student.
I decided to go for a short drive up Logan Canyon, and as the bike sped up, it seemed to be running pretty well. I gunned the engine as I went down the steep hill and was going way too fast. Centrifugal force took over down at the bottom - where the road turned, but the motorcycle did not. I drifted into the gravel shoulder going at least 25 or 30 miles per hour. The front wheel dug in and went sideways. The back wheel kept going forward and threw me over the handlebars.
I did a complete somersault in the air and landed on my back, which is better than landing on your head. When I hear the adjective "whumph" it makes me think of the landing on some more loose gravel. I sat for a moment and soaked in the pain, but didn't recognize any broken bone pain. I picked up the motorcycle, drove it back to campus and sold it for $100 about a week later.
At least no more bees would be smacking me in the face while going fifty miles per hour.
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Sunday Feb 13, 2011
Sunday Feb 13, 2011
Bright Space
by Dane Allred
Ultimatum
We were given a challenge.
We thought we knew all there was to know.
We were content in the Bright Space.
But then we discovered there was more to know.
The only way to know all there was to know was to come here.
Alone and apart from all we knew there.
We would have to leave each other
And the comfort we knew in the Bright Space.
Apart we would be able to experience what we could not experience together.
We were given an ultimatum.
Stay together, peaceful, content, happy in our ignorance,
Or leave that place for the unknown.
To stay or leave.
When given a choice to try something new, to go to the unknown
Not knowing what we would face, if there would be happiness
Waiting for us, or disappointment.
Without assurances, without a guarantee,
We went bravely into our future
Hoping to find out what we could do,
What we could learn.
When we face those same kinds of decisions today,
We experience the doubt we felt back then.
The fear of the unknown sometimes keeps us in the safe place.
The place we know
The place we have always known.
That fear keeps us waiting, undecisive, unable to explore
What could be
What might be
What we might find in our future.
But as we bravely face our future,
Much like we faced the decision to come here
And do all we were meant to do
To accomplish all we were meant to accomplish
We can look to our past decisions to help us know
What to do tomorrow.
When we step one step into that future,
We will find those same friends we knew there.
We will feel the connection, and together, we will be able to
Learn all there is to know,
And be together again.
But this time we will have learned all there is to know
Because we accepted the challenge.
The peace, happiness and joy we knew there will be ours again.
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Sunday Feb 13, 2011
Sunday Feb 13, 2011
Ultimatums
by Dane Allred
Be careful when you issue a threat,
It will come back and bite you, I bet.
Scowling and fuming
Those threats can be dooming
If you can’t follow through on it yet.
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Tuesday Feb 08, 2011
Tuesday Feb 08, 2011
Go to Abundance for more selections by Dane Allred, including other episodes from Rules of Engagement, plus lots more!!
Dane Allred’s Rules of Engagement
DENTAL HI-JINKS
I'm not really sure why I believe the story I always tell everyone about why I have the world's worst teeth. It's not that my mouth is disfigured or that they are all rotting away in my head, but I doubt there is a tooth in my head that has not had dental work done on it. The story I always tell is that when I was weaned my mother gave a bottle of Coke to suck on instead. I can never remember there not being Coca-Cola in the house as I was growing up, and all that was asked of me is that I not drink too much. I seriously think I had at least 16 ounces a day my entire childhood, but it was probably just a drink or two from the open bottle in the refrigerator every day.
I had so many decaying teeth growing up that the dentist must have scheduled regular appointments for me every three months. At least that's what it felt like. And to top things off, I learned at an early age the incredible pain associated with root canals. I think I had my first one at eight or nine, but it couldn't have been any later than ten or eleven.
One of the strange things about having root canals early and often is that I did get a fair amount of tolerance to pain, which may explain the rest of these experiences. It's not that I've ever intentionally hurt myself or even wanted to, but for some reason, into each life a little pain must fall. For those of you who have had none, I think I have received whatever you missed.
The dentist's office even has a particular smell that I have always associated with pain, and I have to force myself to relax whenever I sniff that scent of numbing agent. Even just walking past a dentist's office in a business complex can make my body start to tense up. So I have learned many techniques for coping with the drill and the needle. Of course, I have already told the dentist and you that I can't see the needle coming toward me or we are going to have problems. But once I get into that peaceful place where I have convinced myself that this too will end, if I but endure, then I can sit back and make fun of myself and my petty complaints.
With literally dozens of cavities filled and many root canals, there is not really one episode of pain that stands out in my mind. But one experience with a root canal did convince me that using gas for these procedures is probably not the best idea for me.
I was in Spanish Fork one summer and needed some emergency (can you need emergency root canals?) root work done. Once the dentist saw what kind of a mélange of filled cavities and former root canals he was facing, he turned to his favorite tools for managing pain - laughing gas. Nitrous Oxide. It was really like a scene from "Little Shop of Horrors", and believe me, you really do feel like laughing.
Here I was about to have the root scraped out of my tooth with tiny rat-tail rasps which looked like wire. If you have ever had toothache pain associated with a bad cavity which is near the root, you know what I'm talking about. There is no more focusing and sharp pain which goes immediately to your brain than root canal digging. And you are talking to someone who is very closely associated with many, many different types of pain. This is the kind that makes you stand straight up from a prone position.
The great thing about gas is that you can reach a point where you really don't care what is going on, and you are only vaguely aware of someone playing around with your mouth, but you don't much care about that either. I hope the next part is not the typical experience with nitrous oxide, but it was enough to scare me out of having gas ever again.
I think the dentist may have used a bit too much gas on me, because I actually had an out-of-body experience while sitting in the dentist's chair. I didn't see a bright light or a tunnel or any of my dead relatives, but I did see a strange situation taking place in front of me. It seemed like there were two people wrangling for space around a third person, and they seemed very interested in getting their hands as far down the throat of that third person as they could. It made me laugh because it looked so comical. Here were two adults struggling over some poor kid. I laughed to myself again and was thankful that it wasn't me sitting in that chair.
And then I noticed that I had a very strange perspective on the whole affair. I seemed to be floating in the corner of this room looking down at these Three Stooges. It was strange to be looking down on the scene, and I understood what it must be like to be eight feet tall and be looking down on the entire population.
Then slowly, ever so slowly, the realization dawned on me that it was me sitting in that chair, and that the dentist and his nurse were trying their best to pull the root out my tooth, apparently by reaching into my mouth all the way down to my ankles. I was seeing myself being worked on, and the best (worst?) part of all is that I didn't care. They could have dismembered me and I would have watched calmly, wondering how that poor devil, I mean me, could stand the pain.
I have never had gas again for a tooth, and because of the experience, I am trying my very hardest to stay out of the hospital and face that anesthesia again. You won't think this is true as you read the rest of my mostly self-inflicted aches and pains.
One of the truly delightful things about having rotting teeth is that you develop and special skill called eating on one side of your mouth. I didn't realize I had been doing this my whole life until I grew up and actually got control of the cavity situation. All you have to do is find a comfortable place to chew in your mouth. If one side hurts, just eat on the other side. I got so good at eating on one side of my mouth that sometimes people would comment on the wad in the side of my mouth, and I would just shrug and tell them I had a toothache on the other side. There was always more room for food, and even though I must have resembled some kind of half-chipmunk, I was content to endure the pain until it was absolutely necessary to get it fixed.
I was so fearful of the dentist and his collection of needles as I was growing up that I would let teeth get abscessed before I would admit to the pain.
What this meant at the dentist's office was much more pain than I really needed to endure - if I had taken care of it earlier it probably would have just been another filling. When I waited this long there were abscesses and root canals, which involve taking small files and scraping out what is left of the root of your tooth. Very painful indeed.
Did I already say I think I have had nine or ten root canals? I think I covered that already.
I still get cavities today. A lifetime of sweets is hard to kick. But I do go to the dentist faster now, and if there is any pain in my mouth I get it taken care of right away. I can actually eat on either side of my mouth whenever I feel like it - and I don't have to worry about eating on the wrong side.
Perhaps some of my relatives have the correct answer to dental pain. Just get all of your teeth pulled and get dentures. Then all you have to worry about is where you left your teeth the night before.
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Monday Feb 07, 2011
Monday Feb 07, 2011
Go to Abundance for more selections by Dane Allred, including other episodes from Bright Space, plus lots more!!
Tension
by Dane Allred
What is that tension between you and I?
The separateness we feel
Knowing we are alone in this world
And though you seem to be someone else who is struggling to find your way
It really feels like we are by ourselves,
Peering down the road without knowing what is ahead
But stepping forward a little each day.
But if we really pay attention to that other someone
Who shares this space with us right now,
We can see they are more like us than different.
Then the feeling of knowing, familiarity,
A comfortableness with each other can happen
When we stop to ignore the outer shell of insecurity
We all carry about with us.
When that barrier is broken
The scales fall from our eyes
We see each other for what we really are.
We are the same,
And we were together before in that Bright Space
Wondering how we could learn more,
Do more,
Experience more than when we were at one.
When we decided to become individuals
A separate person apart from each other
Unable to share all that could be known,
All that ever was and all that every will be,
We knew there would be a feeling of being alone and apart.
We would feel unknown, and see others as unknowing,
Loneliness, pain and suffering would accompany our journey,
And we would forget all that we had learned,
So we could learn more here and now.
But we are all fellow travelers in search
Of all that can be learned as we follow our individual paths.
We are the universe, trying to find out all that can be known,
All that can be experienced
Both by ourselves
And when we break down the walls
All that can be accomplished and learned when we work with others.
Striving each day to learn,
So that when we return to that Bright Space,
We will revel in the progress we have made,
Searching all by ourselves,
But never really being alone.
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Sunday Feb 06, 2011
Sunday Feb 06, 2011
Character Central
Leo
Character Central, Leo speakin’.
Dane
Could I speak with Arnold Swarzenegger please?
Leo
You want the Terminator, the Ice Man, the Running Man and former governor of “Kalifornia”? I just love the way he says that.
Dane
Yes, and could we put this on the Bill Gates credit card?
Leo
Is dis Dane Allred again?
Dane
How did you know?
Leo
The Bill Gates card. You know I’m gonna get into trouble someday ‘cause you keep using dis ting.
Dane
Has he called and complained?
Leo
Not yet. But I expect a visit any day from VISA. Hey, it worked again. Here’s Arnold.
Dane
Arnold Swarzenegger? Former Mr. Universe and governor of California?
Arnold
I just use my muscles as a conversation piece, like someone walking a cheetah down 42nd Street.
Dane
That’s a great image. But body-building is how you started your career, isn’t it?
Arnold
I knew I was a winner back in the late sixties. I knew I was destined for great things. People will say that kind of thinking is totally immodest. I agree. Modesty is not a word that applies to me in any way - I hope it never will.
Dane
Yes, no one would accuse you of being modest. Do you still train?
Arnold
Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body.
Dane
It’s a lifetime approach?
Arnold
Bodybuilding is much like any other sport. To be successful, you must dedicate yourself 100% to your training, diet and mental approach.
Dane
Total dedication in mind and body?
Arnold
The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.
Dane
You are a strong man with strong beliefs.
Arnold
Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
Dane
That’s a philosophy which has worked well for you in your other endeavors.
Arnold
The success I have achieved in bodybuilding, motion pictures, and business would not have been possible without the generosity of the American people and the freedom here to pursue your dreams.
Dane
You have accomplished so much. Did you see yourself going so far in life?
Arnold
What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn't think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know.
Dane
So when you thought about what you could accomplish early on, did you have a guiding direction?
Arnold
Start wide, expand further, and never look back.
Dane
And if people resist your ideas?
Arnold
The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.
Dane
So you aren’t just a muscle-bound body?
Arnold
I know a lot of athletes and models are written off as just bodies. I never felt used for my body.
Dane
People may be able to tell you’re not from around here.
Arnold
I still speak with a slight accent.
Dane
But you have become a great proponent of the opportunities in the U.S.?
Arnold
I was born in Europe... and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you that there is no place, no country, that is more compassionate, more generous, more accepting, and more welcoming than the United States of America.
Dane
And you became a naturalized citizen?
Arnold
As long as I live, I will never forget that day when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship. Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an American flag around my shoulders all day long.
Dane
You really do love America.
Arnold
As you know, I'm an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant, and what gave me the opportunities, what made me to be here today, is the open arms of Americans. I have been received. I have been adopted by America.
Dane
So much that some people are trying to change the constitution so you could run for President.
Arnold
Everything I have, my career, my success, my family, I owe to America.
Dane
You really are an American inspiration.
Arnold
No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic background, America brings out the best in people.
Dane
Any plans, now that you’re not Governor any more, for relaxation, or maybe retirement?
Arnold
I welcome and seek your ideas, but do not bring me small ideas; bring me big ideas to match our future.
Dane
Sorry, I didn’t mean to present small ideas. Could we talk about your movies for a moment?
Arnold
My friend James Cameron and I made three films together - True Lies, The Terminator and Terminator 2. Of course, that was during his early, low-budget, art-house period.
Dane
But you have made so many other films. What would you say is your work ethic?
Arnold
You can scream at me, call me for a shoot at midnight, keep me waiting for hours - as long as what ends up on the screen is perfect.
Dane
But there really is only one Arnold Swarzanegger.
Arnold
The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that.
Dane
Your favorite actress you’ve played opposite?
Arnold
I have a love interest in every one of my films: a gun.
Dane
Very diplomatic. Any adventures from movies sets you want to share?
Arnold
I have inhaled, exhaled everything.
Dane
That does cover quite a bit.
Arnold
Maria is the best reason to come home.
Dane
Yes, your beautiful and talented wife. Any political fights in the family?
Arnold
Political courage is not political suicide.
Dane
So you make it work.
Arnold
Failure is not an option. Everyone has to succeed.
Dane
And you have been incredibly successful. Has money changed your life?
Arnold
Money doesn't make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.
Dane
Hard to keep track of all the wealth?
Arnold
If it's hard to remember, it'll be difficult to forget.
Dane
So do you have plans you’d like to share about your future?
Arnold
For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.
Dane
More public service? What do you want to do?
Arnold
Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring your own life.
Dane
Very inspirational.
Arnold
I believe with all my heart that America remains 'the great idea' that inspires the world. It is a privilege to be born here. It is an honor to become a citizen here. It is a gift to raise your family here, to vote here, and to live here.
Dane
Yes, it is a great place. Any advice to future actors, politicians or weight-lifters?
Arnold
If you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can achieve anything.
Dane
Even if you have an accent.
Arnold
In this country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make any difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if, like me, you couldn't even speak English until you were in your twenties.
Dane
So you think people should become more involved?
Arnold
When the people become involved in their government, government becomes more accountable, and our society is stronger, more compassionate, and better prepared for the challenges of the future.
Dane
But you have urged other politicians to renounce special interests.
Arnold
If they don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers ... if they don't have the guts, I call them girlie men.
Dane
So you’re warning for political opponents?
Arnold
If it bleeds, we can kill it.
Dane
That’s very strong language.
Arnold
Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer.
Dane
Is that a training secret? Or does drinking make us fat?
Arnold
It's simple, if it jiggles, it's fat.
Dane
Yes, I could lose a little weight, myself.
Arnold
I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with Guess on it. I said, Thyroid problem?
Dane
Well, I don’t have a thyroid problem, but let me just say how exciting it has been to have you speak to us here at Abundance.
Arnold
I'll be back.
Dane
Yes, I might have to call Character Central again and talk some more. Thanks, again, Arnold Swarzenegger.
Arnold
Hasta la vista, baby.
Dane
Character Central. Where quotations from famous people are used to complete an interview with Dane Allred. All of the quotations were actually spoken or written by the subject of the interview at one time or another, but never for this interview.
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Sunday Feb 06, 2011
Sunday Feb 06, 2011
Tension
by Dane Allred
My teeth are clenched, my muscles tight
It’s clear that I’m uptight, all right.
Lookout when I’m in this tense mode
You never know what it might bode
My mind’s collapsing with this load
Since I’m so tense I might explode.
LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature Audio narrations with synchronized visual text
The Complete Collection of
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
all 154 poems $3.99 DVD with FREE shipping
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