Yup, I’m coming back again

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It would appear that I have been getting back to this blog less than twice a year and I feel it is time to come back and try to be a bit more regular. II have been writing, truly I have been writing everyday and some of that writing could have gone on this blog and some on the Technojungle blog. I write a little in the morning and a little at night. I can’t explain why I have not been blogging. I hope that may change with this entry.

The last update was pretty comprehensive. I continue mostly in and same directions.

Fir

My hair is now very long, over a foot in many places. However, would you believe it, I have no photos of my hair. I have been enjoying it, although I am surprised at how much comes out when I wash and brush it. I figured recently that, if I only lost ten strands per day, and that might just be a conservative guess, I could have lost 4000 strands since I started. I tried to imagine what that many strands of hair might look like. These thoughts had me thinking that I should get on with cutting it off and donating it before I have little to give. Still, I like having my hair and tending to it. If I cut it off, I might grow it again. Someone mentioned that November is Movember for men’s health and typically means growing and then shaving off a moustache. I think I had better get some photos of my hair before the end of next month.

Writing (& Book)

My book is still in editing mode, although I have not really worked much on it for a week or so, the longest and perhaps only break I have taken since getting on a schedule of writing and then editing the book. I’m not really sure when I will be ready. I might just have to bite the bullet, as they say. Although, I’m sure I could tighten it up. I may add a glossary. The idea of an index just got squashed as I read about what is an actual profession, craft and art called indexing. It could cost over a thousand dollars for this. I’ll hold off for now.

Music

I mentioned something about my dream cornet and that I was going to do a separate entry for this amazing event in my life. As you may have noticed, I did not get to it. I suppose what happened is that I had this cornet out to be fixed up and, in particular, have the valves redone back near where the horn was originally made during 1921 in the U.S. I did lots of before photos, but when it came back, I just got playing it and have not stopped. Well, that means that playing music and all my other projects have take priority. I am still planning to do the photos and then an exposé on the entire matter, so you can wait in deep anticipation for that.

I had mentioned that I was playing in a band to entertain seniors and that I had also started my own band, both giving me a long tiring, nevertheless exciting, blow on Mondays. The evening band, affectionately called the No Name Jazz Band, it still going along and we are improving. I am learning to lead and make-up the arrangement as I go. The Deep Cove Jazz Band was turned over to me, so now I have two bands. This band has been in need of rebuilding and I am happy to report that it looks like this is finally happening and we may, in a few weeks, be able to get back to doing gigs for seniors again.

I must say that it is certainly challenging to keep a band of volunteer musicians together. I am working on acquiring and maintaining a core group of members for each band and backups. It is also challenging to keep all the music in order. We had a long music sorting spree yesterday with the Deep Cove JB music. One other challenge that is working out well now is that I added a vocalist.

I was playing in a band and a woman came to sing. She only sang a few bars when she realized that she would not be available for the gig, so she left. However, I heard enough to form a hunch that she could be a jazz singer, so over the last few months she has been working at it and is a regular member or both bands. Yesterday she experienced what I experience on Mondays and nearly strained her voice.

I am playing a lot and getting better, although, I do find that I have limitations, which I may discuss another time.

Photography

I continue to do very little in this long time hobby area of my life. I still have intentions though. Since my photography seems to be on hold, so are my photoblogs, however, they too will get some attention one day.

Graphics

Turning to the area of graphics and publishing, I had an unfortunate experience. We were doing high-end flyers and then my friend decided to go another direction with his life and work. This left us, my wife and I, without this work. I had built up my workflow with the necessary software and suddenly there was no more work. I decided to take my little graphics business and hold it on the side until I am ready to publish my book. At the moment, I suppose, music and working on my book are the main priorities.

Baking

I have just come off of taking a break from baking. Our KitchenAid mixer stopped. My wife, somehow, managed to return it to Costco and then we began to wait for it to go on sale. Now it seems Costco is no longer carrying them. It may be that Costco is having KitchenAid develop a different model. In the meantime, we needed to use our Airmiles before they expire and my wife was looking on the Airmiles website for items to redeem our points on. Suddenly she said, “Is this what you are looking for?” Sure enough, it was the KitchenAid mixer and it was an even better model. It required points and money, but in the end, we came out $71 ahead. Next she found a fancy rice cooker with a natural clay removable pot. It makes yogurt and other things too. This she purchased entirely with points, so it was free. The item is back ordered, but the KitchenAid has arrived and is in use.

Family

We keep on muddling along. My wife Patricia is still working, as am I, both of us part-time. Michelle has another job at a gym and Malcolm is in the final legs of his Mechatronics engineering degree and is currently working at a co-op job. We are all fine and living, coming and going, under one roof.

The Future

As I realized when I was considering a name for my book, the future never arrives… at least not as expected and it always brings baggage. While my book states this about how technology influences our lives, it seems to be applicable in most areas of our lives.

I have somewhat promised that I would post some photos of my hair and post the story about my cornet and some photos. Before I do that, I think I would like to wash it. I have been playing for many months and it is long overdue for a cleaning.

As for further writing, there may be less here than other years, since I have the Technojungle blogfor all the technology related posts. On the other hand, I have plenty of music going on now and that may become a source for articles here.

Leaving Las Vegas (too)

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In the days following my viewing the movie Leaving Las Vegas and the writing of the article post for this blog, the movie continues to stir my mind. I see Las Vegas as a place that actually condones and even supports those who might wish to throw themselves into the vortex of human self-plunder. I don’t know for sure; I have never been there and have never wished to go. It seems a place I might lose control. Sure I would love to see all the wonderful entertainment, yet I know that Vegas is designed to entice one into what can easily become a black hole for some.

Somethings have peaked my interest in this movie. Almost daily I hear of those tragic human situations where someone is out of control. I hear talk about those dark notions that seem to lurk in us all and surface in some manifesting in disturbing behaviour. Only yesterday was a discussion on the radio about a woman who mutilated and dismembered pets and is now out of jail living somewhere in the community. It is known that her treatment has not worked and that she will likely re-offend. She was banned from using the Internet, yet managed to post some remarks on social media sparking alarming replies from others who have dark fantasies that they would love to experience, but are also afraid of acting on those desires.

I just watched a portion of a news magazine segment about a boy who simply could not control himself or be controlled. There seemed to be no way to keep him from some dangerous behaviour.

What is it about some people that drives them to destruction? Why do some people seem to be incurable and must live with certain conditions somehow contained, but never eliminated?

What seldom seems to be considered as a primary way out is to treat the human spirit—the only place within a human where true hope may be found. In 1934, two desperate alcoholics met, found recovery and discovered: a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our lives; b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism; c) That God could and would if He were sought. —From Alcoholics Anonymous (Third Edition) (The Big Book) page 60.

Alcoholism has devastated lives throughout human history and still does. It is an example of a human condition to which there seems no cure. Even alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) refer to themselves as ‘recovering.’ There are other human conditions that seem to evade the human cure.

What the founders of AA discovered is that, where human efforts and science fail, God can prevail. For Ben in Leaving Las Vegas, the desire to live and the willingness to step onto a spiritual road were completely lacking. How could this be? Isn’t it a basic instinct for any life form to survive? It seems that it would be very difficult for any living being to endure a self-inflicted slow death and not have some sort of survival response. How does a human lose all hope and become dedicated to a path of self-destruction?

The seed of human life is corrupted. There is a part of each and every one of us that has the capacity to lead us into self-destruction, whether we realize it or not. Examine your life and you will spot instances of actions that might be less than the best choice. How many people go on a diet and never cheat? Who can claim to have never said anything harsh or in anger? It is impossible. For some people the fight for the soul where one makes the decisions about their actions is a struggle that can sometimes overwhelm. All it take is a certain situation that can trigger an uncontrollable response. For one person, it might bring a harsh word; for another, it might cause them to pick up a drink. If they are an alcoholic, this could kill them.

Obviously, Ben snapped when he lost his family. He snapped and lost control. His mind changed direction 180 degrees. When he was let go from his job, he was told that they sure liked having him around. Instead of involving some sort of reconsideration response and a subsequent change in his behaviour; this only poured gas on the fire. In one of the next scenes, he has cleaned out his house and is pouring gas on garbage bags of personal belongings, reminders of his family. It is then that he heads to Las Vegas—down the road of destruction. Where was the hope he could continue to live without his family?

It is said that love conquers all. 1 Corinthians 13 states, “Love never fails.” So what happened to Ben? Sera loved him and he loved her. He called her his angel. His body, soul and spirit were so damaged that there was little left to save him. Death and a way of drinking, as Ben called his mission, must have been difficult and painful. The body becomes very sick. That he accomplished his mission in weeks probably means, rather than a slow deterioration of his body, mind and soul, that he poisoned himself and his relatively healthy body with the alcohol numbing him.

Where were those who might intervene? Would it even be possible to intervene? These are tough questions for a situation such as Ben’s. Whether short-termed or long-termed alcoholism is baffling. Still one never knows when a spiritual awakening might occur, so one must always be there for those who struggle and never give up. That the one there for Ben was Sera who was also in a struggle should not have mattered. Often two who are suffering can paradoxically help each other. Bill W. and Dr. Bob are perfect examples and the result not only saved themselves, but countless others through AA.—a true spiritual awakening.

60 Minutes Overtime

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C’mon folks! I wanted to follow-up on the Grohl story by watching the related videos. I understand the need for advertising revenue, but to play the same ad at the beginning and end of each clip and to have the final clip repeat over and over is foolish. I have watched the same ad well over a dozen times—and Viagra at that! In one of the videos, a mention is made that 60 Minutes is a “family show.” I would not have wanted my kids (when they were young) to have to watch a beautiful woman talk about erections. I don’t think this ad is even appropriate for the 60 Minutes program. I will never buy Viagra and I may never return to the 60 Minutes Overtime website videos again, since I might get assaulted by the repetition of the same ad as I did tonight. Get real! This is not advertising, it is a waste of time and resources, not to mention, I found it offensive.

The Olys, but why?

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2010 winter olympics, amateur, attack, bagel, beach, canada, city, compete, country, crazy, dinner, doping, excitement, field, financially, history, honor, infringements, interesting, italy, logo, medal, michael phelps, money, monster, nail-biter, olympics, playing, professional, professionally, pros, safety, slogan, sport, television, tennis, terrorist, town, track, TV, vancouver, venue, volleyball, woman

There is much to talk about with the Olympics. I just watched a tremendous nail-biter with the Women’s Beach Vollyball, Canada vs Italy. It is fun and I am ready for the next phase of sports with track and field, etc.

My son and I were having dinner tonight watching the Olympics, my wife was out for the evening. Upcoming tennis matches were being announced and my comment was, “but why are the pros playing?” After exchanging a few comments back and forth, my son stated something like, because nobody would watch, it would not be interesting.

There was a time when, if you had accepted money for playing professionally, you could not compete in the Olympics. Have we come to the point where we can’t be interested in amateur sports and activities.

One must wonder how long the Olympics can survive. It has become a monster of a professional event. There are huge costs to the host country both financially and with regards to safety, namely from a terrorist attack. It seems crazy to hear of the various infringements on logo and slogan usage. Take the small bagel shop that hung five bagel rings to look link the Olympic logo.Then there are those who try to cheat, such as with doping.

Yet, there are always the amazing moments, like watching history being made with Michael Phelps winning more medals than anyone in Olympic history. If there are any two plus weeks with so many ups and downs, I am hard pressed to think of any. After experiencing the honor of living in a host city, Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics, I know how crazy the city can become. On television, we see the events, yet there is usually just as much, if not more, activity and excitement away from the venues around town.

But, I can’t help thinking what true amateur Olympics might be like in this day and age. Why are the Olympics the way they are today. What are your thoughts?

Holy Buddhist Priests

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Recently, I had a conversation with a fellow who used to live in Japan. He married a Japanese woman whose father passed away a couple of months ago. Thus, they had to make a sudden trip back to Japan and, as the only child, they are the only people who can deal with the father’s affairs. They also have to cover the costs, which, as it turns out, are considerable. Let me see if I can relate the jist of the conversation. Let me know if I get anything incorrect.

Japan is a country of mostly Buddhists. To plan and hold a funeral, one must deal with the priests. It seems that the priests are free to set the price at whatever they want. “I always thought of Buddhist priests as very holy and tied to a temple and rituals.” According to the fellow I was talking to, “that is only for show, once they are done, off comes the gown and they are wearing suits and are very shrewd business men.” He told me, they drive around in Mercedes Benzes. Apparently, nobody really questions the practices of the priests and one must be born into the order to attain this privileged position in society.

A Japanese Buddhist funeral is not only expensive, it is a long and protracted set of events that includes a cremation and the laying out of the bones. Since it will take 49 days until the next portion of the funeral, my friend and his wife must make another trip back to Japan.

I guess we really can’t complain about a western funeral, unless, it concerns the carbon footprint of a cremation or burial. An alternative to cremation is on the way—resomation.

So, what do you think about Japanese funerals? How about Buddhism and the priests? Have you heard of resomation and what do you think about it?