Frankenstein's "Volcanic" Origins...

As it turns out, it may be that one of Halloween's most recognizable characters was born as an indirect result of volcanic activity thousands of miles away. In April of 1815, an Indonesian volcano blew up, spewing dust and ash into the air, blocking sunlight and interfering with the seasons. A volcanic winter settled in over much of Europe and America the following summer.

One can almost imagine what effect the dark and cold summer days of 1816 had upon a young Mary Shelley, with it's food shortages, flooding, summer ice, and almost constant rainfall. Nothing cheery here. And somehow it explains her choice of the icy waters of the Artic Circle for the opening scene. It seems a perfect birth place for a story of a creation gone wrong. Seems that monsters and vampires were both developed during those cold and dreary days...

Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

During the snowy summer of 1816, the "Year Without A Summer ," the world waslocked in a long cold volcanic winter caused by the eruption of Tambora in 1815. In this terrible year, the then Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, age 19, and her husband-to-be Percy Bysshe Shelley, visited Lord Byron at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

After reading Fantasmagoriana, an anthology of German ghost stories, Byron challenged the Shelleys and his personal physician John William Polidori each to compose a story of their own.

Mary conceived an idea after she fell into a waking dream or nightmare during which she saw "the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together." This was the germ of Frankenstein.

Byron managed to write just a fragment based on the vampire legends he heard while travelling the Balkans, and from this Polidori created The Vampyre (1819), the progenitor of the romantic vampire literary genre. Thus, the Frankenstein and vampire themes were created from that single circumstance.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Vim

Time Stands Still...

Clocks were turned back one hour early this morning. And Big Ben was turned OFF for repairs. In the de-powered hurricane zones, Time is gone, though slowly it encroaches. It is always amazing to see how Time can be picked up and moved around at will. For just that moment, it's illusory nature shines through. For just that moment, we are blissfully disoriented. Alarms fall silent. Appointments dissolve. The chain falls to the ground. And in that non-moment, we know how things could be. Maybe some day we'll get over it, and it's pull on our lives and we will learn to come and go with the tides and the moons and the seasons. Until then... good luck old sir... Hope they fix/ed you up good and fine! ---Vim

SEE LINKS:

INSPECTION HALTS BIG BEN's CHIMES

IN PICTURES: BIG BEN's BIG TURN OFF

The Perfect Dream...

This dream was posted by Teri at the syzygyjob dream board back on January 17, 2005. The board has been rearranged twice so the post isn't available anymore. I found it as I was going through files yesterday, so here it is. Seems appropriate to post in light of recent Plame-gate events. Also, it doesn't hurt to imagine how things might go from here. Call it fodder for the future. Enjoy!

As a Sag, Have had some amazing experiences. Especially during the Mercury thing, but there are days when I can barely navigate, it hurts so bad at the emotional level. Sometimes I get the feeling that for every really great day, there has to be the opposite experience because that is where the 'great day' got its energy from. Don't know for sure. Watching it. I'll figure it out yet! Looking forward to the CME this eve.

Had a dream this afternoon that bush and cheney were arrested! And big transports were sent over to pick up all the boys in Iraq. They had temporarily put some woman in charge...someone like Sandra Day O'connor? Or at least of that stature. (She looked like Meryl Streep) And she was attending to the day to day White House while everything else got sorted out. The military were very concerned about looking like they had taken over the gov, that was why the Woman. IRS was immediately announced as having been abolished. Leonard Peltier was let out of prison and we threw a big party. MC was there and he was asking her about her dreams. ;-) And...oh, there were some members of Congress also arrested. The rest were being advised as to what was going on and why. Some of this I was hearing as tv announcements. Other parts I seemed to be standing there listening and could feel myself encouraging those who were involved.

Now THAT is a Dream!

Teri

A Lesson from the Life of Rosa Parks...

Yesterday's outlaw is tomorrow's HERO!

Take it from there... ;-)


R.I.P. ---Rosa Parks
Feb. 4, 1913 - Oct. 24, 2004

There's a New Painting on the Wall...

...over at the Gallery.

Ever wonder what's "Beneath the Surface"???

Enjoy!

Vim

Sometimes Ya Gotta BE the Tsunami...

Sometimes, you look at your life and everything and every one settled in around you, and you look into yourself and you know that you can't maintain the status quo anymore. And you know that your own growth requires movement. The grand shift is upon you. And you know that when you make your move, coastlines will flood, structures will fall, things that were alive will die, and life as you & they know it will end forever. Sometimes you just have to look at what you are going to do to people's lives...to your own life...and then re-arrange yourself anyway. Sometimes ya gotta BE the tsunami. ---Vim

"Transformation from fate to destiny begins when a human being wakes up to face his/her patterns of behavior, seeing the soul mirror, and alters the whole configuration of the energy shell, therefore creating a completely new set of events, and a completely new human being. If everyone could be taught this magical shamanic lesson simultaneously, we could transform society within a year. Failing that, we change only ourselves, those who wish to transform our own lives. We the FEW, and with it we begin a totally new and untried future. This would then be a definition of 'co'-creation with God." ---Michael St.Clair's Passage to Peace, Ch. 13: Magi’s Passage

"Concentric Circles" by Edwina Peterson Cross

"One Polaroid Away from Global War on Chickens..."

Must be something about all of those liberated chickens that finally GOT to the powers that be. Never fear, they are gonna do something about it. I know it's a stretch, but the two stories [Katrina Liberates Chickens and the Bird Flu Scare issue] seem related. I leave both stories for your consideration. Enjoy?!?!? --Vim

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A Chicken Smokin' Pot
By James Churches

t r u t h o u t / Satire

Herbert Hoover was ridiculed for a dubious claim that he promised "a chicken in every pot," when running for president in 1928. This "promise" came to haunt Hoover during the 1932 election against FDR, when chickens were in pretty short supply.

gWb, not one to let a chicken make a fool of him, has promised to deploy Army Special Forces and Navy Seals to ensure every flu-ridden chicken does hard time in the torture coop at Gitmo.

Said gWb at the White House on October 4, 2005, concerning the threat of avian flu: "One option is the use of the military that's able to plan and move. So that's why I put it on the table." Notice, again, the food metaphor echoing Hoover.

Fearful of getting caught again with his golf slacks down ("If Katrina wants to complain some more about her kid gettin' shot in Iraq, flip her a quarter and tell her to call Bill Clinton;" "Uh, sir, that's Cindy. Katrina's the, uh, the storm;" "You got that right! She's a real windbag!"), gWb intends to pre-empt the avian flu by using the same DoD intelligence apparatus that produced rock solid proof of Iraqi WMDs and a million vats of botulism, black plague and athlete's foot.

He has tagged his favorite show-and-tell puppet, Colon Powell, to present satellite images of Asian chickens at mobile biological weapons labs on the streets of Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur (cleverly disguised as rolling stir-fry stands). Their intention? To ship avian-flu-frozen-dim-sum to the supermarkets of America! (Primarily super WalMarts, since they already have frozen dim sum factories in China.)

With actionable intelligence like this, gWb intends to attack the avian flu before it attacks us. A high White House source who wishes to remain anonymous but goes by the nickname Peckerhead reports that the president sees a bright silver lining in the looming bird flu cloud.

"He was saying the other morning over Ding-dongs and coffee that we might be able to 'kill two birds with one stone' on this deal," says the source. "We take out the chickens and Kim Jung Il's nukes in one fell swoop!"

The source claims the president is just one Polaroid away from declaring a "Global War on Chickens," which may go on indefinitely.

"Chickens is an elusive enemy. One'll pop up here, clucking about this 'er that, then BOOM, it'll disappear in the coop, blend in, see, and you can't tell fish from fowl," gWb is reported to have said.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is reportedly "tickled pink" about the new assignment. He plans another "shock and awe" treatment for the misbehavin' avians, with a repeat performance of his patented "decapitation strike," just like he administered to the Butcher of Baghdad.

"You take off the top chicken's head, well now, she's gonna hop around for awhile, squirtin' blood all over the barnyard," says Rumsfeld. "If that's not a deterrent, I'm not wearing boxers with an arrow at the crotch that says, 'This way to the bunker buster!'"

Col. Sanders of Farmland Security declared that suspicious domestic chickens will be rounded up and sent to detention centers in an operation code-named "Tyson." Many birds will not be returning to their farms.

FEMA will be in charge of outsourcing the PR campaign. "We don't want the public accusing us of species profiling," says a resurrected turkey named "Brownie." To that end, an occasional duck and/or goose will be sent along for "processing."

"Herbert Hoover might have caught a chicken smokin' pot - hell, everbody ties a wild hair - but I caught 'em dead to rights plottin' a terror strike," says gWb. "I will not rest until chickens have been eliminated from the world."

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James E. Churches is an oxygen-starved writer living in the mountains of Colorado. His new satire novel, Pirates of the Potomac, ships the Bush administration on a wild pirate caper aboard the good ship Liberty. It is available now at Pirates of the Potomac.

Happy Anniversary: E = mc2 [1905-2005]

Albert Einstein and I are finally becoming friends. It has taken a long while. While I am a great lover of science and mathmatics, I must confess that when I hit Physics 101 I had a personal meltdown. There was something of the abstract in light, energy, and mass that I just couldn't get ahold of. My life was in enough of a mess at the time, that only the literal, the concrete and the visibly measurable would work for me. So I bailed out.

Over the years, I have tried to read Einstein, tried to have people explain it to me, only to get to that same point where my efforts to understand would collapse in futility. "I'm a Newtonian at heart," I would say, "and there's nothin' you can do about it." Finally, one of those cool past life regressionist types clued me in that Newton and I had this thing going in a past life. "You remember what Marty was to Doc Brown in 'Back to the Future?' " Joseph said to me. "That's you." OH! and NOW I get it. I'm not just fighting an idea, here, I'm giving up a lifetime of work. And my loyalty as his faithful assistant. I mean I didn't run around retrieving fallen apples for nothing. I believed in what Sir Isaac was doing. I defined my world by his discoveries. And I apparently dragged it all in with me this time in a manner of speaking.

It came in handy some times. Like the time in 5th grade when we did that study on Light and Color. My teacher, Mr. Mills, taught the unit to the whole 5th and 6th grade that year. I took to the subject like a duck to water. I was a prism and spectrum wizard, and one of only 5 students to Ace the course.

To this day, I still use Newton's theory of color to picture what creation was and where we are headed. The white light passes through the prism, breaking it into the colors of the rainbow. That's creation. God as Light, breaking Itself into all of Its components in order to observe Itself in Its many forms and relationships. That's us, the colors. And now there's this re-gathering occurring, a reconnection of all of the many parts, coming back together through the second prism,... back into the white light. That's God re-collecting Itself to see what It is all about. We are merely Color, being Color, and reporting back to the White Light all that we ARE. Got it?

So where do ya put Einstein with all of that. I know...I'm so far behind the rest of the world. But I'm getting it finally, so don't worry too much...

My salute to NOVA on PBS for succeeding in spelling it out for me in a way that I can understand. "Einstein's Big Idea" aired yesterday, and if they're smart, they'll air it again. They broke the formula down into all it's parts including the 'squared' part, which to me, was most fascinating... that 'squared' actually MEANT something and had to be discovered like everything else. The whole formula makes sense, though I couldn't repeat it back to save my soul. But for me, if I can get the vibe of something new, sometimes that is enough. [In this case, it's a miracle!] If I know that it CAN be understood, that's all I need. But I don't grab onto it too much. 'Cause there's just too much of it. And as my whole Newtonian dilemma proves, if ya hang on too much, then the new won't be able to find it's way in. Stuff changes. Einstein is just a link in the line of what's to come. He's got his place and I salute him and wish him and his formula a Happy 100th Anniversary...and many more!

Oh... and one more thing, Mr. Einsten... don't feel too bad when you get bumped down the ladder a bit. It happens to the best of 'em!;-)

Sincerely,

Vimala

PS I guess, according to Einstein himself, there is hope for those of us who catch on late... I just read this and now I dont' feel so bad...

The ordinary adult never gives a thought to space-time problems... I, on the contrary, developed so slowly that I did not begin to wonder about space and time til I was an adult. I then delved more deeply into the problem than any other adult or child would have."
--Albert Einstein

"Message from a Tree"

by Patty "Crow Silly"
posted at the Earthboppin Board

As I sat beside the Fire
I closed my eyes to Pray
for Harmony, LOVE and Peace
to enter Our Hearts Today.
As I opened my eyes
I looked out and saw a face
in the high treetop across the way.
I said, "Hi, Grandfather!"
and smiled , closing my eyes in Prayere once more.
When I opened them again another Tree was smiling back.
Then this Sacred Brother Tree told me a story;


There in my mind was a Tree.
It lived long and grew strong.
One day a Storm came.
Rain and Hail struck it
and Lightning split it open.
That Winter Water gathered in the crack
and ice split it even more.
In the Spring Insects lived there,
Sqirrel chewed away the bark
and picked out some fine grubs,
then Woodpecker got some from deeper within.
All this time the Tree stood silent,
never a complaint, not one grumble.
As It's last leaf fell to the Ground
It Stood there, some would say 'dead',
but It was a standing monument Praising Creator ,
It's SPIRIT still strong.

Then I saw a poor couple
wandering in the wilderness,
the Woman's belly large with Child.
The Husband found this Sacred Tree,
gathered up some wood and headed back.
He started a Fire and they kept warm beside it.
In the Night the baby was born.
I saw as the Child opened his eyes
and peered into the Flames,
remembering still the same colors
from the Womb he had just left.

Then I saw an old Man sitting beside a Fire,
breathing his last Breath and watching the final flicker.
It is the same Flame the Baby saw.
Then I saw the two of them,
the Baby and the Elder,
sitting side-by-side
around a Fire in the Heavens,
where They were One.

Bits o' this 'n' that...

I had a dream last night.
In it, I heard someone say,
there is nothing left to do...
...but dance!
Shall we????:-)

-------
BTW...
Today is John Lennon's 65th birthday.
Happy Birthday, John!

PS: It's still ok to Imagine!

"You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one."

Check out the New Gallery Post...

I didn't realize I'd be reviewing music over at the gallery, but I heard something last week that I felt required some attention. I've tried my best to put it all down for you. Feel free to click on over there and check out my take on techno/world music innovator Todd Clark's recently released CD experience, "OWLS in OBSIDIAN". It's a fascinating trip I hope you will want to take...

VIMALA's GALLERY

Reflections on a Solar Eclipse...

I remember the first time I realized that you could poke a hole in a piece of paper and that the image of the eclipsing sun would shine through onto another paper held below. Freaked me out!

And then to realize you could poke a multitude of holes in the paper and every one would project a perfect image of what the sun was doing at the time. There was something of Divinity in it. That one main ball of Light, projecting itself a million times in it's entirety. And then to realize that this was always happening...that EVERY little squeek of sunight that passed through ANYwhere was projecting the totality of it's source. Just like us. Just like me. Just like everything.

They say that creation was an act of God fragmenting Itself into all that is, in order that It might know Itself. Perhaps that is so. Perhaps we are a zillion little suns, dancing on an early Fall afternoon. Fragments, and yet NOT. Rather, totally complete, totally Light, totally Divine.

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This photo was posted at Astrowetter.com. It was taken in Germany yesterday during the solar eclipse and shows a multitude of solar projections that made their way through the trees and onto the ground. For more photos of yesterday's solar events, check out Spaceweather.com's eclipse gallery [two pages].

OCT 3: Solar Eclipse births the Phoenix

"HOW THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE INSPIRED THE ANCIENT WINGED SUN DISK SYMBOL, THE MYTHICAL PHOENIX BIRD, AND A FLOCK OF OTHER MYTHICAL BIRDS OF THE SUN." To check out this fascinating SolarEclipse website, click here: