A bit of sarcasm, that. I like my life in Michigan, I don't really want to pack up the Odyssey and move to Canada. Even if I only have to drive five hours. I have a lake I'm loving. I also know I'm responsible for my own feelings, and I know there's always a way to feel better. There's no rush though, we are here on Earth to mix it up, to quest. The RL horror show currently in progress can help us get clear about what would be way better.

The ugly America is obvious to a lot more of us now, eh? Goes without saying that Trump isn't an anomaly, he's the next step. He is the USA. The USA has been heading Trumpward for a while. Hard to know where it all started. My cosmic sleeper cell was activated around September 3, 2001, after returning from a wilderness camping trip with Dr. Dave Crowley. Watching videos in my garage of the twin towers coming down, which was the excuse for starting the Iraq War in 2003. That was when I realized I had to find a way, take responsibility. That was my wake-up call. When was yours? When did you decide to be fully alive?

I repeat myself quite a bit on this podcast, maybe because I'm not sure how recently you've tuned in. If you have been around for a few dozen episodes, then you prolly realize I am working things through, getting clear about what's worth having, doing, being. For me and my fellow beings, human and otherwise. Tree beings. Rock beings. Water beings. What I know is that I've gotta rock my own experience, because the good attracts the good; even bristly Chris Hedges believes that. Good to me means feeling good, for no reason whatsoever, just because I'm alive in epic times, times that inspire.

Today is a good day to die, Little Big Man. Also a good day to thrive.

Gosh, I feel better already! I've spent many episodes exploring the question why movie — why this movie, Daughter of God? As a medium-aged straight white American male with resources, I can do pretty much whatever I want, right? Movies are cool. I want to make them. To check that box. But wait, that's not all! This movie could be a look backwards from a shimmering, flickering future, one of many we can choose. Maybe the scariest outcome isn't so bad after all. Maybe we can laugh at the apocalypse in progress and feel less afraid. Maybe a movie can be jam-packed with hints and clues, potent symbols, enhancement memes, shit that snuck in there without me even knowing. Forget "maybe"; here's the for sure. Something is happening with this movie that I can't quite articulate, but for sure is helpful. Big picture helpful.

I yammer on episode after episode, reading what I've written a few days before. Writing is fun for sure, as is playing music, but I still feel like a painter. See Episode 002 for history. Painting is how I feel most magical, and movies are just time-based paintings, yo Scott McCloud. At 24 frames per second, there's a hundred thousand paintings in an 80 minute feature-length film, available wherever there's internet or cell phones.

Daughter of God is coming. Why is she coming? She's going to save the world. Our world. A fictional universe intersecting with this one to shift awareness and eventually our shared reality.

Talk about ambition! That makes Cannes just one stone in the sparkling stream we're bounding across, hop, hop. We're talking about excellence worldwide for everyone. Let's dream big on this podcast. Because somebody's got to.

What news of her coming? Cue Linus: I bring you tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. Phase 1 of DOG's financial simplification is done, even though my QuickBooks file was corrupted and required 11th hour remediation by Intuit Level 2 tech support. Now the data is with our CPA for processing. Just three phases of financial simplification ahead — momentum!

Greg has started building armor for the opening miniature scene. The animated header on the dog.movie website with the skeletons and cop car is an early test of this. The new tanks and Humvees under construction will have mediatronic advertisements on them, much like the relief boxes covered extensively in Episode 083 and 084. The question is: how to best prepare the miniatures for the superimposed graphics? Adding highlights and shadows has to support the VFX. My plan is to brush dry pigment on the miniatures, which can then be cleaned off with compressed air after shooting. That means I'm not stuck with a finish and can adjust the shadows and highlights to find out what works best for the mediatronics. Also, if the dry pigment approach is successful, these models can be sent back to Greg for a full finish later. Greg's been advocating for delivering the miniatures with a matte finish clear coat over a neutral gray base paint, while I'm wanting him to just prime with neutral gray. I built a plasticine mock-up for him to try both finishes on. I'll have that back this weekend, most likely.

I tested the dry brushing on the Revell Snap Tite Abrams that Greg completed several weeks back. Greg is a meticulous modeler, and I'm superexcited to have him working on the movie. He and I have been scheming to recruit another top-notch builder from the Great Lakes Scale Modelers Club in Traverse City. Fingers crossed. My painter pal Joe Cissell recently discovered his next-door neighbor is also a serious modeler. I'm gonna try and meet that guy tomorrow.

After visiting Joe's neighbor, I'm excited to sign a contract with my copy editor, Emily at Stormcloud, Frankfort's amazing brewery. She's cleaning the copy on dog.movie, the text I'm reading right now. The website also wants a overall restructuring. I'm still looking for a kickass designer who is WordPress savvy. Before Emily gets started, I'll have to tweak the content silos myself — that's SEO speak for categories of information. Sheesh, that's a lot of esoteric stuff.

I'm back in ketosis for this episode, to see if fasting really increases brain function. Today is day five of a water-only fast. Five days of nothing but Berkey-filtered Crystal Lake water. On my three-day water fast a couple of weeks back, Episode 118, Ketosis, I didn't rev up until day 3. So I decided to go two extra days this time. I feel pretty great! My cerebration might actually be a little more focused. There's also a vague euphoria creeping in, which might also just be... momentum.

That's Episode 120, Momentum, Season 4, Daughter of Godcast. Does this feel like momentum for you? Check in on the comments of this episode and let me know what you're getting out of all this. Pam, Seamus, and Jil are chiming in still. AND don't forget about Blessings! Shri Fugi Spilt's pancake breakfast redemption is even better than before! Hard to believe! I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere during Season 4, feedback makes a comeback. Season 2, Crowd Creation, was a lot of fun, even if preparing scenes and responding to feedback was time intensive. After the nonproduction logistics are wrapped, there will be more movie to share. By then picture and sound will be all I care about. That and eating. I'm really looking forward to eating.