01/1/20

Chapter Two – Half-Way There

Chapter Two (11 Pages)

As for the fable, that we are born a blank slate, increasing scientific research today is showing that our “slates” are only partially blank at birth. For through our genes, we are already somewhat biologically programmed. Henceforth, we are constantly at war with our unconscious and conscious selves, while we become products of our environments. Over the past 70 years at least, such programming of our unconscious level has been hacked by the media, politics, and advertising. Especially since we are storytelling animals, and whoever controls the stories being told, controls us. Whether today or tens of thousands of years ago, when we sat enthralled around the evening campfire.

Just because someone tells us something, or we see something online or on TV, until otherwise proven by facts, actions, and/or behaviour, we should take it with a grain of salt. Much like when we were young children walking around asking, why, how come, why not, and what do you mean? To do otherwise would seem something was wrong with us. But then we also continue to give people the benefit of the doubt, which is also pretty crazy. Considering this is where the predators, exploiters, and abusers hide behind. Hence, over 95 per cent of child and spousal mental, physical and sexual abuse is done by a known family member.

The one continuous mental narrative that dominates our consciousness about who we are and about the world we live in, is nothing but an endless stream of stories. These stories can be manipulated and distorted in many ways either by people we know or on a mass scale by people pulling levers behind the curtain. It’s not shameful to be deceived, because our cognitive wiring is prone to believing stories. The people that do the manipulating are the shameful ones. But we must not let shame or cognitive dissonance take away healthy skepticism of the stories told to us. And one must pay attention with as much objectivity as possible to the behaviour that goes with the story. This allows us to be aware of the false story-tellers and side-show barkers, because of the huge gap between what their words say and what their actions mean.

It has been said that by the time we are about five years old, we reach what some call a golden age of development, with the premise that what we become later has already been molded and ready to be shaped into form. While memory supposedly begins when we are about three years old. And though I don’t, some people remember snippets of this time in their lives, and remember very well, and I’m sure it is true to a certain point and all a matter of recall. But the events that shape our lives after we are five often create the biggest changes, only because, before we are five years old we have no choice. While after five years we begin to learn that life becomes about making decisions, where we have a choice. Unfortunately however, we may be apt to later forget we have such choices or are programmed to think that we do. We follow our unconscious choice, which has been altered by outside sources as already discussed, and we think it’s free will. Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, who founded analytical psychology, put it best, “Until you make the unconscious conscious it will direct your life and you will call it fate”.

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11/10/19

Half Way There – A Vancouverite Baby Boomer’s Almanac

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

The Serenity Prayer – Reinhold Niebuhr

Chapter One

Since I’m perhaps nearing my end I thought I’d start at the beginning.

Some of the oldest human relics that have ever been found were fertility figurines carved from stones over fifty-thousand years ago. They depicted women with a figure of big bum, big belly and breasts. Perhaps not understanding yet that sex produces children, the men were no doubt in awe of what a woman could do that they could not. Women on the other hand were attracted to men who were confident, athletic, brave, a good provider, respected among the tribe, and handsome, with nice eyes. This was because women were selective as to which sperm they wanted, and because such men protected and provided for them. Thus, in nature and in human tribal cultures untouched by modern western ideology, males predominately do the wooing. There’s a perfectly logical reason for this, eggs are more valuable than the dime a dozen sperm. Most females are limited by how many eggs they have at birth, while males are only limited by the numbers of females they can have sex with. For example, for some women today, a pregnancy can simply be a too costly and time consuming responsibility to take on, especially if one is single, and if a decision is made to become pregnant, she at least should be selective as to whose sperm she wants, whether the survival of the species depends on it or not, unlike a Bonobo chimpanzee.

The Bonobo, kin to the other chimpanzees who lived on the other side of the river as it were, spend much of their time fondling, rubbing, and engaging in intercourse. Primatologist Frans de Waal described the difference between chimpanzees and bonobos as being, “Chimps use violence to get sex, while bonobos use sex to avoid violence.”

After studying them for years, Vanessa Woods describes the bonobo’s world as being where all your relatives “think sex is like a handshake”. And if left alone, they live high quality, nearly stress-free lives. Their world is one where everyone takes care of each other, especially the young, and where both males and females, share the babysitting duties, and don’t necessarily care who the father was. When having sex they cuddle, kiss, hold hands and gaze into one another’s eyes, perhaps even fluttering their eye lashes. While jealousy, is considered an ugly trait. Even before eating, instead of prayers, they all have a quickie before sitting down and empathically passing the food around smiling at each other. Then afterwards no doubt all take a nap. I would.

It’s perhaps not so surprising that for bonobos, chimps, humans and dolphins, all of whom might be the smartest of all mammals, promiscuity is the norm. Regardless, because whether by love, lust or instinct, when a male animal and a female animal have sex and do not use protection, there is a good chance a baby may be conceived.

In early 1958, somewhere in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, my father’s performance reached its crescendo when the floodgates were thrown aside allowing nearly one hundred million sperm cells, the smallest cells in a human, to be ejected as semen, along with a part of his soul, and perhaps a quick pang of sadness that so often happens. Similar perhaps to how the vast majority of women have feelings of sadness or the “baby blues” after giving birth because maybe it’s that feeling that a human that grew inside her belly is now gone. In the there and then, the race was on, as the frantic sperm started swimming like crack addicted tadpoles, bobbing and weaving forward, with their long tails flowing behind. Others undoubtedly swam around like chickens with their heads cut off. Each one affected, or not, by how stressed out the father was, which could impact their future behaviour, just as a mother’s stress at fertilization can affect the egg.

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11/4/19

The Innards and Machinations of Agenda 21

Part Two of Inside Agenda 21 and 30

A 35 page Dense Essay

“If you don’t have a plan, you become part of somebody else’s plan.” Terence McKenna

Much like when the old snake oil merchant used to ride into town. Agenda 21’s goals and targets were deemed critically important for both, the great improvement in our personal lives and for the world being transformed into a better place. And all to be accomplished by 2030 or it’s all over, all bets off the table. So they bark from atop their loudly lit wagon instilling fear into our hearts.

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09/21/19

Inside Agendas 21 and 2030

Part One

A 17 Page Dense Essay

Some things about skeptics, which in ancient Greece were called skeptikos, defined as someone who doubted even the possibility of real knowledge. While the Latin word scepticus, meant being thoughtful, inquiring and reflective. Its most up to date definition is someone who questions validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual. Whether values, plans, mainstream media news, the goals of those in power, statements, or the character of others.

Oddly, in science a healthy skepticism is a professional necessity, in religion, having belief without evidence is regarded as a virtue. Or as George Carlin once said, “Tell people, there’s an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.”

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10/20/18

Grand Deluges – A Pedantic Wet Dream

Proudly and humbly announcing my new book, Grand Deluges – A Pedantic Wet Dream

From a 32 page essay I wrote years ago and kept going back to, I fell down the rabbit hole it became and after a couple of years of writing at night and painting houses during the day, Grand Deluges appeared. Feedback so far has been very good, from “unique writing style and pace” to “very relative to today considering it’s like an encyclopedia written as a story” to “refreshing, rational and at times even funny”, and a “very interesting non-linear read”.

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08/16/18

The Life and Times of James Bond

One of the most iconic, cool, competent, cocky but confident, fashionable, and well mannered, truly psychopathic and ultimate protagonist characters has to be James Bond. Created by Ian Lancaster Fleming (1908-1964), English author, journalist, and naval intelligence officer, Bond appeared for the first time in the novel Casino Royale, published in 1953. Until his passing in 1964, Fleming would write another twelve novels and two short story collections about the spy James Bond, with his wartime service and his career as a journalist providing much of the background, detail, and depth of the James Bond novels.

The Bond character was further developed by the over two decades now perseverance of the Broccoli family of American film producer Albert R Broccoli, and dozens of writers and screen writers. The first Bond film Dr. No was released in 1962, when I was four years old and I’ve been hooked ever since. I have read all of Fleming’s books and some of the books that have been written since his passing, by new authors that are carrying on the Bond folklore. President John F. Kennedy was also a James Bond fan, and watched a preview screening of From Russia with Love at the White House on November 21st, 1963. He was killed the next day in Dallas.

The following is based on the combined facts of Bond, in literature and filmdom, with a “wee bit of artistic wherewithal”, said of course in a Scottish accent, with beer foam dripping from my moustache. Chronologically, I try to follow Ian Fleming’s books as they were written, but also for continuity, use some of the release dates of Bond films including those not associated with Fleming/Broccoli, and to a very small extent, the books written by various authors of the “young” Bond. I’m sure loyal James Bond aficionados, may take issue with the continuity of this story, but the recent Daniel Craig as Bond series of films throws a wrench into things by rebooting to the beginnings and Bond’s first missions. While Fleming’s introduction of Bond was Casino Royale, in film Bond was introduced in Dr No, Fleming’s sixth Bond novel. As far as M goes, M was Rear Admiral Bernard Lee for the first eleven missions. After his death, Robert Brown took over for four, and then M Judi Dench was brought on for Bond’s next four missions, and then was transported back in time for Bond’s last four films, which chronicle his first few years with MI6. There are also too many Alex Leiter’s, Moneypennys and Blofelds.

Then there is the dilemma that there has been numerous individuals who have played Bond, but then this issue can be dealt with sensibly, by suggesting that since Bond would be recognized fairly quickly, as he was well known to the underworld and most all intelligence and secret service organizations, so to further the secrecy and stealth needed to carry on such heroic and often insane actions as he does, and have to infiltrate their organizations, every so often Bond gets a face replacement. In this scenario Bond has had seven face transplants and still looks good. Rumour has it that in a few years from now, Bond will be undergoing not only another face transplant but a skin transplant as well, for a mission, which as of yet remains undisclosed. The story to follow is not sensible so there are no face alterations, rationally on the other hand, Bond probably looked like Daniel Craig at the start of his MI6 career but as he aged he started looking more like Sean Connery.

All of these things make it difficult and confusing to get some sort of continuity in Bond’s career timeline, but I have simply done the best I could and tried to stay with what makes sense, and lean towards Fleming’s novels as to storyline and details. And mean him no disrespect whatsoever of his original brilliance. Continue reading →

07/28/16

My Colonoscopy, the Magic School Bus, Voyager I, and Some Unfortunate Truths – A Dense Essay

Chapter One

Born in the fifties and three years short of sixty, I seem to have been blessed with the genes and metabolism which seem oblivious to the abuse I have given them. Generally a healthy later middle aged male, I am fortunate to have been born, and still living, where I do here in British Columbia. But life is still life and when one is an anatomically and behaviourally modern Homo sapien, living in a body composed of mostly water and oxygen, things are bound to happen.

Beneath the hair of an average adult human, no matter the race, color, faith, or where they live, sixty per cent of their body’s weight and volume is water. Incredulously, it stands, can fall, and get back up. The body also contains about five and a half litres (just over one gallon) of blood, and about ten litres (two and a half gallons) of interstitial fluid, which washes and surrounds our trillions of cells. Other elements of the body include oxygen (sixty-five per cent), carbon (eighteen per cent) and other trace elements such as hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, potassium, sulphur, sodium chlorine, and magnesium, to name but a few.

human body Materials include protein, connective tissue, fats, carbohydrates and bone, with operating systems that include mechanical, physical, and bio-electrical and biochemical functions, which make up such a life form, and the machine it is.

Naturally odd and kind of eerie, the vast majority of our cells in our bodies are not even human, but instead microorganisms and bacteria in a symbiotic relationship with our functions and make up. The largest proportions of these cells, about one hundred trillion of them, a number about ten times greater than the total number of other human cells in the entire body, live in the digestive tract. Such microorganism cells digest our food, gleaning the energy and fatty acids needed for us to exist, and keep all the body’s systems running properly. They also metabolize acids and synthesize vitamins, working closely with the liver, digestive tract, and even muscle tissue, with their combined efforts resembling an alien organ seemingly existing within us. Much like our skin is also considered an organ. But many believe, and rightly so, that for all intents and purposes in most living things, the digestive tract is running the show.

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