The Human Engine for Evolution

I spend a considerable amount of time thinking about evolution. It stems, no doubt, from my apitude for natural sciences. I really am a follower of the religion of Darwinism.


Often these days my physical-anthropolgist-self ponders about human evolution. What form does this take now?
We have obviously surpassed the whole issue of stronger, faster, handsomer, bigger, better in terms of selecting the other partner for our childmaking.
All our 'advances' in medicine and genetics and science and hygiene and vaccinations and policies and dental care and food production etc etc have all led to a range of what would have previously been unproductive gene contributors who are now actually contributing genes and carrying on their lines (so to speak).

The weak, the small, the obese, the cancerous, the dentally challenged (to bluntly name a few) breed. The bald, the big nosed, the short armed, the computer fingered, the blind, the paraplegic... I'd rather not go on in the event that my seemingly flippant mingling of serious afflictions and non serious may cause offense when that is not at all my intention so let's carry on with my point.
Which is, really, that physical traits and abilities have been surpassed in evolutionary terms and things that are less practical/physical/tangible and more etherial and have become the deciding factor in human gene bequethment. And thank goodness for that (?!)
So, human evolution must be shifting. You can pass on your genes if you are (for examples sake) unable to hunt, and be strong and/or fit. Our weak and weary can pass on their genes making the intangible just as important a contribution to human genetic diversity as the afore mentioned strong fit thing.

Alison Lapper, British artist, was born in 1965 without arms and shortened legs, the result of a medical condition called phocomelia and her son, Parys.

So I ponder - what drives human evolution now?
Today I am pondering that it could well be choice.

Gary Zukav says in his book "Seat of the Soul" that choice is the engine of human evolution.
I gravitate strongly towards his idea that the centre of the human evolutionary process now is choice.
I think that the goal (and I will anthropomorphise the whole process of evolution so I can call it a goal) up until now has been to develop our physical skills and our innovative brain to exploit** the things we identify around us for our own advancement in a species selfish way.
We have certainly reached that goal.
We know how to do that and when you have attained a goal, it is time to set a new one.
We have been so ferociously good at accomplishing our goal we are at a point when the appropriate next goal for our species would be to work on our compassionate and mindful side potential.
You might say.. but that is not how evolution works. We don't get to decide.
And I would say.. before humans came along I would have agreed with you (although the specifics of that argument best not be dwelled upon on the grounds that it might well seem impossible).

We control evolution.
We control, either inadvertently, accidentally or on purpose, the evolutionary process of other species in an accelerated way. We cause the extinction of species and alternatively, we are the only thing stopping some species from becoming extinct.

(must note that Todd interupts here with "WE. ARE. IN. CONTROL. WITH. OUR. SHIPS." which, no doubt, is reference to the aliens that were meant to unmistakably visit last September, or was it October? and then he notes, somewhat more relevantly "because we have suspended natural selection for others as well").


The world's heaviest parrot. The kakapo. A flightless ground nesting noctural slow breeding marvel of a bird that is all but defenseless against the myriad of introduced mammal species that have devastated New Zealand's native species. 90 of these birds exist currently (up from 54) and only because of the efforts of a dedicated and commited (certifiable?!) bunch of kakapo heroes! (such as Daryl Eason, also pictured)

The humans species has been so good at the evolutionary process we have developed a few traits to an extent which really does set us apart from other species in a number crucial respects.
We make choices and have the ability to weigh up the consequences of those choices, we use increasingly complex tools, we have empathy, we co-ordinate others through sophisticated communication, we practise medicine and tend to our sick (and sometimes the sick of others), we deliberately innovate (rather than mutation related accidents), we modify the environment to suit our needs, we have a concept of a spiritual life and spiritual beliefs, we collect luxury items not directly related to our survival (then pay to put them in a storage unit...!!), we are artists, we bury our dead.

With the exception of perhaps the spiritual life, all these other traits are exhibited in varying amounts among some other species. Otters and primates (for example) use tools, beavers modify waterways, chimps eat a particular combination of soil with a certain plant that combined combat malaria, chimps and african wild dogs both have sophisticated communication for co-ordinated hunting parties, elephants recognise the bones of their dead and at times bury their dead family members, elephants, whales and dolphins tend to and support their wounded.


However, in humans, the very essence of what makes one of those traits different has developed to such an extent we have the choice of what to do our other developed traits. The conscious choice. We have the ability while flexing this choice muscle to utilise our aquired knowledge (thanks Karma) operate in a more spiritually aware, compassionate and mindful way. We can weigh the consequences and fix our intention.
That is the part that relates to this new proposed goal for the next phase of human development - the intention behind that choice.
There is an intention behind every action we have and it is those intentions that shape our individual paths through the world and influence how we see the world and others in it and how we intepret the actions and attitudes of others.
In 'Seat of the Soul', Zukav says

...each choice that you make is a choice of intention.
You may choose to remain silent in a particular situation and that action may serve one of these intentions
* penalising
* showing compassion
* exacting vengence
* showing patience
* loving
Alternatively you may choose to speak forcefully - with the one of the exact same intentions.

What you choose with each action and thought is an intention, a quality of consciouness that you bring to your action or thought.

And it is that consciousness and intention that creates not only our immediate individual realities through attitudes and the way we deal with things that happen to us, but also the future of our species and just as importantly, increasing numbers of other species.


I have yet to take pondering to a further level to actually provide proof of how choice manifests in human evolution past what I am saying because I only conglomerated most of this today heehhehe!
So, stay tuned I guess.
It's all part of my whole "all roads lead to rome" theory on life the universe and everything.
It's the part of me that would like to use my past life regression training as a scientific method to amass anthropological information of the mundane details of lifetimes of the past.

(Todd interupts again to say "Once when I wore metal skirts and brushes on my head..." - which is a throw back to a character from the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the lightning guy whose stories of times he was hit by lightning have integrated themselves into his and my daily culture...)

Todd uses this moment to also coin a term for that predilection of mine... "spiritual archeology!"
(That archeology degree had to have a use sometime! Roll on PhD!)

Shine Kelly: Spiritual Archeologist
It's field work without the field!

Maybe in my next life *giggles*

** I understand that exploit here is a very subjective term that really already doesn't relate to a lot of species working in the realm of everyday normal, has-been-going-on-for-millions-of-years, evolution. But it does, to be honest, fit in quite well with the nutshell description of what humans do to the earth as a species. And furthermore, I am not preaching scripture here or delivering gospel - I'm blogging, give me a break.

Blessings for the Day

1. We saw a kereru quite close above the track on the tour this morning (and by we I mean the special children and I, well except the one that was blind and mostly deaf...)
2. All four inside caterpillars look to be cocooning safely (when I say look to be, I mean two have made J shapes on the plant and one has a silk platform on a high shelf and the other one is not sure what he's doing but I left him well provided for and I don't suppose he will hang from teh lower shelf like one of the previous ones who was lost in an unforuntately squishing incident involving the cleaner...)
3. Went for bike ride (although I did not take my gloves so I might have jiggered arms later!)
4. Gate I usually have to stop at to lift bike over, at top of one of the wee hills I bike up, was open and the cows were all lounging about in the shade lookign all mellow and lowish.
5. I did not get a jolt from the electric fence at the gate I did need to lift my bike over (and I mentioned this because last time I DID - although i woudl have worked out a way to be grateful for that as well!)
6. Saw Rain at the river one way back from biking (I saw him on the way bikign as well, and waved to him across the river, it was funny because he was the only one that saw me heehheeh)
7. Ely's little legs unbent (watched Echo of the Elephants with Todd)

Seven Pounds of Pissed Off (NB: contains spoilers for film)

AGAIN I SAY: If you plan on seeing a much better than reviewed Will Smith movie and don't want it to be spoiled by finding out what happens then skip reading my blog today.


'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
I reckon I'd be super pissed if I had a rare blood type and a congenital heart defect and this amazing man came into my life who was good and kind and smart and caring and he told me he loved me and talked about marriage and having kids with me then he went home and lay in a bath of ice with a poisonous jelly fish so I could live a longer life with his heart and woody harrelson could have his cornea.

I reckon I would be so pissed I would turn my printing press into a tardis and travel back in time and kick his arse really hard.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

I'm just sayin'

Barrack

With Obama being inaugurated today I think
... there is a return of reverence to the office of President
... he will be a gracious president
... his example will empower us by showing us all how to use what we have in a positive way to move forward rather than a negitive way looking back and blaming others
... he will use language in a positive and inspiring way that will be a wonderful role model for a leader of others
... his presidency will contribute to the feeling that we are all family and that the planet is our home

Professional Development

.
.

Have decided to give myself some professional development (upskill myself in something because I feel I am just not learnign enough new stuff) so I picked Photoshop cs3 seeing I have it and just am not utilising it to it's full potential AND there are some excellent tutorials easily found online!

These pics show my first effort at two things I have created over the last few days.

My Thoughts are Powerful

Every thought I think
creates my future

Garbage Warrior

The movie I saw last night was Garage Warrior.... amazing film, by Oliver Hodge, about a 'sustainable futures' architect, called Micheal Reynolds, who has been experimenting with self sustainable housing design in New Mexico for 30 or so years.

He has designed and been part of the building of "earthships" and earth ship communities in a place called Taos in New Mexico (which looks like a dry godforsakenly wretched barren place to me!).


At the end of the 90s he was stripped of his architectual license because experiemental housing does not fit in with the codes, rules and regulations in most places. He then spent 8 or so years trying to get a bill passed in New Mexico to allow people to create and experiment with new sustainble housing concepts on test sites (we test all sorts of other things like BOMBS.. so why not housing...) his houses are great - they need no power or sewage or water lines. They incorporate greenhouse features to grow a range of vegetables and fruit.


His designs are very popular in other places in the world and after the tsunami he was asked to go and help people rebuild sustainable housing - also in places hit by hurricanes.

When the architectual board in the US saw the work he had done for the boxing day tsunami people they gave him back his license and soon after that the bill passed in his state to allow sustainable housing testing.

He builds the houses with earth packed tyres, earth and plastic bottles and beer cans. They are amazing structures (although some are pretty 'ugly' I guess as they are free form structures and very unconventional).
You can check out the website and watch the trailer here

I am seriously considering sending him a wee thankyou card after watching the frustration and resilience he showed through the whole process of dealing with the senate over the experimental housing bill in New Mexico. GOODNESS!

Truth is Irrelevant

The more I live life the more I lean towards truth being irrelevant.
Perception is all important and it is an individual thing.

Something that is true for me exists as truth in my perception.
You can have a totally different perception that can still be true to you at the same time my totally different and seemingly contradictory truth is true for me.
I think it is cool when people argue that their perception of truth is truth because then these two or more different truths exist simultaneously.
I like to live in a world where simultaneous truths exist. I don't think one person's truth means another person's truth is not true! If it is the perception they are living by it is certainly true for them!

Facts are human perception of truth and not the truth itself.

I think (without having spent too much time thunking on it) that even science doesn't prove real truth. It concludes a best guess at truth based on the knowledge and technology of the humans percieving it. Many of the things science is not able to prove currently are because we as perceiving humans have yet to invent the knowledge, method or technology to perceive it. That does not prove something is not true. When we create new technology (eg: better microscopes or whatever) a new "truth" emerges.

"All roads lead to Rome" and I believe sciences and religions are some of those roads that will lead people, via their own perceptions, to the same destination.

This is my truth.
If it differs from your truth that just proves my truth *winks*

TEOTWAWKI* or Why the World WON'T End on Sept 10 - you decide

I must admit I have been surprised lately that surprizingly few people are talking about the imminent impending doom that could happen, rather inauspiciously, next Wednesday.

Bigger than tax increases, bigger than inflation, bigger than world food shortages, bigger than Ben Hur (and the Titanic), and even bigger than *gasp* ‘global warming’.

What could be bigger than global warming I hear you ask…

how about NO GLOBE at all!!


Next week scientists, in an underground lab in Switzerland, will switch on a machine that has been created with the involvement and funding of 85 countries, 8000 scientists and bas been 20 years in the making - namely the large hadron collider (LHC)... a massive atom smasher designed to recreate the big bang, (the moment when the earth was formed).

You can perhaps forgive some people for thinking this will create a massive black hole that will swallow the earth and trying various methods to stop it (which failed, obviously).

In light of this some people are pretty worried.. what do you think?

Personally, I am so distractingly awed looking at this picture by it's scientific symmetrical beauty I am not really compelled to think of the impended doom part right now

You can find out more info on these links
Wiki’s LHC page
LHC set to start a big bang of scientific discovery

Tests clear way for "Big Bang" experiment

So, it's TEOTWAWKI .... and I feel fine....

* TEOTWAWKI = the end of the world as we know it....

You are what you eat....

These days Shine is extremely aware and, in fact, wary of what she consumes (and generally what she buys and uses, truth be told). I seek out and purchase organic or free-range produce where I can, fully scrutinize labels and research products online.
One could certainly not make a solid claim that I am one of the masses living in apathy and denial that just because someone is allowed to sell it/buy it then it must be good for you (or even ok for you for that matter).
However there are certain things that one knows are just horrid but one finds it rather hard to resist them at every juncture.
One of these things is the good old humble meat pie.

A piping hot, readily available traditional NZ meal on the run.
Behold; The Pie.



When I was young I liked pies but they were easier to avoid then because the majority of them had PEAS in them. Now days I like peas but that is mostly because I can cook them how I like and how I don't like them is steamed-to-crap* all day in a boiling hot pie until they are mushy and bring to mind the texture of perished elastic.

These days most pies I happen to encounter at most junctures do not contain peas.

Most of us think of pies as gloriously lush meaty goodness encased in delicious pastry and feel very little inclination (in an ignorance-is-bliss kinda way) to limit one's consumption of said (alleged!) meaty goodness.
Some of us are more educated (ie: not in denial) and are fully conscious of the fact that pies probably (in the very least) contain at least a golf ball of fatty lard per hand sized pie (and know that this does not include the pastry...) *drool*
And some of us (and when I say us here I actually mean me) are not apathetic to the wily and consumeristic nature of the business world and have an inkling that there is much darker business at hand than this and generally like to not dwell on this as we know if we did we would eat them even less than we already sensibly do (or don't as the case may be!).

Well... for the sake of an interesting blog entry I must dwell and you should listen.

In the olden days, pies and sausages and such were actually made with up to 85% MEAT, with some bread crumbs and herbs and such thrown in. Now days these kind of pies and sausages are more for the high end market and the general everyday mass produced pie are made very differently.
Excuse the pun but I am not going to MINCE words here... in NZ and Aussie, for a meat pie to be a meat pie it must only contain 25% of actual MEAT and (it should be more disturbing to note) the species of animal from which the meat is derived must be identified in the ingredients list (the reason for adding this wee snippet will become clearer down further...).
This in itself is quite a thought when one thunks on it but it is actually (and rather sickeningly) not the worst of it and not even the worst of it when you find out that most pies actually don't even have THAT much meat.
Tests have been done and consumer watch dogs are monitoring pies and weighing and recording the MEAT content of MEAT pies down under.

Yes. I did say that was not the worst of it... I am compelled (and I do not apologise!) to put this thought in your head...
There is the horrible and quite disgustifying fact that the vitally critical and important factor here (and if you are determined to continue enjoying your MEAT PIE treats please look away RIGHT NOW) is that the very DEFINITION OF MEAT needs to also be pondered upon and considered!

AND I AM NOT JOKING.

If you are an in-denial-pie-eater and you have gone as far as to accept the fact that pies contain at least a golf ball of fat and still indulge yourself every now and then accepting consequences and such, please keep in mind that you would not be silly to assume that the very least percentage of the MEAT in the food industry's definition of meat** (which the pie makers, who are, after all, out to make money NOT actually provide you with a good wholesome healthy nutritional meal) is actually the thing YOU consider to be >>MEAT<<.

NB: This is so much of a concern that currently there is an application before the food standards board of Australia to amend the Definition of Meat Pies "to ensure that meat pies can only contain ‘meat flesh’ and not just ‘meat’."
This is obviously one of those tough issues to resolve (bringing to my mind the similar but on a vastly more grand and sinister scale issue of the sugar industry conspiracy) because the application is dated as being received Sept 2003...


* steamed-to-crap is not at all swearing and is, in fact, a technical culinary term...

**meat means the whole or part of the carcass (the whole carcass including, you know... BITS) of any buffalo, camel, (CAMEL!!!!!!!) cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit or sheep, slaughtered other than in a wild state, but (thankfully...) does not include –

(a) the whole or part of the carcass of any other animal (umm... after reading that I am too flabbergasted to actually call to mind ANY other animal...) unless permitted for human consumption under a law of a State, Territory or New Zealand; or
(b) avian eggs, or fetuses or part of fetuses.


errr... pie anyone? (you can have mine!!!)

Bedtime and The Socks

I like that feeling after you have been in bed for a while, then you take off your socks.

Conglomeration Is Bad

(Part of the retro blog recovery series...also posted at original retro date July 15th, 2007)

So… it’s been a while - believe me, I know it has and it grates on me, but here I am.

I was talking this evening, with someone more definitely worthwhile talking to, about the latest Pixar release. The details of that part of the conversation is not pertinent at this juncture, but what popped up during that, is.

Pixar was a little fish. Pixar was eaten by The Big Fish; Disney.

Now there are some, quite seemingly, valid arguements to make this actually a good idea. Almost, actually quite possibly, a case where the small fish steers the big fish in a positive direction. But I don’t care, on principal.

What got me ranting today was when I found out that Pixar/Disney has now gobbled up another smaller fish; Zemeckis’ CGI house “Imagemovers”.

I don’t like conglomerates. Conglomerates are bad.

The argument was made to me that Lasseter wanted to aquire some talent because he needs more people and I am not at all denying that is the case but I don’t care. And I don’t care in a 'quite frankly' kinda way.

Conglomerates are bad. And here is why.

Because mediocrity sucks.

Conglomeration is how everything gets sucked into being the same. It is how one person/mindset gets to own everything and everything we get is a filtered down version of the same one mindset. What they like, what they believe in, what they think is ok for us to see. It is how great shows like Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip get canned after one season.

Conglomeration is how The Big Fish gets to eat all the little fish and the uniquely special parts of the little fish are disseminated and filtered through to become just parts of the big fish and the small fish is no longer around to be appreciated and compared to other fish and the big fish gets all the credit for those little tiny sparkly bits that were much bigger on the small fish and quite unexpectedly beautiful.

Do you know what the land does? What the wind and erosion and the rivers and the rain do? The ultimate goal of those processes is to smooth out the land. To remove the variations and this is what I am talking about here.

Conglomeration is what wrecked Route 66. It is the antithesis of “variety being the spice of life”. There is a reason that saying was invented you know! Because variety is good and great and just and supports our growth and development as people.
Conglomeration is the creation of mediocrity.
Conglomeration is mediocrity.

A mediocre man is always at his best.

And that is BAD.

Conglomerates suck
on principal
I don’t care that I love Pixar.
racism sucks too and I don’t think any individual racism is ok even if it serves a good purpose.

mass controlling and buying up and driving towards mediocrity is bad.
mediocrity is bad

Ego and the Attachment to the Perception of Others

For your own sanity you must give up this ego need to understand people.
You can't ever really understand the thoughts and motivations of others and you don't need to.
Heck - I have enough trouble working out and understanding my own motivations a lot of the time - let alone trusting that someone else has any sort of honest concept about why they do what they do.

You don't need to understand people.... you just need to be you.
Other people's crap is their own and not something that is your responsibility or that you need to understand.
If you can manage to react to and approach everything that comes your way from a foundation of good intention that is the very bestest thing you can do.
Give up that struggle to understand others.
Release yourself from that task.
Give responsibility for other people's stuff back to other people. It's not yours.
You really are of no real good to anyone else if you are no good to yourself and that is only a decision away.
I say this in an EMPOWERING way - the only thing you can control in this world is you and your reaction to the stuff that happens.

Sometimes when you are in a place in your life where you are ready to move forward into something more than you have experienced - that can feel like a struggle when the people we are attached to are not moving or at least not going in the same direction.
Sometimes moving forward can mean you need to let go in order for the things that are trying to get into your life, and make it less of a struggle, can come in.
It's challenging but there are always choices - (sitting on the fence is one by the way and if that works for someone and makes them feel fulfilled and at peace, then it's valid and where they are meant to be for the time being).

Some things to remember
What other people think is none of your business
What other people think OF YOU is none of your business.
You can't control it, so give up living your life trying to. People are gonna think what they want no matter what you do because - and this is the imporant part to under stand - what they think of you (and the things you do) has NOTHING to do with you or the things you do!
The way people perceive things is based on their own emotional baggage and past experiences.

You can't be the you who you are meant to be when you are busy trying to be what you want other people to think you are.

Changing Consciousness

I was at a seminar on Friday where a panel of local people (MPs, local government, business, “green teens”) spoke on the question “What does a sustainable future look like?”
It was an interesting thing to listen to – as what seemed to emerge out of all the different people’s comments was the need for a change in the way ‘we’ (as a collective modern western society kind of entity) think. A change in the very nature of what we habitually do, what we hold important, what we strive for.
It made me think about how there is a growing movement around the world of people that believe there will be some sort of an “event” near the end of 2012 (some even narrow this down to Dec 21 2012, in conjunction with what equates to the final entry of the Mayan calendar). Some people believe this will be heralded by calamity – a huge series of natural disasters that will devastate the entire infrastructure of the modern ‘western’ world – a situation many of them refer to (somewhat ironically in my opinion) as a “reboot”. Some of these people believe that this event is actually about a shift in consciousness.
I have been pondering what important components of this consciousness shift might be or rather, what I would hope they might be.
So far I have loosely come up with;
• becoming more mindful of why we think what we think and do what we do
• living more meaningfully
• practising what you preach/being the change you want to see
• sharing more of self (ideas, believes, actions) in local community


On deeper delving I have come up with the following.
This consciousness shift is something humans are capable of.
I think the general (and increasing) lack of this now is easily attributed to the society we have created for ourselves in the modern world**. In a culture where money and stuff is the measure of success it PAYS to complain, take things personally, be defensive and/or aggressive and have almost a victim attitude. It does not pay, in that materialistic way, to be compassionate and forgiving to those people you judge to have transgressed against you. You can sue, you can be recompensed, you can get newspaper articles written about you and get a gang of followers supporting you with an atmosphere of "poor you" further perpetuating your disempowerment and literally keeping you down.
This, in my opinion, tends to be a negative way to live, the way most people do it (which is in that disempowered victim type way and not the positive empowered standing up for your own rights way).
Perhaps this is one of the options for the consciousness shift - coming to terms with this balance between standing up for your rights/being compassionate to the motivations of others (positive) and whinging about everything that seems unfair and taking everything as a personal attack (negative).
I see it even here on this website and of course it is a natural normal human reaction and if that is where you are in your personal development and you are happy and content to be that way, that's fine and dandy (and normal) - we do what we know how to do and when we know better, we do better - and this is what we are discussing here - the opportunity to transcend the natural normal human reactions and utilise the new abilities that evolution has brought to this human creature. Mindfully becoming more than we have been before and are now.
This is the new evolution.

Feeling empowered and positive is a far more energy efficient way to live than having a negative, poor-me, everyone-is-against-me, look-it's-happened-to-me-again, oh-I can't-do-that-coz-I’ve-got-< insert condition here> attitude.

The human being is equally able to choose to take a positive compassionate attitude as they are to choose a negative attitude. I know which one puts a genuine sincere smile on my face and gives me more energy and motivation to get out in the world spreading the love and being of meaningful use to others.

And that is what it is... a choice - meaning that YOU are in control of you, learn to be worthy of that and live up to all that it means.
I would like to see more people choosing the positive on a more consistent basis and in the very least take a NEUTRAL stance, if you can't assume the positive at least do yourself a favour and don't assume the negative.
If you perceive someone is being an arse to you
* firstly, remember that that IS your perception and it could well be that they aren't even talking about you and it's just your ego and perceptions of your self that make the cap fit (so to speak)
* secondly, detach yourself from you ego and actually look at what they have said and see if it has any merit or is even an attack and not just a comment of fact that you have taken a dislike to because of your own emotional baggage (something helpful here coudl be - does this situation occur with other people, is it a familiar thing that always seems to happen to you whereever you go?)
* thirdly, if they are in fact, without a doubt, abusing you, that's THEIR problem and, of course, says screes about them and has nothing to do with you personally (especially in the anonymous environment of the internet!) and don’t let yourself be drawn in to it (don't dignify it with a response).

What people believe about you is their business.

Please use your power to choose.



**This 'modern world' humans have created (the 'developed" world) is like most human led schemes - it was not well thought out for the long term and to quite a degree indulged the percieved wants and needs of the people with the power rather than the people with the appropriate intelligence.
(eg: one such scheme is european colonisation of New Zealand - a very unique ecosystem dominated by birds with only ONE kind of terrestrial mammal (teeny insect eating bats who prefer to scurry on the ground than fly) and birds who have evolved many mammalian traits and fill the niches that mammals do in other places. This influx of people led to the introduction of many mammal species that have devastated our environment. One of the things these european settlers thought was a good idea was to introduce possums to start a fur trade. Possums directly compete with our native birds for food and also eat eggs and females birds on the nest and have led to the local extinction of many native plants and creatures. Another 'bright idea' not well thought out was the introduction of stoats with the intention that they would eat all the rats. No one bothered to think from the stoat's point of view... why on earth would they bother to chase agile wily fast rats around when there was a wealth of flightless birds who's idea of defence was to freeze and camoflage.... but I digress!!!)
We really strived to create this modern 'western' society where we have all this stuff but we have not thought throughand put processes in place to constructively and purposely utlise the benefits this modern world has created for us and do in in a sustainable way that will leave the world in a better state than we found it.

Bip Bippadotta

fat
cat
sat
hat
fat fat fat
cat cat cat
sat sat sat
hat hat hat

A fat cat sat on a hat, saw a rat on the mat, got a bat, had a chat with a gnat that he'd pat in a vat that was flat, oh yeah!
oh yeah...
sorry about that

small
ball
tall
wall
small small small
ball ball ball
tall tall tall
wall wall wall


see a small ball on a tall wall see it fall in a hall see it crawl give it's all and call hi y'all! see it stall, wear a shawl oh yeah!
oh yeah...

red
head
fed
bread
red red red
head head head
fed fed fed
bread bread bread

see a red head being fed bread on his sled made of led as he speed to be wed he fled instead out ahead up to Ted in his bed and he said

Red, head, fed, bread
Small, ball, tall, wall
Fat, cat, sat, hat
And that's that!

SCAT!

We Like The Moon

This post has been brought to you by "dredging up the past" productions *giggles*

Caution....

ORANGE RIBBON Campaign

NZ Friends of Tibet are launching the Orange Ribbon campaign here tonight - 08/08/08 to remind China that we have not forgotten the illegal occupation of Tibet while China enjoys world attention from the Olympics.

“Light Candle4tibet and wearing of Orange Ribbon on Friday and during the term of the Olympics are reminders that, all is not as harmonious as China is promoting, and that the people of Tibet will not be forgotten “ said Thuten Kesang, the Chairman of Friends of Tibet (NZ)."

Early this evening I will be wearing orange, lighting a candle and attending this talk

Life in Tibet Today with Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche
Rinpoche will give an up to date account of the current situation in Tibet, the progress and changes that all Tibetans face in the modernising Republic of China and how it affects the Tibetan people across the country. Ju Mohor Monastery, Rinpoche’s spiritual home, is situated in the upper reaches of the Dzachuka Valley, Sichuan Province close to the recent earthquakes. He will talk of the Vista Project which is helping young Tibetans retrain to support themselves in a changing world.

I will not be watching the olympics.

The Olympic Handshake -"With this handshake, we reach out to one another as citizens round the world in the Olympic spirit of friendship and excellence, committing to hold all our governments to a higher standard of peace, justice and respect for human dignity wherever they fall short – be it in Tibet, Iraq, Burma or beyond. Dialogue is the best way forward,
for China, and the world."

08 08 08

8 is my favourite number.
I remember the 8th of the 8th '88 and I remember it being a special day for me.

Tomorrow I plan on having an especially amazing day!

Below one of my fav 8 logos...the space programme ROCKED.




Jackson Pollock's number 8





You can bet I am gonna be watchign a bunch of antique sesame street tomorrow because antique sesame street makes me happy!

"My Penguin Is Filthy!"

well... he is!!!! Just check out his flipper!




People look at you funny when you suddenly realise such things and are so shocked you blurt out that kind of sentence in public, by the way.

nothing will ever be the same again...

this evening

I
M A D E
C H E E S E ! ! !


I feel like Chuck Noland in Castaway when he made fire...


Below is what I did and to be fair, it was MUCH easier than making fire (sorry, Chuck) and I am surprised, being the huge cheese addict I am, that I have not tried it before...

1. Place one cup of milk in the saucepan, slowly bringing the milk to a boil while stirring constantly.
2. Turn off when it boils, leave it on element and stir in two teaspoons of vinegar - leave to sit for 5 to 10 mins
3. Put curds and whey onto paper towel (tuffy works just as well as cheesecloth or hanky!) and press, squish, squeeze to get as much of the moisture out as you can (I used a few paper towels)
4. Open cloth and add some salt, mix it in and squish moisture out again
5. Form into shape you want, put in mould or cling wrap and put in fridge for a while

Things That Are Important

yeah there was an eclipse, the whole water on mars thing has been confirmed, nasty storms hit my town (and the rest of NZ!), a farmer had a double arm transplant, someone is paying 14million dollars to be first to publish jolie-pitt baby pics, live fish were found at record depths, California had a pretty good sized quake, jesus' face was seen in cat fur, and Sir Richard Branson unvieled his space plane

But... instead of all that - go play with this!!!
(my fav is classic)

There Are No Bad Things

This is a statement I believe - and as with all beliefs, putting them into practise does not always go smoothly. I think it is the developing of beliefs and the putting them into practise, that make up the important part of our life.

Of things that happen to you, there are no bad things and conversely, no good things either - just things.
I know this to be true as I have observed many of the same things happen to different people and result in very different reactions. Meaning that it is the internal workings of the person that change a thing that happens into a bad thing or a good thing - not the thing itself.
For myself I know that in different parts of my life the same things have happened to me and *I* have reacted very differently.
Take the last few days for me, for example.
I have had some things happen - more than usual and although I know from my beliefs these are just things - in the very least they were extreme in the ups and downs department. The single most personally devastating conversation with a person of long standing importance in my life, meeting and shaking the hand of our prime minister, a hearing test confirming significant hearing loss in my right ear, a stressful situation at work, an astounding opening of a Tibetan photography exhibition, and a beautiful meditation class.
There are no bad things or good things - just things, and our reaction to them.
Some people when presented with things that happen see a pile of nasty sour lemons and screw their faces up and complain, other people, when presented with the same things see the opportuntity to make themselves lemonade and others take that lemonade and give it to their family and friends - others still take the lemonade and share it with everyone.
The things I listed are all just things. In the past I would have crumbled and been resentful of the world and miserable. Now days I am more contemplative. I am selfreflective about the feelings that arise for me. I ponder. Most of all I am grateful. I inwardly say thankyou for all things and the insights they bring me about myself. Just as I allowed myself to feel pride that I had worked hard to be in a position to meet our prime minister and I smiled, I also felt sad and wept for the devastating conversation.
I am grateful for both experiences and the opportunites they give me for personal growth.

There are no bad things or good things that happen - just things that happen.
We live in a world and it is the nature of this dynamic living wonderful world that things happen.

Things happen.

I think that to label them as bad or good sets up an environment where it is possible to fall into the trap of being judgemental and assigning blame. This thinking makes it easy to be unhappy and feel overwhelmed with the fact you cannot control things that happen.
You cannot control things that happen. You can waste a lot of energy and time trying.
You cannot control things that happen. You cannot control how people will react to things that happen and you cannot control how anyone thinks.
You can only control yourself, your thoughts and your reactions.

There are no bad things or good things that happen - just things. You are not responsible for the things that happen. They are not in your control. You are responsible for your actions and reactions. These you can control.

Do we always react, think, do the wise, sensible, responsible action, thought, reaction?
No. Because we are imperfect beings, humans, in this life to experience what the universe has for us to learn. We do the best we know how to do and when we know better, we do better.
Do not be so hard on yourself for your percieved mistakes. Learn from them, don't be ashamed. Give yourself some credit where it's due, be kind and forgiving to yourself. If we were perfect we would be elsewhere.
Life on Earth is about trial and error, experiments, having a go, adventure - adapting to what comes.
Making the most of the things that happen.

Enjoy it.
And say thankyou.

Human Ego vs The White Whale

Found this article today on the BBC news page. At first it’s innocuous enough but then some things are said that just, quite frankly, p*** me off.

New white whale spotted

"A new white humpback has been sighted off Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia.

The newcomer, which was filmed by a television news helicopter, has excited marine scientists who think it may be related to Migaloo - to date, the only known all-white humpback whale.

Migaloo is somewhat of a celebrity down under. Why? "Because as far as we know, he is globally unique," said Professor Peter Harrison from the Whale Research Centre, Southern Cross University.

It now seems that Migaloo, (whose Aboriginal name means "white fellow") might have competition."


The last line there is the kind of thing that exasperates me about the most journalism and reporting. The competition they are referring to is for the media spotlight. Migaloo has been a ratings boon for various reporters and news sites and tv stations since he was first sighted by people. I can understand it.. I find him as interesting as all get out and I already LOVED humpback whales. But seriously… the whales don’t even have a perception of the media reporting on them other than the annoying fact that almost every time they come up for air in Aussie waters some helicopter or another is buzzing over them or some boat is polluting their sound reception systems with unimaginably annoying frequencies of noise.
The competition they are referring to is of their own creation and if they had a splattering of anything other than creating more money for themselves they would not make such statements.

Although predominantly white, the new whale does have some black markings near its head and tail. So who is the newcomer?

A white calf was spotted with a normal humpback mother in Byron Bay two years ago. Experts say the new whale could be the offspring of Migaloo but further tests need to be carried out.


This last sentence makes me cross at the “scientists”. Further tests NEED to be carried out??? Who are you kidding? Leave the whites whales alone! You are creating a reason to hunt, chase, SAMPLE these creatures for the satisfaction of your own human ego selves. If you need something to do go and create a humane instant kill system and give it to the Japanese. THAT is something that will help the whales in the here and now.

There is a bit more article so click the article title above to check it out if you want.
Sites about migaloo www.migaloowhale.com, wiki and Migaloo's aussie site (note the term MARKETING at the top of the page *sigh*)

"This is how we love, Buddha-style:

impartial to all, free from excessive attachment or false hope and expectation;
accepting, tolerant, and forgiving."
Lama Surya Das, “A Buddhist Valentine"

some people label this avoidance.


I thought I had more to say on that... turns out I don't.

The Mexican Medium and My Wasted Data Allowance

i missed ep one of season four of medium last week coz i went out to the science lecture in such a rush I forgot to turn on the recorder... so i have been driving myself nuts to get this torrent of it downloaded
Have been on limited browsing for days to try and get the torrent download finished
Stayed up late to wait for it just now (because some one was leeching it off me and i didn't want that to go on all night because it uses up my data allowance for the month)
It has been creeping in soooOOOOooOooOOooOoO slowly (av 1.5kbs)
It just finished
So i open it, straight away to watch and it is a really great quality clip!!!


except it is in mexican...

Audio Books - no good for carbon emissions

and possibly a contributor to road rage and I'll tell you why...

I was recently putting into practise the concept of making the most of what one has by utilising the tape deck in the Ravi Shinecar and cycling through some of my 80s album collection.
Well.. one morning not long ago, I came across the new idea of utilising my time in the vechle to overcome my current lack of fiction reading time.
First step in this plan was to trawl an online auction site to see if there was anythgin worth picking up. no immediate joy. So in the meantime I want something to listen to so I went to the library .... the collection there was literally crap. crap. crap. Very disappointing. Only one thing that gained my interest so I got it.
Memoirs of a Geisha - which I never saw the movie for for some weird reason.

Now I just want to drive my car everywhere so I can listen to it (no biking to work or weekend markets this weekend!)
And not only that, but driving slowly, so I get to hear as much as I can.

Other people on the road are not impressed with me.

Bruce Wayne, meet John Connor...

You gotta watch it first (it's only a minute) ... I'll wait.




I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to hear who I heard in this trailier!!! I am watching thinking.. ahhh that sounds like < doesn't spoil surprise for those who didn't watch>... if only they could have got him, that would so be a great move possible for this film.... "HOLY CRAP!!! No way... no.... way.... WHOA! NO WAY! IT IS HIM!!! OMG! This is gonna rock so hard!"

This makes the Terminator series a most unique creature in the movie industry.
To have a sequel as good and in some ways better than the original film and to be able to come back from, let's be honest, a crappy third film with a one minute trailer that is worth the whole third film put together *giggles* and guarantees this fourth film will kill the others until they die from it!

I am so psyched about this right now I might pee!

The Official Biography of Douglas Adams

arrived for me in the mail today.

I opened the parcel and read the title

"Wish You Were Here"

It made tears well up because I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I do.

William Smith and the heretic origins of Geology...

Shine spent her evening @ a science lecture about William Smith and the map that changed the world!
William Smith is a man to be admired! A man who spent a large portion of his life thanklessly beavering away at something no one else had ever thought about. He is now recognised as the father of geology but it was certainly a struggle for him to gain recognition for his life's work when he was alive. It was not until late in his life that he was awarded any accolades at all - he was the first person to be awarded the Wollaston medal, with the words below.

If, in the pride of our present strength, we were disposed to forget our origin, our very speech betrays us: for we use the language which he taught us in the infancy of our science. If we, by our united efforts, are chiselling the ornaments and slowly raising up the pinnacles of one of the temples of nature, it was he that gave the plan, and laid the foundations, and erected a portion of the solid walls, by the unassisted labour of his hands.

To even begin to appreciate the achievements of this man it is pertinent to set the scene of the era to which he was born and grew up.
Smith was born in England in 1769. England at this time was still deeply immeshed in a religious domination that had been going on for 1000 years. The church was the boss of everything and ruled with fear and keeping people ignorant. The printed word was not common - although printing was possible, it was controlled by the church and people with money (usually one in the same) and anyway, reading was frowned upon if you were not associated with the church.
Understanding and interpreting the world around you was done through the thick veil of religious dogma. Everything that you might ponder or wonder about the natural world was spun to prove the existence of God ("You found something on the ground in the middle of England that looks like it's from the sea? Well of course! There was the biblical flood and Noah build the ark, see! proof!!")
The words limestone or basalt weren't invented, let alone the term "geology".
Your status in the world was determined by heredity - not by accomplishment or even economic standing.
In cities, legislation designated what dress different urban groups should wear so as to keep them separate.
Slavery was yet to be abolished as was the whipping of females for punishment. Public executions were still "entertainment".
The Napoleonic Wars had not yet occurred. The bank of England had not yet printed the first pound note. Captain Cook had not yet discovered Hawaii. The First Fleet had not set sail.
85% of the population were peasants and small pox was prevalent.
America was fighting for independence.
Mozart was alive and for the upper classes clothes kinda looked like this.

It was into this world, where these things were soon to happen, that William Smith was born. His father died when he was young and his mother gave him up as an orphan for his uncle to raise. He developed a curiousity for stones. He did ok at schol but there was not enough money for him to go to university.
As the Industrial Revolutions started to kick in there began to be a focus on coal and coal production. Canals began to be built to transport coal. These actually turned into a vast network through England - a barge pulled by one horse up a canal could tow as much coal as 400 horses with out a canal.
Smith happened to meet a surveyor when he was quite young and the surveyor took him on, interested in a few of Smith's observations about rocks. Smith became a very good surveyor and began to gather fossils and much observed data about the rocks and land he saw in his travels. He began to develop theories about layers of rock and types of rock and fossils that were very much heresy in the times he lived in. At this time scientific thought was very much in conflict wiht the church and science views not discussed but didn't matter though as he was the ONLY person at this time that had any thoughts remotely like this and he had no one to talk to that was even interested in these concepts and ideas about the land around him.
(Perhaps, like me, you can appreciate the amazing nature of him even having thought to think the thoughts he thought!)
As Smith was a great surveyor he was appointed to survey for coal production and canal production and was ecstatic as this gave him the very opporuntity he desired - to be paid to collect data on layers of rock, types of rock, fossils - all the things to help him with what he knew to be his life's work. Making a map of rock types in Britain.
Remember, this was a time when the printed word was rare... maps could not be printed. They were carved on lithographic plates (his map - which would not be completed into well into the 1800s would eventually be individually coloured by hand - although he had no concept of the idea of using colour then - he did not come across the idea of colour until much later when he saw a rare map, which had colours representing different breeds of pig in England!)
Smith began to earn a great wage and I have to say, the only thing really against him is the fact he made poor financial choices.
He bought a big house and a large property for 1600£ and you can imagine how vast that must have been 200 years ago...
Things went very well for him for a number of years and he travelled and travelled around England gathering data and fossils (7000 individual specimens) until a dispute with the canal company who wanted to put a canal route through his property, prompted him to be fired. Immediate loss of income.
Smith carried on (somehow!) funding his own travel and working on the map.
He had many sets backs. A sick wife with mental health issues, a nephew he adopted (more strain on his finances), a burnt down flat, and expensive rent in London to be close to the printer, a friend taking his map of Bath and printing it with no credit to Smith himself and the sale of his extensive fossil collection to the London Museum to cover some costs (the fossil collection was the backbone and evidence supprting his method of classifying and comparing different kinds of rock - a revolution in it's own right and something he is most famously remembered for developing.)
Probably the worst of all was that when the term Geology was finally invented and a number a rich fellows created the Royal Geology Society in London - they excluded him (the first and only real geologist that existed) from being a member because of his class. And after struggling for a futher 14 years under his own steam to create the map (which was to be 7 feet tall as it was of a scale never made before - 5miles to the inch) the president of said society went to see Smith under the guise of being a sponsor, to look at the work to see if it had any worth, then went back to London with a wad of money and paid the printer to give him every one of the 16 map plates that made up the map and published it and sold it AS HIS OWN (plagerism was also not invented it seems).
So, his life's work, his hardship and struggles worth of beautiful amazing geological map did not sell once published (and publishing it was a very expensive business). Smith was broke. He was bankrupt. He then spent time in debtors prison and was released to find all his worldly goods gone.
He moved to Yorkshire then, and because he was such a great surveyor he was able to make a living.
It was then that one of the gentlemen he did work for, a member, coincidentally, of the Geological society (which in the intervening period had become a bit less about money and a bit more about actual science) recognised him as the man that had really created the map claimed by the president of the society. Finally Smith began to get the recognition he deserved.
And apparently he died a happy man at 70.

Here is his map...

Please remember again the times into which he was born, the hardships he faced as a child, the lack of formal education and his inability to read or write very well. Remember that he had no collegues with which to discuss and refine his ideas and extensively the terms for which we easily label the things he was first to notice now , were not invented then.
Also pay heed to the fact that his methods, his classification strategies for using fossil differences to identify and compare rock and his mapping colour scheme are the precise ones we use today to make an equally detailed map with the benefit of the combined knowledge of about 6000 professionally educated and experienced people, satelite and computer technology and the basic methods William Smith developed literally from scratch on his own at a time when not only had no other person even concieve a notion like it, but it was basically heresy to do so.

I hope you will join me in being pretty darn impressed with this man and value his persistence and ability to stick by his "crazy notions" alone and without support and see them to fruition - not to mention the kind of mind that would come up with the things he came up with when he came up with them!

*giggles* ok.. it's really late here, cut me some slack!!

For comparison.. here's a modern one.

More on Smith

No Direction Home

aka Speaking of Bob (Dylan) Ok, we weren't but I am about to...


I have always loved bob dylan's music but not understood the man
He is one of two people I consider living music legends (the other is Bjork)
My urge to find out more about him has been growing over the last year
Spurred on I think by the fact I knew there were some films coming out about him

Come writers and critics...
Who prophesize with your pen...

I am in the middle of watching no direction home
i watched part one the other night
It's aptly titled as he really did reinvent himself as a kind of circus orphan, even taking on a new name at a young age to put some distance between himself (which I don't think he has ever actually defined for himself) and his home/parents who he says he realy could not believe they were related to him.

And keep your eyes wide...
The chance won't come again...

I have recently seen two other Bob films (Don't Look Back and I'm Not There)
but this one is by far the best I think - or perhaps i can't say that in light of not having known what it would be like to have seen this one alone without the other two...

And don't speak too soon...
For the wheel's still in spin...
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now..
Will be later to win...

but seriously... he has some issues
serious ones

For the times they are a-changin'.

he is one weird dude.
quite the engima
it is almost liek he is a channel for some wise spirits
the force of one's ideas and inspiration can drive one quite mad...and you begin to get good hints at that in these three films about him.

Though you might hear laughin', spinnin' swingin' madly across the sun
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seein' that he's chasing.

He denies being political and carries an urge to fight off any labels, categories or groups that anyone identifies him with
Is that the curse of feeling pinned down and trapped; constrained and his denial is his struggle to stay above ground in the face of that limitation on his creativity?

I think Bob did a lot of pretending, denial whatever you might call it - in his personal relationships and in his ability to understand himself and accept himself. Some of his songs seem to be written about himself although he denies it. The same songs can be seen to be about false messiahs.

So swiftly the sun sets in the sky,
You rise up and say goodbye to no one.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,
Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show one.
Shedding off one more layer of skin,
Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

You're a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds,
Manipulator of crowds, you're a dream twister.
You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah
But what do you care? Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister.
Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame,
You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name.

He semantically avoids responsibility for things he has done in his life that aren't right (eg: going into someone's house when they were away and taking their rare collection of woody guthrie albums - defending and justifying this as a righteous act from his background as a "musical expeditionary"). He seems to be lazy in the personal growth side of himself - preferring to let himself be distracted by the drama he willing created resisting how people wanted to see him rather than just accepting that's how they wanted to see him. I can understand why, as an artist , you would want to do that.
I think it is that kind of weight from the public that killed Jimi Hendrix who had similar experiences with audiences demanding he stick to his original stuff that they first heard when his heart wanted to explore other styles and forms.
It really flies in the face of all that a true artist is - to be tied, constrained, pinned and held to something. You can't fully be creative if you aren't liberated. You can't be yourself and for most true artists they are extremely sensitive to this kind of pressure.
But perhaps this is how Bob managed to survive. He's still around! It is never really the drugs or the alcohol but just the art or genius itself that kills.
We lost many good artists to suffering far to early; Nick Drake, Jimi Hendrix, River Phoenix, Marilyn Monroe, Heath Ledger, Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley, Michael Hutchence, Jim Morrison, Elliott Smith, Janis Joplin...
So maybe this is how Dylan secured his future in this life.


I am a man of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all my days
I'll say goodbye to Colorado
Where I was born and partly raised.

He seems to be craving people to listen to him expressing himself and then resenting them for doing it but the audience had a part to play - especially, I think, the british tour.

Dylan got badly treated by fans when he went to Britain. He had picked up an electric guitar and had a band behind him and the britsh fans did not want a bar of it and were so rude to him!
they all wanted to hear him play folk. You turn them on once and thats all they want to hear... until it gets old... and then they want to hear it again, only different, only the same
In those days that is what the audience did. They bought tickets went to the show and booed and abused him. But they don't do that now.
fandom has taken over
robbie williams could lie in the gutter and vomit and his fans would think it was gold.
they would still flock to his concerts
I am talking about crazy creepy idolization and commercialization of pop icons.
music is not about music anymore.
but robbie williams has changed his style a few times.. so has madonna.
peopel accept it and love it and buy it. they don't buy tickets, go the the concert and boo.
they just don't buy the tickets in the first place if they don't liek the new stuff.
in those days they went to the concert, booed and told him to go home.
it's astounding.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before its washed to the sea?
Yes, n how many years can some people exist
Before theyre allowed to be free?
Yes, n how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesnt see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind,
The answer is blowin in the wind.

I had not realised the extent to which bob took on woody guthrie. When he was young, before he was known, he really spent a lot of years literally being a bunch of different people (a theme picked up on in I'm Not There)

The wounded man looks up with his one dyin eye...
... said why'd you bring him in here, he ain't the guy.

at one stage I was wondering if every song of his I liked was someone elses.
But no... he kicked in writing his own stuff after a while
but he spent a long time immersing himself in other people's stuff.
no direction home is really a great film about him.

I have always loved and respected Bob Dylan's music but never understood the man.
Through these films I have come to accept that is probably because the man doesn't understand himself.

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
Nobody has ever taught you how to live out on the street
And now you're gonna have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say do you want to make a deal?
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
A complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Weighed Companion Cubes: you know you want one

I had so many ideas for blog posts today and THIS is what I end up with *laughs @ self*

i was sitting in a chat room this evening and there was mention of cake. I was excited because... well Shineyshine loves cake.
And then befor eyou could say "pierce my nipples and send me to Alaska" it turned out this cake thing was part of a much bigger thing I hadn't ever heard of.
OMG - how did I get out of touch!
The companion cube...

From wiki
Portal is a single-player first-person action/puzzle video game developed by Valve Corporation. The game was released in the bundle package The Orange Box for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on October 9, 2007,[2][1] and for the PlayStation 3 on December 11, 2007.[5] The Windows version of the game is also available for download separately through Valve's content delivery system, Steam[7] and was released as a standalone retail product on April 9, 2008.[6]

The game consists primarily of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player's character and other simple objects using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (dubbed the "Portal Gun"), a unit that can create an inter-spatial portal between flat planes. The player character is challenged by an AI named "GLaDOS" to complete each puzzle in the "Aperture Science Enrichment Center" using the Portal Gun with the promise of receiving cake when all the puzzles are completed. The unusual physics allowed by the portal gun are the emphasis of this game, and is an extension of a similar portal concept in Narbacular Drop; many of the team from the DigiPen Institute of Technology that worked on Narbacular Drop were hired by Valve for the creation of Portal.

Portal has been acclaimed as one of the most original games in 2007 despite being comparatively short in length. The game has received praise for its unique gameplay and darkly humorous story (created with the assistance of Erik Wolpaw and Chet Faliszek of "Old Man Murray" fame), the character of GLaDOS (voiced by Ellen McLain), and the final credits song, "Still Alive" (written by Jonathan Coulton for the game). The game's popularity has led to official merchandise from Valve as well as fan creations using elements of the game.

I had to read that a few times.
Value is the maker of my fav ever FPS game...



awwwwwww
I haven't even played the game and I want a weighted companion cube!

Mountain biking today....

I spent a few hours mountain biking today… although perhaps a better term would be mountain braking, lol!

I have had two serious accidents in my life involving me and the road and the bike . There was an incident with cheap brakes, rain and a curb and there was a time more recently when I was hit by a car. Since that last time I have not been on the bike and the accident shook me up quite a lot. It effected me driving a car for a long time too.
The point being - i have taken to offroad biking and I bike to work whn I can. Both these things I find mentally very challenging. The mind holds on to trauma and works very hard and oftenin subversive ways to prevent any further trauma from happening. The mind speaks very loudly and as it is your own mind it is hard not to listen. It takes a great deal of honesty with oneself and some self reflection to sort out the helpful from the "while I appreciate your intention it's really not working for me anymore".

So .. i went mountain biking but you can perhaps appreciate that for Shine any seemingly ordinary thing is more than that, it's about honesty and trust and personal growth.
Or perhaps you can't see that coz personal growth is not a priority for you and you choose to not find lessons in the goings on of your daily life and you just turned up here to read about mountain biking.
And if you're happy and not struggling and whinging through each day that way, that's ok, you can just look at the pictures...

Plasma blobs hint at new form of life

Physicists have created blobs of gaseous plasma that can grow, replicate and communicate - fulfilling most of the traditional requirements for biological cells. Without inherited material they cannot be described as alive, but the researchers believe these curious spheres may offer a radical new explanation for how life began.
Most biologists think living cells arose out of a complex and lengthy evolution of chemicals that took millions of years, beginning with simple molecules through amino acids, primitive proteins and finally forming an organised structure. But if Mircea Sanduloviciu and his colleagues at Cuza University in Romania are right, the theory may have to be completely revised. They say cell-like self-organisation can occur in a few microseconds...
Finally, they could communicate information by emitting electromagnetic energy, making the atoms within other spheres vibrate at a particular frequency. The spheres are not the only self-organising systems to meet all of these requirements. But they are the first gaseous "cells".

Sanduloviciu even thinks they could have been the first cells on Earth, arising within electric storms. "The emergence of such spheres seems likely to be a prerequisite for biochemical evolution," he says.
full article here

So.... plasma eh!
This is very interesting research. Romania is where the plasma is at!
*wonders what the funding application for this research looked like*

and the point of the research?
But perhaps the most intriguing implications of Sanduloviciu's work are for life on other planets. "The cell-like spheres we describe could be at the origin of other forms of life we have not yet considered," he says. Which means our search for extraterrestrial life may need a drastic re-think. There could be life out there, but not as we know it.

It's great to see some research like this getting done, most research ideas now days only go forward with tag of global warming woven into it somehow.

it is certainly interesting to think about what constitutes that physical manifestation that makes us 'living' and 'thinking'.
I mean... think on it some - if you took apart a human atom by atom, you'd have a pile of somethings that alone constitute nothing that is living but together is something alive and cognitive and as unique as a fingerprint.

At what point does the magic of energy reactions kick in?
Good find!

Finding your purpose can change your life...

Another glorious day at the office!

You're welcome to drop by anytime you like....

Is Meek

Transitions, Community and being the change you want to see

It's about putting your money where your mouth is... or rather, perhaps, not - as the case may be. But certainly a case of action speaks louder than words.

Words are easy, you know...but actions, they're a tougher breed of thing altogether. Words can be cast around flippantly with little effort to suit the occasion you are trying to manipulate, the message you're trying to convey, the image you are trying to give. But actions.... that's where the energy is.
You can't be flippant about actions, or can we? I was about to launch down a different path with this blog, but I have just digressed myself onto a path worth processing now...

As creatures we invest energy in things - except, unlike the rest of the creatures, we have created for ourselves this easy system where the energy is to easily replaced for a growing majority of us. Most living things expend energy to get energy - they can't be flippant about it becuase energy supply is not guaranteed. The survival of a species can be made or ended on chasing the wrong piece of food. If you don't catch it, that might have been your last chance.
Not us people. Most of us don't expend anywhere near enough energy to burn up the amount we consume. For goodness sake.. a lot of us actually go to gyms to burn off the stuff we didn't break a sweat to gather. What have we become?
Is this the pinacle of evolution that all creatures should aspire to if only they have the cognitive power to do so? Are we now at the top of some ridculous ladder of greatness that some ethnocentric scholar created?

No. We aren't. We're a sad by-product of our own misguided intelligence. And we are apathetic about it. We may not have lost more knowledge in the last half decade than we've gained but I would suggest that the quality of that knowledge and the skills the majority of us have not bothered to pick up translates to make that loss very important. Can you grow things? Do you know how to feed your family from your garden? Do you know how to preserve food for the winter? Do you knit or sew? Can you make tools? Purify water? Do you even know where your nearest supply of water would be if your tap stopped magically delivering it to your kitchen? Some of these things will be things you remember from your childhood. Someone knitted in your family, someone grew things and cooked them and put them on the table for you to eat.

Do you know where the rubbish goes when it leaves your house? What about the water from your kitchen sink or your shower? Humans are the only animal that doesn't live in a sustainable manner. Basically we shit where we live. In the natural world that's stupid.
Unfortunately, due to wonderful infrastructure and management systems, the majority of us live well isolated and disconnected from the way things actually work. Do your kids know where milk comes from? Do they know that beef is a cow? what about bacon? What are chips made of? When things start to go bad, they will do so in such a rapid way we will be forced to exercise our ability to adapt radically to changing circumstances. I yearn to be ready for that.

I decided to be the change I want to see in the world. It started off small. With me doing what I do, saying what I say, thinking what I think. But it's all very well me having the attitudes I do and the knowledge I do and the awareness I do, but in real terms it means little. It doesn't change the world enough to keep me sleeping at night. My desrire for social action is growing to match my ability to make it happen.
Tonight I attended a public meeting. A gathering of people who understand something is happening and want to know what to do. We are not sitting by and waiting for government to do it - because that would be too late, it's already too late. Government is too big and slow and unweldy. We are going to take back what is really important and just start doing things ourselves.
My town is a transition town. We are not the first one and we will nto be the last one.
A transition town is a group of people living in a place wanting to explore ways to live in a more sustainable way, a more responsible way - a way that will provide for us through the period we are moving into - decline of oil supply and changing climate patterns. Transition Town initiatives will facilitate creative and pro-active responses to energy resource depletion as well as being a ripping good bonding time for the community!
We are a group that is re-localising our community to make it stronger, "resilient and truely sustainable".

The meeting raised many issues that people wanted to explore and then we broke into smaller groups based on what drew our attention and focus. We discussed ideas in these groups and created next steps and actions. I am interested in local organic food and this is the area I have been drawn to over the last half year, in particular the concept of permaculture. I keep banging into it everywhere I go so I joined that discussion and by the end of July I shall be part of a permaculture culture! Things are changing, and they are changing now!

It's exciting!

Below are some links if you want to explore the Transition Town global movement.

Totnes - the first transition town
Transition Towns New Zealand

Guru Purnima

I went with my family (including 2 year old nephew) to the celebration of Guru Purnima (sacred to the memory of the great sage SRI VYASA BHAGAVAN or Sri Krishna Dvaipayana) last night!

The concept is swell! Although not well thought out or delivered where I live.
It is a hindu festival celebrated all over the world during the full moon of july/august.

it's about showing worship to a guru.. but I worship whomever the mood suits.

It manifests in my town as a gathering of mantra singing and you take an instrument and you play and sing and dance to your hearts content.
At the start we have to sit quietly and meditate and hum a mantra... in the middle of this Rain shouts out "SING SHINEYSHINE SING!" *giggles*

I spent most of our time there dancing with Rain (my nephew) - when he wasn't busy playing his guitar!

MAHARISHI VEDA VYASA

Flowers and the origin of Zen

Although I am a nature girl at heart and always have been, and am well versed in the way plants work - I have never been particularly drawn to flowers.
Don't get me wrong, I love plants. But don't give me flowers. I appreciate them much better when they are on the plant.
I tried to be into flowers once. In highschool... I hooked up with some girls and in an attempt to be cool (little did I know I was cool already.. but that's another story and one you're likely to never hear) I went with them on a "flower raid" which involved going to a botanic garden in the wee small hours and robbing a rhododendron of almost all it's blooms and filling my car with them (an old blue morris minor, the kind with the split windscreen and the flip out side paddle blinkers that handled about as well as a marble... but that's not relevant at this juncture). And I do mean filling. I felt pretty bad for that tree for quite some time after. Actually there were a lot of things I did in my teens that I have taken my lifetime to forgive myself for and accept that that was who I was and now that I know better I do better. But I digress..

I like things to be green.
Flowers are, by their very nature, mostly flashy showy attention grabbers and that is not something that appeals to Shine. It's far to easy to like those flashy things in life. Those things that easily catch your eye. To me that saying "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" is not a positive thing really. I far prefer the quiet underdog aspects of life that not many people take the time to notice and generally flowers just don't fit that bill.
Having said this, it was interesting to note tonight in my bookdwelling, a story about flowers that I do appreciate.
It is the story of one ordinary white flower, and the birth of Zen and involves one of the principal disciples of Buddha - Mahakasyapa.

Buddha was one to prattle on for great lengths delivering the dharma to his disciples - one day, they all gathered, as they did, including Mahakasyapa, expecting to hear him deliver some buddist equivalent of the sermon on the mount.
But Buddha did not speak. Instead he pulled from his sleeve a flower and held it there for hours, gazing tranquily at it.

Legend says that Mahakasyapa was the only one to realise this flower gazing was, in fact, the sermon and he smiled having the realisation and appreciating the special delivery of the dharma that the flower sermon brought him. It was the onlyness of this smiling that prompted Buddha to say
"I have the eye treasury of right Dharma, the subtle mind of nirvana, the true form of no-form, and the flawless gate of the teaching. It is not established upon words and phrases. It is a special transmission outside tradition. I now entrust this to Mahakasyapa."
And thus from this smile was born a new way within buddhism of delivering the dharma in a practical way rather than through the scriptures. This smile, this realization, was passed down through Mahakasyapa and through a succession of twenty eight masters and eventually flowed into what became The Zen.

In writing this recount for you I have just had a realisation myself. I can see why this story is the one I have picked to share tonight, why it has struck a cord with me.
My own dharma in this life comes from a similar experience as was shared between Buddha and Mahakasyapa in this tale.
"Dharma transmission isn't a matter of giving and getting, but an acknowledgement of intimacy, an acknowledgement of One Mind, Buddha smiling at Buddha."
Nothing makes me feel more connected to the strength of my purpose* and worth in this world than this buddha smiling at buddha concept. The intimacy of the shared wavelength, the inside joke, if you will, that comes from a shared experience. This is the closest one can experience to ever really knowing you are understood by another.
It is of course, a fallacy, as it is impossible to be truely understood or understand the reality of another (and you really are fooling yourself if you cling to the idea that you are and do) - but it is the closest to that that you can get. And it is through this that we feel our true belonging and purpose in this world.

That we are validated, that we make a difference, that we are cared for, that we matter.

And it is The Feeling.

*NOTE: the use of one's purpose in this piece depends not one whit on you ever knowing or understanding what that may be, just that one exists for you. The sooner you just accept that you do have one and that it may never be revealed to you and that it is not important for you to know it, the more smootly things will flow.

Ravi Shankar

no... not my car!

Have been meaning to find some more of his music and have just managed to get my hands on a 5 cd set including

Ravi Shankar & Ali Akbar Khan-1995
Ravi Shankar & Philip Glass-Passages-1990
Ravi Shankar-Raga-Original soundtrack-1971
Ravi Shankar-Sound Of The Sitar
Ravi Shankar-The Sounds Of India-1968

If you can get hold of them, do it... we can compare listening notes!

No idea who Ravi Shankar is?
Well... he was pretty important to a number of popular musicians so you should know if you think of yourself as a music fan!
Check out these links for a start
Ravi Shankar on Wiki
Ravi Shankar Website
Some free mp3 downloads

I can't give you details but you will just have to trust me when I say

do not combine brushing your teeth and going to the toilet.

People at the store know NOTHING - especially when they say they do.

So when you go to the store and explain to them that you want an external hard drive and the other one you have stopped working and even when it did work it did not go on your apple even though the last people said it would and the store people tell you all the ones we have go, you just plug them in and no special measures required... and you tell them that is what the last people said.. but they also said that it it best to plug the external into the apple first before the pc, and the people at this store tell you that is rubbish and it's actually the opposite, you plug it into the pc first and then the mac..Which is useless to me as my pc is not working at all hence the reason I need an external as I have no where else to put my hoarded files...
ANYWAY my advice is , don't bother wasting your breath because these poeple don't know anything.

Don’t listen to anything the people tell you at the store.
Don’t do anything they said

here is what you should REALLY do.
Go to the store and buy the external. Bring it home and plug it in and notice that you can see the drive but you can't copy anything onto it.Then do this stuff which is the 200$ worth of advice I got from the apple store on the phone, for free, coz they rock!

Making a external hard drive work on a mac

Plug in external as directions state
Open finder window and see hard drive just sitting waiting for you to put all your stuff on
Open disk utility and click on main title for hard drive the shop told you would work fine without any special measures
Start special measures
1. select PARTITION
2. under volume scheme select 1 partition
3. next to format make sure it says Mac OS extended (journaled)
4. Next to name put something smart like “Shinestuff” coz , well, you can
5. Click partition
A warning will come up but you don’t need to panic coz the external was useless to you until you do this so DO IT.

You can now use your external to put on all your horded files that you want to keep so you can get a whole bunch more!!!*giggles*

EDIT: Note from future me (7th May 2011) I so rock for leaving this note for myself! This time I got a 500gb and this blog post was like exactly what happened again! This time I created two partitions which load like two drives. Thanks me, we rock!