The Future Looks Bright

Begin Year 3

Sunrise at the Treehouse Apartments 12/23/09

I moved into my Treehouse apartment in Redding, on 12/21/2007, to begin a new awareness of this wonderful world I live in.

When I first arrived here, I was semi-helpless and relying heavily upon the good graces of the cosmic consciousness to carry me through each day. That worked wonderfully well, and if things aren't going well in your life, I highly recommend letting a higher power lead the way. I am stronger now, 2 years later, but I have come to rely upon the advice and direction of God, as I understand It. It works for me.

Shasta

Lassen

I Love It Here

Clear day today and beautiful.  12/23/09

I am so fortunate to have been called to Redding when I needed some healing of my body and soul. I never imagined I would be living in Redding, let alone thriving. What a wonderland of nature and people.

Gun At A Snowball Fight

See the AP footage, HERE.

This genius off duty policeman got out and drew his gun after his car was hit by a snowball while driving through a 200 person snowball fight. Fox news tried to spin this in the cops favor by claiming it was a peace demonstration that got out of control and he was defending himself from the violent protesters. Unfortunately for the cop and Fox, the Associated Press got the real story on video.

AP - Washington's police chief criticized a veteran detective Monday for pulling a gun during a mass snowball fight. Authorities said the officer is on desk duty while the case is under investigation.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December.
Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring.
Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzin, had to be a girl.
We should have known…...
ONLY women would be able to drag a fat-ass man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost.

Methland by Nick Reding

One of the books I am currently reading addresses methamphetamine and the deterioration of Americas heartland. It is heartbreaking and frightening to read about what is happening to the fabric of what used to be thriving small towns all across America. There is nothing good about this drug that is permanently altering the brains of those who use it. From it's discovery in 1898, it was the perfect fuel for the industrial revolution. Workers would feel good about 12 hour shifts. Soldiers would march for days. It was considered to be the wonder drug that did it all. Read how the DEA screwed up and let the pharmaceutical company lobbyists block efforts to control the illicit manufacture of this drug. Learn the story of how one teenage girl in Iowa, became Americas biggest manufacturer and distributor of the purest, most potent form of methamphetamine ever made.

This story is astonishing.

METH SONG

On The First Day Of Christmas

One of the reasons for ‘Phil’s Notes’ being a less publicized blog, is that I tend to be more expansive and inclusive of a broader spectrum of studies and opinions than most of my ‘Phil’s Place’ readers would be comfortable with.

Some of them have not had the benefit of a well rounded education.

Unenlightened, under-educated, and intellectually challenged, they are fearful of what they don’t understand. This means that they live in a state of constant fear because there is so much that they don’t comprehend. They distrust science, history, philosophy, and all knowledge that comes as a result of higher learning. They don’t read books, listen to classical music, or give a rat’s ass about healthy nutrition.

They can get confused easily, and when they are confused, they become frightened, and their state of fear makes them dangerous. They are good people if you don’t scare them with big words and unfamiliar subjects. I consider some of those people to be my friends. I don’t direct them here.

Here is where I can examine religious belief systems and present a broader concept of the power that brought about this universe.

I can call this infinite power God.

It, She, He, is much bigger than any religious description we humans can conceive of. I figure if it can create the universe, and all that is in it, it certainly is capable of being anything we can imagine. Can God possibly have an individual, personal plan for each and every human on the planet? Sure, why not? That would be child’s play compared to creating the milky way galaxy.

Explaining this simple concept to someone without the knowledge or mental capacity to understand it, is difficult. Siddartha Gautama, (The Buddha), tried to explain how to engage the essence of creation in ourselves, I can understand him.

God has been explained with hundreds of metaphors, images, parables, songs and plays, and I can reach God through each and every turtle story and fervent praying exercise that I have tried. But how can I share that joy, that bliss, that serenity with those who’s minds and hearts are imprisoned by a lack of education and compassion?

I am learning that the best way I can give the key to happiness, is to just be me. Like the song says; “This little light of mine. I’m gonna let  it shine”.

This seems simple enough, but to illuminate the darkness? To shine a light into the fog of negativity that is being pumped over the land like inky emissions from coal fired power plants? To banish the lies and anger that drives the Fox Faithful, the Apocalyptic Christians, and the plain old crazy, can be a little scary.

They cling to their beliefs because they are frightened. They are frightened because they lack the tools to obtain further knowledge and information. Their fear causes them to burn witches at the stake, to storm the castle with pitchforks and torches, to mistrust anything scientific.

However, this experiment in writing is mine. I am sharing it with you, but I am also writing it for the future me who will read it and observe myself from another perspective. Part journal, part research, part chapters for the book, and part therapy, I present this years take on my Christmas in 2009.

Santa's Birth Certificate?

A man named Nicholas was born in Turkey in 280 AD. He was very pious from an early age and devoted his life to Christianity. He eventually became a Christian priest and later became a bishop.

Nicholas had a reputation as a kindly, wise soul who was generous toward the poor. He was a rich young man who didn't like to be seen giving gifts. He traveled the country helping people, always at night after the children were asleep.

Who Is This?

• Virgin birth
• Twelve followers
• Killing and resurrection
• Miracles
• Birthdate on December 25
• Morality
• Mankind's savior
• Known as the Light of the world

If you guessed Jesus, you would be mistaken. This describes a Persian sun god named Mithras.

Zoroastrian worship of the sun god included such notions as Mithras being born of a virgin in a cave on December 25. His birth was attended by shepherds. He was considered to be a master and a teacher. He traveled with 12 companions, performed miracles and promised immortality to those who believed in him. Upon his death, he was buried in a tomb and rose again after three days on March 25 (Easter).

Mithras preceded Christ by approximately 600 years.

The Saturnalia was the Roman Winter holiday.
Saturn (Cronus in Greek) was the original creator of man in the Golden Age, when there was no winter and everyone was happy.

In A.D. 354, the birth of Jesus Christ was set on December 25. The date is not believed to be accurate and is the same as the birth date of Mithras. Like the other holidays, Christmas is celebrated with festivity and gift-giving. It seems to have absorbed Mithras and Saturnalia traditions.

Hanukkah 164 B. C.
(Hanukah / Hanuka / Chanukah) is a festival of lights that is symbolized by the candelabrum known as a menorah. Hanukkah celebrates a lighting miracle when one night's worth of oil lit candles for 8 days. Special foods and gift-giving are also a part of Hanukkah.

Brumalia was a Greek winter holiday associated with Dionysus (1,500 B.C.), and wine. By the time of the winter Brumalia, the wine was ready to be poured into jars for drinking. Although a Greek holiday, the name Brumalia is Latin, bruma being the Latin for Winter Solstice.

The Hindu Sankranti historically takes place on the Solstice, although the date is January 14, which gives evidence to how much time has elapsed since it started. It is believed that people who die on this day end the reincarnation cycle, for which reason it is very lucky. Gifts are exchanged, sweets and other special food are consumed, and bonfires are lit on Sankranti eve, which is known as Lohari.

Yule
At the Winter Solstice, a boar's head is offered to the Vanir god Freyr.

There are many ways to celebrate the Winter Solstice, and every one of them are just as valid as the others. The one thing you can count on is that the days will be getting longer after the celebrations.

Recent excavations in  German caves have revealed art and musical instruments from 15,000 years before the Hebrew God created the world. Musicians and artists have been around before creation, if you take the Bible literally.

Happy Holidays

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Shades Of Gray

The sky looks like the sun is trying to shine through skim milk. Gray, grey, it can be spelled either way, I just know I don’t care much for milk that’s that color.

It’s Thanksgiving, 2009.

I am living in the little town of Redding, California. I have been thinking about what happens, and what we think is happening. It can drive you crazy if you let it.

I have been wanting to write some tunes for the band. I think we could write a couple together. We will see what transpires. In the meantime, I wonder if it’s okay to use some of the songs I have already written?

This brings me to... “Shades Of Gray”.

I wrote and recorded this song in 1985. If the band learns to play it, would it be a "cover" of one of my songs?
Shades Of Gray by Phil Seymour
Shades Of Yellow

In the meditation garden behind City Hall  11/24/09

I’m not a kid
But I believe that love is magic

I’m not a kid
But my eyes are still wide open

Winter On Mars

Time to watch the Macy's parade. There's a girl singing on the Jimmy Dean sausage float. Hey, there's a Sponge Bob balloon.

Happy Thanksgiving

Living Dangerously

Germ Free

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have confirmed what public health officials have been saying for some time. The Swine Flu, pandemic H1N1, is unusually deadly for young people in the United States.

Younger people are at greater risk of catching swine flu, with most cases occurring in teenagers, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

What This Tells Me

Squinting in the sunshine Phil.

Two things came to mind when I read these stories;

1. Kids today are raised without a full compliment of germ exposure.
2. Our newspapers are United States Centric.
   

Germ Exposure

Flowers bloom in Dorothy's flower bed. 10/20/09

The last time we tried to sanitize our lives was when breast feeding was discouraged, and babies were kept away from dirt. This resulted in a polio epidemic.

Children were not given the thousands of years worth of immunities from breast milk, and they became sitting ducks for polio.

It looks like we have done it again. Only this time, the likely culprits could be anti-bacterial soaps, cleaners, wipes, and the sterilized foodstuff we have fed our children.  Now children are sitting ducks for swine flu.

Small World

The first headline is from the San Francisco Examiner, the second from the Philippines. The Examiner is just about the United States, while the Philippine article concerns the whole world.

Our country's news outlets do not give us the big picture. This is nothing new, except that now we have the internet, and those people who take advantage of this worldwide source of information can develop a greater sense of the Earth and what is happening on it.

A bit of snow on Lassen from the recent rainstorm.

Dead Battery

When I got into the Buick this afternoon to go to the store, I heard something ticking. It seemed to be coming from the glove box, so I opened it up to see what it might be. The tone changed, but the ticking remained. I figured it must be something attached to the firewall. I wondered if it had anything to do with the battery being low. I closed the glove compartment, put the key in the ignition, and turned it.

Click. The dreaded sound of the last of the juice pushing the plunger in the solenoid, announcing that the battery was too far down to turn over the engine.

Oh well, no problem. I would just call AAA and they will send someone out to give me a jump. I went back upstairs to my apartment and got out my AAA card. Before I made the call for service, I checked the expiration date because I didn't remember receiving a bill this year. July 2008! Oops. How did that slip by?

I called India to talk with a woman about my membership and it had indeed expired. They didn't have my current address and the bill was sent to an old P.O. box I had 3 years ago in Carmel Valley. The woman in India gave me a nice, heavily accented, sales pitch and was prepared to accept my Visa or Mastercard over the phone to reinstate me, but I said I would prefer to go to my local AAA office and pay by check. I wonder, with the state of my economy, if I can justify that expense?

Justifiable Expense?
$400 a gallon. That's what a recent report concluded it costs to put gas in the vehicles used by the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan. If that doesn't startle you, the Marines burn $320,000,000 worth of fuel every day we continue this war against an enemy that lives in caves and mud huts!

I am hoping that I will discover that a loose connection is the cause of the dead battery. I really cant afford to buy a new battery at this time, the government just took another $60 a month from my Social Security check to help balance the budget.

How much more is it going to cost us to "get even" with those guys who crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center?

Music To My Ears

Ringing

The big, giant, ring has a diameter equivalent to 300 Saturns lined up side to side. And it's thick too -- about 20 Saturns could fit into its vertical height.

It just seems amazing to me, how many new discoveries we are making in the 21st century. One of the ones I am researching for a future post; DNA and skeletal evidence shows that apes descended from humans!

I love to learn new things.

I Now Have A Lady Doctor

No, not Elizabeth Blackwell, but I don't have a picture of Lynn McCallum, M.D., yet. I had an appointment with her October 6th, to get acquainted. I consider myself fortunate to have been accepted as a new Medicare patient. I will be seeing Kelie Mercier, FNP-C, who will be my nurse practitioner at Dr, Mc Callum's offices. Everyone was very nice to me, and the offices felt very comfortable.

I am happy to have a Doctor, here in Redding. I have been scheduled for a bunch of tests and an appointment next month, as part of a complete physical. I will be glad to find out the state of my body. I can't remember when I last had a physical, so it should be an interesting adventure.

Funny Thing

Cattle amid the lupine along Highway 68. May, 2003.

I have had calls recently from places in Carmel Valley where I had put in applications 3 years ago. My name finally made it to the top of the list, 2 years too late.

I would have turned cartwheels at the news, in 2006, but I got lucky and was called to this place where I have become more enlightened, happy and healthy, than had I stayed in Monterey County. Carmel Valley is truly beautiful and inspiring, and I enjoyed beauty and inspiration for 16 years, there.

I love living in the here and now, in Redding.

"Doh!"

Coming to a news stand near you. Oct 17th.

This is a Playboy magazine you really should keep in the dresser drawer. It is already being called a collectors item. When I think of what my original Marilyn Monroe Playboy would be worth today, I am tempted to rush out and buy one of the Marge Simpson Playboys and put it in a safe deposit box as my retirement fund.

Nobel Prize Winner

The world's people love our president.

This is a good thing.

The right wing lunatics are throwing tantrums.

Next week they will fuss and cry about something else.

I have some interesting projects in the works.

Life is good.

Peace is possible.

Water Under The Bridge

Arsenic and Old Lakes

Don't go near the water.

I got a notice today from Redding Municipal Utilities telling me, (and I guess the other people who get mail), that in compliance with the federal USEPA maximum contaminant level for Arsenic of 2006, the use of highly contaminated wells is being diminished, and the water supply is being diluted by less contaminated wells and surface water to bring our water into compliance with the 2006 levels.

I feel so much better about spending money for bottled water. Some people who have been drinking this water for years, "may experience skin damage or circulatory system problems, and may have an increased risk to getting cancer". I guess I should be happy I don't live in the south and east redding pressure zones where the arsenic levels exceed the standard during summer peak demand.

This is not natural. This is the product of the mining on Iron Mountain. It has been polluting the Sacramento river for over 100 years. They are assembling a "Super Dredge" to scour the hundreds of tons of toxic goop from the bottom of Keswick lake and Crystal springs toxic holding pond. This is some of the most toxic stuff on planet Earth that seeps into the Sacramento river and the Redding water table. Arsenic is just one of the poisonous substances in this sludge. The plan is to move the dredged toxic mess up the side of the mountain, into specially designed holding ponds where it will stay until they can figure out what to do with it. This, "plan", is costing more than 20 million dollars of Superfund toxic clean up money.

This will become interesting once the Super Dredge becomes contaminated and inoperable, then it will slowly dissolve into the toxic lake to become part of the problem.

What Happened To Nature?

Screaming kids would be eaten by wild animals thereby culling that undesirable trait from the gene pool.

People doing something stupid would not live to replicate.

Ahh, the good old days when we were likely to die of "natural" causes by the time we were 35.

I was reading an article about how most deaths in our country these days, are self inflicted. That would include such things as smoking, drugs, drinking, risky sex, and even simple things like not wearing a seatbelt. The author pointed out that to buckle up can cost you 3 seconds. To choose not to use a seat belt can cost you your life.

Even though we know better, we choose to shorten our lives by eating large quantities of unhealthy food, knowing it will lead to diabetes, heart disease, and a host of other life shortening issues. Diet soda is not food! If you are drinking it, just stop it, it's killing you! Those carbon dioxide bubbles are stressing your digestive system by killing the natural bacterial process. The chemical flavors and sweeteners are not recognized as food and are causing malfunctions in the digestion of real food.

To eat "fake" food is suicide. It causes your body to think it is starving and turns your hunger switch on full time. You can't help but eat crap food until your body is a bloated, misshapen, blob of health issues, and still you need to eat more because you are eating low calorie, non-fat, non-nutritious, FAKE FOOD!

The lions would have eliminated the slow, fat people, in no time.

In Other News;
There was an article in our local paper about a woman who was sentenced for welfare fraud. HERE.

The very first comment was a rant about social services and how bad they are. I couldn't resist...

HappyPhil writes:

What? This person is caught and you are complaining? You really need to lay off the Glenn Beck.

The guy responded that he didn't watch Glenn Beck, but in his words; "I listen to Laura Inghram".

First of all, he missed the wry humor of my "Lay off the Beck(s)", joke, and failed to see the comedy in his posting about a problem that did not exist in the article. But the funniest part was him invoking Laura Ingraham as a better source than Glenn Beck. VIDEO of Laura at work.

(BTW the HappyPhil link above, shows all my comments to the Redding Record Searchlight.)

Eggplant Parmesan

I got a pre-made, refrigerated, packaged dinner at Trader Joe's. I like it. This is the second time I have brought it home for dinner.

This is 1/2 of the package. It took 4 minutes in the microwave. I will eat the other half tomorrow, or the next day.

I am not sure what all is in this dish, but I feel healthier after I eat it.

One of my favorite songs is in this video.

You can scoot forward to 8:10, but I think it's fun to watch the terrific animation that once was the hallmark of Disney.

Food For Thought

Stopping To Smell

The Essence Of Life

Ever since some person first asked, "What is God", another person has been compelled to attempt to explain. This is a good intention, but, at best, imperfect, and likely to be interpreted badly. One could suggest that God is the stuff that makes the world go 'round, natural forces, energy, the very existence of this universe. God can be found in the song of a bird or the castings of a worm. God is within and without you. God is a big turtle that carries the world on its back. God is the wind, the rain and all the elemental forces. God is a white bearded Jewish guy in the sky, that demands your best cow.

Understanding is commensurate with knowledge and an open heart.

What about a stubbed toe, or getting killed in battle?

This is a tough one to explain to someone who believes that God has singled them out for punishment, because, in a way it's possible. All things in the universe are a consequence of it's creation, therefore our thoughts and feelings are also a part of this force/energy that set it all in motion. Fear and conceit must be considered to be a part of it all, even if it's simply a childish reaction to events not being what we expected.

Like now. I am sitting out on the balcony, enjoying a comfortable, sunny morning. The sky is blue, it's 75 degrees with a feather light breeze, and I am comfortably sitting in the shade with this laptop on my lap. I could be upset with the noisy monkeys who disturb God's natural symphony with their incessant loud vocalizations and irritating machines. I could weep and gnash and rend my garments while beseeching God to relieve my suffering, as if God was singling me out for punishment.

This may sound silly and stupid, but there are millions of people who believe that's the way God works.

Just because I don't envision God as an angry man in the sky, with a rigid set of rules that include constant petitioning and groveling, doesn't invalidate that concept. It does indicate a deficiency of information and the resulting limited comprehension that is required to accept that manner of behavior, but it seems to provide solace for those who lack a deeper understanding. The danger is that they are easily fleeced and led to slaughter by unscrupulous charlatans.

Every full moon, you must hit your wife on the head with a ripe coconut 3 times or the crops will fail.
If you knew nothing about agriculture, and this was part of your tribes rituals, you would do this to avoid starving or incurring the wrath of the other villagers.

It has been explained that God created all things, including us humans, but what we do with all this, is up to us, (Free will). That is a simple and accurate explanation, but confusing to the ignorant and unenlightened.

The volcano is not controlled by tossing in a virgin, but at one time that was thought to be the case. Those societies didn't have a lot of books in their library.

What ever one calls it, or defines it, I thank God for this awareness that is me in this universe.

Just Browsing, Thank You.

I Tried

Happy Shasta Phil 8/26/09

I was going to manage this blog from Safari, but it doesn't play well with Google Apps, so I am using Firefox now for both my blogspot blogs. I even tried composing the page on NeoOffice, and copying to blogger, but it took extra steps to get it to work. Copying the Google Docs page while in Safari didn't transfer the pictures to the Blogger editor, so that was a waste of time. Trying to compose the page with the Blogger editor while using Safari was unnecessarily clumsy and practically unmanageable. Images would not import to the cursor insertion point, but instead, would only appear at the top of the page. Moving them to their appropriate place on the page was a slow, step by step, dragging operation because it didn't recognize cut and paste. Sizing images required typing in dimensions rather than just grabbing the corner and making it bigger or smaller.

I use Safari sometimes to watch You Tube and Hulu just for variety, but overall Safari is pretty much useless.

It makes sense to use the programs that work best, (easiest, fastest, most intuitive, and do what you want them to), and it seems that the FF - Google combination works splendidly on the Mac. I have tried Firefox and Google on Windows, but like most things on Windows, it doesn't work without problems. Some of the best editing features are missing, it looks bad, feels wrong and discourages creativity with it's graphics proportions and annoying colors, (but that describes all Windows programs).

I am so glad I use Apple computers, (even if I don't use their Safari Browser).

Violin Maker John

John Harrison plays his vintage Stratocaster. 8/26/09

John and I did a little rehearsing this afternoon at the violin shop. We are preparing for the Blues Festival, here in Redding. I am not sure which night we are scheduled to play, but I will find out tomorrow night at the Shasta Blues Jam. We shall see.

Playing For The Blues Society

If I don't give it everything I've got, why do it at all?

Here is a recording from the Blues Jam. Rick Larsen is playing the keyboard. John Harrison and Phil on guitars. Mark Mlcoch on bass, and Rocky Rossi on drums. The recording is from the tape out on the PA mixer.

Enjoy
I Dont Miss You by Phil Seymour

What Would Happen

If I Were To Teach

I have been asked, over the years, to teach some of what I know about music. I generally decline, but I did actually sign on to teach guitar when I was a teenager. It was the younger brother of a girl I was interested in, so I accepted the job.

I made the mistake of asking him what he wanted to learn. This turned out to be nothing I was familiar with. I never really learned the stuff most guitar players played. I am a singer who plays guitar.

I didn't even know the regular chords that guitar players played. I had discovered early, that the chords and diagrams on sheet music were there for people with high voices. I had to transpose every song into a key that fit my voice. This meant I had to learn, “Barred”, chords.

This meant that I didn't use chords with open strings. I also didn't use a, “Capo”, because it would be in the way when I changed chords. The chords and progressions I had learned were very difficult for a beginner to do.

I showed him a couple of boogie woogie riffs and told him to practice those until next lesson.

There was no next lesson.

I have tried the “take what you like” method, which is basically, if you see or hear something you like that I am playing, I will show you how I do it. That sort of works.

One of the difficulties in teaching guitar, as I know it, is I didn't really learn to play guitar on my guitar. I wanted to play the hammond B-3 organ, but I had a guitar, so I approximated jazz organ on my acoustic guitar while singing Kingston Trio songs when I first learned to play. I was in a duo with John Bradley where we sang Kingston Trio songs. At first I was singing and playing bongos, but if I played guitar, John could play solos and lead guitar.

Now it's over 50 years later and some people want to learn some of what I know about music. I think it might be helpful so that when I mention that a song uses a, “Dorian Mode”, they will know that it's from 18^th century music theory. Much of the chants and hymns that monks sing are based on this scale. If you play from D to D just using the white keys on the piano, (no sharps), that is the scale used for a Dorian mode. Of course, not all the songs will be in the key of D, so you would want to learn that scale and transpose it to what ever key the song is in.

Most of my favorite jazz musicians learned classical piano and the theory that makes it happen. It didn't matter if they were sax players, or drummers, the really good players all studied classical piano. I studied music theory, harmony, arranging and composing in college. My major was piano, but I am not a real pianist. I am a singer who plays guitar.

I think I may be able to offer some assistance to a couple of people who have asked me to help them learn more. Did I mention I was a drummer in a dance band when I was in the 11^th grade? I also played trumpet and sax in the marching band, but I am really just a singer.

Opening Song

Shasta Phil

Singing at Johnny's Cathouse Photo-Sandi Taylor

Shasta, The Volcano

Mount Shasta in July, 2009 Photo-Phil Seymour

Mount Shasta in August, 2009 Photo-Phil Seymour

I figure to use this blog as a place to write about the music and the environment.

I have a band that plays around northern California. We play blues and other music

It's really fun to perform, and people like to hear us play.

We are called;

The Phil Seymour Band

I tried to name us something clever and catchy, but when we would play somewhere, the announcer would call us the Phil Seymour Band. I don't mind, and it's okay with the guys in the band, so that's the name.

You can see us playing HERE.

Shastaphil@gmail.com