GIOVANNIANDFRANCO.COM

Poor Mr. Jefferson, where are you when the people need you?

 It is hard for Pizzaonians to accept the notion that Americans no longer believe they have control over their government. 

In many conversations during my recent portalization to the United States, I heard the cynical comment, “they are bought lock, stock and barrel!”  (NRA) They, of course, refer to their supposedly elected representatives.

Whether it is true or not, it is, nonetheless, sad.  The greatest democracy in the Worldonian world is losing the respect of the people it was created to protect.  Poor Mr. Jefferson, where are you when the people need you? 

Can a democracy be great when its citizens no longer believe their vote is meaningful?  Recent activity indicates the people are becoming more positive. The United States faces many financial and political problems; however, none that can compare with the loss of the faith of its people.  Let us hope this never happens.

Not only does the United States deserve more, the world that looks to this beacon of democracy also deserves more.

 

Vera V Veronica, commenting from Pizzaonia for the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network, Diverti Mento, editor

We also recommend: http://pizzaonian.com Forth of July

opd 514

Related articles

The normalization of Absurdity - a Pizzaonian observation

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche where are you when we need you? On certainty

Are there two more frightening euphemisms in use today than "creative destruction" and "collateral damage?"

When you look back on a life it becomes harder and harder to keep a straight face.

When you look back on a life lived over several years it becomes harder and harder to keep a straight face.  Not withstanding life’s joyful and tragic moments, it is very difficult to miss the absurdity of it all. 

Most absurd of all are those among us who really believe they had a lot to do with their good fortune.  When one looks back on the gifts we are given that ironically seem to show up when we need them most, you have to wonder how all of this works. 

You don’t want to ask too many questions here.  I would simply be grateful for being around.  And maybe that is the best answer of all—gratitude. 

If karma exists, gratitude has to be its mother.  With gratitude, we are able to say thank you more often.  We tend to be more generous and as a result increase our willingness to do good and to be more charitable. 

So the next time you are patting yourself on the back for the blessings bestowed upon you – stop for a minute and say, thank you.  And then go do something nice for someone…….

 

Brother Giovanni

We also recommend "The Pizzaonian"

opd 1015

Related articles

d

 

"It takes a certain amount of discipline to pay attention to what is in front of us." Sister Veronica, Supreme Pizzaonian

 
photo by josette lodato

It is strange how the obvious eludes us. I guess the obvious is so obvious we no longer pay attention to it.  That seems to be the trap that gets us every time.

It takes a certain amount of discipline to pay attention to what is in front of us.  What a shame since most of the answers we seek are always there -- right in front of us, waiting, waiting.

Maybe if we paid more attention to what is there waiting, life would cease being a series of interruptions from birth to death. 

An observation from Sister Veronica  - Supreme Pizzaonian

opd 911

A funny thing happened on the way to Utopia, we invented scorekeepers.

ON KEEPING SCORE 

It seems we live in a world that demands we keep score.  From kindergarten children to senior citizens, someone is watching and keeping a record.  Nothing is left to spontaneity or chance.

Everything is to be accounted for and you can be sure you will be told by someone the results of the scorecard. 

Since there is very little we can do to change this, let’s remember one thing.  If you insist on keeping score make sure you count points for as well as points against.  

There is a growing tendency to use the scoreboard as a weapon, both pro and con.  Enough!  Just remember to be fair.  After all, someone is also scoring how you keep score. 

 

Brother Giovanni

http://pizzaonian.com

opd 716

 

Related articles

 

American democracy -- the dismal accountability from many of the folks we elect!

 

Another day in Utopia... now you see it and now you don’t. 

Political campaigns in the United States are interesting.  We, the voters, allow politicians to say what we what them to say, fully appreciating the fact that they don’t mean any of it, and will do what ever they choose to do when elected. 

It is one of the interesting facets about American democracy -- the dismissal of accountability from the folks we elect.  The party that is out is given an edge because they can oppose everything, knowing full well they will not be held responsible for anything they say. 

This all changes of course when the outs become the ins - once elected you can feel free to break any promise you made.  After all, you are now responsible for what happens.  What serious voter would expect you to keep your promises? 

This all works because we the voters only have two choices. And most of us hold our noses when we vote. This supposedly makes American democracy very efficient – and that it does.  Unfortunately, it also turns out not to be very democratic.

 

Brother Giovanni

We also recommend "The Pizzaonian"

opd1115

 

.

Suppositions regarding faith and the stability of life - and other thoughts....

We live in a time when the concept of faith has lost its luster. Faith by today’s rules is consigned often to the unsophisticated.  As a result, when someone declares a belief or activity as “a matter of faith” it is immediately suspect. 

This presents a major problem. If faith is suspect, than most of our assumptions must also be suspect since so much of what we believe is based on faith-like assumptions. 

A major assumption we make everyday is the world, as we know it, will continue to exist. This is an assumption based on faith. 

The odds may be with us, but nonetheless, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the next minute and must assume we will still be here. 

This obvious assumption should give us pause.  Our arrogant supposition regarding the stability of life keeps us from changing many things that need changing. 

The notion there will be a tomorrow may give us hope, but how many important things never get done because this assumed hope is part of our belief system.  This implicit hope is the “mother” of all procrastination. 

Be careful – the next time you find faith suspect - make sure you are not living most of your life based on assumptions rooted in faith.

 

Brother Franco

opd 1015

 

Related articles

 

EXPLAINING THE WAY THINGS ARE AS WE PASS THE DAY by PIZZAONIUS

 

A PIZZAONIAN CONCEPTION OF REALITY IF THERE IS SUCH A THING. 

    

 LUNCH WITH PICASSO

 

   

WAITING FOR CIVILISATION

 

STILL WAITING FOR CIVILISATION

 

THIS IS WHAT WE WERE WAITING FOR?

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE PIZZAONIAN ART INSTITUTE.  PAINTINGS (PHOTOS?) BY PIZZAONIUS, cira 345 PET (pizzaonian evolutionary time)

opd 3 12

On the nature of politeness - politeness often masks the truth by diluting it.

 

Conjectures of a recovering dilettante while traveling the road to Utopia.

What to say and how to say it has always been the problem.  To seek the polite way of communication, that is to speak with an acceptable voice that resonates with politeness and deference, is often the way of more timid. 

This may seem harsh to most, but I am amazed how many times we hide behind politeness.  Since politeness is considered a virtue, it becomes an insidious and convenient mask for the faint-hearted.

The obvious problem is that politeness often masks the truth by diluting it and making it palatable, and in so doing it makes the truth less attainable.  Once this habit of politeness takes root it helps to establish a belief system that seems very comfortable with its delusion of heroic qualities. 

The problem is the truth can only be masked so long, and if you are very lucky, it will finally appear in all of its glorious beauty.  For many, this is the beginning of their personal salvation.

 
Brother Giovanni

opd 811

Maturity is the long-awaited condition that we hope age and experience will create - unfortunately, not always so.

(C)copyright    Pizzaonian Art Institute, Abe Staction,curator
Image:  Maturity waiting to happen, by Pizzaonious

 

It may be a long way to Tipari, but it is a longer road still to maturity.  Maturity is the long-awaited condition that we hope age and experience will create - unfortunately, not always so. 

In the American experience, maturity is perpetually delayed by entertainment – a process that keeps you from confronting yourself.  The business of having to grow an economy cannot have its potential customers sitting around contemplating life.  Economies require infusions of cash for new products that somehow always seem to resemble the old products they replace- without this infusion they die. 

There is some good in this process.  It brings some innovation and increases the so-called standard of living.  And, if it does none of these things, it always creates the illusion that growing is good and necessary for our well-being. 

The distinction between need and want is the problem that marketers face everyday.  If you are lucky, or smart enough, to have a product that people need, you do not have to work as hard as the rest of us. 

Most of us have to create the illusion that what people want is also what they need.  That is the little kept secret:  Making something no one needs, and making that something that everyone wants is the gateway to success.  We call this successful marketing.  Without it, we would all be in big trouble. 

As time goes by actual products run their course. The natural progression of continually making the same look like the new runs out – there are only so many products.  Thus was born the service industry.  Now we have always had necessary services, but as an industry, we matured.  There are only so many necessary services. The rest we call entertainment.  In the United States we also call it politics.

 

The service industry creates distraction: works of art that only exist for the moment. This makes the artist, Christo, a prophet.  He said, “Do you know that I don’t have any artworks that exist?  They all go away when they’re finished.”  Does anything better define the service industry? 

Now even contemplation is a product.  Create a culture where every waking moment is necessary to survive, and top it off with products that require constant reinventing.  Nice work if you can get it. 

And we wonder why maturity is a delayed process.

 

Brother Giovanni, reporting for Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network, Diverti Mento, director

opd 412

The journals of Brother Giovanni and Brother Franco. Each side wraps themselves in some great truth and then proposes ridiculous solutions.

 

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE PIZZAONIAN ART INSTITUTE.  PAINTINGS (PHOTOS?) BY PIZZAONIUS, cira 345 PET (pizzaonian evolutionary time) Abe Straction, curator

It always seemed strange to our friends that Franco and I portalized to Pizzaonia.  It was a simple and easy decision to make.  It became clear to us while we love our country and choose to remain its permanent citizens, our sanity required we find a beta-world country that would have us. 

The rest is history.  For those who have followed our adventures in Pizzaonia what we have accomplished these past few years is well known. Now that we have retired from our Pizzaonian responsibilities and have returned home, we will occupy ourselves by writing our journal. 

It should be clear to all by now that the world is dysfunctional.  This seems to be particularly true for the United States.  What we are left with are power blocs who use this dysfunction to increase the value of their vested interest.  No one even pretends that they intend to fix the country.  If they did, why are we subjected to such absurd proposals from those vying for political power? 

Each side wraps themselves in some great truth and then proposes ridiculous solutions that no one can accept.  This leaves everyone on the high ground – advocates for undoable grand proposals with no chance of seeing the light of day. 

However, at the heart of this irrationality sits the one truth that no politician can unravel regardless how hard he or she may try to do so. No matter how bad things get the dream of “evolving toward a more perfect union” persists.  This journey still has a rendezvous with destiny that no one can derail. 

This is where Brother Franco and I will start.  We still have some duties remaining and we will continue to portalize between here and Pizzaonia. However, our full time job will be here in the United States representing Pizzaonian Pizza conglomerate, Pizza digogo DiVinci, and conversing with you. 

Until then, remember, “Pop culture is to culture what rocket lettuce is to arugula.” Pizzaonius, founder of Pizzaonia

For me and Brother Franco. Brother Giovanni

opd 312