'Through the Night' video

Very old and low-res, but still a gem and reminder of her ballsy creativity I so relished then and now. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgtpsdHPgas

'Free As a Bird' recent video by The The Beatles

I love how George, Ringo and Paul created  this lovely song using old vocal tracks by John Lennon. The video is exquisitely trippy, echoes of 'Yellow Submarine' and Sgt. Pepper. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glUFjjkYuAk&feature=related

NASA on Global Warming

Despite supposedly clever quips by "climatologists" like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, the cold snaps of late don't negate the rising AVERAGE temperature of Planet Earth. Since the sun's output has been low the last 20 years, and since variations in the Earth's orbit and axis that can naturally warm the planet are not in play, it seems clear to me the cause is the HUGE increase in atmospheric CO2 and methane added by humankind since 1750. John

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/earth_warm.html

a rare, delightful raw studio track of John Lennon singing 'Real Love'

Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze7MjZmKZRc

'Isn't It A Pity' by George Harrison

For me, this stellar work from 'All Things Must Pass' is one of his very best songs, evocative spiritually and intellectually. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySjMgSNmH8Y

Time to Share Again Photos of Breathtaking Male Torsos

Maybe in my next lifetime I will be built like anyone of these astonishingly fit men.....in the meantime I sure enjoy looking!  Hey, down deep I am very shallow!  Enjoy, John

Live Performance of 'Africa' by Toto

Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37ZaSINRDGM

I stumbled on this great 1970s interview with John Lennon

Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiG65Dmc6dI&feature=related

Dumpster Diving Has Been a Primary Life Skill and Resource For Me since 1976

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_BdbJrHItE&feature=related

Two African Elephant Species in Africa

Since in my late childhood I switched  for a few years from obsessing on dinosaurs to prehistoric mammals, including those often way-radical ancestors of the very few elephant species  hanging on in tiny parcels of their former ranges today, I found this headline very interesting. The long extinct shovel-tusker elephants have always looked so prehistoric to me.  John

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre6bk6i9-us-elephant-african/

one of many links:

http://www.ecotravel.co.za/Guides/Wildlife/Vertebrates/Mammals/Big_5/Elephant/Elephant_Evolution.htm

Beaks in Birds and Dinosaurs

As a life long lover of dinosaurs and subscriber to Darwinian evolution, I find this fascinating!   John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101220163052.htm

'Hirake'

To this day I love the odd bass line and conflicting drum beat as they mesh with her raw vocals. Breathtaking piece! The song was banned in the U.S.   John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45xEXxnIX04&feature=related

'Paper Shoes'

I fell in love with this astonishing work that same night I did acid for the first time a few days before I graduated from highschool in 1971. I love the piercing eerie vocals, the grinding electric guitars, and the rumbling, tumbling, unrelenting drum beat. The animal sounds add to the enigma. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyBrjp6JTLw&feature=related

'Why'

This is the original version I heard for the first time when my highschool friend Michael Harvey and I were in the Yellow Bird Record Store at Britton Plaza here in south Tampa when I asked them to play the B side of John's new song....'Cold Turkey' I believe. I was IMMEDIATELY transfixed and poor Michael had to deal with being embarassed by my dancing spontaneously in the record store. It has ever since been in my Top Three Favorite Songs list, and I am so grateful for its raw primal creative ferocity having all these years being mind fertilizer in my efforts to discover and create and improve myself. Plus it is one fucking great dance song in your underwear when deliciously altered!  Enjoy....crank the volume for best effect.  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwS-qoN6LZI&feature=related

'Greenfield Morning I Pushed an Empty Baby Carriage All Over the City'

I played this song the first time I did acid three days before I graduated from Robinson High in 1971. To this day I find the relentless African tribal beat compelling, and her eerie vocals hypnotic.  I love how the words in the title are stretched out and repeated as the lyrics. Once, I read that she wrote this piece after one of her miscarriages.....I don't know if that is true.  Enjoy!  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1KXOtlYCS0

My Parents' Estate in Okeechobee, Florida

Who knows how many chickens and eggs and vegetables and guavas and citrus fruits and melons and Old Roses and native irises have been produced here, all with well water? I am sure that I got part of my gardening "bug" from Dad. Enjoy,  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYlfgb2xHyQ

Nothing like a backyard fire on a cold night

Being "altered" added to the pleasure.  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kPhYAVw7t8

'Why Government is more afraid of debt than Depression'

Interesting discussion. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3DsmGvVqiw

Lady Gaga

I know very little about her or her music, and find her show name lame.....but much of the rest of the world clearly exalts her. I noticed this video on YouTube and feel it is visually VERY creative. And the song is okay too. Her live performances with Yoko show her to be a powerful singer with stellar stage presence.  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Live performance of 'Why' in 2009

Ever since Yoko Ono's iconic 'Why' was released in my senior year of highschool at Robinson here in south Tampa, it has been one of my Top Three Favorite songs due to its raw primal ferocity and creativity, and has served as a trusted fertilizer in my lifelong efforts to be inner directed and self actualizing. So it was a joy to find this video of her first ever live performance of 'Why', at the Meltdown Music Festival in summer 2009. She looks great at 76 here, and is clearly just as energetic and brave and edgy as in her youth. It is a given that I will play this video with the volume CRANKED 2-3 times each time I get altered. Plus the bass player seen up close near the end is a hottie.  Enjoy (or not!) John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=461YhlP75wM

George Harrison's timeless 'My Sweet Lord'

This video is a touching montage/collage of still photos of George Harrison and The Beatles set to what is likely my favorite song of his. Most of the photos I'd never seen before.  Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBXc0LqyRTs

I'd forgotten about this rudely sexual hilarious rock video parody

Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLnWf1sQkjY

My Victorian workout and reading room

As a rosarian since 1989 I've been given a GREAT many Old Rose-themed gifts over the years, especially the wonderful china and other treasures my ex-neighbor in Denver, Cherrie Buskhol, bought for me at yard sales and estate sales. In my Denver home my bedroom was done in a hard core Victorian theme to display the collection; here in my Tampa home I turned a rarely used second bedroom into my Victorian workout and reading and writing room. Here are several views taken over time of what many visitors say is their favorite room in my "home interior as art project in progress" due to its stark contrast to my 'Undersea Fantasy Bathroom' and 'Gay Trailer Trash on Acid Livingroom. As usual, nearly all the furniture was scavenged, as was the paint for the walls and floor. Enjoy, John

video: Michael Moore on 'Countdown' with Keith Olbermann

Bless Michael Moore, Daniel Ellsberg, Keith Olbermann and Julian Assange.   John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHdPPRBDvRE

Oil or "Terrorism"?

And yet the US demonizes and threatens and encircles Iran.... oh wait....the Bush Family Dynasty has been best buds of the Saudi monarchy for decades

http://www.fpif.org/articles/oil_or_terrorism_which_motivates_us_policy_more


I support WikiLeaks and Julian Assange!  Bush and Cheney should be in jail for KNOWN war crimes vs. suspicious accusations against Assange getting him locked up.  John

If Americans knew.....

the facts about Israel and the U.S's unconditional support of that rogue nation that daily betrays the basic tenets of the Jewish faith according to many rabbis and Orthodox Jews. John

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/

A Remarkable Flying Wing Radio Controlled Plane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w75m3rqeZQc&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Michael Moore on Julian Assange

I support both men fully for helping to expose so many lies-for-profit that cause breathtaking suffering globally marketed  as "protecting democracy" and the  empire-building "War On Terror"." Both  men are modern day Paul Reveres. John

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27062.htm

'Waiting for the D Train'

I love this raucous, shrill, piercing first cut on Yoko's new CD, 'Between My Head and the Sky'. It reminds me of 'Why' in its primal ferocity. Her performance of it live on the Jimmy Fallon Show was breathtaking.....sadly it can no longer be seen and heard at YouTube. Maybe she will finally release a DVD of some of her live performances. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yLKsympUmM

A Music Video Gem

I'd forgotten about this great song until I heard it at the gym today.....what a creative work!   John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1tTN-b5KHg

America is waiting.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTFIzLKaZj4

Brian Eno and David Byrne classic.......

I have cherished 'My Life in the Book of Ghosts' since I learned of it belatedly in the late early 90s when I rented a cottage in Odessa, Florida. It is hard to find DVDs of it for sale, and my old CD skips here and there. For me, it is a monolith of trippy music on par with 'A Day in the Life' and possibly inspired by 'Revolution No. 9' from the White Album. Being enhanced by cannabis can add to the wonder of this remarkably creative album.

 And so I am glad that I checked YouTube for tracks from it, and very thankful to the person who shared that sublime music against a trippy backdrop to be sure that this gem is not lost. Pay it forward and pass it on.

Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52-zmNmplRQ

Gratitude Is central to being happy.....

It was not until I endured deep, years long financial duress and seemingly endless winters in Denver, followed by the blessings of coming home to Tampa to a paid for home and no debt, plus good health, friends and the climate that feels "right" to me, the scent of saltwater, that I finally knew how to feel deep daily gratitude for my abundances. This concise two part article in 'Psychology Today' is an excellent overview of how to cultivate and make habitual a life posture of gratitude for food in the fridge, a car that runs, being able paying a bill, the scent of flowers in a garden, falling asleep on sheets fresh that day from the clothesline, sharing a meal with a friend, feeling one's hands in rich living soil, an embrace with someone you love....the list is deliciously infinite. Enjoy!  John

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200602/make-gratitude-adjustment

Origami and Science

Remarkable!   John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0910-science_of_origami.htm

Cleanliness and Depression

Hey, no wonder I am almost never depressed! I'm a slob! lol!  John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101207190413.htm

Mister Mr. video: Broken Wings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWyeVfuolT4&feature=related

Thank you John Lennon....

..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAb4x4BrhXk&playnext=1&list=PL6CCFF8A0774EC996&index=16

a sparkling gem from the series of bittersweet vignettes movie called "Night on Earth"

Delicious! Be sure to watch the conclusion Part 3.  Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIUEZS2P_Ic

'Frost Over the World' TV show interview segment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMsuv38Bg1A&feature=fvsr

I applaud Ron Paul for his brave stances, including his support of Wikileaks

I will be donating to Wikileaks via Information Clearing House to challenge the Empire and the New World Order where 6.5 BILLION human beings are seen as cattle to control and use for profit, by a TINY way too powerful elite. Henry Kissinger once referred to the people of the world I believe as "useless eaters"....but we "eaters" generate the wealth that  folks of his ilk luxuriate  in even as they devise wars of choice for profit to keep their gravy train chugging along.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26996.htm

'Dear Prudence' by The Beatles

A gem from the White Album.  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-2lMstw6qs

Blended Wing Body prototype flight video.....exciting!

I hope I live to ride in a commercial airliner shaped like this fully running radio-controlled prototype.  Too cool....enjoy!  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zor4BtiNSQ&feature=related

concert performance of 'Don't Worry Kyoko, Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow'

Hearing this song the year it came out when I was a junior at Robinson Highschool is what lead me from her poems and sculptures to her music. I like best the album version, but I am relishing seeing and sharing this video of her performing it live at the age of 76. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73CYTPE7RhM&feature=related

In fond memory and honor of Leslie Nielsen...what a guy

'Forbidden Planet'.....'Airplane'.....'Naked Gun'.....priceless treasures. Thanks Leslie!  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaXvFT_UyI8&feature=related

.....if you like making and flying paper airplanes.....

.....you will love this video!   Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45-a4_VtGEw&NR=1

Clever Use of Wasted Solar Energy

This is too cool!   Enjoy, John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101109102720.htm

One More Reason to Dance and Exercise!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101201105336.htm

1944 video of 'Appalachian Spring'

Aaron Copland created this gem for her.....I am so glad I finally watched videos of her performing it in 1944. Enjoy,  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmgaKGSxQVw

Coming news about alien life?!....

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_creates_buzz_with_extraterrestrial_announcement_999.html

'What The Bleep Do We Know' potluck at my house

Years ago this remarkable film had a potent effect on me by encouraging me to think and feel more bravely, knowing that my short life will be spent on the third planet from a benign star shepherding a solar system in an outer arm of a huge spiral galaxy...one of many billions of galaxies. So why think and feel small and "safe" for fear of being considered "weird" or risky actual change? I've watched it easily thirty times over the years, altered and not ( I prefer "not") but it has been well over a year since I immersed myself in its imaginative wonder. Yesterday as my friend Tim and I talked about creating and choosing positive pre-emptive change in our lives vs. just reacting, I decided to host here a small potluck to eat, watch it, then gather around a fire in my back yard to discuss it and our own current state of affairs and dreams. I've hosted easily half a dozen dinners and potlucks to view and discuss this gem and so look forward to this new potluck.


Here is a link to the movie on-line, though the resolution looks low compared to the DVD on my TV. For me, 'What The Bleep Do We Know' cultivates wonder and gratitude as do my gardens. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-azcMJ5JS4&feature=related

A video about the flying AEROGAMI sculptures I make from paper rescued from recycled bins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPK1JeG_v3A

AEROGAMI planes for sale

                                                                  STEALTH

Tampa garden columnist John Starnes (St. Pete Times, Fine Gardening, Florida Gardening) is once again making and selling his flying sculptural paper airplanes called AEROGAMI he sold many hundreds of in Colorado. They are made from very heavy gauge paper, have reinforced fuselages, are painted in many colors, and each is hand signed and dated by the artist. There are many dozens of designs, but all are based are being aerodynamically correct with true airfoil wings, trailing edge camber, and control flaps to allow for banking, loop the loops, or smooth level flight. Due to their sturdy construction one needs a good throwing arm and a big open field to fly them in. If kept dry and picked up BY THE NOSE ONLY, each AEROGAMI plane will last for years. See below some of the designs available. They average 11 inches in length and are $10 each and may be picked up at: 3212 West Paxton Avenue Tampa FL 33611. Call to place an order for a preferred design if you wish: 813 839 0881


AEROGAMI planes are the ideal uinque and affordable gift for this holiday season.

This is a remarkable breakthrough in powering devices! John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101123174334.htm

A delicious performance of 'Appalachian Spring' in three parts

No other piece of music in all my life has brought me to tears of uncontainable joy as often as has 'Appalachian Spring'. Admiration is one of my favorite emotions, and that Copland could have even conceived of such a remarkably evocative work, and then wrote it down for others to play, fills me with respect and reverence for his abilities. Without any hesitation, I know that this gem, plus the theme song for 'Twin Peaks' (both instrumental and vocal by Julee Cruise), 'I Am The Walrus' by The Beatles, and the original 1970 version of 'Why' by Yoko Ono are perenially my favorite pieces of music, Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI5k9D7J7H4

My AEROGAMI design with the "tail fin" in the nose of the paper airplane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyi2jue7y4c

original video for "I'm Not In Love"

What an exquisitely bittersweet expression of "approach/avoid" romance. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2BavhwpIJg&feature=related

OH how I wish I could live another century to participate in gardening Mars.

Enjoy, John
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Can_We_Grow_Crops_On_Other_Planets_999.html

'Spirit in the Sky' video

I have loved this song since it came out when I was in highschool at Robinson here in south Tampa. So I was delighted to find this original video from back then while deliciously altered.  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utLrYEWhaXM

Nice cover of The Beatles' 'Golden Slumbers'

I love how well and respectfully this group covers songs by The Beatles. Enjoy,  John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=addNpGRQaiQ&feature=related

My AEROGAMI airplanes

I am re-posting this video about my Stealth type AEROGAMI paper airplanes with the inverted fuselage-becomes-tail design theme. I intend to once again make AEROGAMI planes for sale as holiday gifts. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPK1JeG_v3A

An evening video of a velvet bean vine tip in my garden Summer 2010

I am really glad that I learned about seven years ago of this remarkable tropical legume that enriches soil with nitrogen via its roots while providing in its seeds the richest known source of natural L-dopa, making it useful to Ayurdevic medicine for the last 4,000 years as an aphrodisiac and adaptogen.. As such this plant can be useful to many folks with Parkinson's and Restless Leg Syndrome, plus those seeking options with Life Extension plans and depression. I really enjoyed seeing this vine tip last summer after entering my back porch lusciously altered.....nice to hear again the tree frogs, crickets, and the coturnix quail I was raising then. I hope you enjoy seeing and hearing this. Enjoy, John


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34bxTxtZ7XY

We can only hope that this sociopathic mass-murderer faces justice in court

....yet currently he gets a book deal, a library, and taxpayer-funded pensions and medical plans.


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26903.htm

The stuff of sci-fi movies......incredible! John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101122102804.htm

Very Cool Sounding NON-propellant based space propulsion

I'd never heard of this but it sounds very cool and Star Trekky.......I will Google it for sure. John

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Aerojet_High_Power_Hall_System_Propels_USAF_AEHF_Satellite_999.html

Well....I Googled......there IS a propellant, but in vastly smaller amounts and with zero combustion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_effect_thruster

"Arm Chair"

I made this sculptural piece of furniture not long after I moved into this house (2000?) after finding curb side two BIG boxes of plastic baby doll parts as Sweety and I walked to Ballast Point one evening. As I recall I bought the chair itself for $5 at a yard sale. It preceded the "Space Couch" and I am sure is a reflection of the tripped out tacky washing machine I had in Denver plus the sparkly altered wood framed chair I made for that house back in the 90s. I almost NEED my furniture to be art vs. a comfy thing to flop down into as I guess due to my ADDHD/stoner busy mind I rarely even have the urge to just "flop" into a squishy chair or couch. About a year after I made it a friend commented one day about my "Arm Chair" and we laughed....she was right!!! John

If you like the comedy 'Airplane' you will love this

'Airplane', 'Caddy Shack', and 'Sordid Lives' are my three favorite comedies. Enjoy! John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fkZdz4Vz10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymMBEwtRZOg&feature=related

'Love is Like Oxygen'

I loved this song as an art major at the Ybor campus of HCC way back then in the mid 70s, so to find this gem is a blessing. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc1sgCT7X2c

Remarkable Photos of a Dying Pair of Stars

Enjoy, John

http://www.skynightly.com/reports/WISE_Image_Reveals_Strange_Specimen_In_Starry_Sea_999.html

Nissan Ellure concept car

Check out this futuristically athletic, cab-forward stunner! John

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/11/la-2010-nissan-ellure-concept-previews-future-sedans.html

various objects in my "Gay Trailer Trash on Acid" livingroom

"Quantum Droplet"

"Quantum Foam"

my coffee table that year

Perhaps my favorite sci-fi spaceship of all time....

Queen Amidala's chrome plated stunner, the Naboo cruiser! John

Yet Another Reason to Exercise Daily

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101115074040.htm

Heartwarming Rescue of Baby Hummingbird

Enjoy! John

http://www.wimp.com/babyhummingbird/

"War on Terror" and 9-11 are frauds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nD7dbkkBIA&feature=related

Bush joking about no WMDs

In his "book" he claims to be "sickened" that no WMDs were found in Iraq. So what's with his "joke" at a dinner when at that point over 2,800 American soldiers, and many tens of thousands of Iraqis had died? When will this spoiled arrogant monster face charges for war crimes and treason instead of getting a huge pension, a health care plan that none of us could dream of, and a book deal?! John


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_tFKa2_YBQ

An evocative video and audio palindrome in reverse

A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward.Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite too. This is only a 1 minute 44 second long video, but it is brilliant. Make sure you read as well as listen...forward and backward. This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was titled "u @ 50" by AARP. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant. Take a minute and watch it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=42E2fAWM6rA

Fossilized Dinosaur Embryos!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101111163339.htm

Luigi Colani: Design Genius

Since the early 80s this man has inspired me as a man who has loved futurism since I was 10 years old in the U.P. of Michigan. I remember seeing his breathtaking airliner design based on the forms of a shark in the 80s and being stunned, inspired and transfixed.....in 2010 I still feel the same. Enjoy, John

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/05/extravagant-designs-by-luigi-colani.html

Natto

I feel that western culture and the health industry should look closely at the ancient Japanese probiotic soybean food 'natto'. John


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSUQdogKVOg

Appalachian Spring: live

As many years as this piece has moved me ( it is right near the top with Yoko Ono's 'Why' and The Beatles' 'I Am The Walrus' and the theme for 'Twin Peaks' for me) I keep getting delightfully surprised at how malleable of a work it is in the hands of conductors and orchestras. I love the balanced mix of string and brass and percussion in this performance, plus find the attractive conductor's athletically sensual style of joining all musicians present into one cohesive group admirable. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybnMoNMI8WY&feature=related

"The 7 modern sins: politics without principles, pleasures without conscience, wealth without work, knowledge without character, industry without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice." -Canon Frederick Donaldson

A Remarkable Fossil Shrimp

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101109172349.htm

a very nice performance of 'Appalachian Spring'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Zc9enoGCg

A joke I saw on CNN Ticker that cuts to the chase

"Having Republicans complain about fiscal irresponsibility reminds me of the story of the young man who, upon being convicted for murdering his parents, pleaded for leniency because he was an orphan. Idiots."

'The Impotence of Elections'

This man's work and credentials are superb. He cuts right to the truth. John

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21760

Fitness Program Update

I continue to be stunned by strength gains resulting from taking L-arginine in juice a half hour before a workout, a whey protein shake immediately after, plus taking the Velvet Beans medicinally in 3 week cycles. Just last week I stunned myself by being able to do 56 lb. preacher curls at my gym.....today it was 61 lbs! I am also seeing big leaps in strength when doing decline presses on the machine there. I gained 3 lbs. last week due in part I am sure to a ton of leftover potato and macaroni salad and fried chicken my neighbor Theresa gave me after a family dinner in memory of her husband Bill who passed away recently. But a few friends remind me that muscle weighs more than fat (which I continue to lose due in part to my 24 mile bike ride 3 times weekly) so maybe PART of that three pounds is my very visibly increasing biceps and pecs. Very encouraging after years of no real progress! John

I LOVE to eat and so I LOVE to cook for me and friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X_-WNpk43E

Abba

What a treat to stumble onto this high-quality video of 'Dancing Queen' and remember being a newly out art major who had just discovered remarkable magic from mushrooms and dancing my young brains out at the El Goya gay bar in Ybor City, Tampa.

I will always treasure most of the excesses of my decadent early 20s. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s&ob=av2n

I'd forgotten just how much I loved this song back then in the 80s until stumbling onto this video tonight. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ixRWvrkUHo&NR=1

I stumbled on this very creatively evocative rock song/video I'd never heard of. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMoRVrqx_I&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Great YouTube Video Channel for RC Foamies

I like the two flying wings in this fun clip. These guys make GREAT RC planes and videos about them.....plus the charming guy on the left is a hunk I think I am getting an internet crush on! I have SO much to learn about electric RC foamies but it is fun as all get out doing something so new that yet harkens to my childhood love of futuristic airplanes and rockets. Enjoy. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEqRNauq2RM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

My Bike Ride for Cardio Fitness, Bird Watching, Weight Loss and Mood Enhancement

My gardening friend Mary Jo today let me know that my ride up Bayshore from Gandy, around Davis Island (the long, beach hugging route) and back is 22 miles. Avena feels that from my house to Gandy and Bayshore is maybe 1/2 mile. Cool to see something new in my life that I so enjoy three times weekly quantified into miles. My resting heart rate has already lowered, and I am getting closer all the time to having visible abs after losing 12 lbs. of gnarly-looking body fat this last year of making some healthier decisions.

One treasured benefit is my getting so much more familiar with the Tampa Bay I love....what a trip to see dolphins chasing schools of mullets churning the water's surface with their sheer numbers, or seabirds wading, diving or paddling. Plus I am much more keenly aware of our often stunning sunsets.

Another is ogling wonderfully built lean men running and biking and cycling up and down Bayshore on that same wonderful 3.8 mile sidewalk hugging the bay.....why did I not do this 7 years ago when two knee injuries forced me to stop my 5:30 AM jog up Bayshore to Howard Avenue and back? Seeing those guys' sculpted torsos is a huge inspiration for me to continue my trend of more muscle and less fat. Plus I love to "window shop".

John

'Walking on Thin Ice'

I love this video overlay that someome created over one of my Top Five dance songs, one that Yoko Ono and John Lennon recorded the night he was killed. Incredible dance beat, prophetic lyrics indeed. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J7X7s8S1ns&feature=list_related&a=GxdCwVVULXco7wGl5O7c8YMgA5VkAqiY&list=ML&playnext=1

Altered Star Trek Landscape Print

'U.S.S. Columbia'

I created this image in memory of the space shuttle Columbia after their tragically failed return to Earth. It is a high resolution digital print on low acid paper measuring 15.5 inches by 12.5 inches. The price is $195, free shipping. No. 2 in the series. Please use the PayPal button the bottom of the blog to provide payment, name and shipping address for prompt delivery. Thanks in advance for inviting my artwork into your home or business.

John

Blended Wing Body RC Scratch Built Foamy

This is going to be fun. John


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNP2AWDf61s

a poem I wrote in my early 30s to address my innate fearfulness

To this day I keep it framed on my livingroom wall and read it a few times per year to refresh the energy. John


DICTUM


Live a Big Life.

Stretch the skin of each new day
then fill it with the flesh of your dreams.

Find the frozen stone of your fear
and chip it into sparks
to illumine the wonders that you can do.

Tell a Big Truth so bright
that the light of it flies out from your mouth
into the dark places
beneath every stone
behind every building
inside every mind.

Let your words and deeds be trusted things
that others can hold and treasure
as perennial measures of honor.

And every time you do the right thing
a stain will fade from the hearts of your children
their grandparents
and you.

Ask a Big Question.
Never lose the cool hunger of your youthful eyes…
learn of the mysteries
inside a lover,
a seed,
even you.

Use your Fear to taste the dark sweetness
reserved for heroes
so that when Death does come
you will have really BEEN,
you will have truly SEEN.

And as you leave that frail human shell,
it a faded chrysalis,
feel the quiver of your new, unseen wings.
　
　
John Starnes
　

Yet One More Reason to Avoid Antibiotics.....

and make eating probiotic foods like kefir, natto, tempeh, yogurt, and kimchee central to one's diet. John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101101083144.htm

Healthy Sustainable Weight Loss

Twenty pounds of excess body fat on a small framed man like me is not a pretty sight.....and I like to "get lucky" whenever possible. Plus the "apple shape" is a heart attack risk factor. In the last year I've lost 12 pounds while adding muscle mass, with losing a final 8-10 pounds my goal. Here is how I lost that 12 pounds, VERY slowly at first, then more rapidly as of late.

The pic of me with pecs to die for was rendered hilariously some months back by a very skilled photochopper by the screen name of 'MonaroSS' at the forum http://www.gminsidenews.com/ that I have belonged to for years. He is a straight guy in Australia who noted my appreciation for men with nice pecs...so he grabbed my avatar image and grafted it onto a torso I know I will never have...but with me also achieving BIG time strength gains in the gym due to supplementing with whey protein, L-arginine, and three week cycles of Velvet Beans (like a high school kid I've even rolled up my shirt sleeve and told a few friends "Feel my first ever bicep!!!") seeing this comical image does sort of inspire me to stick with these new approaches:

1. No seconds (I love my own cooking)

2. More protein, fewer carbs

3. Taking my iodine supplements more routinely

4. Serving my meals on salad vs. dinner plates....and again no seconds.

5. Starting an approx. 16 mile bike ride up Bayshore Blvd., around Davis Island then back home

about a month ago (this has lowered my resting heart rate, plus the endorphins are helping me

push back against a low grade depression that I "owned" about a month ago stemming from

losing my dog Sweety on May 11, my long-suffering Mom on May 28th, then the VERY recent

demise of a rapidly evolving delightful 7 month long intimate friendship that suddenly

appeared last April after 2 years of "discreet meetings" with a handsome, intelligent and very

articulate sweet man who suddenly announced several days ago he is not gay and ended our laughter-filled, fun and often tender friendship....LOTS of loss for me to process. Had I been biking all these years after 2 knee injuries forced me to stop running 7 years ago I doubt I'd have packed on that gnarly-looking 20 plus pounds!

Treadmills and elipticals bore me in minutes....but I SAVOR this bike three times weekly,

seeing birds and dolphins, how the waters of Tampa Bay shift. I am using "intervals"...peddle

hard for a few minutes, like into the wind, or up a bridge to get my heart rate up, then slow, back and forth.

6. I take smaller bites and eat more slowly after a lifetime of being a vacuum cleaner at the

table. The only fast food I eat is Taco Bell bean burritos....up until a few years ago I could eat

FOUR.....by last year it was 2. Nowadays just 1 fills me! The only downside to downsizing

my stomach is during my monthly feast at Tampa Buffet at Britton Plaza, I now can eat just

3 plates of sushi and cooked seafood vs. 7.

7. I am not a snacker unless I am "altered" but if I get evening hunger I chug-a-lug ice cold

filtered water right from the pitcher in the fridge.

8. I cook only with healthy oils like coconut, roasted sesame and extra virgin olive, but now I

use them LIGHTLY vs. slathering them into meals as I cook.

Regardless of the progress I make I doubt I will be posting pics of me shirtless any time soon, so enjoy the hilarious photochop that MonaroSS posted at the GM forum as a open, good natured joke,

John

A breathtaking live performance by Sinead O'Connor

'Nothing Compares to You'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_fPS0HwjJc&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Home Made Pickled Cactus Pads (nopales, nopalitos(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gSWS9KpQ2A

'Night On Earth'

Treat yourself to parts 2 & 3 and emerge improved and laughing and tearful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHzPBBnYRe8

Futuristic Cars Video

Since I was 10 in the UP of Michigan I have LOVED seeing images of futuristic cars. And while some of the cars in this video are for my tastes just so-so, some make me feel 10 again! Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiwtpZAN5Zs&feature=fvw

Rough day? Need a few great laughs?

It's the 'Airplane' trailer. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcWLbDS56u8

New Scratch Built RC Foam Airplanes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sBOoP5y1ec

Love IS a drug! Sure explains the agony and the ecstacy!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101022184957.htm

'I Want To Know What Love Is' video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loWXMtjUZWM

'Feel the Sand'

This lovely, soft ballad that celebrates the ephemeral and intangible beauties all around and within us, is my second-favorite song on the new Yoko Ono album 'Between My Head and the Sky', with the ferociously raucous 'Waiting for the D Train' being my top choice. Her creative output continues unabated at 77. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0KGDaSswHc&NR=1

Led Zeppelin"Whole Lotta Love"

I relish having been 17 when this astonishingly raw rock song came out. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQmmM_qwG4k&ob=av2n

Israel and UN Resolution 242

But of course, Israel, no longer a safe homeland for Jews but instead an expansionistic Zionist rogue nation, will ignore the Palestinians' call that it SIMPLY ABIDE by UN Resolution 242 that it has ignored for 43 years now......return the occupied lands that Israel stole in its PRE-EMPTIVE attack on FIVE neighboring nations in 1967. Yet the US supports and funds Israel unconditionally while demonizing Iran, a country that has attacked NO nation in four hundred years. John

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26586.htm

Excellent Letter By Cindy Sheehan

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26588.htm

Silicon Battery Breakthrough

This is very promising. John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101013161944.htm

More RC Foam Plane Flying Fun

This time at Picnic Island Beach in south Tampa. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3S7Nzdifoo

John Lennon performing 'Imagine' live in 1972

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q0Eyw3l3XM&NR=1

One Way of Dealing with Tailgaters.....

(plus those who text while driving). Caution: raw adult language. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzgmAgzpldU

The Beatles performing 'Hey Jude' on The David Frost Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg8bUjxYT08

For those who share my love of 'Appalachian Spring'............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRxDSiVELKk&feature=related

Cyndi Lauper in concert..."All Through the Night"

Very nice. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW8qxUitG-Q&feature=related

From John Lennon's Wife on His Birthday today.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lduaMSZqn1Y&feature=featured

It is hard for me to imagine a world where John Lennon had never existed. John

Dad's and My Key West Trip

"....number 9, number 9, number 9........."

mini me

Short John Silver

Short John Silver

Green Anole

My Dad, John senior

Royal Poinciana, Key West Cemetery

Some years ago I picked up my Dad in Okeechobee, Florida and we made a Father and Son trek to Key West where I was born and where he served in the Navy. We even found the apartment on Catherine Street where he and Mom and I lived.....apartment no. 9. We saw quite a few sights, including a metallic looking interesting curbside entertainer who identified himself as Short John Silver....as I recall, my frugal Dad gave him a $20 bill for his efforts. I hope you enjoy a few of the many photos I took there. John

Making a "Stealth" AEROGAMI paper airplane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPK1JeG_v3A

Someone else's flying wings!

One of the guys in the Radio Controlled Planes forum I joined in May sent me this cool link about how someone used JUST the wings from the Flying Eagle foam gliders I am working with to make a true flying wing. Looks great but his relies on standard high drag wing flaps vs. the low drag 'trailing edge camber' approach I very much want to pursue. I love both of his designs, especially the one with the vertical stabilizers in the center of the wings vs. the tips. John

http://www.acesim.com/rc/wallywing.html

New Foam Gliders to Modify!

X Racer Foam Glider Flying Eagle Foam Glider (53 inch wingspan)

I ordered one of these COOL looking one piece X Racer foam gliders for just $7.99 from a Christian book store to either fly by hand or maybe add a TEENSY electric motor and battery to, plus two of the 53 inch giant foam gliders for just $9.99 each.....shipping for all three just $5.99. MUCH better prices than I have seen anywhere! I am loving my new hobby, one I never thought I'd pursue back when super expensive gas powered RC planes made them the hobby of the very well off vs. this new very affordable electric motor approach. I will convert one of those 53 inch ones that was converted to the RC plane in the video to my first attempt at a foam plane flying wing, though I MAY leave the nose on and add canard wings up front. John