"The problem is you have a bad attitude about starving to death"

[charlie]

Somebody gave Dave Chapelle a copy of The Secret.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbS9jZOlQjc
(2min 23sec)

[realisticphish]

1. I love Dave Chappelle

and his point is spot on.

[onager]

2. Have you seen Julia Sweeney's "Letting Go of God?"

She takes some good swipes at Oprah and the similar TV show The View, and how they promote crap like "The Secret."

For a while, Sweeney says she had something of a crush on Deepak Chopra. She bought all his books and practically swooned when she met him on The View.

Then she made the mistake of taking a college course in quantum physics.

"And do you know what I learned? I learned that Deepak Chopra is FULL OF SHIT!"

:rofl:

[realisticphish]

3. I love Julia Sweeney

such a difference from her fellow SNL alum Victoria Jackson...

[charlie]

5. Oof

No kidding. Who could've guessed her Short Bus earnestness wasn't schtick? It was weird to learn that Victoria's comedy was actually just Victoria being Victoria.

[charlie]

4. Hah!

That seems to be a regular motif in her life, getting disabused of whackaloon notions because she can't help doing her own research. Whatta gal!

Poor Deep. It was easy being a New Age rock star when Julia had to take a physics course to be sure he was full of shit. Now he's just Another Guy on the Innernets, his idiocy revealed in a few clicks. It's giving him mood swings -- one week he's ebullient and expansive, the next petulant and melancholy.

Deepak needs fixing. He should visualize some roast beef and mashed potatoes.

[onager]

6. !!!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PIU%2B4PrHL._SL500_AA246_PIkin2,BottomRight,-6,34_AA280_SH20_OU01_.jpg

[charlie]

7. GTF outta here

Golf?! We're gonna learn deep wisdom because Deepak is dabbling in the sport of moneyed surburbia?

If Deep really wants to be useful, how about XBox for Enlightenment? Or Laundry Day for Enlightenment? Or Balancing a Budget When You Don't Make Enough Money for Enlightenment? No, we get another dreary tale about how a millionaire bootstraps himself up to spiritually congruent millionaire in his vision quest at the country club.

And it's been done before, many times. He can't be unaware of the "Inner Game of (sport)" series, the hackneyed dork.

Thank goodness Amazon has a pair of uncharitable writeups as their featured reviews:

From Booklist

Look who has taken up the Scottish game: the global proselytizer of health and spirituality, New Age style. Given golf's susceptibility to soakings of mysticism, it's remarkable that Chopra has gone 30 books into his consciousness-raising career before recognizing what a lucrative mark the sport might be for his shtick. What will the myriad purchasers of this book take away from Chopra's ruminations? Not much technical advice: the author seems shrewd enough to know that few hackers would be gulled by tips from a relative novice. Rather, Chopra affords the unhappy player a chance to drain the mind of anger and ready it for transformation into a soothing spiritual comity with the universe. Said player is asked to identify with Adam, who, on a day particularly productive of shanks and slices, is accosted by an apparition who adjures the despairing soul to consult golf pro Wendy, likewise an ethereal being. In a seven-part "fable," Wendy heightens Adams' awareness of "now," relieves him of his control compulsions, and restores his golfing life to balance and harmony. The authorial brand and publicity ensure that Chopra's confection will be highly, if transiently, popular. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

http://www.amazon.com/Golf-Enlightenment-Seven-Lessons-Game/dp/0609603906

[Warpy]

8. I'd never heard of her!

I'm through Letting Go and listening to some of the rest of it and hoo, boy, can I relate. I grew up in the nutty Irish Catholic church, too.

[charlie]

9. Link to the audio

Because it's choice and worth hearing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xep60KSrBSQ#t=4m41s

For extra fun, here's her plea for us to quit electing presidents that embarrass her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SShUUMr2krE