Flag Event Featuring Bart Simpson on OT VII Tonight

The much talked about Flag event featuring Bart Simpson (read: Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson) is happening tonight.

Stargazing | Rubina from “Slumdog”; Rebecca Mader from “Lost”; Lisa Lampanelli, Noah Wyle - Kansas City Star:

"The Church of Scientology’s Flag World Tour is tonight in Hollywood, and one of the speakers is Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson. There has been some heat this week because Cartwright was using Bart’s voice in a pre-recorded message to promote the event."

The pre-recorded message has been widely featured in the press because Nancy used the copyrighted voice of Bart mixed with her own voice in the message to promote her appearance in the Flag event.

Pity it made such a scandal, because I for one found the message funny. Besides, isn't Bart Simpson known for making prank calls? Play it here below:

Aye carumba! Bart Simpson is spruiking Scientology - Times Online:

The actress credits Scientology for much of what she has achieved.

“Before Scientology I had one dream of making a living, from doing voice-overs for animation,'' Cartwright said in 2006.

“After I became a Scientologist my abilities expanded so far and above what I originally dreamed that I've amazed even myself.''

Bart Simpson's Voice Speaks for Scientology - E! Online:

"But although Cartwright has been a practicing Scientologist since 1989, the veteran voice actress had no outward problem helping The Simpsons poke fun at her religion in the 1998 episode 'The Joy of Sect,' in which the family joins the cultish Movementarians, whose members ultimately aspire to live on the planet Blisstonia."

Bart Simpson's voice being used to promote Scientology event:

"Cartwright also provides the voices of Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and several other Simpsons characters on the show. She also voiced the character, Chuckie Finster, on Nickelodeon series, 'Rugrats' from 2001 to 2008."

The Canadian Press: Nancy Cartwright uses Bart Simpson's voice to push Scientology:

"The Fox network would not comment, but 'Simpsons' executive producer Al Jean said the message wasn't authorized by the show, which has never 'endorsed any religion, philosophy or system of beliefs any more profound than Butterfinger bars.'"

Related Blog Entries: R-NancyCartwright-

Before the Day Starts Rolling.

I do many things in life but personally my ultimate goal is a spiritual one.

Spiritually, the ultimate goal, in a way, is do-nothing. It is nothing, no-thing from this world.

The least one could do with such a goal would be to sit quietly for a few minutes in a day and do nothing, nothing but being, nothing but meditate...

And yet, how hard is it for us to find these few minutes in a day? We are always striving to do some-thing, to be busy, or else we feel we waste our time, we waste our life.

Even for someone like myself, who do have such a goal, hardly ever take the time to do it. I think it's a mistake, and every time I "force" myself, in a manner of speaking, to take these few minutes, I hardly ever regret it. It's like taking a few minutes a day to sharpen your tools. It's hardly time wasted.

I find that the best time to meditate is in the morning, shortly after waking up. One first needs to actually wake up. No sense to start to meditate half asleep. There's all kind of things we need to clean up from our head first. Some people like to review the day before, or look ahead on what's up for the day coming, or give a thought to one or the other things.

After this, there's some space we could use to do nothing, and yet fully wake up. Not just physically but spiritually. It often is a time of opportunity for it because life has not started wheeling yet. The children may still be asleep, the sun itself may not have started his daily round. There is a space of quietness.

I find that although our first instinct is to get busy and do something, it helps greatly to, on the contrary, sit up in the bed and start a short meditation. This could be a quarter or twenty minutes. Just sit quietly and let all thoughts pass. Focus on the sheer awareness and on the infinite depth of silence, of being and awareness. In effect, what we do, I think, is to elevate our own vibration. It's like an airplane take-off, until we reach a point above the clouds where there is nothing but quietness and light.

If we can keep that feeling as we land back down to earth, then we would bring that extra quality in our daily doing. The focus that brings an automatic alignment of everything else we do, and everything that surrounds us. There would be a "meaning" present, a meaning that is beyond words, that words cannot express, and yet something we can feel and live as a sort of deep well-being, of peace and silence in the center of turmoil and noise, even though in fact the feeling, if we reach it at all, which is not always automatic, usually fades off during the day and we get "sucked up" in life again... But nevertheless, it usually is much more worth than what we think is the time we "spend" on these few minutes of silence and quiet before the day really starts rolling.