Mazda's interesting new design language for future cars.

http://wot.motortrend.com/6707283/auto-news/soulful-mazda-shinari-concept-features-new-kodo-design-theme/index.html

The creation of 'Twin Peaks'

NEVER have I ever been so obsessed and enamored with a TV show as I was back then with 'Twin Peaks'. It is too dark for me now, but 20/20 hindsight long ago told me after my 1994 breakthrough with Imago therapy that I identified subconsciously with Laura Palmer due to my own childhood trauma and abuse. I still very much admire the sheer creative originality of the show, especially the various surrealistic dream sequence scenes. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYyUyXtxGy0&NR=1

A fascinating geographical feature of Mars....

I very much lean towards the theory of an oblique trajectory impact object creating this feature. John

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Orcus_Patera_Mars_Mysterious_Elongated_Crater_999.html

The Beatles' 'Bulldog'

I loved this obscure Beatles song when it came out on the 'Yellow Submarine' album, and so was delighted to stumble on this in-studio video of it being recorded. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaRz-3DYV7c&feature=related

'I Am the Walrus'......backwards

Enjoy, John


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

Nice video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVzuhd_z2eg&feature=related

I Am The Walrus

A truly trippy, classically "psychedelic" rendition of my favorite song. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JC7lmDXmIM&feature=fvsr

An incredible photograph of a sunspot

Not only does this photograph amaze and delight me by revealing so well the sun's turbulent surface, it blows my mind with admiration for the people who devised a method for very clearly seeing past the glow of the corona. Enjoy, John

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Amazing_New_Sun_Images_From_NJIT_Big_Bear_Solar_Observatory_999.html

99 Red Balloons

Tonight I stumbled on this creative video for this Reagan era hit. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZwhzf8NC4o&feature=related

Never Ending Story

I went totally mental about this song when it came out years ago when I was in Denver, not knowing it came from a movie soundtrack. I'd forgotten about it for years until tonight, when I found this video. Back then it encouraged me to confront my fearful habits of thought. Cool to see in 2010 the video that accompanied the song. John

WikiLeaks vs. reporters being "state stenographers"

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26192.htm

'A Story'

This is Yoko's "other voice" she has used for years on her albums. People assume she does her screamy visceral singing because that is all she is capable of.....wrong! This is a charming love ballad to John fr0m 1974. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgdI0eLCQEM&feature=related

cool electric concept car

Since Kia put their very quirky 'Soul' concept car on the road virtually unchanged and with no "dumbing down", I would not be surprised if this quirky, futuristic electric car ended up in dealerships fairly soon, at least in Europe. John

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2010/08/kia-motors-to-unveil-all-new-electric-concept-car-at-paris-auto-show-next-month.html?mktcat=enabler&AID=10364102&PID=3193616&kw=N&synpartner=edmunds&mktid=cj260233

'Waiting for the D Train'

She was 76 when she gave this astonishing, ferociously creative, raw performance on the Jimmy Fallon Show. I am so glad it is back on YouTube again and I hope she releases a DVD of her remarkable live performances of the past several years. Granted, she, like arugula and capers, is an acquired taste, but I am thankful for my having been enamored with her work in many creative mediums since I was 16. Yoko ROCKS!! John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlRurKJ7skQ

Baby Mockingbird

Look what I found in my back yard yesterday morning. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckXNO9NWxsE

'Revolution No. 9' by The Beatles

I think I was 16 when 'The White Album' came out....this remarkable sound collage blew me away immediately back then, and in retrospect, I see it had a pivotal influence on me on par with Marcel Duchamp years later when I was an art major at the Ybor City Campus of Hillsborough Community College. If I had to pick ten "songs" that have most deeply moved me, 'Revolution No. 9' would be there along with 'Appalachian Spring' and 'Why' by Yoko Ono and 'I Am the Walrus'. So I was pleased to find this audio track on YouTube. Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQal-lJrSLI&NR=1

A classic car beautifully revisited!

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/First-Official-Pictures/Morgan-Eva-GT-2012-first-official-pictures/

Posts I made at a cars forum about Velvet Beans on my birthday

"God bless you good sir... enjoy your birthday, then get back to living the life. With your diet and lifestyle, I'd say you're just about reaching middle age."

Thanks! Some women friends were convinced I color my hair, but I've been growing and eating Velvet Bean (Mucuna pruriens) for 6 years now. Used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years as an adaptogen and potent aphrodisiac (it WORKS, big time, and I am one horny little bugger to begin with.....expensive in capsule form, but being from tropical India the vines THRIVE in Tampa summers, giving me hundreds of the pods each fall I cook and freeze). Studies show that eating some daily for 3 weeks, then none for 3 weeks, back and forth, due to its high content of L-dopa, triggers the pituitary gland to make more Human Growth Hormone, delaying graying of hair and adding lean muscle mass. Well I still don't have pecs like I like seeing on other guys, but at 57 I have zero gray hair. Would be cool if none at 60! A great guy I am seeing is 45 and is trying it for both the hair AND the aphrodisiac effects. (don't worry.....I won't be sharing the outcome of the latter!)Woo hoo! I gave him a nice stash of cooked pods from my freezer to eat like edamame soybeans since it would be in my best interest too if the "effect" kicks in. We're growing some in his yard now too.It is being grown commercially now to treat Restless Leg Syndrome and Parkinson's as it is the world's richest source of natural L-dopa. I now sell seeds and plants of it to boost the income from my little cottage business. The wild kind has orange stinging hairs on the pods....I grow the non-stinging food grade form sold by the good folks at www.echonet.org here in Florida where I got my first seeds. Great Christian permaculture organization.

"Happy Birthday John,And please keep on treating us to those 'herbal tips" I am not too far from you . . . I am going to look into those Velvet Beans right now.Funny, its your birthday and you gave us a gift . . . thank you"

You are welcome...once a gardening nerd, always one! WAY too late to plant them now.....wait until next April/May. The vines are rampant...the guy I am seeing stumbled on a pic of my henhouse consumed by them by Googling "Velvet Bean". Many people with Restless Leg Syndrome react badly to the artificial dopa compounds but not those in Fava Beans (quite low content) or Velvet Beans. You get a hyper-aphrodisiac effect by cycling the Velvet Beans and taking another Ayurvedic herb 'Ashwagandha' (Withania somniferum)....a few years ago I confirmed that accidentally by growing Ashwagandha and eating 3 leaves daily due to the ginseng-like compounds called withalamines. Within a few weeks I noticed I was feeling the overriding need to, shall we say, take matters into my own hands 3-7 times a day!! Fun as hell to be sure but I had chores to do, weeds to pull, plus was feeling controlled by my sex drive. So I dropped the ashwagandha. You can get capsules for both at GNC or on-line.

I have a fairly older friend with severe long term diabetes, and his otherwise great multi-decade marriage to his wife had been sexless for many years. He bought JUST the ashwagandha capsules, did not even get the velvet beans.....in a few weeks they were enjoying carnal pleasure weekly! The last time they attended one of my potlucks they had that "newlywed glow"....was cute as hell to see in a couple in their mid 60s! The plant grows in arid Afghanistan and similar regions in alkaline soil so here I grow it in pots I can move when it rains. You can buy ashwaganda seeds from an awesome company....http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/

Just remember though...3-7 times daily happened to me with the two, which I learned that year is THE Ayurvedic aphrodisiac for both sexes. Good thing I've been taking zinc for 25 years as we men lose some each time we "arrive". John

Woo Hoo! Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 57 today. Will celebrate by weeding, rooting cuttings, cleaning house, then eating my body weight in seafood and sushi at my beloved Tampa Buffet at Britton Plaza. I will concern myself with losing that last 12 pounds beginning tomorrow! When I was deeply depressed and closeted in my teens and twenties, I could have never imagined that by my forties I'd be so damned happy. And folks back then were right....my fifties have been a blast! John

For Trekkers like me.....

Check out this remarkable submersible model! Nice dance tune too. Enjoy, John


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQEsG4eKIXs&feature=fvw

Poem

A scan of a page from the fall 1994 issue of THE GARDEN DOCTOR, which I self published from the fall of 1987 to the fall of 1997. I wrote this poem while deeply in love with a man named Jeff that year. We had a very heady trip to Costa Rica which I shared in a series of installments. I love that place...the people, the incredible plant life, hiking on Volcano Arenal, the food. John

Tool using by very early human ancestors

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100811135039.htm

Imagine If We Never Ended the War on Alcohol

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26119.htm

Iodine Supplementation for Good Health for People and Pets

Hey John, I've been meaning to e-mail you for a while to ask you about it, since you posted it on the Barefoot Gardener's list. Then I was going to ask you when I saw you at the Community Garden meeting, but you left before I got a chance! I've been hearing more about Iodine recently, and was going to ask you about your pet dosage for my cat who has hyperthyroidism. Then yesterday my chiropractor tested me for mineral deficiency, and gave me some organically bound mineral tablets that include 225mcg of iodine! What brand would you recommend and what has been your experience with it, if you don't mind sharing? Thanks for bringing the subject up! Cheers, Natasha

Hi Natasha,

My friends and I (and our pets) all began either with daily consumption of dried kelp seaweed (cheap at the Oceanic Market in downtown Tampa) and/or with a few drops daily in juice or water of the tincture used on cuts ($1.19 at Sweetbay) once we confirmed that the LAST thing iodine is is toxic (it's been used to sterilize drinking water while camping for decades). The skull and crossbones on that bottle got put there nearly 70 years ago due to Big Pharm bribing congressman as it empowered people to easily and cheaply prevent and self treat MANY diseases through the use of then widely available Lugol's Solution. Most of us ending up buying 12.5 mg Iodoral tablets or 32.5 mg. potassium iodide tablets, Source Naturals brand. Coastal Japanese take in 37-42 mg. or MORE daily from kelp, etc, and are remarkably free of cancer, thyroid and breast issues and more. Yet our gov't tells us that their blood levels of iodine are "toxic".....hmmmmm. Most western nations have an RDA for iodine 83-100 times HIGHER than our gov't's paltry 150 MICROGRAMS a day, which is barely enough to prevent goiter. But that 225 micrograms would be a start, in my opinion since I am not a doctor! John

p.s. iodine supplementation did WONDERS to not only add two years to my wonderful dog Sweety's life, they were two QUALITY years. I learned about iodine after wasting $200 at a south Tampa vet who somehow mistook her classic profile of symptoms of advanced hypothyroidism for flea allergy! Within THREE days of my adding a tablespoon of shredded kelp to her daily stew, her symptoms of incontinence, failing back legs, lethargy, skin itching and odor and dull coat began to reverse DRAMATICALLY! I then switched to a few drops a day of the tincture daily in her stew and within three months she looked and acted ten years younger. People at the dog beach marvelled when I'd tell them her age and how tragic she looked before iodine. That one $1.19 bottle of tincture of iodine from Sweetbay lasted that two years that she had a whole new lease on life that in turn triggered an epiphany in my life and many of my friend's ( and their pets') lives. No WONDER Big Pharm tried (and tries) to discredit iodine supplementation, especially the classic iodine supplement Lugol's Solution.

Check out what the Linus Pauling Institute, and the World Health Organization, have to say about the CRUCIAL role of iodine in human health!

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/iodine/

Here are some intriguing remixes of Yoko's old song 'Wouldn't It". Great dance stuff! John

http://www.maxipromotion.com/?p=3797

Fascinating Hypothesis for the origin of life on Earth.

As a child I loved and was amazed by the big sheets of mica I'd find now and then in Michigan, and that I see in rock collections. John

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100806093104.htm

A wonderful video tribute to 'Queen' and "Wayne's World'

I love 'Wayne's World' and 'Queen' and so I relish this well-executed tribute video. I was in my 20s and newly "out" in the 70s when this astonishing album by a gay rock band came out at a time in U.S. culture when most homosexuals like me were afraid to be ourselves, much less be openly visible. Anita Bryant "informed" America that we are pedophiles, as I recall. I think that there is sweet justice when I hear "We Are The Champion" and other iconic songs by Queen, being relished by hyper-butch straight dudes at sports events, drenched in both beer and testosterone, rocking out to their evocative music. John

You Tube
__________________"The only normal people are the ones you don't know well". unknown

For years I've loved making various models of Federation starships that in practice would be airworthy spacecraft that could leave orbit and land on planets. I started this one years ago and it got backburnered, but I've cleaned off that work table to accomodate this model and my first-ever radio-controlled plane that my friend Dino is helping me build from a very large foam glider I owned. I tend to be an "out of sight out of mind" guy so seeing it daily should provoke ideas as to how to join these various componebnts from toys and model kits into a cohesive form. Joining the saucer section to the fuselage is a BIG challenge since my skills with body putty, etc. are marginal. Once I DO resolve those challenges, spray painting it with one color (likely a very pale bluish-gray) will do wonders to unify those elements visually. After that comes "aging" it by rubbing it with dry garden soil, cleaning it, adding decals, then spraying it with a dull matte finish. Most of me is about ten years old....when I work/play on projects like this I am REALLY ten years old! John

AEROGELS

To me this stuff is near-magic. I'd love to have a cubic foot block of it to use as a table sculpture that visitors could pick up and interact with. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfUIc6efV3w

"Land of the Free"?

So hundreds of millions of people around the world are supposed to be thankful to America when it "exports democracy" via military invasion and occupation and installation of puppet governments, as in Iraq and Afghanistan? And just think...Bush and Co. get lush pensions and medical care vs. justice for their vast crimes. Last year alone, 800,000 Americans were arrested for enjoying the simple pleasure of smoking or growing Cannabis plants....Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin made clear in their letters that they, the Founding Fathers, also enjoyed this plant. Something is terribly wrong with a scenario where mass murderers get even wealthier and more powerful, and gardeners end up in jail. As The Beatles said in 'Revolution'......."don't you know that you can count me out".

John

http://welcometoafreeworld.blogspot.com/2010/08/flawed-system-us-boasts-highest-prison.html

Prosecute Tony Blair.....AND George Bush

Any one American can get in severe legal trouble, including prison, for growing a single cannabis plant, yet these two war criminals, with the blood of over one million human beings on their hands, get even richer vs. facing justice. The citizens of Britain and America have the power to INSIST that justice is rendered to both men. John

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26090.htm

Wayne's World Sampler

I LOVE this vacuous movie! Enjoy, John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rajD396WLPQ

video of a Velvet Bean vine tip one evening

Charming motions one evening after a rain in a growing vine I rely on each summer for food and medicinal L-dopa. Enjoy, John

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

Remarkable Color Photos from the 1930s and 1940s

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/

Impressive Letter to Obama from career US intelligence men

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26077.htm

The Drew Cary Show's priceless take on,,,,,

....The Rocky Horror Picture Show. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6ZU5TJlbMU&feature=fvst

'Celtic Woman'

I see this soulful, beautiful concert as a reminder of the many gifts that only women can bless the world with. John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA1P2jG-EnE&feature=related

Cool Way to Reduce Space Junk in Orbit

http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Safe_And_Efficient_De_Orbit_Of_Space_Junk_Without_Making_The_Problem_Worse_999.html

Toe-Tapper Yoko remix

I just stumbled on this and love it, plus the version on 'Between My Head and the Sky'. For me this is a delicous dance song. John
.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfgAC06dPak

From "Freedom Fighters" to "Terrorists"

"To watch the courageous Afghan freedom fighters battle modern arsenals with simple hand-held weapons is an inspiration to those who love freedom. Their courage teaches us a great lesson-that there are things in this world worth defending. To the Afghan people, I say on behalf of all Americans that we admire your heroism, your devotion to freedom, and your relentless struggle against your oppressors." President Ronald Reagan - March 21, 1983

"In Afghanistan, the freedom fighters are the key to peace. We support the Mujahidin. There can be no settlement unless all Soviet troops are removed and the Afghan people are allowed genuine self-determination.". President Ronald Reagan - Address Before a Joint Session of Congress on the State of the Union - January 25, 1988

Farming the Soils of Mars and the Moon

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Greening_The_Moon_And_Mars_999.htm

Dulled headlight lenses?

Cheap fix!! John

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