Vastralaya

Evan Shively (Perseus271)

Edgar Colt

Vitor Miguel

Prisma Soulstorm

Serena

Jordan

Bruna Guedes

Husain Kothari

FRNK

Uendi Prifti

Abdul Hasib

A good overview of the Bardo thödol and with beautiful and relevant imagery, including many detail photos of authentic thanka paintings of the associated meditational deities. However, it is worth noting that this is not even the usual abbreviated text, as first published in English by Theosophist W.Y. Evans-Wentz; rather, it is a further abridgment of the core of that text, including the essential readings, along with new explanatory material by Mullin. As such, it's an excellent starting point for the curious, instead of being a scholarly or practice text. For that, I would instead recommend the translations by Thurman, Trungpa, or the recent "complete text" by Coleman. The only complaint I have about this edition is that the occasional black text on red background, as occurs with the captions on chapter heads, is rather difficult to read without blazingly good light, which perhaps is expected to be spontaneously generated from the heart of the enlightened reader.

A newly revised and updated edition of the internationally bestselling spiritual classic, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, written by Sogyal Rinpoche, is the ultimate introduction to Tibetan Buddhist wisdom. An enlightening, inspiring, and comforting manual for life and death that the New York Times calls, “The Tibetan equivalent of [Dante’s] The Divine Comedy,” this is the essential work that moved Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions, to proclaim, “I have encountered no book on the interplay of life and death that is more comprehensive, practical, and wise.”

It seems like this took an especially long time to read (an average of under 7 pages per day), for such a comparatively short book (not quite 170 pages, and most of those pages in four-line stanzas with lots of blank page-space), but this is among the many works on my list of "things to go back and read, or read again, that I didn't read, or didn't read as closely as I'd have liked, even though I was supposed to, back in college or whenever." So, I was spending a lot of time on it. Sure, I coulda torn through it in a day, but I was interested in really absorbing the material, not only because as scripture it lends itself to a denser (if sometimes more arcane) read, but because some of the tenets expressed within are really valuable. I intend to keep a copy of the GITA in my car from now on (along with the TAO TE CHING, which I'll go back and read through start to finish sometime soon), you know, in case I need a little inspiration or even just SOMETHING to read at some point (in traffic, doctor's office, waiting for people to meet me, on a road trip, et cetera). Gotta love that GITA!

McMurphy has a criminal past and has once again gotten himself into trouble and is sentenced by the court. To escape labor duties in prison, McMurphy pleads insanity and is sent to a ward for the mentally unstable. Once here, McMurphy both endures and stands witness to the abuse and degradation of the oppressive Nurse Ratched, who gains superiority and power through the flaws of the other inmates. McMurphy and the other inmates band together to make a rebellious stance against the atrocious Nurse.

Jacob Singer is trying to make sense of his fractured life and memories. Plagued by hallucinations, flashbacks, and conspiracies, he struggles down a path to enlightenment from these manic strains. With nothing but support from friends and loved ones will he be able to push through the haze of his PTSD.

Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. As a result, his product is superior to what is currently available on the street and his prices are lower. His alliance with the New York Mafia ensures his position. It is also the story of a dedicated and honest policeman, Richie Roberts, who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Based on a true story.

Following a truck hijack in New York, five criminals are arrested and brought together for questioning. As none of them are guilty, they plan a revenge operation against the police. The operation goes well, but then the influence of a legendary mastermind criminal called Keyser Söze is felt. It becomes clear that each one of them has wronged Söze at some point and must pay back now. The payback job leaves 27 men dead in a boat explosion, but the real question arises now: Who actually is Keyser Söze?

Protagonist Alex DeLarge is an "ultraviolent" youth in futuristic Britain. As with all luck, his eventually runs out and he's arrested and convicted of murder. While in prison, Alex learns of an experimental program in which convicts are programmed to detest violence. If he goes through the program, his sentence will be reduced and he will be back on the streets sooner than expected. But Alex's ordeals are far from over once he hits the streets of Britain..

New England, 1630: William and Katherine try to lead a devout Christian life, homesteading on the edge of an impassible wilderness, with five children. When their newborn son mysteriously vanishes and their crops fail, the family begins to turn on one another. 'The Witch' is a chilling portrait of a family unraveling within their own sins, leaving them prey for an inconceivable evil.

With the disappearance of hack horror writer Sutter Cane, all Hell is breaking loose...literally! Author Cane, it seems, has a knack for description that really brings his evil creepy-crawlies to life. Insurance investigator John Trent is sent to investigate Cane's mysterious vanishing act and ends up in the sleepy little East Coast town of Hobb's End. The fact that this town exists as a figment of Cane's twisted imagination is only the beginning of Trent's problems.

1994 American horror film by John Carpenter

En route to visit their grandfather's grave (which has apparently been ritualistically desecrated), five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse, pick up (and quickly drop) a sinister hitch-hiker, eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station, before ending up at the old family home... where they're plunged into a never-ending nightmare as they meet a family of cannibals who more than make up in power tools what they lack in social skills...

The Bronx, New York, 1960. 9-year-old Calogero grows up admiring and fascinated by the local mob boss, Sonny. Calogero's father, Lorenzo, wants to have nothing to do with the mob and does his best to keep his son away from Sonny and mob business. However, it may prove a losing battle.

After building an empire with bootleg alcohol, legendary crime boss

El Mariachi just wants to play his guitar and carry on the family tradition. Unfortunately, the town he tries to find work in has another visitor...a killer who carries his guns in a guitar case. The drug lord and his henchmen mistake El Mariachi for the killer, Azul, and chase him around town trying to kill him and get his guitar case.

Manchester 1976: Cambridge educated Tony Wilson, Granada TV presenter, is at a Sex Pistols gig. Totally inspired by this pivotal moment in music history, he and his friends set up a record label, Factory Records, signing first Joy Division (who go on to become New Order) then James and the Happy Mondays, who all become seminal artists of their time. What ensues is a tale of music, sex, drugs, larger-than-life characters, and the birth of one of the most famous dance clubs in the world, The Hacienda - a mecca for clubbers as famous as the likes of Studio 54. Graphically depicting the music and dance heritage of Manchester from the late 70's to the early 90's, this comedy documents the vibrancy that made Mad-chester the place in the world that you would most like to be.

Netting a hefty profit from their latest drug deal, hippies Wyatt and Billy decide to outfit themselves with among other things motorbikes - Wyatt complete in what they call his Captain America gear and similar motif on the bike - and chucking any structure in their lives beyond the want to get there for the event, cycle from their home base of Los Angeles to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in just over a week. They don't plan to spend their proceeds on this trip - they saving that for a more carefree life in Florida after the fact - they sleeping in the great outdoors along the way. While Wyatt is more easy going, believing in the karmic nature and practicality of helping others when they can and in turn asking for help when they need it, Billy is a little more suspicious of the people they encounter, especially in hiding their wad of cash that is stuffed into the gas tank of Wyatt's bike, that money their future. They will find that not all counter-culturalists have the exact same mindset, while they will also find the spiritual and practical connections to others in perhaps the most unlikely of places and people. But they will also ruffle some feathers just for being hippies, arguably in the fear not of them as people but what they represent. Through it all, Wyatt in particular evaluates if the trip ends up being what he expects or wants for his life.

The deranged adventures of Gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson and his attorney Oscar Acosta, referred to in the movie as "Laslow". Thompson attempts to cover the Super Bowl and the 1972 Presidential election in his typical drug-crazed state, but is continually and comically sidetracked by his even more twisted friend Laslow. Allegedly based on actual events.

1980 American semi-biographical comedy film directed by Art Linson

A double-bill of thrillers that recall both filmmakers' favorite exploitation films. "Grindhouse" (a downtown movie theater in disrepair since its glory days as a movie palace known for "grinding out" non-stop double-bill programs of B-movies) is presented as one full-length feature comprised of two individual films helmed separately by each director. "Death Proof," is a rip-roaring slasher flick where the killer pursues his victims with a car rather than a knife, while "Planet Terror" shows us a view of the world in the midst of a zombie outbreak. The films are joined together by clever faux trailers that recall the '50s exploitation drive-in classics.

To reunite with this dying brother in Los Angeles, the French Foreign Legion officer, Lyon Gaultier, abandons his unit. Penniless, yet determined to make those who harmed his brother pay, Lyon takes part in an illegal street fight and catches the eye of Cynthia Caldera, an unscrupulous organizer of underground fights. However, as Lyon becomes Lionheart, the unpaid medical bills of his sister-in-law, Hélène, start to pile up. Now, the odds are against Lyon, who desperately wants to help his brother's family. Can Lionheart defeat brutal Attila, the undisputed champion of Cynthia's underground fighting matches?

Lenny Cole, a London mob boss, puts the bite on all local real estate transactions. For substantial fees, he's helping Uri Omovich, a Russian developer. As a sign of good faith, Omovich loans Cole a valuable painting, promptly stolen off Cole's wall. While Cole's men, led by the dependable Archie, look for the canvas, three local petty criminals, the Wild Bunch, steal money from the Russian using inside information from his accountant, the lovely Stella. Meanwhile, a local drug-addled rocker, Johnny Quid, is reported drowned, and his connection to Cole is the key to unraveling the deceits and double crosses of life in the underworld.

The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She attacks and kills the keepers of a powerful talisman just before it is destroyed. Gedren then uses the power of the talisman in her raid of the city Hablac. Red Sonja, sister of the keeper, sets out with her magic sword to overthrow Gedren. The talisman's master Kalidor follows to protect her. Of course they fall in love - however Red Sonja's power bases on the oath to never give herself to any man...

Henry Hill might be a small time gangster, who may have taken part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who might have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners could kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to think about climbing up through the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, might be badly affected by his partners' success, but will he consider stooping low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy?

The once unconditional friendship between police officers Vincke and Verstuyft hits a very rough patch when they come up against a series of gruesome murders. Complicating matters even further, a survivor of the killer drives a wedge between them when Verstuyft falls for her charms. Meanwhile, the serial killer has a new victim in sight...

A sketch-comedy series that parodies life in Portland, Oregon.

Show highlights Nick Kroll's incredible ability to transform himself into hilarious characters that pop off the screen while bringing many of his popular short-form favorites along for the ride.

A dark comedy series about a high school and the two vice principals. McBride and Walton Goggins star as the V.P.s who are in an epic power struggle, vying for the top spot: to be school principal.

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen appears as Ali G, a rapper-wannabe from Staines. Ali G has his own TV show, where he interviews people on serious subjects. They're not aware that Ali G is just a character and they're being set up as part of a comedy act. Cohen also appears in two other guises: as Borat, a Kazakhstani reporter, and Bruno, a gay Austrian fashionista. Hilarity ensues.

An all-cynical, all-evil absurdist variety show that parodies the classic educational PBS shows of the 1970s, made up of old cartoons and educational films, children, and puppets from one's worst nightmares.

Comedian Dave Chappelle hosts this sketch-comedy show that parodies many of the nuances of race and culture.

In this macabre comedy, retired boxing champion Mike Tyson, his brainy adopted Asian-American daughter, a friendly but wimpy gay gentleman ghost and a cursed perverse mean-spirited talking pigeon solve weird mysteries together.

American adult animated television series

At an international spy agency, global crises are merely opportunities for its highly-trained employees to confuse, undermine, betray, and royally screw one another. At the center of it all is suave master spy Sterling Archer, whose less-than-masculine code name is "Duchess." Archer works with his domineering mother Malory, who also is his boss. He must also deal with his ex-girlfriend, Agent Lana Kane, and her new boyfriend, comptroller Cyril Figgis, as well as Malory's lovesick secretary Cheryl.

The show follows Xavier, a rather strange-looking faun-like wanderer/seeker (complete with snake hand, backwards knees, a beak and six nipples) who is traveling across the land to find out the truth about his mysterious and uncertain origin. Xavier meets all kinds of different folk on his journey who he bores to tears with self obsessed tales about his life and his ability to "blow minds," and encounters rednecks who don't take kindly to his appearance. He speaks in a low, gruff, movie trailer-type tone that accentuates his narcissistic rambling. Although Xavier has a sense of morality and means well, he tends to cause havoc wherever he goes, attempting to help characters along the way, but unknowingly making situations worse due to total incompetence. In the pilot episode, we see in a flash-back that he burnt his house down as an adolescent whilst practicing a spiritual ritual. The fire killed his adoptive parents, yet he is totally oblivious that it was his fault, and is still out to find whoever is responsible. When asked if he has any powers, he is heard to say "powers are for the weak," yet the truth is that he has few, if any, as he is incapable of executing them efficiently.

Meet the wildly dysfunctional Bluth family. This family was once at the height of real estate development in Orange County, California. But when the family business - the Bluth Company - goes bust, they're suddenly found penniless with their assets frozen. They move into their last remaining asset - the model home left over from their latest housing tract. Their luxury vehicles are replaced with a reminder of the family's former wealth: 'the stair car that accompanied their private jet'. The patriarch of the family is George Bluth - he's now in prison, and loving every minute of it. His wife Lucille and daughter Lindsay are spoiled socialites who can't handle getting kicked out of family restaurants. His son Buster is in his mid 30's and lives at home. His son George Oscar Bluth is a magician who started a group to get magicians to be taken seriously, and gets kicked out when his own tricks are revealed. Lindsay is married to a man named Tobias Funke, once a psychiatrist, who decides to become an actor. The only sane member of the family: Michael Bluth, along with his son George Michael, want nothing to do with the family business. But one bizarre circumstance after another keeps Michael and George Michael from leaving their eccentric family.

The gang, 5 raging alcoholic, narcissists run a failing dive bar in south philly. The gang make up some scheme for sex, money, fame or for any other terrible reason you could think of. It always goes south however, as the gang (sometimes literally) have their plans blow up in their face.

Trailer Park Boys is about life between prison terms. Always trying to play the angles, always done-in by forces beyond their control, and always in the middle of a gunfight, Ricky and Julian are decent, hard- working guys trying to cope with the New World Economic Order. It's not that the boys don't know right from wrong, it's just that "right" rarely presents itself.

Kenny Powers was poised to rule the Big Leagues, but two things got in the way: his fading fastball and his insufferable personality. After a spectacular career flame-out, Kenny goes home to Shelby County, NC, to nurse his wounds and work as a gym teacher at his old middle school.

A working class family and their oddball friends.

Louie is a stand-up comedian and divorced father of two girls. This series follows him through his everyday life, as he meets various characters, struggles with his love life and pursues humor.

When filthy-rich video store magnate Johnny Rose and his family suddenly find themselves broke, they are forced to leave their pampered lives to regroup and rebuild their empire from within the rural city limits of their only remaining asset - Schitt's Creek, an armpit of a town they once bought as a joke.

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