Saturday, May 31, 2008

Do The Funky Christian!!

My best friend Darrell way over in Winnipeg has always been very involved in the church. Every time I visited him on weekends when we were young, to play AD&D, I would arrive and find him sitting in their rocking chair with ginormous headphones on, listening to music and ... rocking. He has been a part of his church band for as long as I can remember.

Today he sent me an email saying that the band he belongs to entered a local contest competing for "stuff" against several other Christian bands. The competition is based on voting and he sent out his PR asking his friends to vote.

"Stuff": The top band will pick up a THOUSAND DOLLARS worth of prizing from Quest Musique. The winning group's single will get some spins on CHVN and will be featured on CMC Distribution's "Sea to Sea" compilation – a cd shipped to Christian bookstores across Canada. And, they'll be the opening band for the Building 429 concert on June 20th at the Red River Exhibition!

The catch is, you have to log into this Manitoba Christian website and make an account there. They say they will send up to two newsletters a month. I'm hoping that I can unsubscribe when this is done because I'm not really all that interested in seeing what Manitoba Christians are up to. But I am interested in helping Darrell win that contest. And I can vote daily. And get my dose of God if I so wish. Yay.

Anyway, if any of you want to sign into this website (it was a bit tricky, but you'll figure it out, I think), register, listen to the songs, and then vote, be my guest. Be honest, and don't vote for anything you don't like.

Mayu was around when I did this and she started giving me comments from the other room about her impressions regarding the songs, so I jotted them down in an email I was writing to Darrell to let him know that I voted (for his band). They are very interesting (the comments).

The music Mayu listens to these past years (and goes to when she "groupies it around the country") is extremely technical (not techno), and requires a very high level musician to play. So this local church band stuff sounded a little bit "simple" to her technically-oriented ears. To me, some of it sounded very... Canadian Christian; you know, the kind of stuff you'd hear on Sunday morning AM radio when you accidentally hit upon the "Good Morning Christ!" channel? You know the kind where they want to get you boppin' to God as you vacuum the carpets?

Darrell's song is Hosanna and he does background vocals.

Site: www.manitobachristianonline.com
How to sign in: Hover over "Contests" on the top bar, then click on "Quest for the best" and follow instructions.

Or, sign in directly here: Sign in or Register here to vote

When you get to that page, you'll have to click the link that says "sign in" even though it says "create an account below" or something like that (I forget now - they automatically sign me in... yaaay). Anyway, once you figure that out, fill in the info, you'll get an email asking you to confirm the stuff. It went to my Spam folder so check there. I guess Christians are spammers, too!

Once you click on their link, you go back to their page and follow the sign in again. This is where it seemed a bit weird to me, but after clicking the only link available (sign in?), it actually took me to the page here (but I don't think it will work for you until you sign in...).

I'll leave it up to you as to whether you want to do this or not, but some of you out there may have a penchant for Christian amateur band music and it would be unfair of me to prejudge anyone. God forbid and Heavens to Mergatroid no!

Here are Mayu's comments...

  • Rain Down - The kind of band that only friends can listen to.
  • Give him Praise - Sounds like a poor expression of Ricky Martin.
  • Love's the Revolution - Don't like it. Has too many bible words in it.
  • Lord Most High - Nice vocalist, but typical amateur band sound. Her voice doesn't match with the arrangement and the background vocals. Therefore a good producer wouldn't put this voice into this music (i.e. bad producer).
  • Fill Me Up - The vocalist is copying too much of somebody else's style. It's just a copy of stuff that's already out there. This kind of music already exists so why do it again?
  • The Happy Song - Too simple. Sounds like a highschool band. (Cam thinks it sounds like a Winnipeg version of the Proclaimer's "500 miles". It's a sound you'd hear at the Festival du Voyageur as you were wandering around looking at the ice sculptures and eating deep fried frogs legs while complaining that your fingers and toes had fallen off from the cold.)
  • ***Hosanna*** - She has a country music vocal voice. Her voice is too light to be singing solo, so the arrangement with other aspects of the song offset that which is good. The band arrangement is the best of all of these songs. Just had a flashback of being in the parking lot of Safeway. Very very North American sound.
  • Mighty to Save - Very N.A. culture. All the female singers have the same voice in all these songs... maybe it's the "choral voice". This song is suitable for this kind of female voice, but it sounds like a "typical church band", something you'd hear on N.A. AM Christian radio.
  • You are Worthy - Her voice is good. Best vocalist so far. Kind of "simple" in construction, but after all.. . typical church band.

Have a great day and may the gods bless! I'm off to the shower, and then to do some meditation to the Universal powers that be. I have something very important to order and need to get my order in soon, and make sure it is clearly understood.

I love you!

Cam

Friday, May 30, 2008

Camcast: Presence

Today my V-51 IC recorder arrived. So I did some preliminary testing at home with and without an external microphone, and then I took it for a ride up my mountain.

I talked about being present in the moment and what it means to me as I ride. I try to re-wire my neural network because it has been hardwired into believing that as soon as I start to cycle, the brain has to spin, create meaningless conversations about imaginary future events, and drive me nuts. It got so bad that I really have not enjoyed cycling much at all these past 6-8 years. The more I rode, the more it entrenched that behaviour in my mind and the more it happened. It became a vicious cycle that I finally wanted to end.

So I asked for help, and began working on it from a "stationary stage" here at home, and in my quiet life. Then I added it to when I am alone driving. Next I added it to more active places like the gym, or shopping for groceries. Recently, I have become a bit better at being present and catching myself when my mind (but not me) starts to wander, spin, and "process" unnecessary things. I thought it was time to work on it while riding, and gain back control of my love for cycling. For me, cycling is supposed to exhaust my body while energizing my soul, not wipe both of them out and leave me totally physically, and psychologically "spent". I knew this was going to be a challenge because every single time, without fail, as soon as my pedals started to spin.. so did my mind. And my mind would not stop spinning until my pedals stopped.

This week I rode up my mountain every day except yesterday (big workout at the gym). It's a strenuous 45 minutes up with no down between, followed by a 15 minute ride down. I did talk with myself, but I talked about things in the present, things that I was experiencing right "now", such as the weeds, the air, the bugs, the gravel, my bike, my sweat, and my breath. Every time my mind started to spin, or wander, I would gently, but firmly bring it back to the present, and start to focus once again on my breath.

It's working very well. Very well, indeed.

The past few days I had been wishing that I had an IC recorder so that I could record my conversations on presence as I ride as I find what I am discussing to be quite intriguing (even if you may not). I wanted to have a record of the conversations for myself for future reference. So as you know, I ordered it, and it arrived.

So today I rode my mountain and talked continually for 45 minutes up, and 14 minutes down. I didn't just talk to hear myself talk, I had a purpose.

The quality of this V-51 IC recorder is phenomenal! When I got back and listened to the WMA files, I was amazed at how good the quality actually is! I was expecting wind, and gasping, and tons of external noise blotting out my voice... it didn't happen! Wow...

I am looking forward to keeping this up by my bed to record my dreams. I am looking forward to keeping it in my pocket or in my Stefnee bag whenever I go places so that I can always have it with me if I have thoughts, or "aha" moments to record and share with myself or others.

I took the audio, converted it from WMA format int MP3 format, and then broke it down into about 10 minute segments so that anyone who wants to listen can listen to little bits and pieces here and there and not have to worry about finding where they left off if they want to go away and come back.

If you want to listen to all of these camcasts, to make it easier to access, please pin this blog until you are done. Then when you are finished, just unpin it, put it in a paper bag in your mind, and in your mind release it into the river, and let it go.

But please while listening, please try to be present. Please don't be doing a bazillion other things like multitasking and toss this in, because it won't mean anything. All you will hear is me talking away about weird stuff. And that would be a serious waste of your time. I didn't do this to hear myself talk; and I didn't do it to waste your time. I did it, in hopes that someone, even one person, who is present with me on this ride, has a similar "aha" moment, and catches my meaning of what it really feels like to be "present".

It's a wonderful feeling.

Here are the camcasts in mp3 format. Each one is roughly 10 minutes in length, or 4-5MB in size. I hope you get something out of them, even a fraction of what I experience these days when I am able to find my present moments during my waking hours.

  1. Being Present Uphill 1
  2. Being Present Uphill 2
  3. Being Present Uphill 3
  4. Being Present Uphill 4
  5. Being Present Uphill 5
  6. Being Present Downhill 1
  7. Being Present Downhill 2

If you really want to download the entire talk in one shot and just run it through...

Being Present Uphill All (45:00)
Being Present Downhill All (13:30)

I love you!

Cam

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Cancer does NOT have to be in your future

Yes, it is a busy morning and I haven't even wiped the sleep out of my eyes, nor brushed my BCAA-induced "cotton mouth" from the insulin that this sports supplement causes the pancras to pump out in order to assist in recovery from workout, and muscle building (ugh).

As I love to talk about stuff on cancer, cholesterol, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, protein, meat diets vs. unhealthy vegetarian diets, the negative effects upon your body from fiber, etc. etc. etc. I thought it is important to share THIS recent publication by Brian Peskin, my PEO low-carb, high essential oil mentor...

I talked about this in the past, and shared with you the results that a cancer specialist in California is having with his patients who are taking what they are calling the "Peskin Protocol" during treatment. Basically, it is the simple supplementation of Brian's PEOs (Parent Essential Oils), using the blend and ratio that he has developed through his 20 years of dedication to finding the Truth - Not Opinion of health.

The article is attached for those of you who are serious about your health.

For those of you who don't have time to read life-altering health-altering information, then feel free not to download the two page PDF. I won't push you past the end of this blog which ends, as it always does, with my heartfelt desire that you live a long, and HEALTHY life.

Unfortunately these days, if you follow the information that is mainstream, the chances of you living that kind of life, are dramatically reduced.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. Has anyone actually gone back and looked at the blog after using the spell checker and then posting? I realized the other day that even though the system finds misspelled words, and you choose the correct ones, when you finally post it... they aren't corrected!

Oh what a dope I was to blindly believe that what Multiply was telling me they were doing was the truth! I was duped into thinking I was correcting it, but in actuality, my blogs were still riddled with quick-finger typoes all this time! And I believed them!!!

(Damn... that sounds a lot like what a huge number of us are doing regarding our health... *wink*)

Brian Peskin's CT Scan Test Results of 0% Arterial Plaque

Good morning. It is 7:00 am and I am writing this to you because it is important. Jose had written in a comment in my other blog "Plaque Off!... " stating that he hoped the test results I talked about were correct because he had chosen to reject the doctors' recommendation of plaque-lowering drugs and stick with the PEO (Parent Essential Oils) that are sold by Y.E.S Supplements and that I talk about so passionately and unwaveringly all the time.

Well, I'm here to tell you this morning that the results are correct.

And if you read this brief attachment you will see the truth about what I, on behalf of Brian, have been talking about for over 10 years, right before your eyes. This is not an anomaly, and as far as I know Brian is not some bacon-doped freakazoid alien, although I cannot prove that... yet.

For those of you who didn't get the chance to read that blog, this was regarding a CT scan for arterial plaque performed on Brian Peskin, the creator of the PEOs and my mentor, by a top radiologist in Florida who had heard of Brian's PEOs (Parent Essential Oils) from a 60 year old smoker patient who's plaque had decreased an unprecedented 22% after taking the PEOs. The doctor couldn't believe the results another of his patient, and when he heard of the PEOs, invited Brian to come and talk with him.

Everyone - Please read this three page PDF and seriously consider contacting YES and getting the Parent Essential Oils they sell, because they WILL change your life in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. CONTACT them. Call and ask for Annette (my best friend Khanada [the general manager]'s sister) or Scott and tell them that you are calling at my recommendation because just going anonymously through their website and purchasing will force you to buy them at "full retail" which is set on the website for specific reasons I am not at liberty to discuss.

But CALL. Don't just lump me into all those "another fad diet" piles you've heard of for so many years. This is truly different.

And if you have cancer, or your family history has cancer (and you still believe that it is hereditary - which apparently it is not but that news has been hushed up as well), or you are terrified and being terrorized by your doctor regarding high cholesterol, and considering destroying your health by taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs that have (again) been shown to lead to more illness than actual health (but covered up again, especially because it is big business), then contact them.

If you don't believe I can be serious about this, just think about how often I have talked about this, how often I have tried to get past your pre-programming to give you the opportunity to really see the truth...

I love you.

I want to continue loving you in (your) good health for decades to come.

Cam

Attachment: peskinMDCTscan.pdf

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

V is for Voice Blogging

The past two days of cycling have been extremely interesting. I have been working on being "present" with myself, mindful of the present situation, mindful of my breath, and aware of everything around me. And it's working; I am able to decrease, and eventually eliminate the meaningless and stressful spinning that my mind and the neuroreceptors have hard-wired to the pedal cadence, making cycling .... difficult over the past few years.

Monday, the ride was 50 minutes of talking to myself about being aware of everything that came into my sight. It was interesting.

Tuesday, I tried again, but instead of that, had some very interesting dialogues with myself. I have often wished (and Max has often said) that it would be great to have a recorder along with us so that we can record our conversations.

Well, today I looked through a variety of IC recorders that are on the market and purchased the Olympus V-51 Voice-Trek Dictaphone... toy so I can do just that!

Once it comes, I'll be out on rides, walking and just talking away in a productive way to myself. Then I can come home, and download it to the computer, convert it to mp3 and upload it as camcasts just for YOU!

Imagine that not only will you get to read me, see stills of me, and watch me live... but now you'll be able to LISTEN to me, too! Isn't that just THE most fantastic thing you've ever ever thought of? I KNOW it is!

The Voice-Trek V-51 is available in white and comes with 1GB of internal memory, whereas the V-61 comes wrapped in a black casing and doubles the memory, putting two gigs of storage at your disposal. Both units support MP3 and WMA files, pack USB 2.0 connectivity, measure 94.8 x 38.6 x 11mm, and weigh 47 grams.

When you shift it over to LP (long play) mode, the V-51 is capable of recording up to 277 hours and 35 minutes of audio, whereas the V-61 pushes that to an incredible 555 hours and 45 minutes.

Cost: JPY 11,200 + optional JPY 560 for 5year warranty - points = JPY 11,700 or roughly ($117).

So there you have it. Look out BlogWorld, here comes Captain CamCast!

I love you!

Cam

P.S. I thought I could use that stupid stick camera recorder that I wasted a huge amount of money on due to the format that they record in (microsloth proprietary crap) It also works as just a sound recorder, but the stupid thing records in asf format for both audio and video which is nearly impossible to convert to anything that can be used outside of windows media player simply because Microsoft has sued everyone who developed and put the codecs and converters for it into their software!

P.P.S. I only hope it doesn't pick up the wind only and drop my voice.... I'd hate to have another piece of useless technojunk sitting in my drawer along with all the other failed attempts (lessons!) at trying out new technology.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Following Your Breath

It is interesting you know....
 
The cicadas are starting up their full-blown symphony over where Sheila lives and apparently that sound drives a lot of people nuts.
 
When I talked about my village chimes going off regularly many people said that it would drive them nuts.
 
Then my beloved Sheila commented the following...
 
In our town many many years ago there were chimes that were played from the tower of the very large church on the square. It was nice to listen to occasionally, but my dear, if I had to hear that every day, on the dot without fail and without deviation, I would go mad.

I just think maybe after noticing that the cicada's are annoying and that if I had to listen to those chimes and those announcements that I am figuring something out about ME. I don't do well with a routine that can't be altered. Routine is comforting. But it has to be something I control and not an outside force, like those chimes. I think that no matter how many ways I would choose to change my routine, those incessant chimes would eventually piss me off.
 
I know of many people who find external noise to be extremely disrupting. Mayu cannot stand the sound of construction, especially on her days off. It drives her mad. To me, it's just a part of what's "there". I must admit that when I was young I could not study with any external sound stimuli and had to close my door, close the window and focus.
 
Even now, I find that music playing while I am at the wheel degrades my driving skills dramatically because I prefer to listen to the sounds of the engine, the wind coming through the cracks in the car parts closures (doors, body, window), the sound of my tires on the road, the sound of other vehicles coming and going... They all seem like music to me, but in a natural way that enhances my presence of being as I am driving. And when I drive being present, I feel alive, and in control, and aware, and it feels good. It feels good...
 
But I'm working on the music thing in the car, too....
 
Sheila's comment above led me to an "aha" moment such as those that Oprah talked about so often in her online lessons with Eckhart Tolle as they discussed and "studied" his book "A New Earth" online...
 
I go about my day, and when the chimes come in, and I notice them, I stop, breathe, enjoy the moment... and look at the darn new "caterpillar dust" rash that is on my right arm again this morning! (and right knee, too). Must have been when I was bent over on my hands and knees yesterday working on my bike, in the moss....

Remember... You have an ego, but your ego is not you. You HAVE a mind, but you are not your mind.

And if your mind starts to go crazy at the thought of outside influences "controlling" your freedom, it's time to begin practicing being the observer of your mind, and letting those thoughts come and go:

How?

See them forming in your mind, be aware that they are there, recognize them, acknowledge their presence, but don't try to fight them.

Then take control through breathing, and put them in a paper bag in your mind, then place the paper bag on a river, and watch them float away.

"I am aware of taking a long breath in......"

"I am aware of letting a long breath out....."

"I am aware of the thoughts in my mind....."

"I am aware that my mind is silent....."

"I am aware taking a deep, slow breath in................"

"I am aware of letting out a deep, slow, long breath...."

This will allow you to work on detaching the spinning thoughts from any former incidents that may have caused the memory to be hardwired to an emotion, and thus to a physiological response of frustration.

I am working on this very thing now as I have lost a lot of my love for cycling specifically because over the past six years while riding, I would think, process, analyze about things so much that eventually they became linked to the cadence of my pedaling. And I found that instead of feeling physically tired but mentally, emotionally, and psychologically re-energized, I would return physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted and stressed. And after doing this for six years, it became hardwired in my brain so that the physical action of rotating my pedals, caused the brain to leap into action and start spinning in the mire.

Yesterday during my ride I had a most amazing experience! I spent the entire 50 minutes being aware of everything I saw, felt, heard, smelled, tasted and touched. I was aware of my breath, my lungs, the lactic acid buildup, the sweat, the damp air, the clammy skin, the breeze, the sound of the gravel under my tires, the bugs around my face, the clinking of the metal in my bike, the rotation of the chains, the sounds of the metal of my shoe clips grinding against the metal of the pedal clip holders, the shifting sounds, the birds, the frogs, the water, the wind, the sight of the rocks I needed to avoid, everything.

And during this time, to achieve this, I was constantly talking in my mind, in the present, being aware, noticing everything and not just noticing it, but actually telling myself I was noticing it. In so doing, it allowed me to move from one NOW moment to the next, and to the next, and the next until the 50 minutes of being present, had passed into the past and were beyond me, and could not harm me, nor bring any more pleasure, as they were gone.

It was ... stunning!

And I was also making myself aware of the fact that this was the first of the beginning of many now moments where my cadence and my pedaling were linked to the present moment, and no longer linked to the spinning of the past, or the worry over non-existent future moments.

Just... wow.....

Through being mindful of your breathing, and other minute "now" moments (minute = small, not time) during the day this can be achieved as you link them together. Focusing on "just right now" continually, being aware of it, and the next thing you know, the BEING has been going on for a duration of time!

Of course there are lapses when the mind starts thinking things without your permission (the mind is an entity of its own... it is not you), but when you become aware of this, you can tell your mind that you are aware of it, and then gently, but firmly bring yourself back to the present by once again following your breath...

"I am aware of taking a long breath in......"

"I am aware of letting a long breath out....."

Once you can do this (through Tolle's concept of "presence", and being mindful of your breath), that "driving me mad" melts away and the chimes that come on at fixed times of the day, or the cicada that are there in a very very loud din, or any other external "influence" just becomes another part of the world around you, that you are moving through without resistance, flowing with instead of fighting against.

A couple of years ago Nancy told me that when she was young the sounds of her children arguing, fighting, and being really noisy used to really negatively affect her moods until one day one of her "mentors" told her to "just don't hear it". She didn't understand what that meant at first, but she practiced it, and after a while she was able to "not hear" the sounds.

I imagine that what she was really doing was something very similar - learning not to let outside noise affect her inside peace. It's not easy, but with practice, it can be achieved. Even if you feel that "nothing affects you", there are probably things that do. When you chance upon one of those moments, if you keep this discussion in your mind, you can begin to focus on your breath, on inner peace, on presence, on being on "not hearing" or not being affected by the external influence...

Be aware of your breath....

The more I read, the more I see all of the spiritual leaders (I'm not talking about leaders of "institutionalized religion") talk about the importance of being mindful of your breath, and I am seeing the positive effects it has in my real world now by practicing it even for one breath, whenever I think to do so (like right now)....

We have all heard "just breathe.... relax now... everything's going to be ok..." through our lives, but more so than ever, focusing on those breaths, and not just breathing (because the body knows how to do that without our awareness, without our consciousness), by being conscious of each breath, being aware of each breath, it brings us into the NOW moment.

And NOW is all we have.

The past is gone, it cannot harm us.

The future doesn't even exist except as we imagine it (usually wrongly so) in our mind. But we can only imagine a future that is based on our past experiences. And if the past is gone, then we are basing our future fantasies on things that are gone. And that does not work well.

So breathe....

And be mindful of your breath...

In everything you do, especially the little "brief, mindless activities" that are not linked to any thoughts, or any spinning (unlocking/locking your house door, putting detergent in the laundry machine, picking your nose, putting on lipstick, scratching your butt, pulling on a sock, and more...)

It becomes kind of like moving through water; you know the water offers resistance, and the resistance will always be there while your body is moving in that water, so you accept it, release yourself to it, and the resistance ceases to be.....

I love you!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Chime In - Traditions in Rural Japan (Video)

See what I mean? This video was auto-posted here. I did not put it here, although I am making it smaller, and centering it to clean it up and will leave it here. But be warned... it is eight minutes long, so not for the attention deficit disordered or time challenged, you click at your own risk...

There are still many traditions alive an well in rural Japan. Here is one of them that goes on every day, several times a day. I am used to it, and enjoy it, but newcomers often take some time to be accustomed to it.

This is an eight minute video, but taken over the course of 24 hours. I know it's a bit long but it was unavoidable. This is not a documentary, this is not a commercial, this is not a one minute and 27 second news clip; this is my LIFE!

Due to my settings, once I copy this from YouTube over to my Blogger video life blogspot, it then seems to get copied over to my Multiply blog as well! Well, I don't really want that to happen because I prefer uploading my videos to the Video section, and not have them embedded in a blog. But for now, it always happens, and I don't know when it's going to happen!

I love you!

Cam

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Auto-Transfering Videos

Hi.

I just uploaded two new videos to YouTube:

Chime In - Traditions in Rural Japan

New Jersey Revisited: My Yahoo! Auctions 2

I then transerred them over using the "system" to my blogspot blog where I also keep a copy of My Video Life.

That's all fine and dandy, but for some reason, probably because of the way I have to set the settings to transfer video and blogs to my blogger spots (backup copies the easy way), the videos I crosspost to Blogger get crossposted as blogs over here on Multiply as well.

That wouldn't be too bad if the quality were good, but it isn't. Multiply has that 140% normal size thing going which messes up most video quality.

The confusing thing is that I also upload to the video section as I prefer my videos to be in video, and my text blogs to be in the blog section over here on Multiply. Several people have gotten confused by the "double blogging" of my videos and I am trying to figure out how to stop that from happening.

In the meantime, when I FIND that the system has finally transferred the video from Blogger to Multiply (it takes time so I never know when it is going to happen, and often miss it until it is too late and people have already commented there), I want to delete it.

Therefore, if you find a blog that has a video in it sitting left-justified with no real major discussion or anything, or one that is obvious that I have not modified the blog in any way (i.e. shrink the video size, and center it) please assume that it is either already existing in Multiply Video, or will exist in Multiply Video, or will NOT exist in Multiply.

So please go to YouTube and watch Chime In - Traditions in Rural Japan in better quality over there if you really really want to see what that's all about and can afford 7:59 of your life to see how I live one day.

Thank you for your kind understanding in this matter.

I love you!

Cam

New Jersey Revisited: My Yahoo! Auction 2




Two more jerseys that I got for a sweet song at Yahoo! Japan Auctions arrived, and they are great!

If this video also shows up in a blog, please do NOT comment there... thank you.

I love you!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Camosophy: Relationships are Like Tubes of Toothpaste

Paula has written a blog about a part of her life, and I made a comment referring to the "toothpaste analogy" that I have "thunk up" over the years (the recent years). Then Tornado asked me "the question" that Brewin threatened people with "marriage or tar-and-feather" should anyone ask me.

Well Tornado, I'm so glad you asked! I started to write this on Paula's blog, but realized that it has become a blog in and of itself.

This is my toothpaste analogy, and how I have come to view an aspect of life that we cherish, respect, require, but also one that has dramatically changed from our parents' generation in how we regard it....

You see, marriage is a lot like a tube of toothpaste. When you first see it lined up on the shelf it's really hard to choose the one that you think is just right for you. You look at the box, the colours, what the flavour is, how much sugar is in it, whether it's designed to whiten your teeth, for smokers, for plaque, and all that stuff. And the competition is fierce, but they all have their fine points.

In the end, you pick the one you THINK is best suited to you.

You take it home...

 And you open the box.... in anticipation and excitement.... and it still looks pretty good.

You put it up on the shelf for a while because you know you have some other toothpaste you want to finish off first, but all the while you're looking at this, you are convincing yourself that this is going to give you what you really need, a clean mouth, fresh breath, reduced peridontal infection, and lovely white teeth.

So you crack it open when it's time to "do the deed" and you squeeze it onto your toothbrush (or finger if you are out camping and forgot your toothbrush) slowly... relishing the way it comes out. You think about how the commercials do it and make it look sooooo goood with that little squiggle, the wave, and the end little... *flick* back upon itself. 

Of course you don't make it look nearly as good, but you shrug. Then maybe you wet the toothpaste... or maybe you wetted the toothbrush before, or maybe you like to start dry and wet it with your own saliva, but you put it into your mouth....

And as it approaches your lips you breathe in because you want to see whether it really does have that cassis, or lemon, or orange, or wintergreen fragrance that you hope will remain upon your breath when all is done..... Do you like it? Love it? Are your first impressions (second impressions actually, because the first ones where the outside packaging) meeting your expectations? Maybe... maybe not... Maybe it's stronger than you expected, or doesn't have the favour you were hoping for, or maybe no flavour at all... or maybe it smells too sweet... No mind... no mind as you know that second impressions can also change so you forge on and plunge it into your mouth (after all, you did purchase it, and it would be a waste to just toss it away because the first smell didn't meet your possibly unrealistic expecations, right?)

And once it enters your mouth, and presses up against your teeth you are experiencing the actual toothpaste on a very tactile level. You immediately judge it by it's grit, how strong the "mint" is, how it feels in your mouth... does it foam up? is it salty? does it make you look like Cujo?

And you play with it in your mouth with your toothbrush as it mingles with your saliva, doing its supposed duty as you lovingly stroke your pearly whites....

And then you realize as the saliva moves along the tongue with the actual flavour of the toothpaste whether or not you love, like, are indifferent, don't like or find the taste absolutely disgusting. And your mind starts thinking about this in great detail, considering whether you will continue to brush, or to spit it out and rinse immediately, or to perhaps prolongue the brushing experience beyond your usually alloted moments, or perhaps you'll just finish the job and move on, unmoved.... unmoved...

But until that moment, until that very moment the toothpaste chemicals mixed with the saliva and touched the exact spot on your tongue that held the tastebuds which registered in your mind the exact experience of flavour, and more... you did not know. You could not have known whether your body and your mind would accept this, or reject it.

If you absolutely loved it, you look forward to the daily brushings. Maybe you spend more time brushing your teeth.... and your teeth will love you and reward you. Maybe you become a fan and repeat purchase the same product because it was so wonderful.... Ahhh..... life is good.... maybe you'll continue loving this toothpaste for years and years and years...

Or maybe not.

Maybe you will dislike it and throw it away immediately because it was so disgusting to you (this actually happened when I tried some kid's "bubble gum flavoured" toothpaste - I nearly gagged on the flavour and the sugar). You turn the other way, think "eh", it was only a tube of toothpaste and sure you wasted a few dollars, but at least you learned never to taste that variety again... And you move on.

Or maybe you are indifferent to it, but stick with it for whatever reason... you can't get to the store to buy another.... or it's a waste to throw away a full tube of toothpaste so you'll finish it and then look for something else....

But often, as time goes by, the body's tastes and likes/dislikes change.... just as our hair likes to change shampoo and conditioner after a while in order to "shake it up", so it is with the toothpaste. It happens, it's natural as we age that our tastebuds also mature along with us. And when that happens, sometimes what was once good, and was wonderfully meeting our needs for so very long (a drop in the cosmic bucket, actually), suddenly or even gradually begins to no longer meet our NEW needs, our changed needs that have changed and grown as have we during the growth and maturation phases of our lives.

Here is a real life example...

Mayu and I have been using the Amway toothpaste for probably over 10 years. I've loved it, loved the flavour, the way it freshens my breath, whitens my teeth (with my titanium-core toothbrush to help), gives the right amount of foam, not too much, not too little... how it doesn't leave a slime on my tongue after, and yet does a great job of cleaning off the morning cotton mouth... It's probably the best toothpaste we've ever found as it doesn't taste chemically or anything like that....

As you know, Mayu and I live a VLC Lifestyle (Very Low Carbohydrate). As the years progress, and those of you also moving in this direction will find out for yourselves in a few years more and more (maybe now you are getting a teeny inkling of what we are experiencing after 10 years of VLCL), the taste of sweet becomes stronger and stronger to the point that it becomes quite distasteful. The obvious sweets like cakes, soft drinks, etc. are noticeable early on (as Stefnee and Jenny have noticed, and Paula may be beginning to note), but the subtle ones too, become much more pronounced... and distasteful.

We have hit a point in our lives now when even the subtle amounts of sweet in our Amway toothpaste are even too sweet for us, although we have loved this toothpaste for 10 or more years, never thinking it was too sweet.

Our tastebuds have grown with us, have changed with us, and what we once loved and adored and stuck with through thick and thin for a very long time no longer suits our needs, no longer meets our needs, is no longer a toothpaste that we want in our lives.

We have a few tubes left in our "stock" and of course we will not be tossing them by the wayside, oh no. Not at all. For we are experienced enough to understand that although this toothpaste no longer meets our needs, we still have a responsibility to finish what we started out with. But we can also see that there is an end in sight, and we will not be purchasing this toothpaste any more. No longer do we believe that this toothpaste is for us "until death do us part". It no longer meets our needs.

This is not to say that the toothpaste is no good, or is terrible, or bad, or has become rotten... not at all... The toothpaste has not changed (well, maybe the manufacturer has changed the content a bit to suit the carboholic masses and to hook them to the sweet more, I cannot say), but we have. We have grown apart from the toothpaste over time. We are no longer a perfect match with this toothpaste. Therefore, it makes no sense to continually struggle with the "icky sweetness" of it by continuing to purchase it, and use it exclusively.

This is the time when it is right to make a change, a shift, a graduation, and move on to finding another tube of toothpaste that more matches our current needs, rather than continue to use one that met our needs 10 or more years ago.

Do we regret it? Do we pine over this lost opportunity to continue using this Amway toothpaste? No. Why not? Because it gave us some of the best teeth of our lives for the past 10 years! The memories of brushing, and frothing, and spitting, and rinsing, and flossing, and smiling, and checking our teeth and our smile, and our face, and our wrinkles and lines, and pimples, and aging, and hairstyle, and ... and.... and....

The things we learned about ourselves as we brushed our teeth with that wonderful Amway toothpaste are so precious, so wonderful, so filled with love and growth that neither of us has any regrets that we enjoyed it for 10 or more years, but that now we must move on and graduate to something new.

Sure, the toothpaste is too sweet now, and we are using the last tube in our stock as I write this. I don't like it anymore, but I'm not going to just toss it full, unused in the trash. I know this because before using this tube, I found another one that had a different flavour, different size, different colour, different price that has less sugar (and is cassis flavour yum!) and suits my "new and improved" tastebuds much better than the Amway stuff does now. At first when I tried it, I wasn't sure... but as I kept on using it, I really came to like it and think that when this tube of Amway is gone, I'll go out and get another tube of the other toothpaste again and use that for a while.  

But I need to finish using this tube first, to use it up. If I were younger, and inexperienced I may have just tossed it in the trash and said, "I don't like it. I don't need it." But that is rather immature, and maturity only comes through experience.

And this experience has allowed me to say that when I find a new toothpaste, and love the way it looks, although I may not immediately be in love with the taste, I am going to "give it the old college try" and stick it out for at least the entire tube before I look for something else, because my tastebuds may come to like it, I may change naturally to find it meets my needs. Of course if I abhor the taste, I won't take it any further and chock it up to experience.

But.... and this is the key point....

I have also learned this through my MBA studies, and through coming to understand business much better...

That you must try hard in your relationships, and not give up too early. And yet, after trying very hard, and working successfully, things DO change in the future as needs change (in business and in relationships). And when things change to the point that they no longer meet the needs of the parties involved, it is time to understand that a change IS necessary.

In business, to stick to a bad relationship will kill both businesses. Business leaders know this. So why do we refuse to acknowledge this in personal relationships? Why would we keep suffering through a personal relationship that is no longer mutually beneficial just because we made a promise, a contract in the beginning? People and businesses have to have that excitement, and the belief that it will last forever when they go into these agreements in the beginning, otherwise nobody would ever move forward in "joint-ventures" because all they would see is an imagined future failure and as you know, as soon as we imagine a future failure, we are hesitant to even take a chance. But just because we IMAGINE it, doesn't mean it is going to necessarily come true. If we imagine it so perfectly then yes, we are sabotaging ourselves before we start, and that is not a good thing to do in any venture.

I have come to believe that relationships, partnerships and even marriages should have the same "opt out" availability as businesses, or friendships have intrinsically built into them. Of course you need to give it time, try your best, see if you can adapt, adjust, change in ways that improve the relationship for everyone involved.

But, in the end, there are sometimes changes within a business, or an individual, or a relationship or even the properties of a tube of toothpaste that are out of our control, beyond our circle of influence, or even something that we directly influenced which led us onto a different route in life (like the VLC lifestyle that has made Mayu and I infinitely healthier).

This is life itself.

This is growth.

This is what it's all about.

This is why relationships are like tubes of toothpaste. Rolling from the end, or squeezing in the middle are just two options that we all have to enjoying our life with toothpaste!

So enjoy your tube of toothpaste as long as you can.

But when something changes so that the toothpaste no longer meets your needs, after you have tried to adapt to those changes and still find that it no longer works for you... think about letting that toothpaste go, and moving on to something that meets your needs now. But always work hard at choosing a toothpaste which best suits your needs, learning from your past experiences with toothpaste. The worst thing you could do is to learn you don't like a certain kind of toothpaste, and then go right out and buy the same kind of toothpaste again.

Having a tube of toothpaste that no longer meets your needs is NOT a failure, in any way, shape or form. Nope. Not at all because that toothpaste did give you exactly what you wanted and needed for a very long time. You learned a lot about yourself, and about the toothpaste through your relationship with it. You EXPERIENCED LIFE through that toothpaste for the duration of time you partnered with it. It met your needs, and you shared your love of it, with it in return.

Just don't go out and get the same toothpaste again. THAT would be really really dumb.

I have accounting, and then I'm off to Sabae for the day, but before I do anything else, after I hit "Save & Publish" I need to go and lovingly brush my teeth with the last tube of our Amway toothpaste, and reflect upon the NOW, upon my breathings, upon life as I am in it at this very moment.

The past is gone, it cannot be changed. The past cannot harm us. The future will never happen so it cannot affect us. Every future moment will become a NOW moment, and that NOW moment is where we need to live. In so doing, our future is affected, but not in a future sense, in a NOW sense.

So the next time you are mindlessly brushing your teeth, think of your breath, look into your eyes, feel your presence as you brush every tooth. Feel the brush on the teeth, the foam in the mouth, the taste on the tongue. Listen to the squeak as the toothpaste and toothbrush do their work. And don't forget to breathe...

My teeth & I love you!

Cam

P.S. I wonder if "My Teeth & I" would be a good sequel to "The King & I".... hmmm... a future YouTube video by Tugaboo Films....

P.P.S. Thanks Tornado, so much for asking! I love you!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Historical Carolinian Overlay

I don't know how to explain this...

I've been thinking about it since it occurred while visiting Mavis in North Carolina this past January. I guess I should just tell the story, though it won't be long.

As you know, Sheila came into Asheville to meet me. We spent a fantastic day there and then she drove me the several hours back to her home in the countryside. It seemed like a long drive as we had to go over the mountains and into a different valley a few hours away.

As we approached her neck of the woods, I was sitting there quietly looking at the scenery and (for me) a VERY strange thing started to occur...

As I sat there watching the landscape flow by, I began to see... historical landscape overlaid on the current modern surroundings. Does that make sense? At first I began to see a wooded, peaceful scene with Indian villages, hunting grounds, and ... life.

Then as we continued driving on top of that I was able to see white man moving into this area, starting their own colonies, battling the locals.

Then I could see battles among white soldiers going on in the woods, the forests, along the rivers. I was able to see dead soldiers bleeding into the creek, dying, fighting, bayoneting, and more carnage.

It was very very strange for me as I have no "afterlife" spiritual contact that I know of. I have never met, seen, felt the presence of ghosts or spirits. Ever. This was a first time for me and I explained it to Sheila as we drove.

She found my discussion to be intriguing, and maybe she can add something in the comment section because it's kind of faded now as it all blended into the landscape in layers that I was able to witness all at the same time. It was like I was driving through history, but slices of historical times all at the same time!

Once we drove a little further, it all stopped. I tried to see if I could see more later on, but I couldn't; it was that one time, one area only. And I never saw it again.

Sheila looked into the local area for me and found some very interesting information that shows it is actually a historic site where some revolutionary war battles took place and how North Carolinian militia helped bring about the end of the British Occupation. This area is a part of what is known as the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.

In the fall of 1780, upcountry patriots from Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina formed a militia to drive the British from the southern colonies. This trail marks their 14-day trek across the Appalachians to the Piedmont region of the Carolinas. There they defeated British troops at the Battle of Kings Mountain, setting in motion events that led to the British surrender at Yorktown and the end of the Revolutionary War.

Here is a link if you want to read a nice slice of this bit of history about Morganton and about North Carolina and the part that the state played in the defeat of the British.

One of the towns we drove through was Morganton. Here is some more information that Sheila sent me...

Morganton

The first settlement here was called McDowell's Station after a fortified house and store built by Charles McDowell's father. No one is sure where that building or the house of 1780 stood.
The seat of Burke County, Morganton is the midpoint of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. The Wilkes-Surry segment joins the main route here. Both routes come downtown to the square in which the Old Burke Courthouse sits.

When we drove through this town, Sheila pointed out this courthouse. It was a gorgeous old stone building that fascinated me! Next time I hope we can stop and go inside because I love old buildings.

I don't know what else to say about this event that occurred for a brief period of time, and then never again, but it was bizarre enough for me to take vocal note of and discuss with Sheila at the time.

I love you!

Cam

(The image at the beginning of this post is the McDowell House Plantation).

P.S. You know.... upon reading this information... it sounds a lot like the local militia formed in Iraq that are battling against other "occupying forces" in order to drive them out and maintain their desire for independence... Isn't it funny how we can look at a similar event in two completely different ways?

Monday, May 19, 2008

NEED BACON!

Is there anybody out there reading this...

Anybody on a military base in Japan...

That can send me bacon?

I'll pay!

I'll pay money...

real money ...

for real bacon!

I love you!

I really really do!!

Just send bacon!!!

Cam

P.S. Although duly appreciated, due to import restrictions on all meat products, international applicants need not apply.

 

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Airing Axe Murderer's Laundry




This is a video response to the video that Jen, DavID and BikerBabe left for me on my comment section.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Shizugatake to Yamamoto Yama

Masaki picked me up about 10:00 this morning and we drove to Lake Yogo in Shiga prefecture. We parked the car, changed, and made the 10 minute ride to the opposite end of the lake. It was a perfect warm-up ride with low humidity, and beautiful temperatures. The breeze was refreshing. Here you can see Lake Yogo, or our starting point. This is looking down from the peak of Mt. Shizugatake.

Then we started to climb Mt. Shizugatake... I've been on this route with Masaki before to the top of the mountain. It's not a high mountain at all (422m or about 1,200ft) but it is VERY steep. We had to drag and push/pull our bikes up the entire 1.4km hiking trail (there are wood steps built in to give you an idea of how steep it is).

Used by wayfarers, merchants, warriors and monks these footpaths have been traversed by tens of thousands of people for over a thousand years, so this is a very special place in the history of Japan (and in a region where a very large number of decisive major battles and wars were won and lost throughout the country's violent history).

At the top is a rest area where a gondola comes up to from the other side of the mountain. We met many elderly people hiking the mountain. Young people don't hike in Japan. They were all astounded to see us with our bikes at the top of the mountain.

Normally we would ride our bikes back down another meandering ridge trail to the lake, then to the car and head home, but this time Masaki had the idea in his brain to go over to Yamamoto Yama (Mt. Yamamoto) which was clearly visible ..."over there". "Over there" meant we would have to take a hiking trail another 7.5km (4.7mi) up and over three more mountains before getting to the peak of Yamamoto Yama (elevation 324m or 975ft). Again, it really isn't a high mountain at all, but it splits the valley where Kinomoto City is, and Lake Biwa which is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, and the third oldest lake in the world. You can read about Lake Biwa here. This photo is what Lake Biwa looks like from the top of Shizugatake.

Shizugatake is a very interesting mountain because it is the site of an ancient battle where a huge number of soldiers were killed (20,000 soldiers vs. 8,000 on the other side battled).

The Battle of Shizugatake was a battle in Sengoku period Japan between supporters of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobutaka. In May, 1583, a former general of Nobunaga's named Shibata Katsuie coordinated a number of simultaneous attacks on Shizugatake which was held by Hideyoshi's general Nakagawa Kiyohide. Sakuma Morimasa attacked on orders from Shibata Katsuie, and Nakagawa was killed, but the fortress' defenses held. Hearing that Hideyoshi was coming with reinforcements, Sakuma ordered his men to break the siege lines and prepare to defend themselves.

Hideyoshi's army pushed Sakuma's forces into a rout and pursued them back to Shibata Katsuie's fortress at Kita-no-shō (downtown Fukui City, right in the area we always park our car to go shopping) in Echizen province (the old name for Fukui Prefecture, where I live). They seized the castle but not before Shibata lit the keep on fire, killed his family and committed seppuku (typical as being caught by the enemy was until the end of WWII the biggest disgrace possible).

Hideyoshi's chief seven generals in this battle earned a great degree of fame and honor, and came to be known as the shichi-hon yari or 'Seven Spears' of Shizugatake.

There are several places that depict this battle, with ojizo-san to commemorate all the fallen soldiers. It is a very special place in the history of the area.

We hemmed and hawed about going to Yamamoto Yama because it looked like we would have a LOT of up-down hauling of our bikes. And we did. And my heels got ripped apart in my shoes. And my quads, and calves and hamstrings, and basically every muscle in my lower legs will be screaming in my sleep tonight... But we made it. To the top of Yamamoto Yama.

That mountain is not high at all (and John Salisbury Steak is probably laughing at the elevation right now), but I think he too would be amazed at how steep the trails are and how much hauling you have to do to get up those little mountains (and across four just to get to that one!) This picture depicts the exact route we rode/walked from the top of Shizugatake to Yamamoto Yama (furthest peak).

The spots we could ride from Shizugatake to Yamamoto Yama were heavenly! They remind me very much of my Heisenji Single Track rides before the downhillers found it and destroyed it with their fat tires, high speed, and heavy breaking. The soil was firm, yet smooth, not a lot of rocks or tree roots, so aside from some spots being steep, it was a pleasure to ride. Here you can see a great example of what the ridge hiking trail was like (when we weren't hauling our bikes UP UP UP the steep parts!)

Just before the final ascent on Yamamoto Yama (1mile up of hiking with our bikes on very steep mountainside) we saw another trail that came up from Lake Biwa Side and went down the other side to the Kinomoto side. There was a sign that said that this trail was used as the main route for the school children to hike to school every day. It was used for at least 40 years and... just thinking of all these little kids going over a mountain to school, then over again to go home, through rain, heavy snows... it boggles the mind. This was from about 100 years ago so you can easily imagine what they wore back then and how open they were to the elements... Amazing what "people of yore" were capable of doing without our technology...

At the top of Yamamoto Yama there used to be an old castle. This castle apparently was built back in the 1100s. There were various areas that had been flattened out and signs showing where the castle was, but nothing was left. We believe it was probably a wooden fortification built with the trees on the mountain. The picture here you can see is how the fort was apparently designed. Very interesting indeed.... You can see some more photos of the flat areas where the castle existed on this website and also some larger photos here.

We rested up in this area for a while, and then rode back down the trails to the flatland, then several kilometers to Kinomoto City where we stopped in and visited a friend of Masaki's mother's who is 87 years old and extremely healthy!

The wind on the way there was very strong so it was slow going but we made it.

She made us eat cakes and drink lots of tea while we chatted. The cakes were good but the sugar zonked us on the last 5km back to the car against a very strong headwind. We only had breakfast today and munched on beef jerky that Pandasu brought when she came to visit. Amazingly (not really) the meat kept us from feeling hungry completely. It was wonderful not to be trapped in the constant thought of food, even though we hadn't eaten lunch. But after the cakes, we were both dehydrated, sleepy, exhausted and quite hungry.

On the way back, we found that the road we wanted to drive was closed due to landslides, so Masaki went around the DO NOT ENTER! barricade and we zipped off on an old side road that took us up and over another mountain and back down again to the Fukui side valley where we hopped on the expressway and returned.

After a quick coffee, Masaki headed home. I cooked a steak dinner with salted cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce, and fried some sprouts in the steak juice. It was quite satisfying. I need to head to the shower now, as I have six hour helmet head and bug repellent skin, but it was worth it.

We did it. And we won't do it again.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. I didn't take my camera today, so these photos are linked to existing ones on the internet just so you can see what it was like.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Baby Guts

I was out of the house for most of the day today doing work. Yes, I do work. Yes, I do. Then I took Mayu's computer to my computer guy to see if we could figure out the problems she's been having with it.

You see, the DVD/CD player doesn't work properly, and has gotten worse as time goes on. Yesterday I was finally able to get it to open by pressing the button; until that time the only way to open it was to go in through the icons and click "open". It doesn't recognize any DVDs and it ... sometimes... plays CDs.

The other problem is that although her glidepad works fine, the left/right buttons seem totally dead. Very strange indeed. I tried reinstalling the drivers, and various other things, all to no avail. So she has been using a mouse on her notebook these past few months, while it has been pure glidepad since she bought this computer from our computer guy several years ago.

So today I took it in and we took it apart. Mother of God it has a lot of screws! I think there were like 35 screws all told holding the top and bottom together and we had to search to find them all because some of them were hidden in ingenious spots and of course prevented us from opening it up to look inside.

Here is what a high-end notebook looks like totally ripped apart, if you have never seen it...

DON'T TRY THIS @ HOME!

I wouldn't advise doing this on your own because the componentry is so miniaturized that it really is amazing. It's no wonder they have asian women putting this stuff together! A man's fingers really are too big and bulky to do this work.

The disc player seems to not work, and the model is no longer in existence. They haven't made it anymore for a few years and we couldn't find any shops on the net that sell it. So no more playing CDs or DVDs or even installing software on that computer! Mayu wants to listen to music with it so she has decided to get an SD card and transfer music that way. Her car navigation also takes SD cards so she can download music to the SD card and transfer it to the car's hard disc drive and have the stuff there, too (cool machine these Japanese car navi systems are these days with their XXXGB hard disc drives).

Then we looked at the glide pad unit and took that out. It seems that one of the leads going to the buttons has been totally burned out. My computer guy soldered another wire to it to see if it would work, but when we put it back together, it was still totally dead. The IC Unit must also have shorted out or something. That means that Mayu is stuck with using just the mouse now.

After three hours we got it all back together and I paid only JPY 3,150 (USD $32) for the time so that's pretty good.

We could send it out to Toshiba but as the warranty ended a few years ago, it would get fixed... but cost a pretty penny. And since she can still use this excellent computer (it really is a very good one with awesome stereo sound, and a glass monitor that is ultra high quality) with these couple of modification, I guess that's the way it shall sit.

Oh, the computer I bought in 1998 and haven't been able to use anymore because it is a first generation celeron chip, with only 64MB Ram and 4GB HD... I finally decided to get rid of it. I contacted Hitachi online and filled in a request to have it recycled. It will cost me JPY 3,150 ($32.00) to have it recycled, but that's good. It means it is supposed to go to a safe place, the metals removed and recycled, the dangerous stuff disposed of appropriately, and other things reused if possible. The reality of the situation of course, is more like what I saw in my National Geographic a few months back where like the USA, old computers get shipped off to central China where people dying of toxic diseases make pennies "recycling" it, melting the metals down, and enjoying toxic lead, mercury and other melting metal gases in their lungs on a daily basis.

I just hope they don't do that where they make the milk that they ship to Japan (shipped to Japan) for making butter...

Off to a ride with Masaki tomorrow. Long drive, killer ride probably knowing him, and then home to leg cramps in the night.

I love you!

Cam

Thursday, May 15, 2008

I Heart New Jersey!

A funny thing happened on the way to the website...

I have run perilously low on cycling jerseys and have only one left for regular use, and one for very hot weather. So, thinking I might be able to get something cheap on Yahoo! Auctions (Japan), I searched, and THIS jumped out at me!!

I decided that I just HAD to have it. And the price was great too (if I could get it for around the starting price...)! Normally new jerseys go for JPY 4,000 -8,000 ($40-80) over here. Companies that make jerseys for advertising often use cheaper, less technical material so in the end this jersey will likely not be fantastic material, but that's OK. The fact that it has my name on it is just too cool to pass up!

Cameron is an "energy-related company" that produces oil and gas pressure-control equipment so it's rather interesting to have a jersey with their/my name on it. Corporate HQ are located in Houston, TX.... hmmmm, very interesting indeed. Maybe if I'm ever back in that neck of the woods I can pop in on them with my jersey bought on an auction in Japan and blow their minds... Maybe they'll hire me to be their oily PR monkey! How exciting!

The seller of this jersey (looks like a store as they have lots of other stuff for sale as well), wanted JPY 7,900, but I got it for JPY 2,100. It started the bid at JPY 1,000 and some bugger bid it up. Well, I put in my max bid at JPY 2,100 and there it stayed!

I also am hoping to get a pair of LEVI 501 32" Waist jeans from them. The leg length only comes to just about my knees (are these Japanese midgets or what?!), but my intention is to cut them off and make a ragged pair of cut off jean shorts. But this is only IF I can get them for my initial bid of JPY 1,000 ($10). I have no interest in bidding higher for them. If I get them, great, if not, no big deal. This would just be a bonus for the seller (so I asked them if they would end the auction early... we will see if they will, or if they are greedy and want more money for them).

Anyway, just one more thing out there in the world with my name on it.

I heart new jersey!

Have a nice day.

I love you!

Cameron

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Plaque Off! - What your Ego doesn't want you to know...

... and will do everything in its power to prevent you from accepting.

Are you ready for this? I don't know if you're ready for this... In fact I'm not really sure many of you can really handle this. I have this feeling your mind will say, "cool..." and that's about it because it won't let you actually realize the profoundness of what I am about to tell you. How will I know this? Well, if you don't act after reading this, then I am pretty darn sure that decades of medical misinformation still has you in its grip. That would be your ego preventing you from truly understanding.

I really am serious about this. Dead serious. I am always serious when I talk about Brian Peskin's Parent Essential Oils, carbohydrates, "former EFAs", healthy fats, etc. etc. Most people read it, some skim, for a very small few it profoundly affects your world and you have a paradigm shift (like I did 10 years ago). But, for the majority of people, there are numerous "reasons" why this stuff never sinks in. Of course the good majority of reasons that are held onto are based on government, medical, and especially nutritional information that is completely incorrect, has been shown to be incorrect, but has never been allowed to be corrected because the mass media is too scared shitless to make a real stand. And we hold onto it because we cannot accept that they could be wrong, because it would mean that we would have to be wrong too, for believing in them.

Nutritionists, doctors and nurses will fight tooth and nail to deny this stuff because it completely undermines their entire education and will make their egos (often huge egos) die horrible deaths. For the ego, being wrong means death, and it will do everything in its power to prevent that, even cause the mind to enact conflict and attack in order to "protect" what it refuses to give up.

The sad thing is, everything we have learned regarding this topic up until Brian's research has been either entirely wrong, or partially incorrect, or misled half-truths that went hog wild and made us sicker than before (statins are a great example).

I know that even this introduction is going to get the hackles up of a lot of people, but again, that will just be their ego trying to protect their judgements, beliefs, opinions, positions and prejudices, which are pretty much irrelevant, and not even real, except as perceived by the person who holds them. The trick to get beyond the "counter attack" feeling (that is probably growing in some of you already, just after reading this seemingly "in your face, cocksure attitude" is to admit that you have these judgements, beliefs, opinions, positions and prejudices (I have lots), but then also admit that they are not you, and that you can step beyond them, change them, dissolve them, and grow past them (what I have been trying to do this past half year).

You have to understand the concept of "thinking in the Gap", or the space between what your ego puts into your mind, and how you respond. That gap exists, and in there is where you can allow yourself to try to see things differently. It's tough, but it can be don. You just have to stop yourself from the "instant attack back knee jerk reflex" that so often comes up (believe me, I know this all too well).

Are you ready to have your multiverse rocked? Read this carefully, closely, and thoughtfully. Be very very present when you read it, don't be doing or thinking anything else otherwise your judgements, beliefs, opinions, positions and prejudices will most likely prevent you from seeing the HUGE significance of what I am about to tell you regarding YOUR health and YOUR body....

I was introducing a friend to Brian's PEOs through Khanada, and wrote a letter to her. She wrote back with some earth shattering news!

Read on...

And, be very very prepared to have your mind, your ego, say and do things to either discount it, poopoo it, minimize it, put it off for another rainy day, or totally scroll by and ignore completely..

But if you do, please know that you do so at your own future peril.

You have been warned, because I care about you and your health. And I am willing to put up with some discomfort of some of your egos getting angry at me because I think this is important to share with you. And I am hoping what I want to share can get PAST your ego, which will most likely block you from truly understanding and accepting this information, and likely block you from acting upon it...

Good luck. I hope it gets past your ego. Don't beat yourself up if it doesn't, though, OK? And I won't either because the ego is an amazingly powerful entity that basically controls us for the majority of our entire lives. It is extremely powerful because it has the ability to make us believe that what it wants is what we really want (at all costs) - which is false; but the ego won't let us figure that out in most cases.

Confusing? I've only just begun!

Know this: I love you! - Cam

[Email from Khanada to me]

Last week Prof. Peskin went to Florida to visit a radiologist who uses one of those very high tech imaging machines [64-slice MDCT] to measure arterial plaque. Recently he had a patient in his 60's who has been smoking for decades and who goes in yearly to get his scan.

This year when he had it done his plaque had gone down 22% in spite of his smoking! In one year to drop this much is impossible (just as impossible as my friend Kiyota in Tokyo who's diabetes has been "cured completely" after he listened to me, cut carbs dramatically, and started taking the EFAs.  The doctor was flabbergasted!

He said "This never happens! What are you doing differently?" The patient told him, "I'm taking these 'oxygen pills' from Prof. Peskin." So, this doctor bought Brian's book, The Hidden Story of Cancer and after starting to read it,  he invited Brian to come meet with him.

Well, he offered to give Brian a scan to see the state of his arteries. Brian, with complete confidence said. "It will be zero! There's no plaque in there." The doc gave him a patronizing expression, as they so often like to do, and then performed the scan.

On a scale from 1 to 100... where do you think Peskin's arterial plaque measured? Now keep in mind, this is a man who has been eating high-protein, high-fat and low-carb for years and years, and virtually no exercise – he’s too busy!! It has been a bit over 10 years now as well as taking the EFAs he developed at first in his own kitchen.  

The doctor's mouth dropped open and he said, "Your score is... zero!" Well, and he'd NEVER seen that before in any adult. Brian is in his 50's. That is literally unheard of! 

You see, Prof. Peskin's EFAs contain parent omega 6 essential oils as well as parent omega 3 essential fatty acids he calls them PEOs. There are literally NO other supplements on the market that are as close to 100% parent oils [he uses a bit of GLA, too] and hardly any with any omega 6 in them... These simple facts make the most vital difference in effectiveness.

If you call ANY EFA manufacturer other than us (Y.E.S. Supplements) and ask them to explain Parent as opposed to derivative EFAs.... ask them to explain the importance of unadulterated parent omega 6... they will have NO answer for you.