During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.~ George Orwell
First Day of Winter, December 21
Note from ~@~ 202412.02
If you do not hear from me, that accidental update has now rendered
my computer, email, 2 backup drives, and years of backups unusable;
which, for the moment, is causing me to decide if they will be replaced.
Update: 2024.06
I have restored the computer's OS, most applications, a few folders, &
some missing files. During the weekend I'll reinstall music, video, & email.
Remembering the United State Cafe
Ozzy Osbourne sings John Lennon's "How?" via Ernie Fritz
Reflections on the Spirit and Legacy of the Sixties
by Fritjof Capra
December 1, 2002
The 1960s were the period of my life during which I experienced the most profound and most radical personal transformation. For those of us who identify with the cultural and political movements of the sixties, that period represents not so much a decade as a state of consciousness, characterized by "transpersonal" expansion, the questioning of authority, a sense of empowerment, and the experience of sensuous beauty and community.
This state of consciousness reached well into the seventies. In fact, one could say that the sixties came to an end only in December 1980, with the shot that killed John Lennon. The immense sense of loss felt by so many of us was, to a great extent, about the loss of an era. For a few days after the fatal shooting we relived the magic of the sixties. We did so in sadness and with tears, but the same feeling of enchantment and of community was once again alive. Wherever you went during those few days - in every neighborhood, every city, every country around the world - you heard John Lennon's music, and the intense idealism that had carried us through the sixties manifested itself once again:
In this essay, I shall try to evoke the spirit of that remarkable period, identify its defining characteristics, and provide an answer to some questions that are often asked nowadays: What happened to the cultural movements of the sixties? What did they achieve, and what, if any, is their legacy?
expansion of consciousness
The era of the sixties was dominated by an expansion of consciousness in two directions. One movement, in reaction to the increasing materialism and secularism of Western society, embraced a new kind of spirituality akin to the mystical traditions of the East. This involved an expansion of consciousness toward experiences involving nonordinary modes of awareness, which are traditionally achieved through meditation but may also occur in various other contexts, and which psychologists at the time began to call "transpersonal." Psychedelic drugs played a significant role in that movement, as did the human potential movement's promotion of expanded sensory awareness, expressed in its exhortation, "Get out of your head and into your senses!"
The first expansion of consciousness, then, was a movement beyond materialism and toward a new spirituality, beyond ordinary reality via meditative and psychedelic experiences, and beyond rationality through expanded sensory awareness. The combined effect was a continual sense of magic, awe, and wonder that for many of us will forever be associated with the sixties.
questioning of authority
The other movement was an expansion of social consciousness, triggered by a radical questioning of authority. This happened independently in several areas. While the American civil rights movement demanded that Black citizens be included in the political process, the free speech movement at Berkeley and student movements at other universities throughout the United States and Europe demanded the same for students.
In Europe, these movements culminated in the memorable revolt of French university students that is still known simply as "May '68." During that time, all research and teaching activities came to a complete halt at most French universities when the students, led by Daniel Cohn-Bendit, extended their critique to society as a whole and sought the solidarity of the French labor movement to change the entire social order. For three weeks, the administrations of Paris and other French cities, public transport, and businesses of every kind were paralyzed by a general strike. In Paris, people spent most of their time discussing politics in the streets, while the students held strategic discussions at the Sorbonne and other universities. In addition, they occupied the Odéon, the spacious theater of the Comédie Française, and transformed it into a twenty-four-hour "people's parliament," where they discussed their stimulating, albeit highly idealistic, visions of a future social order.
1968 was also the year of the celebrated "Prague Spring," during which Czech citizens, led by Alexander Dubcek, questioned the authority of the Soviet regime, which alarmed the Soviet Communist party to such an extent that, a few months later, it crushed the democratization processes initiated in Prague in its brutal invasion of Czechoslovakia.
In the United States, opposition to the Vietnam war became a political rallying point for the student movement and the counterculture. It sparked a huge anti-war movement, which exerted a major influence on the American political scene and led to many memorable events, including the decision by President Johnson not to seek reelection, the turbulent 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Watergate scandal, and the resignation of President Nixon.
a new sense of community
While the civil rights movement questioned the authority of white society and the student movements questioned the authority of their universities on political issues, the women's movement began to question patriarchal authority; humanistic psychologists undermined the authority of doctors and therapists; and the sexual revolution, triggered by the availability of birth control pills, broke down the puritan attitudes toward sexuality that were typical of American culture.
The radical questioning of authority and the expansion of social and transpersonal consciousness gave rise to a whole new culture - a "counterculture" - that defined itself in opposition to the dominant "straight" culture by embracing a different set of values. The members of this alternative culture, who were called "hippies" by outsiders but rarely used that term themselves, were held together by a strong sense of community. To distinguish ourselves from the crew cuts and polyester suits of that era's business executives, we wore long hair, colorful and individualistic clothes, flowers, beads, and other jewelry. Many of us were vegetarians who often baked our own bread, practiced yoga or some other form of meditation, and learned to work with our hands in various crafts.
Our subculture was immediately identifiable and tightly bound together. It had its own rituals, music, poetry, and literature; a common fascination with spirituality and the occult; and the shared vision of a peaceful and beautiful society. Rock music and psychedelic drugs were powerful bonds that strongly influenced the art and lifestyle of the hippie culture. In addition, the closeness, peacefulness, and trust of the hippie communities were expressed in casual communal nudity and freely shared sexuality. In our homes we would frequently burn incense and keep little altars with eclectic collections of statues of Indian gods and goddesses, meditating Buddhas, yarrow stalks or coins for consulting the I Ching, and various personal "sacred" objects.
Although different branches of the sixties movement arose independently and often remained distinct movements with little overlap for several years, they eventually became aware of one another, expressed mutual solidarity, and, during the 1970s, merged more or less into a single subculture. By that time, psychedelic drugs, rock music, and the hippie fashion had transcended national boundaries and had forged strong ties among the international counterculture. Multinational hippie tribes gathered in several countercultural centers - London, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Greenwich Village - as well as in more remote and exotic cities like Marrakech and Katmandu. These frequent cross-cultural exchanges gave rise to an "alternative global awareness" long before the onset of economic globalization.
the sixties' music
The zeitgeist of the sixties found expression in many art forms that often involved radical innovations, absorbed various facets of the counterculture, and strengthened the multiple relationships among the international alternative community.
Rock music was the strongest among these artistic bonds. The Beatles broke down the authority of studios and songwriters by writing their own music and lyrics, creating new musical genres, and setting up their own production company. While doing so, they incorporated many facets of the period's characteristic expansion of consciousness into their songs and lifestyles.
Bob Dylan expressed the spirit of the political protests in powerful poetry and music that became anthems of the sixties. The Rolling Stones represented the counterculture's irreverence, exuberance, and sexual energy, while San Francisco's "acid rock" scene gave expression to its psychedelic experiences.
At the same time, the "free jazz" of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, and others shattered conventional forms of jazz improvisation and gave expression to spirituality, radical political poetry, street theater, and other elements of the counterculture. Like the jazz musicians, classical composers, such as Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany and John Cage in the United States, broke down conventional musical forms and incorporated much of the sixties' spontaneity and expanded awareness into their music.
The fascination of the hippies with Indian religious philosophies, art, and culture led to a great popularity of Indian music. Most record collections in those days contained albums of Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, and other masters of classical Indian music along with rock and folk music, jazz and blues.
The rock and drug culture of the sixties found its visual expressions in the psychedelic posters of the era's legendary rock concerts, especially in San Francisco, and in album covers of ever increasing sophistication, which became lasting icons of the sixties' subculture. Many rock concerts also featured "light shows" - a novel form of psychedelic art in which images of multicolored, pulsating, and ever changing shapes were projected onto walls and ceilings. Together with the loud rock music, these visual images created highly effective simulations of psychedelic experiences.
new literary forms
The main expressions of sixties' poetry were in the lyrics of rock and folk music. In addition, the "beat poetry" of Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, and others, which had originated a decade earlier and shared many characteristics with the sixties' art forms, remained popular in the counterculture.
One of the major new literary forms was the "magical realism" of Latin American literature. In their short stories and novels, writers like Jorges Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez blended descriptions of realistic scenes with fantastic and dreamlike elements, metaphysical allegories, and mythical images. This was a perfect genre for the counterculture's fascination with altered states of consciousness and pervasive sense of magic.
In addition to the Latin American magical realism, science fiction, especially the complex series of Dune novels by Frank Herbert, exerted great fascination on the sixties' youth, as did the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien and Kurt Vonnegut. Many of us also turned to literary works of the past, such as the romantic novels of Hermann Hesse, in which we saw reflections of our own experiences.
Of equal, if not greater, popularity were the semi-fictional shamanistic writings of Carlos Castaneda, which satisfied the hippies' yearning for spirituality and "separate realities" mediated by psychedelic drugs. In addition, the dramatic encounters between Carlos and the Yaqui sorcerer Don Juan symbolized in a powerful way the clashes between the rational approach of modern industrial societies and the wisdom of traditional cultures.
film and the performing arts
In the sixties, the performing arts experienced radical innovations that broke every imaginable tradition of theater and dance. In fact, in companies like the Living Theater, the Judson Dance Theater, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe, theater and dance were often fused and combined with other forms of art. The performances involved trained actors and dancers as well as visual artists, musicians, poets, filmmakers, and even members of the audience.
Men and women often enjoyed equal status; nudity was frequent. Performances, often with strong political content, took place not only in theaters but also in museums, churches, parks, and in the streets. All these elements combined to create the dramatic expansion of experience and strong sense of community that was typical of the counterculture.
Film, too, was an important medium for expressing the zeitgeist of the sixties. Like the performing artists, the sixties' filmmakers, beginning with the pioneers of the French New Wave cinema, broke with the traditional techniques of their art, introducing multi-media approaches, often abandoning narratives altogether, and using their films to give a powerful voice to social critique.
With their innovative styles, these filmmakers expressed many key characteristics of the counterculture. For example, we can find the sixties' irreverence and political protest in the films of Godard; the questioning of materialism and a pervasive sense of alienation in Antonioni; questioning of the social order and transcendence of ordinary reality in Fellini; the exposure of class hypocrisy in Buñuel; social critique and utopian visions in Kubrik; the breaking down of sexual and gender stereotypes in Warhol; and the portrayal of altered states of consciousness in the works of experimental filmmakers like Kenneth Anger and John Whitney. In addition, the films of these directors are characterized by a strong sense of magical realism.
the legacy of the sixties
Many of the cultural expressions that were radical and subversive in the sixties have been accepted by broad segments of mainstream culture during the subsequent three decades. Examples would be the long hair and sixties fashion, the practice of Eastern forms of meditation and spirituality, recreational use of marijuana, increased sexual freedom, rejection of sexual and gender stereotypes, and the use of rock (and more recently rap) music to express alternative cultural values. All of these were once expressions of the counterculture that were ridiculed, suppressed, and even persecuted by the dominant mainstream society.
Beyond these contemporary expressions of values and esthetics that were shared by the sixties' counterculture, the most important and enduring legacy of that era has been the creation and subsequent flourishing of a global alternative culture that shares a set of core values. Although many of these values - e.g. environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, global justice - were shaped by cultural movements in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, their essential core was first expressed by the sixties' counterculture. In addition, many of today's senior progressive political activists, writers, and community leaders trace the roots of their original inspiration back to the sixties.
Green politics
In the sixties we questioned the dominant society and lived according to different values, but we did not formulate our critique in a coherent, systematic way. We did have concrete criticisms on single issues, such as the Vietnam war, but we did not develop any comprehensive alternative system of values and ideas. Our critique was based on intuitive feeling; we lived and embodied our protest rather than verbalizing and systematizing it.
The seventies brought consolidation of our views. As the magic of the sixties gradually faded, the initial excitement gave way to a period of focusing, digesting, and integrating. Two new cultural movements, the ecology movement and the feminist movement, emerged during the seventies and together provided the much-needed broad framework for our critique and alternative ideas.
The European student movement, which was largely Marxist oriented, was not able to turn its idealistic visions into realities during the sixties. But it kept its social concerns alive during the subsequent decade, while many of its members went through profound personal transformations. Influenced by the two major political themes of the seventies, feminism and ecology, these members of the "new left" broadened their horizons without losing their social consciousness. At the end of the decade, many of them became the leaders of transformed socialist parties. In Germany, these "young socialists" formed coalitions with ecologists, feminists, and peace activists, out of which emerged the Green Party - a new political party whose members confidently declared: "We are neither left nor right; we are in front."
During the 1980s and 1990s, the Green movement became a permanent feature of the European political landscape, and Greens now hold seats in numerous national and regional parliaments around the world. They are the political embodiment of the core values of the sixties.
the end of the Cold War
During the 1970s and 1980s, the American anti-war movement expanded into the anti-nuclear and peace movements, in solidarity with corresponding movements in Europe, especially those in the UK and West Germany. This, in turn, sparked a powerful peace movement in East Germany, led by the Protestant churches, which maintained regular contacts with the West German peace movement, and in particular with Petra Kelly, the charismatic leader of the German Greens.
When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985, he was well aware of the strength of the Western peace movement and accepted our argument that a nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought. This realization played an important part in Gorbachev's "new thinking" and his restructuring (perestroika) of the Soviet regime, which would lead, eventually, to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and the end of Soviet Communism.
All social and political systems are highly nonlinear and do not lend themselves to being analyzed in terms of linear chains of cause and effect. Nevertheless, careful study of our recent history shows that the key ingredient in creating the climate that led to the end of the Cold War was not the hard-line strategy of the Reagan administration, as the conservative mythology would have it, but the international peace movement. This movement clearly had its political and cultural roots in the student movements and counterculture of the sixties.
the information technology revolution
The last decade of the twentieth century brought a global phenomenon that took most cultural observers by surprise. A new world emerged, shaped by new technologies, new social structures, a new economy, and a new culture. "Globalization" became the term used to summarize the extraordinary changes and the seemingly irresistible momentum that were now felt by millions of people.
A common characteristic of the multiple aspects of globalization is a global information and communications network based on revolutionary new technologies. The information technology revolution is the result of a complex dynamic of technological and human interactions, which produced synergistic effects in three major areas of electronics - computers, microelectronics, and telecommunications. The key innovations that created the radically new electronic environment of the 1990s all took place 20 years earlier, during the 1970s.
It may be surprising to many that, like so many other recent cultural movements, the information technology revolution has important roots in the sixties' counterculture. It was triggered by a dramatic technological development - a shift from data storage and processing in large, isolated machines to the interactive use of microcomputers and the sharing of computer power in electronic networks. This shift was spearheaded by young technology enthusiasts who embraced many aspects of the counterculture, which was still very much alive at that time.
The first commercially successful microcomputer was built in 1976 by two college dropouts, Steve Wosniak and Steve Jobs, in their now legendary garage in Silicon Valley. These young innovators and others like them brought the irreverent attitudes, freewheeling lifestyles, and strong sense of community they had adopted in the counterculture to their working environments. In doing so, they created the relatively informal, open, decentralized, and cooperative working styles that became characteristic of the new information technologies.
global capitalism
However, the ideals of the young technology pioneers of the seventies were not reflected in the new global economy that emerged from the information technology revolution 20 years later. On the contrary, what emerged was a new materialism, excessive corporate greed, and a dramatic rise of unethical behavior among our corporate and political leaders. These harmful and destructive attitudes are direct consequences of a new form of global capitalism, structured largely around electronic networks of financial and informational flows. The so-called "global market" is a network of machines programmed according to the fundamental principle that money-making should take precedence over human rights, democracy, environmental protection, or any other value.
Since the new economy is organized according to this quintessential capitalist principle, it is not surprising that it has produced a multitude of interconnected harmful consequences that are in sharp contradiction to the ideals of the global Green movement: rising social inequality and social exclusion, a breakdown of democracy, more rapid and extensive deterioration of the natural environment, and increasing poverty and alienation. The new global capitalism has threatened and destroyed local communities around the world; and with the pursuit of an ill-conceived biotechnology, it has invaded the sanctity of life by attempting to turn diversity into monoculture, ecology into engineering, and life itself into a commodity.
It has become increasingly clear that global capitalism in its present form is unsustainable and needs to be fundamentally redesigned. Indeed, scholars, community leaders, and grassroots activists around the world are now raising their voices, demanding that we must "change the game" and suggesting concrete ways of doing so.
the global civil society
At the turn of this century, an impressive global coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), many of them led by men and women with deep personal roots in the sixties, formed around the core values of human dignity and ecological sustainability. In 1999, hundreds of these grassroots organizations interlinked electronically for several months to prepare for joint protest actions at the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. The "Seattle Coalition," as it is now called, was extremely successful in derailing the WTO meeting and in making its views known to the world. Its concerted actions have permanently changed the political climate around the issue of economic globalization.
Since that time, the Seattle Coalition, or "global justice movement," has not only organized further protests but has also held several World Social Forum meetings in Porto Alegre, Brazil. At the second of these meetings, the NGOs proposed a whole set of alternative trade policies, including concrete and radical proposals for restructuring global financial institutions, which would profoundly change the nature of globalization.
The global justice movement exemplifies a new kind of political movement that is typical of our Information Age. Because of their skillful use of the Internet, the NGOs in the coalition are able to network with each other, share information, and mobilize their members with unprecedented speed. As a result, the new global NGOs have emerged as effective political actors who are independent of traditional national or international institutions. They constitute a new kind of global civil society.
This new form of alternative global community, sharing core values and making extensive use of electronic networks in addition to frequent human contacts, is one of the most important legacies of the sixties. If it succeeds in reshaping economic globalization so as to make it compatible with the values of human dignity and ecological sustainability, the dreams of the "sixties revolution" will have been realized:
1. Stay well-informed and be on the alert for disinformation; besides mainstream media, check out alternative papers and the Internet, especially the international press.
2. Maintain empathy for the motivation of terrorists and sympathizers, bearing in mind that they are victims of their own conditioning.
3. Start saving the world by acting in every aspect of your daily life as though you were a role model for all humankind.
4. Understand and forgive your foibles instead of guilt-tripping yourself.
5. Resist police-state legislation passed in the guise of security.
6. Pro-choice or not, don't abort your inner child.
7. With the stench and sadness of death so much in the air, practice loving those you cherish while they're still alive.
8. Keep feeling hopeful by finding your balance between total despair and the 100th Monkey fable. As Harry Chapin said, "If we don't act like there's hope, there is no hope." And remember, placebos work.
9. Pay attention to Godspin, such as, "I never said Promised Land, I said I'd see what I could do."
10. When eating a sandwich at the delicatessen, be sure to remove the toothpick before taking your first bite.
ASIFA-SF, Karl Cohen ~ Association International du Film d'Animation, SF Newsletter
ASIFA-SF January 2025 Newsletter [PDF]
Boptime ~ w/Even Steven Leech ~ Saturday Mornings
Boptime begins at 6am (EST) on Saturday, December 28th, with oldies back to back to back. At 7am (EST) we present a winter program in song with a little anticipation of New Years. At 8am (EST) Larry Williams joins us for some local jazz as well as selections fit for the season, along with some great R&B sides. ~ Steve
BOPTIME: Saturday, 6 AM Eastern, 3 AM Pacific time
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Click on a listening link below the WVUD logo:
Boptime available locally in Delaware on:
WVUD-FM 91.3
Shoutcast = [Search: WVUD] || TuneIn
Alerts ~ Remembering: Miki Shapiro
Miki Shapiro
Miki Shapiro, 77; queen grande dame of the 60’s Hollywood scene, died Friday, January 5th, 2007 in Encinitas, Ca. Miki was born Helen Jean McNabb to Addison J. McNabb and Thelma Noble McNabb in Columbus, Ohio on December 25th, 1929. She attended Grandview High School where she was known for her adventurous spirit, non-conformity and wild get-togethers. She followed her brother, Bob McNabb.
Miki Shapiro was a big part of the community here in the early days. She threw the parties, entertained the famous and held a “salon” for the intelligencia of the times. She and her husband, Bennie Shapiro, operated the Renaissance Night Club and the Crescendo on Sunset Blvd, where a multitude of artists performed. Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Miles Davis, Lennie Bruce and Lord Buckley were just a few of the artists. Bennie left the nightclub life to open his own talent agency, taking many of the artists of the times with him. Being a concert promoter, film producer and entrepreneur led Miki and Bennie to be the center of the most exciting era. The Monterrey Pop Festival was just one of their successful endeavors. The movers and thinkers and celebrities of the time all gathered at the Shapiro’s. Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts, Hells Angels, The Black Panthers, The Diggers, Merry Pranksters, Sean Connery, Mikhail Barishkonov, Marlon Brando, Miles Davis, The Beatles, Ravi Shankar, Dylan, Rolling Stones, Jim Morrison, the Grateful Dead, Momma Cass and the Mama’s and Papa’s, Janis Joplin, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Huey Newton, one never knew who they would run into at the Shapiro’s on Kings Road.
In Hollywood, Miki had a contract with RKO, doubled for Jane Russell, and acted in "House of Wax", with Vincent Price.
The [above] accompanying photo is from her house in Yelapa at her daughter Michele's Birthday Party that has Tabitha (7 years old) Sam, Tom and Catherine, Michelle, Marc, Orange Charlie "Chicharro", Joan and Cali and Joe, Electra and Jorge . 1987 Casa Suenos, Yelapa.
Casa de Los Sueños
Sand and Foam
YELAPA TIDBIT ~ For those who don't know, Donovan wrote a song for and in Yelapa... (The story of the song told by Donovan in his live presentation at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles on January 21, 2007. BTW, Ben and Miki Shapiro's place in Yelapa = Casa de Los Sueños.
"Of course fame followed me. It was 1966. We were here in Hollywod, up at Ben Shapiro's place. Ben was bringing in Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. Ben was one of the old bohemians. He saw that Gypsy and I were tired. He said, "Why don't you go down to Mexico?" He said, "Go down to Puerto Vallarta, down to Rosa's Cantina." We did. Rosa was there. She took us to a fast boat, it sped us down the Pacific coast of Mexico. Down to Yelapa, a small fishing village. No roads went to this village. We curved around. Young boys in dug-out canoes took us off to a long, sandy beach, the jungle behind. We slept in grass huts, the stars twinkling above us. Down the river, we could hear the jaguars calling to each other in the jungle. And I wrote this song…"
sand and foam via aitor puente
The sun was going down behind a tattooed tree _ The simple act of an oar's stroke put diamonds in the sea _ All because of the phosphorus there in quantity _ I dug you diggin' me in Mexico
There in the valley of Scorpio, beneath a cross of jade _ Smoking on the seashell pipe the Gypsy had made _ We sat and dreamed a while of smugglers bringing wine _ In that crystal thought time in Mexico
Sitting in a chair of bamboo, sipping grenadine _ Straining my eyes for a surfacing submarine _ Kingdoms of ants walk across my feet _ I'm a-shakin' in my seat in Mexico
Grasshoppers creaking in the velvet jungle night _ Microscopic circles in the fluid of my sight _ Watching a dark-eyed native girl cut and trim the lamp _ A Valentino vamp in Mexico
The sun was going down behind a tattooed tree _ The simple act of an oar's stroke put diamonds in the sea _ And all because of the phosphorus there in quantity _ I dug you diggin' me in Mexico
We Thank & Miss You Miki & Bennie == much love, ~@~
Boptime ~ w/Even Steven Leech ~ Saturday Mornings
Boptime begins at 6am (EST) on Saturday, December 21st, with oldies back to back to back. Our annual Christmas Boptime begins at 7am (EST) with Duke Ellington’s rendition of the Nutcracker Suite followed by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra singing some old favorites for the season. Co host Larry Williams joins us at 8am (EST) for more Christmas music with some jazz and R&B selections.~ Steve
BOPTIME: Saturday, 6 AM Eastern, 3 AM Pacific time
Go To: http://www.wvud.org/?page_id=24
Click on a listening link below the WVUD logo:
Boptime available locally in Delaware on:
WVUD-FM 91.3
Shoutcast = [Search: WVUD] || TuneIn
ASIFA-SF, Karl Cohen ~ Association International du Film d'Animation, SF Newsletter
ASIFA-SF December 2024 Newsletter [PDF]
Myths of Mass Deception ~ Saturnalia ~ Christmas
Merry Saturnalia
Saturnalia
or Brumalia
A Winter Solstice Ritual
by Apollonius Sophistes
YOU ARE A PAGAN IF:
YOU BUY A CHRISTMAS TREE AND DECORATE IT
The evergreen tree is a symbol of the green to come at the re-birth of Mother Earth. In ancient Egypt they laid gifts under Palm Trees during the winter celebration. In ancient Rome they used the fir tree (called the Baal Berith) as a testimony to the Pagan messiah, Baal Tamar.
YOU EXCHANGE PRESENTS DURING DECEMBER
The Babylonians celebrated the birth of the God Tammuz on the Winter Solstice and God Nimrod would visit the evergreen trees of the people and leave gifts upon them.
The early Christian Church frowned upon the exchange of gifts because of its Pagan origins. People refused to give up the customs of their old Pagan religions, though. Ultimately, around 700 years ago, the Christian Church decided to attribute the gift exchange to symbolize the gifts given to Jesus by the three Wise Men. It took the Church over 1,300 years to finally "borrow" the Pagan ritual of gift exchanging and call it their own.
YOU KISS SOMEONE UNDER MISTLETOE
The Romans and Saturnalia celebrations are even credited with the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. Mistletoe was used as a means to get a pretty girl to kiss you during the celebration and ultimately instigate an orgy. The Druids in Scotland and Ireland also believed that mistletoe was a symbol of fertility; a husband and wife desiring a child would hang the mistletoe around their bed during intercourse.
YOU BURN A YULE LOG
The Yule log and Yule Day have Babylonian origins. Yule is the Chaldee name for an infant or little child. December 25th was called Yule Day by Pagan Anglo-Saxon ancestors. The night preceding Yule Day was known as Mother's Night.
YOU CELEBRATE DECEMBER 25th
Roots of All Religion ~ http://vimeo.com/22860496
At some point we must question our beliefs and always question authority.
The Bible does not tell Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Bible doesn't even tell us when Jesus was born. Of course we can look for "clues" within the gospels to when Jesus might have been born, and people have done that. The assumption of course is that these "clues" are authentic and not stolen from other Pagan mythology.
When the angels appear to the shepherds of Bethlehem to advise them of the birth of Jesus, the shepherds are feeding their flocks at night in the open fields. From late October to early March in Palestine one will encounter bitterly cold weather, icy rain, and sometimes even snow. Tending the flocks, much less tending them at night, is not what one finds Shepherds doing in Palestine (Bethlehem) in the middle of winter. The climate of Palestine dictates that flocks are in the field at night no later than late-October or mid-November and no sooner than early to mid-March. If we base the birth of Jesus on that clue alone, then Jesus would have been born sometime between March and late October.
It is also interesting to note that the Qur'an in Surah 19 talks about the birth of the prophet Jesus. The mother Maryam shakes the trunk of a palm tree (Qur'an 19:25) so that ripe dates fall upon her. Dates ripen in Palestine in the summer.
The Watchtower in December of 1991 stated, "The date of December 25 does not correspond to Christ's birth but to the feast of the Natalis Solis Invicti, the Roman sun festival at the solstice."
The celebration of Jesus' birth on December 25th did not start until 354 CE when Pope Gregory proclaimed the date as that of The Nativity.. Prior to 354 the Church had even guessed Jesus' birth to be in April. After the Church changed the date to December, there were Christians that refused to worship Jesus' birth in December and continued celebrating it in April. They became known as "April's fools."
Why did the Christian Church change the date to December 25th? They changed it because they were having a difficult time converting Pagans that did not want to give up their celebrations of Saturnalia, Natalis Solis Invicti, and Mithraism (among other winter solstice celebrations). Basically the change was made so Christians could say, "Hey look! We have a party, too!"
Another reason for the change to December 25th was not just to coincide with the five-day Pagan festival but also with Hanukkah. Hanukkah occurs on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, which occurs usually in December. So by creating a Christian holiday around the same times as Hanukkah and the winter solstice, the early Christian Church was able to convert Pagans and Jews with the lure of a "grand party" to replace the one that the Pagans and Jews already celebrated. [continue reading]
Boptime ~ w/Even Steven Leech ~ Saturday Mornings
Boptime begins at 6am (EST) on Saturday, December 14th, with oldies back to back to back. The movies play a big role in Saturday’s program beginning at 7am (EST) with music from movies in 1943, after which it’s Chico Marx and his orchestra, including a young Mel Tormé, on radio from 1942. After Rockabilly Ridge at 8am (EST) when Michael Ace spins some hillbilly blues, we return to this day in 1942 at 9am (EST), and to the movies, particularly the movie playing at the Ace Theatre in Hedgeville. ~ Steve
BOPTIME: Saturday, 6 AM Eastern, 3 AM Pacific time
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Click on a listening link below the WVUD logo:
Boptime available locally in Delaware on:
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Science Faction
Doom & Gloom via Trunk Animation, Director: Rok Predin, Illustration: Sara Savelj, Animation: Rok Predin,
Layla Atkinson, Leslie Dart, A.A. Stretch, Producer Richard Barnett, and Commissioned by Semera Khana
Red Pill: Knowledge, freedom and the (sometimes painful) truth of reality
Redshift: In physics, redshift happens when light or other electromagnetic radiation from an object is increased in wavelength, or shifted to the red end of the spectrum. In general, whether or not the radiation is within the visible spectrum, "redder" means an increase in wavelength – equivalent to a lower frequency and a lower photon energy, in accordance with, respectively, the wave and quantum theories of light.
Blue Pill: Falsehood, security and the blissful ignorance of illusion
Blueshift: A blueshift is any decrease in wavelength, with a corresponding increase in frequency, of an electromagnetic wave; the opposite effect is referred to as redshift. In visible light, this shifts the color from the red end of the spectrum to the blue end.
Blondie_Vs._The_Doors_-_Rapture_Riders via joao reininho
The Republican Party is now clearly an authoritarian party. It embraces, condones, accepts and promotes political violence, and does not accept electoral defeat. Their glorification of January 6 proves that they're okay with a violent seizure of power. If they can't win elections fairly, they'd rather end democracy. ~ Steven Levitsky, Professor of Political Science, Harvard University
Albeit Science (sic) Faction,
you were warned!
For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. ~ President John F. Kennedy, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, April 27, 1961, assassinated, November 22, 1963
Saturnnite Fever via John Flores Graphics
For an example of "science faction," consider "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne. People at that time could not believe a trip to the moon was possible, ...until there was NASA's Apollo 11.
UFO tape, 1974, MP3
http://flyingsnail.com/Podcast/UFO-1974.mp3
Rebirth of Evil, 1975, MP3
http://flyingsnail.com/Podcast/RebirthOfEvil.mp3
United States Civil War, John Titor
http://www.johntitor.com/Pages/CivilWar.html
I remember 2036 very clearly. It is difficult to describe 2036 in detail without spending a great deal of time explaining why things are so different.
In 2036, I live in central Florida with my family and I'm currently stationed at an Army base in Tampa. A world war in 2015 killed nearly three billion people. The people that survived grew closer together. Life is centered on the family and then the community. I cannot imagine living even a few hundred miles away from my parents.
There is no large industrial complex creating masses of useless food and recreational items. Food and livestock is grown and sold locally. People spend much more time reading and talking together face to face. Religion is taken seriously and everyone can multiply and divide in their heads.
Life has changed so much over my lifetime that it's hard to pin down a "normal" day. When I was 13, I was a soldier. As a teenager, I helped my dad haul cargo. I went to college when I was 31 and I was recruited to "time travel" shortly after that. Again, I suppose an average day in 2036 is like an average day on the farm.
There is a civil war in the United States that starts in 2005. That conflict flares up and down for 10 years. In 2015, Russia launches a nuclear strike against the major cities in the United States (which is the "other side" of the civil war from my perspective), China and Europe. The United States counter attacks. The US cities are destroyed along with the AFE (American Federal Empire)...thus we (in the country) won. The European Union and China were also destroyed. Russia is now our largest trading partner and the Capitol of the US was moved to Omaha Nebraska.
One of the biggest reasons why food production is localized is because the environment is affected with disease and radiation. We are making huge strides in getting it cleaned up. Water is produced on a community level and we do eat meat that we raise ourselves.
After the war, early new communities gathered around the current Universities. That's where the libraries were. I went to school at Fort UF, which is now called the University of Florida. Not too much is different except the military is large part of people's life and we spend a great deal of time in the fields and farms at the "University" or Fort.
The Constitution was changed after the war. We have 5 presidents that are voted in and out on different term periods. The vice president is the president of the senate and they are voted separately.~ [John Titor, Continue Reading?][Ed Note: Under Science Faction historical events cannot be stopped; however, time lines can be modified, and historical events can be postponed, but, they, will eventually happen.
Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because
they don't want their illusions destroyed. Friedrich Nietzsche
Statue of Liberty last seen walking back to France
5FDP vs. Billy Idol ~ Rebel Yell Over It, [ NOT WORK SAFE ], DJ Schmolli via SrvTech
Disclaimer #5
5. It is true. As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles tend to get caught between the ears, causing a condition called truth decay. So be sure to use mental floss twice a day. And when you're tempted to practice tantrum yoga, remember what we teach in Swami's Absurdiveness Training class: *Don't get even, get odd*.
Beethoven’s 5 Secrets ~ OneRepublic ( Cello Cover) ~ ThePianoGuys via mzeyimateos
Alerts ~ Remembering Ralph Eno
"Freaky Ralph" Eno
December 6, 1948 ~ February 17, 1984
On February 17, 1984, Ralph Eno, local performer, died of burns at S. F. General.
Ralph was definitely the bull goose loony of even such an already fringy scene as San Francisco's.
In the early '70s he was the only male member of the women's theatre group Les Nickelettes, doing comedy rock when The Tubes were still the Beans.
As "Freaky" Ralph, he founded his one-man "progressive surf music" movement, several years before something called "new wave" would hit the covers of the glossy magazines. When punk started becoming a household word, he was already moving into his modem romance phase as Ral Pheno and the Twitchers, presaging the new English invasion.
When the local comedy scene (which he helped found at Frank Kidder's coffee house in the Intersection) finally achieved some viability, he was right there at the open mikes, singing the same songs he'd been performing as "straight" in his previous incarnations.
Through it all he was a courageous, sincere, and passionate stage performer, a prolific songwriter, a terrible businessman (releasing four independently produced records), a fervent supporter of every aspect of the Bay Area performing community, a bottomless well of junior high jokes, and a tremendous inspiration to every one who knew him well.
Some audiences found him hysterical, some unbearable, and a few thought him a genius. No one could write him off casually, except maybe Ralph himself.
Below are two MP3 songs written by Ralph Eno, with Jeff Ross and the Pointless Sisters that have been placed here in honor of his memory ~@~
WE'RE SNAPPING ~ http://www.flyingsnail.com/Podcast/WeAreSnapping.mp3
KISS-UP ~ http://www.flyingsnail.com/Podcast/Kiss_Up.mp3
[Note: Ralph was a very dear long time friend who I would drive, w/equipment, to his performances. I sincerely miss him and think of him often. (sigh/fwiw) Ralph poured five gallons of gas on his body, near where he worked his day job, set himself on fire, spent two (2) weeks in intensive care covered with very painful first degree burns, and died. Many prayers for you Ralph! ~@~ United State Cafe Link ~ Podcast]
PPRS ~ Pacific Packet Radio Society Historic, 1st U.S. Wireless Digital Communication
Pacific Packet Radio Society
44th Anniversary
Wireless Digital Communication was introduced (in the United States) by Dr. Hank Magnuski (Co-founder PPRS), when his historic KA6M-1 Digital Packet Radio Repeater began operation on December 10, 1980.
Pacific Packet Radio Society gateway | history | photos | papers | links | packet audio | video
Dear Packet Radio Enthusiast,
Thanks very much for the letter of inquiry which you sent me. The response I've received to the initial publicity about the packet repeater has been very enthusiastic, and I have been deluged with requests from hams, both locally and from various points around the country, for more information about the repeater, for schematics, for listings, specifications, modems, proms, SDLC chips, Vancouver boards, and for talks at clubs. Needless to say, all this activity, plus continuing development on the packet hardware and software has kept me very busy, and I apologize for the long delay in responding to your letter. Let me bring you up to date on what has happened, or is happening, since the initial announcement of the repeater, which went on the air in December of 1980.
Front
Back
World's First Digital Repeater for Wireless Data Communications
KA6M/R - Packet Radio Repeater, 1980 ~ PPRS photos
In the early months of this year, the packet repeater was operating out of my residence, and was still an experimental machine. Since then, we have installed a couple of upgrades to the control software, we have used a better CPU card, increased the power level, moved the repeater to 700 feet elevation, and integrated its operation to be 100% compatible with the protocol used by the Vancouver Digital Communications Group (VADCG). The repeater has changed from being a laboratory curiosity to a major Bay Area repeater heard from Berkeley to south San Jose, and the user community has grown from a couple of stations to a network of some 30 users. The packet system here now has a mailbox on-line 24 hours a day, several on-line personal computers, and network links (courtesy of a commercial packet network) to the other active packet radio centers in Vancouver and Ottawa. We have also just installed an HF port on 20 Meters, and are beginning some experiments aimed at establishing connection with AMRAD in Washington and with equipment located at W1AW.
VADCG TNC built by C. Spangler, N6ECT
Most of the original packet radio experiments were done in Canada (in part due to the Canadians' pioneering communications spirit, and in part due to less restrictive regulations up there), and three main centers were at work: Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver. The technology employed by each of these groups differed, and each approach has its own merits. My thinking and ideas very closely paralleled the work started by Doug Lockhart, VE7APU, and I can best report on what is happening with groups which have adopted HDLC (High-level Data Link Control) framing as the basis of their protocol. The HDLC/ SDLC frame is a new, universally accepted standard in the data communications industry, and Doug and I feel it offers a good starting point on which to build a packet radio network. As it turns out, groups in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, El Paso, Denver, Sacramento, and Hamilton have also taken up this technology, and it is likely that we already have a sufficient number of people using this technique that it will become the defacto standard in the amateur radio community.
It would be impossible for me to completely describe the protocol and equipment being used in this letter, so I will briefly cover some of the topics and give you some pointers on where to find additional information. As you might guess, this is a new area for amateur radio, and tutorial material and handbooks simply do not yet exist. Many issues and problems remain to be discussed, and there is opportunity to make substantial contributions to the state of the art. [Snip] [Continue Reading] - Thanks again for your interest. See you on the net. Best regards, Hank Magnuski, KA6M - [More Papers and History]
ASIFA-SF, Karl Cohen ~ Association International du Film d'Animation, SF Newsletter
ASIFA-SF November 2024 Newsletter [PDF]
Boptime ~ w/Even Steven Leech ~ Saturday Mornings
Boptime begins at 6am (EST) on Saturday, December 7th, with oldies back to back to back. At 7am (EST) it’s The Heart & Soul of Delaware Rock & Roll with recordings made in Wilmington on James Chavis’ Candi, Chavis, and Barvis labels, plus tunes from Lue Cazz and the Tradewinds, among others. At 8am (EST) on Rockabilly Ridge, Michael Ace spins tunes about being in the Slammer. On Beatlemania at 9am (EST) we bop back to this day in 1966, while the war in Vietnam was heating up and the music was changing. ~ Steve
BOPTIME: Saturday, 6 AM Eastern, 3 AM Pacific time
Go To: http://www.wvud.org/?page_id=24
Click on a listening link below the WVUD logo:
Boptime available locally in Delaware on:
WVUD-FM 91.3
Shoutcast = [Search: WVUD] || TuneIn
Neckerworld ~ A Computer Vision Game
Neckerworld ~ A Computer Vision Game by hankster/Dr. Hank MagnuskiOverview
Neckerworld is a computer vision game designed to teach students about human and computer vision systems, object detection and identification, visual field construction, autonomous movement and strategy.
All players and resources in the game are cubes. The cube players are guided solely through autonomous computer vision programs. No human manual control or input is permitted during gameplay.
To successfully play the game requires a competent program to do object detection and identification, playing field knowledge representation and strategic decision making.
Background
The Necker Cube Illusion (first published as a rhomboid in 1832 by Swiss crystallographer Louis Albert Necker) is a well known example of a perceptual illusion where the orientation of the cube is unstable and easily flips between two states. Serious study and research into why we perceive multiple states leads to a set of questions about the very nature of our vision. [continue: http://Neckerworld.com]
Notes from ~@~
Freedom of expression and freedom of speech aren't really important unless they're heard...It's hard for me to stay silent when I keep hearing that peace is only attainable through war. And there's nothing more scary than watching ignorance in action. So I dedicated this Emmy to all the people who feel compelled to speak out and not afraid to speak to power and won't shut up and refuse to be silenced. Tom Smothers
Carlin Step, DJ Steve Porter & Eli Wilkie via Roland Kardeby
The Great Bell Chant (The End of Suffering) via R Smittenaar
One Day, Matisyahu
Unsung Hero via Rattakarn Srithavatchai "Garn"
Nobody for President ~ NONE of the ABOVE should be a valid choice on VOTER BALLOTS
American Dream, George Carlin via Ishtar [ NOT WORK SAFE ], Alternative w/text
NOBODY should have that much power !!!
Curtis Spangler & Wavy Gravy , Nobody for President, 197610.12 ~ Photo: James Stark
The Sacred Clowns ~ Heyókȟa
The Heyókȟa symbolize and portray many aspects of the sacred, the Wakȟáŋ. Their satire presents important questions by fooling around. They ask difficult questions, and say things others are too afraid to say. By reading between the lines, the audience is able to think about things not usually thought about, or to look at things in a different way.
Principally, the Heyókȟa functions both as a mirror and a teacher, using extreme behaviors to mirror others, thereby forcing them to examine their own doubts, fears, hatreds, and weaknesses. Heyókȟas also have the power to heal emotional pain; such power comes from the experience of shame--they sing of shameful events in their lives, beg for food, and live as clowns. They provoke laughter in distressing situations of despair and provoke fear and chaos when people feel complacent and overly secure, to keep them from taking themselves too seriously or believing they are more powerful than they are.
In addition, sacred clowns serve an important role in shaping tribal codes. Heyókȟa's don't seem to care about taboos, rules, regulations, social norms, or boundaries. Paradoxically, however, it is by violating these norms and taboos that they help to define the accepted boundaries, rules, and societal guidelines for ethical and moral behavior. This is because they are the only ones who can ask "Why?" about sensitive topics and employ satire to question the specialists and carriers of sacred knowledge or those in positions of power and authority. In doing so, they demonstrate concretely the theories of balance and imbalance. Their role is to penetrate deception, turn over rocks, and create a deeper awareness.
Cree Prophecy
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
Develop Your Mind, Not Sacred Sites
Message via Mike Pinder
Oh, I hope that I see you again I never even caught your name As you looked through my window pane ~ So I'm writing this message today I'm thinking that you'll have a way Of hearing the notes in my tune ~ Where are you going? Where have you been? I can imagine other worlds you have seen ~ Beautiful faces and music so serene ~ So I do hope I see you again My universal citizen You went as quickly as you came ~ You know the power Your love is right You have good reason To stay out of sight ~~ But break our illusions and help us Be the light. Mike Pinder
Why I Think This World Should End, Prince EA via Prince EA
Without love in the dream, it will never come true. ~ Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. ~ John Lennon
The man whispered, "God, speak to me" and a meadowlark sang. But the man did not hear. So the man yelled "God, speak to me" and the thunder rolled across the sky. But the man did not listen. The man looked around and said, "God let me see you" and a star shined brightly. But the man did not notice. And the man shouted, "God show me a miracle" and a life was born. But the man did not know. So the man cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are there" Whereupon God reached down and touched the man, But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
Don't miss out on a blessing because
it isn't packaged the way you expect!
DuckDuckGo ~ The search engine that doesn't track you
Some search sites have been banned from scanning local content since 2012.
Please use DuckDuckGo.com or Bing.com for search.
{ ͡ʘ ͜ʖ ͡ʘ} Did politicians lie about Daylight Saving Time? { ͡ʘ ͜ʖ ͡ʘ}