Keanu Reeves in The Matrix - Red vs Blue pill

Today is one of these days that I would take a blue pill and the story ends, wake up the next morning and believe that my current boss is great and that my job is exciting. Well, to all good things in life there must be a downside too. The most impressive scene that explains that life is nothing but the product of our action and decisions can be seen in The Matrix. Just to imagine that the first Matrix was recorded in 1999, its already more than 15 years ago but yet the epic scene with Morpheus offering a choice between Red and Blue pill to Neo is timeless. As narrated, the blue pill will allow the subject to remain in the fabricated reality of the Matrix; the red serves as a "location device" to locate the subject's body in the real world and to prepare him or her to be "unplugged" from the Matrix. Once one chooses the red or blue pill, the choice is irrevocable. "Bluepills" are people who have either elected to remain in the Matrix or have not yet been offered the choice, while "redpills" have chosen to disconnect.

Neo takes the red pill and awakens in the real world, where he is forcibly ejected from the liquid-filled chamber in which he has been lying unconscious. After his rescue and convalescence aboard Morpheus' ship, Morpheus shows him the true nature of the Matrix: a detailed computer simulation of Earth at the end of the 20th century (the actual year, though not known for sure, is approximately two hundred years later). It has been created to keep the minds of humans docile while their bodies are stored in massive power plants, their body heat and bioelectricity consumed as power by the sentient machines that have enslaved them.

Morpheus: I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?

Neo: You could say that.

Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?

Neo: No.

Morpheus: Why not?

Neo: 'Cause I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.

Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind -- driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Neo: The Matrix?

Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?

(Neo nods his head.)

Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.

(In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)

Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill) Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more. (Neo takes the red pill and swallows it with a glass of water)

Daylight Robbery

There was once a country where everyone was a thief.

At night each inhabitant went out armed with a crowbar and a lantern, and broke into a neighbor's house. On returning at dawn, loaded down with booty, he would find that his own house had been burgled as well.

And so everyone lived in harmony, and no one was badly off- one person robbed another, and that one robbed the next, and so it went on until you reached the last person, who was robbing the first. In this country, business was synonymous with fraud, whether you were buying or selling. The government was a criminal organization set up to steal from the people, while the people spent all their time cheating the government. So life went on its untroubled course, and the inhabitants were neither rich nor poor.

And then one day - nobody knows how an honest man appeared. At night, instead of going out with his bag and lantern to steal, he stayed at home, smoking and reading novels. And when thieves turned up they saw the light on in his house and so went away again. This state of affairs didn't last. The honest man was told that it was all very well for him to live a life of ease, but he had no right to prevent others from working. For every night he spent at home, there was a family who went without food.

The honest man could offer no defense. And so he too started staying out every night until dawn, but he couldn't bring himself to steal. He was honest, and that was that. He would go as far as the bridge and watch the water flow under it. Then he would go home to find that his house had been burgled. In less than a week, the honest man found himself with no money and no food in a house which had been stripped of everything.But he had only himself to blame. 

The problem was his honesty: it had thrown the whole system out of kilter. He let himself be robbed without robbing anyone in his turn, so there was always someone who got home at dawn to find his house intact- the house the honest man should have cleaned out the night before. Soon, of course, the ones whose houses had not been burgled found that they were richer than the others, and so they didn't want to steal any more, whereas those who came to burgle the honest man's house went away empty-handed, and so became poor.

Meanwhile, those who had become rich got into the habit of joining the honest man on the bridge and watching the water flow under it. This only added to the confusion, since it led to more people becoming rich and a lot of others becoming poor.

Now the rich people saw that if they spent their nights standing on the bridge they'd soon become poor. And they thought 'Why not pay some of the poor people to go and steal for us?' Contracts were drawn up, salaries and percentages were agreed (with a lot of double-dealing on both sides: the people were still thieves). But the end result was that the rich became richer and the poor became poorer.

Some of the rich people were so rich that they no longer needed to steal or to pay others to steal for them. But if they stopped stealing they would soon become poor: the poor people would see to that. So they paid the poorest of the poor to protect their property from the other poor people. Thus a police force was set up, and prisons were established.

So it was that, only a few years after the arrival of the honest man, nobody talked about stealing or being robbed any more, but only about how rich or poor they were. They were still a bunch of thieves., though.

There was only ever that one honest man, and he soon died of starvation.

Kung Fu - The Nature of Evil

In the popular movie series Kung Fu, Master Po (Keye Luke) appeared in many episodes as master Po. A touching movie series that most of us will never forget. In one particular Kung Fu episode master Po explained what is the nature of evil. The greatest scenes of wisdom were portrayed in countless scenes throughout the episode of Kung fu recorded in 1974 with legendary actor David Carradine. For three seasons, David Carradine starred as a half-Chinese, half-Caucasian Shaolin monk, Kwai Chang Caine, on the ABC hit TV series Kung Fu (1972–1975) and was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for the role. The show, which took place in the Old West, helped to popularize martial arts and Eastern philosophy in the West and immortalized the character of Kwai Chang Caine, also referred to as "Grasshopper", in popular culture. David Carradine was certainly the most talented martial arts actor in that era of movie-making. Keye Luke's legacy is a testament to his pioneering efforts to promote diversity and representation in the entertainment industry. He helped pave the way for future generations of Asian American actors and left an indelible mark on the history of film and television.

Luke was born in Canton, China, to a father who owned an art shop, but grew up in Seattle. He was part of the Luke family, a relative of Wing Luke, for whom Seattle's Wing Luke Asian Museum was named. He had four siblings who all emigrated from China to California during the Depression. His younger brother Edwin Luke also became an actor in the Charlie Chan series. Keye Luke became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944—in a moment fictionally recreated in Lisa See's novel Shanghai Girls.

Before becoming an actor he was a local artist in Seattle and, later, Hollywood, working on several of the murals inside Grauman's Chinese Theatre. He did some of the original artwork for the 1933 King Kong press book. Luke also painted the casino's mural in The Shanghai Gesture. He published a limited edition set of pen and ink drawings of The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam in the 1950s. Other art done by Luke included the dust jackets for books published in the 1950s and 1960s. It was through his studio artwork that he was recruited for his first movie roles. 

Grasshopper: Master?!

Po: I am here.

Grasshopper: I looked deep into myself. And I saw something that frightened me.

Po: What did you see, Grasshopper?

Grasshopper: I saw dark and fearful shadows in motion. Shadows that shunned the light.

Po: Did you put a name to these shadows?

Grasshopper: I called them evil.

Po: And what is the nature of evil?

Grasshopper: I do not know.

Po: Do you sometimes feel love, Grasshopper, and joy? Do you sometimes feel pride in what you have accomplished?

Grasshopper: Often, Master.

Po: And do you sometimes feel good?

Grasshopper: Try.

Po: But the threads that make up our human nature are two-ended. There is no capacity for feeling pride, without an equal capacity for feeling shame. One cannot feel joy, unless one can feel despair. We have no capacity for good, without an equal capacity for evil.

Grasshopper: Must we not then fear evil?

Po: Shall we fear our own humanity?

Grasshopper: Must we not fight evil?

Po: Who can defeat himself? For what is evil, but the self-seeking to fulfill its own secret needs. All that is necessary is that we face it, and choose.

Complete Collection - David Carradine

The Actor David Carradine

Born John Arthur Carradine on December 8, 1936, in Hollywood, California. Carradine was born into an acting dynasty; his father was the noted American actor John Carradine.

From a young age, Carradine was interested in becoming a fine artist. Learning from his father, who was a sculptor before becoming an actor, the young David started creating his own sculptures at the age of four. Despite his color blindness, Carradine persisted with art and was constantly painting, sculpting and drawing as a youth. But while he dreamed of becoming a full-time artist, he also found he had a knack for acting. On June 4, 2009, Carradine was found dead in a Bangkok, Thailand, hotel room. Early reports say the actor hung himself in a closet, using a curtain cord as a noose. He was in the city to shoot his latest film, Stretch. Carradine was 72 years old at the time of his death.

Carradine was married five times and had two daughters, Calista and Kansas. His most recent marriage was in 2004 to Annie Bierman.

Japanese Av Star

Life after death according to Master Kan

This clip is taken from the episode called "The Soul is the Warrior" in Season 1 of the 1970s TV program "Kung Fu". It stars David Carradine as Caine, Philip Ahn as Master Kan, and Pat Hingle as General Thoms.