I awake to the smell of roses

PUMP up the VOLUME

"Vehicle" of change. That's what a bike is. We are so used to riding in cars with the A/C on and the windows rolled up. We see our world like watching a movie through the windshield. On a bike, you are acutely aware of everything that goes on around you, 360 degrees, partially because you don't want to have some parked car open a door in front of you or a guy driving while texting behind you spoil your groove. But mostly because you are drawn into your environment. You see and smell your surroundings, you feel the actual temperature of the moment, and the noises of birds and waves are not silenced as they would be in a closed vehicle. I guess an open Jeep Wrangler would be a close second. I don't think that every place lends itself to biking. The low speed limits and the other bikes on the road do give an added level of security here on the island, but riding is still not something that allows inattention. But then again, why not pay attention all the time in life? There is never nothing going on. The three rules of ZEN are Attention, Attention, Attention. Maybe the bike is a metaphor for what the rest of our existence could be...not seeing things in neat little framed boxes separated from the world by glass, fully in touch with nature and the elements, using all of your heightened senses, and moving that machine known as our body instead of just putting our toes on the accelerator and pressing lightly. It could be that we owe it to ourselves to pedal hard and not just press lightly as we travel through life. It's worth a thought.

This Old Dog needs to go to the Pound

You would think that Robin Williams and John Travolta together in a comedy movie would be great. Throw in the lovely Kelly Preston and you would expect it would be worthwhile watching. Well, I watched it (the Kitty fell asleep during the opening credits and awoke just about the time we were finding out who the Dolly grip and the Key grip were) and it was a stinker. Sure there had to be some funny lines considering these two great comedic actors. I wonder if there is any way I can get my dollar back from the Red Box DVD vending machine? I know I will never get back the two hours I spent watching this PoS.

The STARS come out in NANTUCKET

A beautiful evening at Harborview Place. The Nantucket Film Festival is underway. The venue for this cocktail party could not have been nicer. We ate and drank on the lawn of this beautiful resort overlooking the harbor (hence the name) right in downtown Nantucket. Ben Stiller and Brian Williams were there but I found these two irresistible so I had to take their photo. The mood was very much like the festival with which I am most familiar...Sarasota's. In addition to food and wine and Stella Artois beer, I got to meet many old time residents who support the arts. Nantucket is a seasonal tourist destination (no more whaling ships come in and out of port these days) which draws visitors mostly in the months of July, August, and September. They schedule events like this one to stretch out their season into June and September, as if the fantastic cool weather this month would not be enough. There is a Wine Festival and a Comedy Festival. Spending a summer here reminds me very much of Aspen, Colorado. You can just hang out, ride a bike, take a hike, catch a fish...or you can immerse yourself in the arts. There are art classes, dance classes, music groups, and of course festivals like these. "Y'all come up, y'heah."

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

And to think, I have to reach dishes and groceries on the top kitchen shelf for her when she cooks those delicacies I write about. Now that I know she can climb, and hold a toddler at the same time....

LINK of the DAY, maybe the YEAR

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-16-2010/an-energy-independent-future

KEEP THOSE BLINDERS ON or you might see something

This guy is Brian Weiss, M.D. psychiatrist and author. He has written extensively on reincarnation and regression hypnosis, regressing patients beyond their childhood into past lives. Considering his excellent medical credentials, his careful revelations to his colleagues about what he was doing, and the documentation from observers of his work...he remains a cult hero without general acceptance in "the World." Sure, his books have been best sellers but considering that he virtually proved reincarnation is likely, most westerners continue to dismiss the possibility, in any form. His fame has moved through our culture like The Adkin's diet or the Hula Hoop.

Why do I bring him up at this time? Well, it has something to do with the movie "The Box." Not that it is about Weiss's subject but more about the acceptance or non-acceptance of ideas that are not easy to grasp. As a movie The Box is not entertaining. As a thought provoking event, it deserves praise. Unfortunately, most people will not see through the movie to the provoking part. In The Box, a force behind the actions of chosen human beings seems to exist at a different level, perhaps, extraterrestrial, or non-physical at least, that is running an experiment on mankind, as if we were rats in a laboratory. The tool for this is a box with a button on it that is delivered to certain people, usually in financial dire straits, who then have to decide to unlock the box and push the button thereby getting a million tax free dollars but simultaneously killing a stranger, or... passing on the opportunity.

The existence of an unknown world beyond our usual senses is the subject of movies but seldom do we stretch ourselves to live or even contemplate a different reality. It reminds me of the Dark Ages, and similarly famous unenlightened historical periods, and the certitude that Earth was the center of the Universe and the Sun revolved around us. The acceptance that everyone belonged to the King and that the King had a divine right to do with you whatever he wished. And, any other period in the history of the world, where we thought we knew it all and that further scientific developments were heresy and deserved excommunication. We are living in one of those periods now. Humans always do. Do you believe that there is more to be seen and discovered about our world than that which is obvious to our 5 senses? Someone had to look at things a different way to invent radio, television, computer chips, electric and gas power. We had the same eyes in 1700 and yet nobody saw the potential in oil, not to mention silicon chips. We are still unable to see many things that are a reality right now but just don't register with our senses and our brains because they do not fit into our little boxes that we have constructed to hold reality. An outside force, an invisible actor, reincarnation, and so many other things remain the realm of New Age authors and occasionally Oprah, yet we live as if only things we can see and touch and that fit our preconceptions are real. Even good uplifting ideas that become cultural successes like "The Secret" come and go. Someone finds out that a guru who promoted these spiritual ideas killed some of his followers accidentally in a sweat lodge, and we jump to discredit everything based upon this argumentum ad hominem...the guy is flawed, therefore the ideas should be discarded. I Hope they don't delve too deeply into the private life of Thomas Edison or we may have to stop using lightbulbs. There are lots of examples of this. I do not mean to promote "The Secret" or any other woo-woo fads, but there is truth to many of these that transcends what we are comfortable with...and that are too powerful to dismiss.

As a doctor, I remember that at one time, my profession applied leeches, drained patients of blood, and set them out on a porch in fresh air to cure TB. We did not wash our hands between surgeries and killed thousands of people by the transfer of infection. The leaders in the field refused to listen to the new theory of bacterial contamination. We are so much smarter now and know it all. Really???