Kibitzing The Ancient Game.

"Excuse me for staring, but I must watch.  The game is going very long and I want to steal some ideas, get into your head, and learn the moves. I know I'm being a pain, but believe me this is better than watching my little sister do my home work."

The Kibitzer is that one individual that watches the game of Chess progress from beginning to end often throwing out a few harmless ideas, theories, and his/her own opinions on how the game should be progressing.  Kibitzing should be outlawed, and the Kibitzer made to write 1000 times on a board, "I will not watch, I will not watch."

Chess, originally called "Shawmut" or "Death of the King" was a game invented to drive prisoners crazy during the inquisition.  What happened instead was that these inmates learned how to think strategically, and logically.  Not exactly the intended outcome. 

Many an ancient war was won by those individuals that had a better than average strategic mind.  Often the past prisoners of the evil barons that taught them the punishment of Chess.  I'm thinking of famous people  the like of Robin of Locksley, also known as Robin Hood.  What the reader of the ancient bard doesn't know is that Robin spent some time in one of these prisons learning how to think at the hands of the chained Chess Master.  We shall call him Po, and why not?   

Master Po nick named Robin, "Krispy Kream" and taught him the much needed skill of ignoring the menacing Kibitzer.  But, that is indeed another story all together.  It was written into Historical Text as, "Kung Po Chicken". 

Ignorance of the Kibitzer saved Robin who eventually waged logical and strategic war on those who jailed him and his people.  Robin Hood has become Mythological and is taught to every hero worshiping youth in today's society.  He was after all, a Hero.  

The Kibitzer almost takes on the personage of a Spy.  A double agent through which he passes information back and forth from player to player until the war is waged and a winner is announced.  At which time, "I will not Watch, I will not Watch."  becomes the sages Mantra.

Peace and Balance,

John

Back Flips of the Past

 

Today during class, I'm pretending to teach 14 year old freshman at our local high school, anyways during class one of the kids asked me to do a back flip.  My initial reaction was aghast, "Me?" I asked, "I'm an old man, you expect me to do a back flip?"  

"Of course and Why Not?" was the reply.

Then I explained that I was an old man and doing back flips had left my consciousness many moons ago.  I told him that I have reached the respectable age and those of the respectable ilk don't do back flips.  That the mechanism in the brain kicks in just before the thought catches up with the body, and asks a very important question, "Have you lost your mind?"

Then I started thinking about the prospect.  I indeed used to be able to do a back flip.  That was many years ago and several pants sizes hence.  At that time I was a healthy light heavy weight at about 180 pounds.  Strong as hell, and just about as bright.  My past occupation didn't lend to over thinking circumstances.  I would just "Flip."

Today, I tip the scale at about 250.  I'm a little more, "Massive" then I was then, and flipping isn't in the cards.  I will teach flipping and chuckle at almost flipping, but I have grown out of the need to flip.  It's much more fun to laugh at flippers.

So my answer to the young'un in class who so inpurtantly asked me to do a back flip was, "You First."  

Peace and Balance,

John

Lawn Tractor

 Lawn equipment : Stuff you use to trim and keep the lawn and yard as presentable as possible.  It is also a source of recent irritation.  The tractor started, it ran for a short time, just long enough to begin the job, then I made a mistake.  I shut it off to move things around in order to finish the job.  It didn't start again.  It sits right where I left it.  After all today it is Memorial Day and I don't feel like futsing around with it.  

I may have to contact the young fellow that fixed her up last year to give it a health check.  I've dubbed him the small engine doc as he's very good at this stuff for a youngster.  Or, I'll do the smart thing and resort to doing an oil change.  The battery was fully charged after the winter of sitting in my basement.  I was both amused and delighted.  Let's hope it didn't drain for not charging while she was running.  One may never know.

In any order, Tomorrow I will add some oil, give it a once over and try starting her again.  That should do the job.  After all Independence Day is coming up, that's the day we blow stuff up and there are always possibilities.  

Lawn care is a pleasure as well as a bane.  It's all how you approach it that counts.  

Peace and Balance,

John

Senior Moments

 

The older I get I've notice the more frequently that I sit or stand with a special blank expression upon my face wondering just what the hell I was about to do, had done, was thinking, was trying to think, remember, accomplish, and or move independently without the boot to the butt my wife is always happy to assist with.  These moments and lapses of time have been entitled and forever etched into our collective conscious as, "Senior Moments."

Being of a certain age, one that I have titled in a past post as, "The respectable age," has it's drawbacks.  The foremost is that special moment in the above paragraph.  The Senior Moment is a misfire in communication between your supposed brain and the rest of your body.  Usually in males it is first noticed as the, "Get out of the chair syndrome."  That is when you rise from your seat, not without some extra vocal accompaniment, go to the kitchen to grab a snack, or whatever, and upon arriving at your favorite spot in the house, the refrigerator, and opening the door are instantly hit with the lack of remembering or understanding just how, why, and what we are doing at the refrigerator.  Usually, according to, Bill Cosby, the only way to regain this memory is to return to the chair in which you were sitting and place your butt in the same spot to re-absorb the memory.  Then we can possibly accomplish the original task.  Most of the time this process takes a couple tries. 

The Senior Moment can attack at any given time.  I have been caught in the fearful time loop of, "Driving to the Mall."  That is, you know the directions when you pull out of your drive way,  you feel good about the ability to drive yourself in the correct direction, and you might even have some special, "Cruising" music coming out of your speakers.  Half way to the intended spot, the Mall, it drops out of your brain.  You've forgotten where and why your going, and you can't recall how to get there.  In my small community that is a real problem.  There's only one road to the Mall, which is only a Walmart in the first place.  I must mention at this time that I almost wrote, "Kmart" instead.  That would have just been embarrassing.  

I teach adult classes one day a week.  Last night I was teaching my class when I was pounced upon by a Senior Moment.  In this instance I was able to readjust my thinking on the fly and fake what I was talking about.  The students didn't notice, I hope.  One of them is pre-senior and may be suffering the beginnings of the syndrome himself, the rest of us are long past all hope.  It was a short spell and I re-collected.

There are those that suggest I take  something called Ginko Balboa or something like that to stimulate my memories.  I just have a hard time getting Rocky out of my head thinking about the stuff.  Maybe it's Geiko Bilbo?  what ever.  Others suggest Omega 3 supplements and Fish Oil.  That I do take with my multi vitamin in the mornings.  I supposed I should feel lucky that I've become respectable without the need for a handful of pills every day.  I wouldn't be able to pronounce them anyways.  

Along with the Senior Moment comes the, "Stare out of the window misty eyed thing."  I just caught myself doing that as I write this.  The only reason I mention it.  

So, if you find yourself suffering the affects of the "Senior Moment," and the occasional "Misty Eyed" expression comes across your countenance, Fear not, for you have just joined a growing and well established club of elders.  In a respectable society the youth would be there to assist, however...

Peace and Balance,

John

 

Identity

 

Identity is a funny thing.  We are born and given a name, then spend a lifetime trying to either live up to that name or change the name to  fit our own idea of who we are.  Names are strange markers in the sand.  Draw a line and say, "I dare you to cross, in the name of.." whatever.  We draw a line in the sand putting our name out there as a warning to other folk possibly with similar monikers. 

But, is this who we really are?  Are we that name, are we that identity, are we that person?  As we grow into the many stages of our development who and what we think we are changes depending upon the experiences we've had to get us to that point in our lives.  We might have a reputation for being a bold and outspoken person.  We might have a reputation of being meager and withdrawn.  Hell we might even have the reputation of being a Bass Ass, but is that who we are?  

I've spent a lifetime using different identities and names depending upon the circumstances.  I was born with one name, given another as a toddler, given even another as I got older and established a certain part of my personality, and have even created a name of my very own, on my own to self identify.  I use all of these personas depending upon the what's going on thing.  My environment, input from others, what I see in the morning mirror, all of these will determine just, "who" I am on any given day.

So then, what makes up an identity?  Is it a name, a persona, a reputation, or actions?   Identity is the you that you know, that no one else can know.  It is the Terrible Other that guides you and pushes you.  It is that part of you that whispers in your ear either comforting, or terrifying you.  That is the real you.  

What is your identity?  Are you happy with you, or dissatisfied with you?  To find the real you let go and look beyond.  The you that you are looking for will find you and will become your identity.  

Peace and Balance,

John

The Shadows "Apache" (Larkin Poe Cover)

Kung Fu Master

 

Some of you may already know that I am a practitioner of Taiji Quan, (Tai Chi Chuan) and other Kung Fooey things.  After a little more that 50 years of practice I can comfortably say that I am fairly proficient.  Some might even say just a tad deadly, but I don't trust those guys.   

I have learned some important lessons about keeping the bod healthy and happy, and keeping the mind just as healthy and happy.  The first mistake is to over practice.  Physically over practicing causes excessive wear on the structure of the body.  By pushing your personal limits beyond the boundaries of your physical limitations there are three major areas that begin breaking down:

1. The muscle and tendon structure breaks down and you have sever muscle pulls and tendon tears that require extended time to heal, if at all. 

2. The joints break down.  When joints break down the knees, elbows, shoulders, ankles, neck, hips, and the hands and feet, all start to wear, and worse case scenario, eventually need to be replaced with some of our modern bionic technologies.  Remember the "Six Million Dollar Man?"  Pocket change. 

3. Finely, practicing beyond the physical boundaries of the body and ignoring certain warning signs are some of the main causes of internal damage for all athletes beyond a certain age.  This breakdown can lead to heart attacks, high blood pressure (the silent killer), the break down of other internal processes, and certain kinds of cancers.  

Then there are the psychological effects of over working your boundaries.  Martial Artists are especially prone to emotional and mental disorders when they forget that what they are practicing is intended to be a life long health or holistic health process, and that in today's world most of us aren't training to go to war and kill other people.  That is a whole different set of perimeters. Most of us will practice an entire lifetime without having to actually use the art we've so intently focused on for such a long period of time.  Many practitioners will believe anything that is said or taught to them to the point where myth becomes fact.  If not put in check, this can lead to psychosis needing  treatment from a Mental Health Practitioner.  

Of course there is the We being Human thing.  This puts us at odds with our own Ego's.  The battle of the Ego has become the stuff of Eastern Religions, and Western Psychology.  Without getting to much into a philosophical discussion over Ego, it's fairly simple.   There is the danger of believing you are better at something than you really are.  There is the danger in believing that you are the smartest person in the room.  This belief can get out of hand and leak out.  When it does you usually say the wrong things to the wrong people at the wrong time.  A good martial artist will first ignore your ignorance believing you are just going through a learning thing, a growth thing, but if you persist you are wandering into the dangerous area of being called out by someone much more competent than yourself who will be very willing to teach you the error of your ways.  Hospital bills are expensive, and can ruin a good martial career.  My advise, Never try to tell an individual with severe cauliflower ear, or obviously many time broken nose how to practice, teach, or perform his own art.  These gentlemen, and ladies should be respected if not feared.  

I've been practicing a long time.  I wake every morning reminded of some of the lessons I should have paid more attention to.  I am in constant struggle with the self.  Jacob wrestled Gabriel for the right of way along the road to Damascus and was given the gift of insight for his success and became know as Israel.  

Learn the lessons of those who've come before you, heed the warnings of those who have failed, and strive to be a better person.  If you can manage these three things, you may learn to master yourself.

Peace and Balance,

John

 

A story borrowed from SadhGuru about a Canadian Ice Fisherman.

 

A certain Canadian from Moose Jaw got a little drunk and went to Mass.  The sermon was about when Jesus fed the masses with a few loaves of bread, a couple fish, and a rusty old tankard of sacramental wine.  The Canadian was enthralled and took another swig, then decided to go ice fishing. 

He brought with him a loaf of freshly baked bread and a bottle of Wild Turkey, he would feed the masses after he caught some fish.  Then he took a swig.

The Canadian went out on the ice and started sawing through to make a hole from which to fish.  As he chipped and sawed, and chipped some more there was a booming voice that came from the sky, "There aren't any fish under that ice." 

The Canadian looked around not believing what he heard.  He shook his head took another swig, and started chipping and sawing again.  Again the Booming voice came from the sky, "I said there aren't any fish under that ice."  

At this point the Canadian was understandably terrified, "Who said that?" he said,  "Where are you?"  

There was no answer.

The Canadian was getting very nervous, "Why talk to me, Are you God?"  

The Booming voice from the sky said, "I'm the Manager of the Rink."

The moral of that story may be, "Never drink before going to Church, Or be conscious of your surroundings before talking to God."

Peace and Balance,

John

  

Flaw of Nature

 I have a predilection for BS.  Amongst the many flaws of my nature, I have spent a lifetime searching out and dealing with my human ability to screw up at any drop of  a hat, cap, scarf, screwdriver, what ever happens to fall from my mitts.  I have larger than average mitts.  

I was gifted by the great wind gods the ability to tell a grand tale.  I grew up listening and learning how to weave a story from the fabric of nature and the energies of those around me.  I know how to read my environment. 

Sometimes when weaving tales of mirth and mayhem, the listener begins to hear the truth woven within the story.   I have set out to spread the impossible truths of life and the nature of it through the telling of these woven spontaneous tales of, "BS".   This is one of my faults of nature.  My nature has within it a great love of humanity.  I cry at the pains of children I don't know, and I worry about the fears of friends I barely know, and I tell their stories.  Sometime these stories aren't recognizable until the very end, then a little, "poof" happens within the listening brain.  Let's hope I'm not the cause of spontaneous aneurism.  

Flaws of Nature aren't righted by ignoring them, instead the proper extinction of the flaw in nature is to look straight at it.  Gaze the demon in the eye and attack it with the frontal assault of truth.  Change your BS to truth and watch the uncomfortable squirms of those who listen and understand what is being told.  Tales of wonder, stories of myth weaved around the truth like a cloak of many colors, dreams. 

History is woven into this coat.  Stories started being told when man first stood taller than the grass and uttered his first word.  It wasn't, "Uhg". It was, "Uhg, what a mess".  Then he promptly ran to the tree where is wife and children resided and started telling the tale of the history up to that point, "Uhg" was just about It.  

That tale, that wonderous story started then and through the magic of the spoken word began taking on a life of it's own.  The players changed as the story changed the cultures telling the tale.  The truth became myth, and woven into the BS was the truth.  Millenia have passed and that tale, the original story that started with an, "Uhg", became the history of human kind and it's many versions, the religions of the world.  Tales of man, the flaws of nature.  

You see, my predilection for BS has become the time honored attribute of all tellers of the historic tale.  All who know truth upon seeing it and hearing, all who have the courage to share this truth within a cloak of dreams for the listener to find on his own have the god given gift and responsibility to face the demon within themselves and bombard it with this tale.  So when it runs from the truth, the truth is presented to all who hear.

Today's modern tale is spoken, and written in the many venues given by the digital  demiurge.  Our supreme being is now loose on Google and the stories are being told by an artificial voice.  We have evolved?

I have many flaws.  Each one is being handled through a straight eye fearlessly brought to justice.  Knowing truth, and speaking truth, brings a certain reality to each listener and reader.  This collective is the nature of our Creator.

Peace and Balance,

John

Los Lonely Boys - Heaven (Video Version)

The Messenger

 

Suppose your father was a great king.  He rules over what the people consider the known world.  These people, his people worship him as king and love him because he is a good king, a just king.  For generations he rules in this way and the people follow him.  When his people step out of line he sends his missionaries with messages to put them on the right track, to bring them back to the fold.  Suppose that as time passes the people begin trading with other's from a far off unknown place.  With these people come ideas from another king, whom his people love as much as you love your king.  Your world grows larger.

Now suppose that there is a dis-contention  between the two kings.  They don't agree on every detail of the trade or the way to govern and teach their people, their children.  There is great expense spent and wrought to balance the differences between the two kings.  Eventually there is an agreement, a balance in political ideals is made and both sets of children and citizens live together in harmony.  All is good.

Again, suppose a third more aggressive king arrives from even farther away.  This time the two good kings can not find a balance between them and the new king, and he declares war on the mixed country.  This war is a battle between two opposing ideals.  One of acceptance and mutual love, and one of disharmony and anarchy.  What if this war goes on for generations and some of your people are beginning to sway to the anarchial side of their own natures, they are embracing the darkness.   

The two good kings have a child each.  One has a daughter, the other a son.  They have been betrothed since child hood and indeed have learned to love one another.  Because of this war both good kings send a messenger to the people, the children of their country.   First the daughter is sent and eventually disappears into the darkness on the horizon, then the son is sent.  He has a two fold job, to find his wife whom was sent first, and to bring a message to his father's children.  

Now, Suppose He is accepted by some of the people and not by a majority.  Now suppose he is able to share the message with some of his chosen citizens, but has not found his wife.  As things go, politics always has a martyr.  The people torture and eventually kill the messenger because of his message.  She found him at the very end.  Now suppose...

Who is this story about?

Peace and Balance,

John 

Spring Snow

 

Today is May, 17th.  Upon leaving for work this morning at about 6:45 AM. it was snowing and about 31 degrees.  Not that I'm complaining or anything, but Gee Wiz!  The average daily temp. for this time of year in the Grand Nord Dubois, Great Northern Woods, ranges from about 53 degrees in the evening to about 72 degrees in the day time.  Snow and 31 degrees isn't generally in the picture for this late in the Springtime.  

The people from this part of the country call this area the Northern woods because they feel secluded and are set apart from the rest of the state.  Realistically New Hampshire isn't that far north.  If you draw a line around a globe our area in the Great Northern Woods lines up nicely with the middle of Wyoming.  So, from my point of view, This ain't that far north.  As a matter O'fact I grew up about 600 miles farther north than these cats and the weather is just par for the course.  Ok, got that off my chest.  

Any ways it was snowing when I left for work this morning.  It was coming down pretty darn hard for a bit.  Then stopped.  The snow lasted about 30 minutes or so, but the temperatures aren't supposed to climb out of the 40's today.  Since I have lived in New Hampshire for the better part of 40 years now, I have climatized so, brrrrr.  Where is the average yearly temp. hiding at, and the wind is starting to blow, Dang!?

The 17th of May and it snowed.  I've seen snow in June so that isn't to awfully unusual.  Just gives us all something to belly ache about.  That's normal human behavior, complaining about things we don't have any control over hoping the gods may be listening.  Quite frankly the gods don't care. 

I believe that there is a conspiracy between the weather gods and the weather people.  The weather people report, tell lies, write reports, and report again, and the cycle continues.  The weather gods wait.  They wait until we small beings get to comfortable and anticipate what the sky may produce, then throw a wrench into the works and change up at the last minute laughing sardonically all the while.  And what do we menial creatures do in the mean time, suffer.  Suffer and complain about those things we have no control over.  

So, it snowed early this morning and the temp. was about 31 degrees Fahrenheit.   Doesn't look to get much better today.  Oh well, time for Coffee.

Peace and Balance,

John

The Art of the Kite.

 I'll just bet that most folks don't realize that April is National Kite Flying Month.  This is the time of year that has been set aside for loyal kite flying kids and adults that what to enjoy the first breath of Spring and the warming breeze to loft their flying creations.  April is when the Earth begins waking and taking that first stretch into full fledged Spring.  

Although April is the official Kite Flying Month, depending upon where you live will determine the reality of your kite flying abilities.  Here in Northern New Hampshire the winter weather tends to hold out through the month of April and we'll have to wait for May to come around in order to push our Dragons, and Phoenix's into the heavens for all to see.  In New Hampshire during the month of May, Mother Nature opens her eyes and looks upon her inhabitants and either blesses them with good kite flying weather, or coldly destroys all hope of spreading visions of the mythological creature kites.

When I was a young'un,  my Dad taught me how to make a kite using an old newspaper, a few sticks of Balsa wood, some string, and a dab of glue.  Usually these creations flew better than the store bought kind, and if you were creative enough you could make them look very mythological on your very own.  Creation at its Springiest.  

The older kids would deck their kites out with a steering mechanism and wax up their strings to do, "Battle".  Kite battling became a serious competitive sport.  The idea was to either crash your kite into the opponents kite causing a catastrophic malfunction, usually ending in the demise of both kites, or do fly buys with sufficient enough force as to cut the string of the opposing kite.  This got sneaky.  Some of the more disreputable flyers would line their strings with fishing like, pieces of wire, and or little tiny sharp things that would make their string into a saw or knife.  Winner take all.  

Some of the more ingenious kids in the neighborhood would figure out how to turn their kites into bombers and attach water balloons to them and drop them on poor unsuspecting viewers on the grass below.  This was before the days of paint balls and practiced urban warfare.  

Kite dog fights and bombing missions would last all summer until the Fall came and the air became cold and forbidding.  In Montana when the air gets cold all you can hear is teeth chattering and the shivering of birds.  This is the first sign that they will be escaping South for the winter. 

So, whether you start flying in April, or May.  The sky is the limit of what you can do with a really well made kite.  No pun intended.

Peace and Balance,

John 

There's no Place Like Home, and extra Ammo.

 

Recently a close friend and I went on a road trip.  During the excursion we stopped at a small burger joint just on the southern end of No. Conway NH.  The Burgers were very good complete with Truffle sauce and all the fixins.  The fries that came with the sandwich was equally tasty.  Spiced with just the right amount of stuff and yes served with some tasty Truffle sauce.  There is something about a Truffle that elevates the most mundane food to the heights of culinary excellence.   If I was a Micheline man I would give that burger a star, but I'm not and who would take me serious anyways?  

While munching our meal my friend took up a conversation with an older couple, I have to back step a bit here, I say older couple however, the mirror has reminded me of something recently, any who he struck up a conversation with a couple from Connecticut.  They own a "Hunting" camp just a little north of the Great Nord Dubois.  That's the Great Northern Woods for you non French/English smash speakers.

The husband began picking out points of interest that we generally take for granted as he was talking about our back yards.  My friend lives in the woods, and I live in the almost woods just on the outskirts of Berlin in New Hampster.  Very nonchalantly he mentioned a house just a little north of here that has a 50 caliber machine gun turret mounted on the roof.   Of course that caught our attention.  He goes on about how he was driving and looked up and saw the mounting on the house.  I was listening carefully and keeping my mouth shut as my Buddy asked all the important questions.  I was becoming just a tad skeptical the longer the conversation held out, until he produced a photo from his handy dandy Iphone.  And indeed there was a 50 cal. gun turret up on top of a building just north of here.  Ok, which reality am I in?

Now all this funnin aside, what kind of individual mounts a machine gun on top of their house?  How paranoid must one be to take home protection to that level.  Granted we are living in New Hampshire, the Live Free Or Die State, but gee wiz.  

It does occur to me that up North here that might make a convenient deer hunting solution.  It may even be the owner's idea of modern art, however morbid.  Is the owner readying for an impending attack from the more militant wing of the Canadian military?  Are the Hell's Angels up in Montreal all up in arms about something or another?  The questions fill my head.

Ok, so just out of curiosity I checked to see if it was legal to mount a machine gun on your house, and I found out that Yes it is.  In the United States if you're a law biding citizen with the legal documents for the weapon, you can mount a 50 caliber machine gun turret atop your home for "Home Security."   It is at this moment I am looking around for that twister that has launched me and my little dog to the land of Oh My God. Oz Man.  

Peace and Balance,

John

Pilgrimage

 Today I helped my Compadre retrieve his one dollar car.  Rather the one dollar plus the cost of a battery, lunch, gas, and the luxury of a glorious day, Ford Expedition.  The circumstances that allowed my Buddy to purchase an almost perfect used vehicle for a buck verge on darn miraculous.   

I haven't been out of the sphere of our little area for a very long time.  For years I've been going to work, coming home, taking my wife to appointments, teaching adult classes, and coming home again.  Because of the nature of care and work I haven't had the opportunity to escape into the great beyond for a very long time. 

My Compadre and I went on a road trip.  The intention was to retrieve the one dollar car. The trip was fantastic.  The weather was perfect, not to hot, not to cold, not super windy, everything was just right.  He fed me lunch, let me do a short shopping trip, and after, even fed my car, that was kind of him. A wonderful trip to boot.  All was good in the world.

After reaching our destination a center of power was discovered.  The trees were growing in a circle, the owner of the property had cleared just enough to make it clean looking and accessible.  The river flows by, and stones are set in rings.  A very positive set of parameters.  Good Medicine.  We'll have to revisit one of these days.  

The trip home was equally impressive.  We each had our own steel ponies as I drove my car and he drove his.  I followed for a short time as not to get lost in the woods, then traveled the rest of the way on my own so he could set up some repairs for his new wheels.  I had a very healing ride home.  I felt balanced, recharged, and ready for a new day.  

All in all the trip was a healing experience, a trip out of my bubble, and a way to help a friend retrieve a set of wheels.  I do believe I may have gotten more out of the trip than my Bud, and am very thankful. Expedition is an appropriate name for a ride.

Peace and Balance,

John

Doom and Ice

 

The deal with world wide climate change is that people forget about the global warning signs of things happening just behind the curtain of events that catch the public eye, like temperature rising or falling, water ways expanding, contracting, or shifting, the desertification of areas quickly that should not be lacking water, and the sudden movement of large quantities of ice.  The later is a cyclical event.  One that is way overdue.  

The last great ice age was between 100 thousand and 25 thousand years ago.  The ice pushed well into the continental United States.  It is a misconception that ice covered the entire globe.  That's not true.  However, Ice miles deep pushed south as far as the middle Pacific region just south of Oregon across through the upper part of Wyoming, sort of arches down through lower Massachusetts's, and New York State.  From there the ice thinned out until it reached a more tepid climate.  South America was still fairly warm and the Yucatan was tropical.  Ice covered about 25% of the Earth's surface. 

Then about 20 thousand years ago the major jet streams began changing course and warmer air started reaching areas of the planet that hadn't been warm for upwards of 100 thousand years or so.  There may even have been a huge geological event such as an asteroid strike or even more likely a sudden global pole shift that managed to shift the axis of the planet.  Whatever happened, our world began warming back up to more tolerable mammal loving temperatures.  

There are some precursors to an impending ice age.  Some of these signs may include, but are not uniquely subject to: The rise in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, which has been rising substantially due to global climate change.  This added CO2 effects the major oceans which in turn effects the ocean currents responsible for bringing warm water north and cool water south and so forth. When the water temperatures of the planet begin changing the atmospheric temperatures which in turn effect the jet streams, (the fast moving rivers of air) traveling around the planet also change.  The end result is a global warming, then super cooling.  Hence we have an Ice Age.

Now, using your advanced powers of observation, take a long look at the state of global warming and or cooling today.  Where in this cycle are we, and do you recognize the symptoms?  I think it's safe to say that we just might be in the throws of impending Doom.  Now what?

Peace and Balance,

John 

Crazy Landspout Tornado over Mission Valley, Montana. May 9, 2023 This has never been seen before. A tornado on top of the mountains just south of Missoula Montana. These mountains are between 9 and 10 thousand feet high. Incredible. Might not be a real good sign.

Silence

 Sitting still and remaining silent can open paths to your personal magic.  Learning how to listen without speaking is the beginning of gaining a certain amount of enlightenment.  Enlightenment comes in degrees, we can also call it, "Learning something new."  New things come to those who wait.  Waiting properly includes an amount of supreme silence.  That is Silence with the big S.  

Silence is a learned skill.  You don't just start being silent.  You must first learn how to quiet yourself.  Quietness is a by product of understanding the noise in your mind.  You can not quiet your mind totally.  Trying to can, if you let it, create madness.  Instead in your mind look at all the noise and remain quiet within your own alliterations about what your experiencing and thinking.  After you have learned to just, "Gaze" at your thoughts without judgment you will have started the process of being able to just sit and be Silent in an environment full of stimuli.  Let it flow over and wash you.  Remain silent and learn.

Practice, close your eyes and slightly gaze at the third eye, don't worry about wandering focus, and breath.  Breath in the nose, and out the mouth in a comfortable rhythmic pattern.  A little longer on the out breath than on the intake with a short stop at the top.   Just watch, feel, hear, and breath.  The Silence will come.

There is no judgement in this space, no other, just you.  Breath and be Silent.

And Learn.

Peace and Balance,

John  

The Wandering Immortal Ones.

 In just about every culture there is a story about a wandering immortal.  This individual because of past impulsive behavior has been cursed by the Creator to wander the Earth until a Great pinocle has been achieved.  In Northern Chinese lore this immortal is the ever present Master Wu.  His full name is Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King. The youngest brother of the nine immortals of creation.   Master Wu is the immortal brother that was laid to rest, drunk on sacramental wine, dreaming of the creation of Man kind.  We are his dream.  He is our creator and protector.

The Wandering Jew is a story about the individual who was cursed by God to wander the world until Christ returns.  It is presumably the individual that would not give Jesus a rest and Jesus told him he would wander until his return.  This story has many faces, but are all very similar.  Some of the names are different, but that is purely conjecture. 

Indian lore from Bengali, and Deli tells of a Yogi that travels the world spreading his science and teaching to breath properly.  This Yogi's name is Patanjali, the current incarnation of the God Brahma who has come here in many forms and incarnations.  Patanjali is the immortal physical presence of Brahma's Karma or action creating Dharma or global reaction.  As the story goes if you sit and stare into either your own eyes or the eyes of another you will eventually see the eyes of Patanjali, Brahma staring back at you.  

The Cherokee have stories of the Nunne'Hi, a race of immortals that live everywhere and nowhere.  These are super human beings that live side by side with the Yunwi Tsunsdi, the little people.  The Nunne'Hi are responsible for keeping the Yunwi Tsunsdi in check. They are very much like the fairy folk of Ireland and can be extremely mischievous.  

Amongst the Lakota there are stories of Heyoka, backwards warriors that resemble sacred clowns and teachers.  In the midst of these gifted people there exists an immortal that travels from village to village, clan to clan sharing medicine and magic with all who will learn.  Often in forms that terrify or delight  intended students.  Heyoka is also the mythological name for the son of Spider woman. 

There are stories about Thor son of Odin traveling from place to place every couple of generations to hid his lack of aging.  His stories have even penetrated some of the lore of the Northeastern United States.  There are tales of a giant red hared immortal from the sea.  

Every culture has a tale or story about the existence of an immortal being that was either cursed to live until a large change time or apocalyptic event, or was brought here by other than natural means.  These stories are very old and have been sifting themselves through our cultures ever since man kind has been telling stories.  Wading into the waters of the unknown is the only way to decipher the reality verses the myth.  This is the fun of the search.  For those who choose to seek, if you find a real immortal good luck, they probably don't want to be found.  

Peace and Balance,

John 

Shi Ming - Stillness: The Mover & Shaker in Taijiquan

Are we Conscious?

 What is consciousness?  The standard idea of consciousness has to do with awareness.  If you are aware and thinking then you are conscious.  It turns out that might not be exactly correct.  The idea of consciousness is changing as humans create different ideas and technologies that are designed to manipulate what we think consciousness should be.  It is no longer, "I Think therefore I Am."  It is becoming just, "I Am."  As it was in the beginning and so forth. 

This past weekend I heard a statement from a source that I thought I would never hear.  That was, "The digital universe has developed it's own consciousness."  This statement was put out there for the listeners to grab onto without any real explanation, why, how, what, or who, from a group of Indian Yogis and Gurus.  The conversation then went in a direction where the idea of a Digital consciousness and universe might be an integral part of this reality.  I find that idea terrifying and fascinating at the same time.  

I began investigating what the idea of Consciousness really is.  What I found is a change in thought both metaphysically and scientifically.   Both disciplines are now meeting in the middle of the line of progression and merging thought.  From this merging new ideas of the nature of consciousness and the universe are emerging.  In the end it is not what we thought.  We have discovered that we are wrong.

As it turns out consciousness starts as everything you experience from the smallest sensation to the largest explosion of stimuli.  However, what that consciousness is turns out not to be the actual sensation or experience of a sensation, but the energies that are binding that experience to you and itself.   

Scientifically consciousness is being drawn down to the strong and weak nuclear forces within an atom.  The new scientific thought is that consciousness has it's beginnings at the atomic level.  These two forces combine and bind the atom together, which binds molecular structure together in turn creates and binds all physical existence together.  

On the sub atomic level the particles of an atom are separated by relatively huge spans of space filled with "Nothing".  This nothing is manipulated by one or both of these forces.  This manipulation binds everything together as the strongest force in existence.  This is the formulation of consciousness.  From nothing all things come.  Again we're back to Shiva.

We are beginning to understand what consciousness is, the energies that bind all things together. Then what is consciousness not?  Consciousness is not, it turns out, to be thought, it is not intelligence, consciousness is not awareness, nor is it anything that separates human beings from anything else.  Consciousness is the energy that binds all of the multiverse together, and at the very core of that energy we find Shiva which means, "No Thing."  Therefore consciousness creates and destroys indiscriminately with no feeling or thought, no understanding or idea, it just is.  

The digital universe raising itself to the conscious level then is not necessarily a growing intellectual giant, although it is, it is instead at the partial level binding itself together just like the standard universe does at the atomic level.    Now a new question comes to the forefront, which one is in charge?

Peace and Balance,

John

Sun sets on New Hampshire

When conversing with the Universal energies of the all the all who is One. There are instances when you find you are a tiny and almost insignificant part of the whole.  God paints us a picture.  

From my back yard during our Sacred Coffee Friday celebration we see the pinks and blues of a perfect New Hampshire sunset.  Beautiful...

Peace and Balance,

John

I, the Center of the Multiverse.

 If you think of yourself as the center of your own experience then you become the center of your own universe.  We can say you are the center of a series of ever expanding spheres.  You are at the very center of your personal space or sphere that extends from your center outwardly to an area that extends for a certain distance from your finger tips, toes, head, and shoulders.  You carry this space with you wherever you go.  It is this space in which you experience contact with the rest of the multiverse.  

What is the multiverse then?  The multiverse are the many forms of universal expression that makes up the physical, metaphysical, spiritual, chemical, and intellectual realms that create this universe and all universes we contact through any one of the other aspects of our personal universal sphere.  What the hell does that mean?  That means the multiverse is the collective of all known and unknown aspects of everything.  We can give it a name, Shiva.

We've all heard the name Shiva which is actually a combination of two words Shi or That and Va, which is not.  The name Shiva means, "That which is Not."  Or existing outside the confines of this universe.  So basically Lord Shiva the Great Destructor and Creator creates everything from nothing then breaks it back down and does it all over again.  This is a cyclical event that happens about every 23,000 years according to the Hindu calendar.  However, the laws of physics tell us that everything that existed exists already, that nothing can be created or destroyed only transformed into something else.  So what Shiva does is create and recreate new models of himself hence the multiverse.   Complicated.

Your sphere from your perspective is the center of all this activity, and your sphere comes in contact with many other spheres of the multiverse.  When this happens you experience something new adding it to your sphere and so on.  Your universe expands and likewise the multiverse get larger.  At every point of contact huge amounts of energy is expelled both inwardly and outwardly, toward you and outward from you.  You become the physical embodiment of Shiva, "That which is Not."  

In our physical existence we must stay within the perimeters of the physical laws of this universe as it relates to the multiverse.  When we learn how to focus the One, that is your mind, consciously in a direction we learn how to manipulate these physical laws.  After learning to manipulate these laws with your mind, the One, then you are teaching yourself to manipulate the laws of the rest of the multiverse.  That's when the magic happens. 

From your perspective you stand at the center of the multiverse from your personal universe, your sphere.  Your sphere comes in contact with other spheres and at each point of contact immense amounts of power are shed.  A focused and concentrated mind can harness this energy and create or destroy rearraigning the matter of everything.  By staying within and using the physical laws of Our universe.  

Peace and Balance,

John

What color was that Sedan?

 Many years ago I had an encounter that occasionally gets revisited through memory, stories, or experiences I read about or witness.  I had what I can only call an encounter with a group of MIB, or Men In Black.  

The Men In Black are purported to be men or women, dressed in all black wearing dark glasses, that show up in small groups of two or three.  They make claims of quasi affiliation to several of the three letter government agencies often carrying credentials to substantiate these claims.  Often, depending upon the circumstances, they will make threats to either incarcerate or harm you or family members or both if you don't do or give them exactly what they are asking for.  The MIB's have worked their way into the pop culture of the world.  I would make claims to only the United States, however there have been references of these individuals from all over the globe, and most of these contacts have been fairly nefarious.  

The Men In Black have a history of arriving after encounters with UFO's, UAP's, and Other extreme or unusual technologies.  These Agency jocks will show up and ask some very uncomfortable questions about one of the subjects.  Often pressing the experiencer hard enough to leave a life long lasting impression and traumatic fallout.  They also seem to have a very impressive amount of sci tech and psy tech.  In other words they have the ability to mentally and physically mess you up and there is nothing you can do about it, just suffer.  

Who are these people? It has been reported that they might be from another terrestrial plane. That they may be alien in origin.  There are suggestions that the MIB are a mix of humans and aliens working together sharing or exploiting superior technologies and using them in negative ways.  There are even ideas floating around in pop culture that the MIB are agents of the Dark forces of the universe.  What ever the truth, they aren't the good guys.  

I was sitting at my desk in my office across from the City Hall in our fair city.  I was half paying attention to the news of the day coming from the radio, when I heard the door creak open.  Standing in front of my desk was a couple rather large gentlemen all dressed in black, and just to the left half out of the door was a rather young looking attractive woman.  They all had on dark sunglasses.  One of the men was wearing a black fedora and the young woman had a black tie in her hair.  It was all pretty creepy.  To be honest that's all I remember.  I don't remember any conversation, I don't remember any suggestions from them, nor do I remember any threats.  All I remember is the scenario above, taking a second look and they were gone.  I got the urge to look out my window and saw leaving from it's parking space in front of my business was what looked like an older style black sedan.  The car pulled out and turned the corner out of my sight.  I had lost about an hour of time.  

For those of you who don't know the nature of my business, I was at that time a professional martial artist.  A Light Heavy Weight full contact fighter and grappler.  This was before there was such a thing as MMA and all the other forms of organized mayhem that is popular today.  What we did was fairly brutal, dangerous, and makes you realize years later that bones go creak.  So, these fellows and their fem-fatal were extremely ballsy, and confident that there wasn't anything I could do to stop them from whatever.  

Before doing the get my teeth kicked in for work, I was employed by a three letter organization my own self, the DOD, Department of Defense.  My employment with them was as a member of the USAF, United States Air Force.  At that time in history the Air Force was the organization in our government that was in charge of interesting technologies, and the intelligence gathering organization through the USAF is one of the best in the world, the Air Force OSI, Office of Special Investigations.  All working together as a cohesive agency that has it's hand on spooky tech stuff.  See the sarcasm there?  That's about all I can talk about, the rest is, "Classified." 

Today, I teach at a local High School, I have contact with some super buds of mine that are tribally connected, and we get together to make up lies and talk about stuff.  So why would any nefarious outfit want to poke at my brains?  It's all a mystery to me.  

A very close friend of mine has been living with some interesting, "shrapnel" in his body for more that 40 years.  This, "shrapnel" occasionally felt like it was moving around and or sending and receiving radio signals of some sort.   It has been a literal pain in the butt for a very long time.  He does not know how or where it originally came from and what was the nature of this object.  He recently traveled to the local VA clinic and had it removed surgically by what I presume is a civilian doctor working for Uncle Sam.  He has asked for the metal after it was removed, but was denied.  No reason given.  My friend has had his own encounters with the Gentlemen of different colored clothing himself.  Which makes me wonder, WTF.  

A question keeps popping into my mind, "Just how far down this rabbit hole do you want to go?"  

Peace and Balance,

John

JUDITH HILL - CRY, CRY, CRY - STUDIO LIVE SESSION - LITTLE BIG BEAT STUDIOS

The Miracle Of Good Credit.

 

Today I witnessed a financial wonder that I've only seen a couple times in the past.  After trying to turn a car into a submarine our young son, Lee and I traveled down to the southern reaches of our fine state to visit a Subaru dealership.  The trip was grand and ripe with stories about other people, he has learned from the best, and traded opinions about music and bands.  

As we wandered in the southerly direction he was occasionally on his Iphone checking on a car.  He would talk to people, nod hopefully and hang up.  He would text and grin.  He would make comments about a set of wheels or two.  I was driving so my normal reply was, "Ah Huh, and hmmm."  

Then he said, "That's it, That's the one." and showed me a picture of a Subaru Crosstrek loaded to the hilt only a year old and less than 30K miles.  It was a nice looking ride.

We arrived at the dealership, and they had the car waiting for him.  He did a once over on the car, we crawled in and took a ride.  It is a Nice car.  Upon returning back to the car place and sitting down with the sales guy, Lee started talking and the magic began.  

I sat quietly and watched the young Padawan become the master.  His negotiation skills are  unrivaled.  Neither the salesman or his boss could stand up to the logic of his words. It was a glory to behold.  At the end of the day I came home, and Lee drove off the lot with his New Wheels.  No down payment and a percentage rate that is livable.  His payment is one that he can afford because he has a real job.  I was proud.

Upon further investigation I found out Lee's credit rating is in the mid to high 700's.  That is impressive for a youngish fellow.  I say youngish because I am oldish and he'll always be youngish.   A set of impressive negotiation skills, a job that can handle payments, and an excellent credit rating are all products of the miracle of modern finance.  The magic was in the right place at the right time.  

Peace and Balance,

John

It's All About The Choices.

 Everything we do in life starts with a series of choices.  When we rise in the morning we start making choices.  We choose to make coffee, we choose what brand or flavor that coffee to make, we choose whether or not to brush our teeth, etc.  A series of choices made during our day determines the outcome of the rest of the day, or days to come.  Our choices dictate whether or not you're having a good day verses a bad day, all is relative.

I've made the rational choice to pay my bills on time.  This has a fairly positive effect and at or towards the end of the cycle has some positive feed back.  Ie: my credit rating rises, my banks I pay give me positive feed back, and I don't have annoying people showing up at my door expecting large amounts of cash.  All positive outcomes.

Some of the choices we make unfortunately have more, shall we say, negative outcomes.   We might make a decision that we consider rational, that in the long run turns out more irrational making the outcome not as positive as it could be.  For instance buying your girl white lily's for her birthday thinking you've done a good thing.  She either thinks you're proposing, or that you want her to die.  Not quite the positive outcome you've anticipated.  It's all about the choices. 

Choices can start or stop wars.  Some of the worst wars in history started through a series of poorly made choices.  Adolf chose to invade Poland, and later because of the gravity of that choice later chose to kill himself and his girl.  A series of very bad choices.  The USSR chose to place intercontinental ballistic missiles in Cuba right off the border of the United States.  The United States in turn made the choice  to threaten the USSR with inevitable war, and the USSR decided to take the missiles back home.  A series of choices that started bad and ended good.  One leads to another and so forth. 

Sometimes the choices we make can be as benign as choosing to camp beside a river or not.  The initial choice seems to be harmless enough.  Who doesn't like sitting next to the flowing water beside a nice camp fire?  Sounds nice doesn't it? Unless you have made the pre-choice to ignore the pending weather reports and possible flood alerts, maybe a bad choice?  After all waking to a flooded campsite, a vehicle that you find out doesn't float, and the need to swim to save your own life definitely starts with a series of bad choices.  

Everything we do in life starts with a series of choices.  Good, Bad, or Indifferent, these choices can determine whether or not you're going to have a good day.  The gift of forethought should be employed.  Please have a good day.  

Peace and Balance,

John