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|header1 = Series
|header1 = Series
|header3 = Original Broadcast Date
|header3 = Original Broadcast Date
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|label10  = Preceded by:  
|label10  = Preceded by:  
|label11 = Followed by:  
|label11 = Followed by:  
|data8 = [[:Category:Absurd Monologue|Absurd Monologue]], [[:Category:Karma Style|Karma Style]], 1 hour
|data8 = [[:Category:Absurd Monologue|Absurd Monologue]], [[:Category:Karma Style|Karma Style]], 60 minutes
|data4  = April 3, [[2000]]
|data4  = April 3, [[:Category:2000|2000]]
|title = [https://www.joefrank.com/shop/the-nature-of-things The Nature of Things][https://www.joefrank.com/streaming/shows/?jfsearch=The%20Nature%20of%20Things]
|below = [https://www.joefrank.com/?s={{#invoke:URLEncode|encode|{{PAGENAME}}}} Purchase]
|data6  = [[Larry Block|Larry Block]], [[Zak Block]], [[Michael Meloan|Michael Meloan]], [[Kristine McKenna|Kristine McKenna]], [[Jack Kornfield|Jack Kornfield]], Joe Frank
|belowstyle= border-top: 1px solid #333;padding-top:5px;
|data6  = [[Larry Block]], [[Zachary Block]], [[Michael Meloan]], [[Kristine McKenna]], [[Jack Kornfield]], Joe Frank
|data10 = [[The Wire]]
|data10 = [[The Wire]]
|data11 = [[Karma (Part 1)]]
|data11 = [[Karma (Part 1)]]
|data2  = [[The Other Side (Series)]]
|data2  = [[The Other Side (Series)|The Other Side]]
|
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''"According to the theory of the big bang, the universe exploded from a single point."''
''"According to the theory of the big bang, the universe exploded from a single point."''


'''The Nature of Things''' is the name of a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series [[The Other Side (Series)]]. It was originally broadcast on April 3, [[2000]].
'''The Nature of Things''' is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series [[The Other Side (Series)|The Other Side]]. It was originally broadcast on April 3, [[:Category:2000|2000]].


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
Joe talks about the 'Big bang' then how large the universe is, then about animals that eat
other animals, particularly gruesomely, including the hatchetfish,
with its luminescent anus,<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sternoptychidae marine hatchetfish]</ref> and the violin
spider<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recluse_spider recluse spider]?</ref> - examples of God's
grace.<ref name=Karma6>re-used in [[Karma (Part 6)]] </ref>
4:30: Jack Kornfield tells of explaining a passing satellite to an old
monk, who didn't even know the Earth was round.  Kornfield points out
that this fellow was venerated for his wisdom, how wisdom is different
from knowledge.<ref name=Karma6 />
8:50: 'I hate this nature stuff&hellip;' - [[Zachary Block|Zak Block]] kicks off
an argument with Larry, who likes nature.  This devolves into a
father-son argument about how his parents don't understand him
(including the jackhammer story), that Larry drinks too
much&hellip;<ref>They're in Seattle, where Larry has a
role.</ref><ref name=karma3>re-used in [[Karma (Part 3)]] </ref>
15:20: Larry buys some booze, starts drinking before the show,
something he says he never does, understands he has become an
alcoholic.<ref name=karma3 />
19:40: Kristine McKenna is distraught, crying; she talks to her
sister.  They both agree that their father was terrible; Kristine
thinks her sister has gotten over it but she hasn't.<ref name=redux>re-used in [[Karma Redux]] </ref>
21:20: Larry says that no quality of acting would have impressed the
director at his audition, talks about taking control of his fate by
failing deliberately, succeeding by achieving failure.<ref name=redux />
24:50: 'Mind is the forerunner of all things&hellip;' - Kornfield
quotes the <i>Dhammapada</i> , that our actions follow our
thoughts.<ref>In different words Kornfield returns to this idea in
[[Karma (Part 1)]] and [[The Angina Dialogues]].</ref>
27:10: Mike Meloan tells story of meeting an Indian palm reader.  When
Meloan won't pay the fee he wants, he points and yells, 'Don't deny me!' repeatedly.<ref name=deny>re-used in [[Karma Don't Deny Me]] </ref>
32:40: Jack Kornfield talks about dealing with difficult
situations by imagining that Jesus/Buddha/Mary shows up to take
over.<ref name=deny />
38:30: Kristine is in the hospital.  An old man in an adjacent room
screams frightfully; she finds out he's 84, hasn't recovered well from
a surgery.<ref name=Karma7>re-used in [[Karma (Part 7)]] </ref>
41:40: Joe tells of going to a birthday Party.  Someone tells the
story of the antics of Norman Wexler: buying everything in a bakery,
taking a dump at LAX.<ref name=Karma7 /><ref>According to his [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0923319 IMDB page],
'Andy Kaufman's character of "Tony Clifton" was partially based
on Norman Wexler' and 'Wexler was the mysterious "Mr. X" referred to
in Bob Zmuda's biography of Andy Kaufman, [https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18256-andy-kaufman-andy-and-his-grandmother ''Andy Kaufman Revealed''].</ref>
46: Kornfield tells us how large the universe is.<ref name=Karma7 />
48:30: Larry describes drinking tequila with lemon and salt,
chasing it with beer, a fake margarita, then the terrible food he eats.<ref name=Karma2>re-used in [[Karma (Part 2)]] </ref>
51: Joe tells Larry about making french toast himself because his
Chinese house boy is out, the special maple syrup.  Then they talk
about drinking, anti-depressants, hip psychiatrists.<ref name=Karma7 />
54:50: Larry talks about what he would do instead of
committing suicide, how he counts shotgun blasts to the head to fall
asleep.<ref name=redux />
56: Kornfield tells about the psychology class in which
students were tested by giving them oranges.  The student described
the nature of his/her orange, put it back on the table, then had to
find which was his/hers.  He quotes [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Gide Gide]<ref>
'Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than
sadness; once you make this all-important discovery you must embrace
joy as a moral obligation' &mdash;<br> Thus does Jack Kornfield quote
Andr&eacute; Gide in 'The nature of things' (re-used in 'Karma part
2').
<br>
A French Redditor tipped me to the source, [https://www.ebooksgratuits.com/html/gide_nouvelles_nourritures_terrestres.html ''Les nouvelles nourritures terrestres'']
<br>
The original is, &laquo;Il m&aacute; depuis longtemps paru que la joie
&eacute;tait plus rare, plus difficile et plus belle que la
tristesse. Et quand j&eacute;us fait cette d&eacute;couverte, la plus
importante sans doute qui se puisse faire durant cette vie, la joie
devint pour moi non seulement (ce qu&eacute;lle &eacute;tait) un
besoin naturel - mais bien encore une obligation morale.&raquo;
<br>
Google translates it to, 'It has long seemed to me that joy is rarer,
more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. And when I had made
this discovery, arguably the most important that could be made in this
lifetime, joy became for me not only (what it was) a natural need -
but a moral obligation as well.'
</ref>
and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Camus Camus]<ref>'A person's life is a slow trek to rediscover through the detours of art those 2 or 3 moments in whose presence the heart first opened.'
<br>
Thus Jack Kornfield quotes Albert Camus in 'The nature of things'
(re-used in 'Karma part 2').
<br>
It's from the preface of [https://apprendre.forumgratuit.org/t107-albert-camus-preface-de-l-envers-et-l-endroit ''L'envers et l'endroit''] (''The Wrong Side and
the Right Side', 1937; the preface in 1958):
<br>
&laquo;Voici encore... Oui, rien n'emp&ecirc;che de r&ecirc;ver, &agrave; l'heure m&ecirc;me de
l'exil, puisque du moins je sais cela, de science certaine, qu'une
&oelig;uvre d'homme n'est rien d'autre que ce long cheminement pour
retrouver par les d&eacute;tours de l'art les deux ou trois images simples et
grandes sur lesquelles le c&oelig;ur, une premi&egrave;re fois, s'est ouvert.&raquo;
<br>
It's available in English translation in [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/personal-writings-albert-camus/1134654831 ''Personal Writings''] (Knopf
Doubleday 2020) - their translation:
<br>
'Here again... Yes, nothing prevents one from dreaming, in the very
hour of exile, since at least I know this, with sure and certain
knowledge: a man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover,
through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images
in whose presence his heart first opened.'</ref> to illustrate the
value of perceiving joy.<ref name=Karma2 />
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:95%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Legacy Synopsis</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
*The big bang is absurd.  Deep sea creatures.  Various Animals and god's plan.
*The big bang is absurd.  Deep sea creatures.  Various Animals and god's plan.
*[[Jack Kornfield]]: talking about the universe and wisdom and knowledge ("what is a satellite?").
*[[Jack Kornfield]]: talking about the universe and wisdom and knowledge ("what is a satellite?").
Line 37: Line 157:
*Larry talks about drinking and then eating junk, antidepressants, suicide.
*Larry talks about drinking and then eating junk, antidepressants, suicide.
*Kornfield: a class describes an orange - an exercise in observation.
*Kornfield: a class describes an orange - an exercise in observation.
</div></div>


== Interesting Facts ==
== Music ==
Fortune Teller sequence also in [[Karma Don't Deny Me]].
{{Speak (Yukihiro Fukutomi)}} [00:00]
Nature discussions also in [[Karma (Part 3)]].
{{Rearrange (Cinematic Orchestra)}} [13:20]
{{Brazil (Antonio Carlos Jobim)}} [20:47]
{{Black Coffee (Patricia Kaas)}} [29:07]


== Shared material ==
* Karma Parts [[Karma (Part 1)|1]], [[Karma (Part 2)|2]], [[Karma (Part 3)|3]], [[Karma (Part 6)|6]], [[Karma (Part 7)|7]], [[Karma Redux]], [[Karma Don't Deny Me]], and [[The Angina Dialogues]]
== Miscellanea ==
*Fortune Teller sequence also in [[Karma Don't Deny Me]].
*Nature discussions also in [[Karma (Part 3)]].


== Commentary ==
== Commentary ==
{{commentary}}
I didn't think about the order of Joe's shows until I figured out the
 
order of the 'Karma' episodes, which I identified as starting with
 
'Karma Part 1' (That's the way radio stations aired them.)  With that
== External Links ==
as my starting point, 'The nature of things' seemed a later episode,
because every segment is also in a 'Karma' episode, but it precedes
'Karma Part 1'. [https://wfmu.org/JF/joe_show.html WFMU's notes] place
the show in 2002 - they made the same mistake.


== Footnotes ==


{{The Other Side}}
[[Category:Absurd_Monologue]]
[[Category:Absurd_Monologue]]
[[Category:Karma_Style]]
[[Category:Karma_Style]]
[[Category:Jack Kornfield]]
[[Category:Jack Kornfield]]
[[Category:Zak Block]]
[[Category:Zachary Block]]
[[Category:Larry Block]]
[[Category:Larry Block]]
[[Category:Michael Meloan]]
[[Category:Michael Meloan]]
[[Category:Kristine McKenna]]
[[Category:Kristine McKenna]]
[[Category:Show|Nature Of Things]]
[[Category:The Other Side]] [[Category:Show_by_date|20000403]] {{Airdate|airdate=2000-04-03}}{{Series|series=The Other Side}}{{Cast|cast=[[Larry Block]], [[Zachary Block]], [[Michael Meloan|Michael Meloan]], [[Kristine McKenna]], [[Jack Kornfield]], Joe Frank}}

Latest revision as of 17:25, 31 October 2024

Series
The Other Side
Original Broadcast Date
April 3, 2000
Cast
Larry Block, Zachary Block, Michael Meloan, Kristine McKenna, Jack Kornfield, Joe Frank
Format
Absurd Monologue, Karma Style, 60 minutes
Preceded by: The Wire
Followed by: Karma (Part 1)
Purchase

"According to the theory of the big bang, the universe exploded from a single point."

The Nature of Things is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series The Other Side. It was originally broadcast on April 3, 2000.

Synopsis

Joe talks about the 'Big bang' then how large the universe is, then about animals that eat other animals, particularly gruesomely, including the hatchetfish, with its luminescent anus,[1] and the violin spider[2] - examples of God's grace.[3]

4:30: Jack Kornfield tells of explaining a passing satellite to an old monk, who didn't even know the Earth was round. Kornfield points out that this fellow was venerated for his wisdom, how wisdom is different from knowledge.[3]

8:50: 'I hate this nature stuff…' - Zak Block kicks off an argument with Larry, who likes nature. This devolves into a father-son argument about how his parents don't understand him (including the jackhammer story), that Larry drinks too much…[4][5]

15:20: Larry buys some booze, starts drinking before the show, something he says he never does, understands he has become an alcoholic.[5]

19:40: Kristine McKenna is distraught, crying; she talks to her sister. They both agree that their father was terrible; Kristine thinks her sister has gotten over it but she hasn't.[6]

21:20: Larry says that no quality of acting would have impressed the director at his audition, talks about taking control of his fate by failing deliberately, succeeding by achieving failure.[6]

24:50: 'Mind is the forerunner of all things…' - Kornfield quotes the Dhammapada , that our actions follow our thoughts.[7]

27:10: Mike Meloan tells story of meeting an Indian palm reader. When Meloan won't pay the fee he wants, he points and yells, 'Don't deny me!' repeatedly.[8]

32:40: Jack Kornfield talks about dealing with difficult situations by imagining that Jesus/Buddha/Mary shows up to take over.[8]

38:30: Kristine is in the hospital. An old man in an adjacent room screams frightfully; she finds out he's 84, hasn't recovered well from a surgery.[9]

41:40: Joe tells of going to a birthday Party. Someone tells the story of the antics of Norman Wexler: buying everything in a bakery, taking a dump at LAX.[9][10]

46: Kornfield tells us how large the universe is.[9]

48:30: Larry describes drinking tequila with lemon and salt, chasing it with beer, a fake margarita, then the terrible food he eats.[11]

51: Joe tells Larry about making french toast himself because his Chinese house boy is out, the special maple syrup. Then they talk about drinking, anti-depressants, hip psychiatrists.[9]

54:50: Larry talks about what he would do instead of committing suicide, how he counts shotgun blasts to the head to fall asleep.[6]

56: Kornfield tells about the psychology class in which students were tested by giving them oranges. The student described the nature of his/her orange, put it back on the table, then had to find which was his/hers. He quotes Gide[12] and Camus[13] to illustrate the value of perceiving joy.[11]

Legacy Synopsis
  • The big bang is absurd. Deep sea creatures. Various Animals and god's plan.
  • Jack Kornfield: talking about the universe and wisdom and knowledge ("what is a satellite?").
  • Larry Block talks about drinking before a show, reads a poem.
  • Kristine McKenna: A woman cries and talks about her sister.
  • Larry and Joe discuss self destruction.
  • Mike Meloan talks about meeting an Indian fortune teller in a parking lot.
  • Kornfield: a merciful being assumed your body.
  • Kristine talks about hearing a man in pain.
  • A birthday party for film industry types: a man buys a bakery, shits in an airport.
  • Kornfield: The scale of it all.
  • Larry talks about drinking and then eating junk, antidepressants, suicide.
  • Kornfield: a class describes an orange - an exercise in observation.

Music

Shared material

Miscellanea

Commentary

I didn't think about the order of Joe's shows until I figured out the order of the 'Karma' episodes, which I identified as starting with 'Karma Part 1' (That's the way radio stations aired them.) With that as my starting point, 'The nature of things' seemed a later episode, because every segment is also in a 'Karma' episode, but it precedes 'Karma Part 1'. WFMU's notes place the show in 2002 - they made the same mistake.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ marine hatchetfish
  2. ↑ recluse spider?
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 re-used in Karma (Part 6)
  4. ↑ They're in Seattle, where Larry has a role.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 re-used in Karma (Part 3)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 re-used in Karma Redux
  7. ↑ In different words Kornfield returns to this idea in Karma (Part 1) and The Angina Dialogues.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 re-used in Karma Don't Deny Me
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 re-used in Karma (Part 7)
  10. ↑ According to his IMDB page, 'Andy Kaufman's character of "Tony Clifton" was partially based on Norman Wexler' and 'Wexler was the mysterious "Mr. X" referred to in Bob Zmuda's biography of Andy Kaufman, Andy Kaufman Revealed.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 re-used in Karma (Part 2)
  12. ↑ 'Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness; once you make this all-important discovery you must embrace joy as a moral obligation' —
    Thus does Jack Kornfield quote André Gide in 'The nature of things' (re-used in 'Karma part 2').
    A French Redditor tipped me to the source, Les nouvelles nourritures terrestres
    The original is, «Il má depuis longtemps paru que la joie était plus rare, plus difficile et plus belle que la tristesse. Et quand jéus fait cette découverte, la plus importante sans doute qui se puisse faire durant cette vie, la joie devint pour moi non seulement (ce quélle était) un besoin naturel - mais bien encore une obligation morale.»
    Google translates it to, 'It has long seemed to me that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. And when I had made this discovery, arguably the most important that could be made in this lifetime, joy became for me not only (what it was) a natural need - but a moral obligation as well.'
  13. ↑ 'A person's life is a slow trek to rediscover through the detours of art those 2 or 3 moments in whose presence the heart first opened.'
    Thus Jack Kornfield quotes Albert Camus in 'The nature of things' (re-used in 'Karma part 2').
    It's from the preface of L'envers et l'endroit (The Wrong Side and the Right Side', 1937; the preface in 1958):
    «Voici encore... Oui, rien n'empêche de rêver, à l'heure même de l'exil, puisque du moins je sais cela, de science certaine, qu'une œuvre d'homme n'est rien d'autre que ce long cheminement pour retrouver par les détours de l'art les deux ou trois images simples et grandes sur lesquelles le cœur, une première fois, s'est ouvert.»
    It's available in English translation in Personal Writings (Knopf Doubleday 2020) - their translation:
    'Here again... Yes, nothing prevents one from dreaming, in the very hour of exile, since at least I know this, with sure and certain knowledge: a man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.'
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