Long live the Pirate Bay where the world is one.

Long live the Pirate Bay where the world is one.

Times Square 2014 - 2015

FJ&G Rail-Trail

Here is a brief section of the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Rail-Trail (FJ&G).  This video of the bike path (once a rail line) passes through the cities of Johnstown and Gloversville.  The trail passes by and behind many derelict houses, factories and warehouses which I find to be historically romantic and dolorous, full of wonder, dreams and surprise of a time gone by.  These once opulent but now ramshackle properties give off an aura of opportunity to the right investor.

An octogenarian friend used to tell me stories about growing up on this rail line when it and the cities were thriving with industry and commerce.   "Bums" were always knocking on their back door asking for food or water.  Years later my friend found out that his house had a marking on it designating it as a place where assistance and compassion may be had.

My friend Cy told me how he and his dad buried 300 feet of pipe and installed a water fountain near the tracks for those thirsty souls walking the rails.  Although poor, Cy's mom never turned anyone away without a sandwich.

They found out about the marking when the police knocked on their front door looking for someone wanted for questioning.  Cy's mom asked how come the rail walkers were always knocking on their door and the police took her to the back yard and showed her where their house was marked.  The police asked if she would like for them to remove it and she said no.   I beleive at the time, the man they were looking for was actually in the kitchen and Cy's mom didn't turn him in.  Cy's mom - Saint or guilty of aiding and abetting?

Cy grew up to be a wonderful and generous man filled with infections joy and optimism.  His final ten years were spent giving away everything he owned and sadly, being taken advantage of, which he acknowledged but still freely gave.  He was a war hero and a recipient of the Bronze Star, Silver Star, Purple Heart, Victory Medal, European Theater Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Expert Marksmanship Badge and a shoulder patch of the 30th Infantry Division.  Lest we forget.

fj&g, rail trail, gloversville, johnstown, fonda, malcolm kogut, bike path, nathaniel cyrus ingram,

Affordable Veterinary Clinic for Dogs and Cats

If you have a Tractor Supply Company near you (tractorsupply.com), take note that they offer non-emergency vet care at discount prices (Paws Plus Mobile Clinic). 

Many veterinary clinics charge an office visit fee just for walking through their door but the TSC Veterinary Clinic is free.  Check out the Paws Plus Mobile Clinic website for locations, dates, services, packages and costs.  The Paws Plus Mobile Clinic website is: petvet.pawsplus.com or call them at 1-888-792-7758.

On their website you can see a listing of the many services and tests they offer for the health and care of your pet.  For example, micro-chipping your pet is only $15 with no additional visiting room fee.  Three year K9 Rabies vaccination is only $18.  If you get any other test or other vaccination packages, there are other discounts. 

A series of tests for my dog at my local veterinary office cost me over $200.  At the Paws Plus Clinic it would have cost me only $69. 

For new puppies and kittens, they offer packages for tests and vaccinations including additional 10% discounts at the TSC.  They do not schedule appointments, just show up at the designated time and place and wait in line with your pet.  Again, check out their locations, dates and time at petvet.pawsplus.com.  It is a mobile clinic and is at my local TSC at least twice each month. 

Definitely check them out for the routine health care of your pet at significant savings. 

One

My mother was this Buddhist-Christian hybrid.  Although she was a believer in the bible, its lessons and historical perspective, she despised organized religion (the institution) the hypocrites there in, and was always quoting Buddhist maxims.  If only I listened to her then or was smart enough to absorb her wisdom - I would be light years beyond where I am today as a musician.  However, it seems that throughout my life I have been continually learning from those lessons so all was not lost. 

I am going to share some of that innate wisdom but not necessarily to teach anyone.  The purpose of this posting is to instead help others to have their own eureka moments so that they too may realize that they already possess some of this innate wisdom but didn't know they had it.  For those on the cusp of this wisdom, maybe it will be enough to leverage them to the next precipice of awareness.  For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, don't discard it.  Take it with you and keep it on the forefront of your back burners.  One day you too may have a eureka moment and be better for it.

I always knew, or thought, that I was stronger than my peers.  I always thought it was because I was a January baby (read "The Outliers").  I could lift and move things that my peers couldn't.  Despite being able to lift, endure or see things they didn't, I was still regarded as weak.  Sure, a ten year old girl could probably beat me at arm wrestling but I could do things she couldn't do without using brute strength.

I volunteer at a TV studio and last week one of the other volunteers asked me how I could lift and move the flats across the room so effortlessly.  They are about twenty feet in both height and width and they are made of wood and very heavy.  If I were to stand in front of one and try to lift it with my arms alone, I would not be able to do it.  I have watched the other volunteer lift them and he continually struggles to lift, balance and carry each flat across the room. 

Well, we all know to lift with the knees (I hope), but it is not just about the knees.  If you were to lift only with your knees, you would hurt your knees.  If you used only your arms, you would hurt your arms.  If you lifted with you back, you would hurt your back.  The key is to employ everything, not just the knees.  There is also an added component: gravity and going with it.  

I know a police officer who tried to catch an intoxicated motorist and as the drunk began to fall and my cop friend tried to catch him, my friend used only his back.  The result was devastating.  My friend, the officer, permanently became disabled and it changed his life forever.  The drunk was fine. 

A doctor friend of mine once tried to catch a patient who passed out.  My friend's error was trying to catch the patient with one arm.  The weight of the falling patient tore several muscles, ligaments and tendons in my friend's  arm.  Being a musician also, this was devastating to him emotionally.  He became addicted to pain killers, almost lost his practice and spent many months in rehab.  It wasn't until he enrolled in a month long, $1,000 per day equine program that he was able to control his addiction and depression.  In the program, they taught him to become one with the horse in every aspect of care and riding and, those lessons helped him to kick his habit and accept what life was now like for him.

When I was a kid, my mother taught me to "un-weigh" myself (more on that later).  When I lift the flat at the TV studio, I use its weight and the elasticity of my muscles to un-weigh the flat and I am then able to effortlessly lift it and, with my whole body, skeleton and muscles, I am able to balance the flat, making it one with my body. 

When I am balancing the flat with my whole body, any adjustment of any muscle in my body affects the flat, its motion and its balance.  The slightest shift can transfer tremendous energy into the flat.  Because it is one with me and engaged with my whole body, I can effortlessly move it about and don't need any isolated muscle to do all of the work.  It is like wearing a sweater.  I don't have to control it when I wear it.  It is one with my body and moves where my body moves.  Carrying a flat is much the same once you can become one with it's weight and find a combined balance. 

How many of us know muscular people who can bench press hundreds of pounds yet they don't have the strength to do every day tasks or they lack simple endurance?  It is because they have trained themselves to do one task and that is to bench press.  They strengthened isolated muscles rather than learning to to be able to engage the whole body to do one task.  Lifting isn't about isolated brute force, it is about using the whole body to do one task and using gravity and momentum to your benefit.

Have you ever seen cowardly people rappel down a cliff face or building facade?  They are timid and clumsy as they try to cling to the rope or the cliff face, trying to both climb down and rappel.  It is both humorous and frustrating to watch them.

When we see someone effortlessly rappel down a cliff face we might think that they can do it because they are brave.  Maybe.  More likely they can do it because they are one with the rope, one with the cliff and one with gravity.  When they are one with all three, they can control themselves, gravity, the rope and the cliff face, all effortlessly at the same time and courage has little to do with it.  It is more a matter of control and trust in that control. 

What does it mean to be at one with something?  There are many examples.  I am considered an advanced intermediate skier by ski resort teachers.  Eh, maybe.  I know when I put on boots and skis, the skis are an extension of my legs.  I can feel all the edges of the ski, I can feel the tips and the tails.   When I ski, I can feel the texture of the snow and its effect on my edges and the effect of my weight on the skis and in the snow. 

Part of that concept is being able to un-weigh myself.  I become one with gravity so that I can use gravity to control my skis and feel the snow.  A fatal flaw many skiers make is that either they are too timid or they try to control the snow.  We've all seen people "snowplow" down a mountain where they try very hard to control their skis, gravity and the snow.   It is both a struggle for them and comical for the viewer. 

When I ski, both of my legs are doing one thing only, they are together and unified as one.  Together they are moving both of my skis as one.  Because I am one with gravity I am at one with the snow thus, I can ski effortlessly.  The moment I isolate and try to control gravity, the snow or my skis, I risk catching an edge and falling. 

The same is true with powder skiing.  When an inexperienced skier first attempts skiing in powder, if they try to control the skis or the powder, they too will fail because the powder is in contact with all their edges and even their boots.  If the skier is one with everything, if their legs are one, if they are one with their skis and they are one with gravity and can un-weigh themselves, powder skiing is effortless. 

Controlling gravity is much like a boxer who can absorb a punch by going with the punch rather then facing it head on.  You can press on a concrete wall and it isn't going to go anywhere but you will get tired quickly.  If you punch it you will hurt your hand because it isn't going to go anywhere.  If you were to just lean on it and become one with it, your action will be effortless. 

If someone were to attack you by moving forward toward you, and you stood your ground, they would overtake and probably subdue you.  But, if you grabbed them and went with their motion, direction and energy, you would control both your and their energy and be able to deflect, topple or subdue them.  

Defense classes teach this all the time.  Don't oppose force, be one with it, go with it, control it.   If someone comes up behind you and choke holds or bear hugs you, pulling away from them will be useless because they probably already control their and your gravity.  Instead, be one with them, find their gravity and go with it and you will be able to control them, their gravity and catch them off guard.   It is easy to subdue someone but if they control both their own gravity and yours, you will stand little chance, regardless of either of your sizes and strengths.

Think of it this way, if you are in a car traveling 40 mph and another car is coming at you going 40 mph and you hit head on, that is a combined force of 80 mph and the result will be devastating.  However, if a car is coming at you going 40 mph and you are in reverse going 30 mph, when the other car hits you it will only be a 10 mph impact.  That is what it is like to "go with gravity." 

Our emotions and attitudes can be affected by being at one, too.  Maybe we have walked into a room and felt like everyone was looking at us or were afraid to be noticed so we slink in, gravitate toward a wall or try to get lost in a crowd thinking we won't be noticed yet, we still feel like we stick out.  Alternatively, maybe we walk into the room and feel at one with it, like we are it, like we own it and everyone in it.  We will then be at one with everyone and not feel isolated.  In both instances, the room and the people in it don't change, we do.  See Schrodinger's cat.

When some organists sit at an organ, they are timid of the sound, instrument and space.  If they pulled out all the stops, they can sometimes be insecure and afraid of the sonorous bombast which will trumpet forth.  That timidness will come through in their playing, too.   When I sit at a console, I feel like I am at one and own the whole piece of furniture, the bench, the keys and the stops.  When I drop my hands, I own and feel the air rushing through the pipes. When the air rushes through the pipes, I am at one with the sound.  As the sound fills the space, I am one with the space.  As the rumble of sound causes the floor and walls to vibrate, I am at one with the vibrations.  The room, the sound, the space, they are all one and I am not just a conduit between them, but I and the space exist as one.  If there are people in the pews, I envelop them with my sound in a zen-like oneness.

My father taught me to drive and he marked the steering wheel and passenger side door with tape.  When he taught me to parallel park, he had a mathematical formula for turning the steering wheel, lining up the tapes with the parallel car's bumper and mirror and with that formula I was able to parallel park perfectly every time.   However, it was my mother's lesson which made me one with my car, the space and the car I was trying to park behind. 

Her parking lesson started and ended in the driveway and it started with water, soap and a sponge.  She never took me out to practice parking but she wanted to instill in me a knowledge of every inch of the car, to be one with it.  Indeed, after washing it several times I had an innate sense of the length, width and height of my car.  To this day, when I parallel park, it is not my father's perfect formula which I use, it is the sense of being at one with my car, feeling every inch of it and knowing its size, mass and space which helps me to park perfectly most every time.

As a pianist, I know that my arm can only go in one direction at a time.  Consequently my fingers can only go in one direction at a time.  Since I have five fingers which do have the ability to go in different directions at a time, if I were to play with isolated fingers, they would have an invisible pull on my arm and hand which would hinder and interrupt my technique.  When a pianist learns that all five fingers can only go in one direction at a time, it will free up their hand and technique.  Likewise, they need to be at one with gravity.  The keys are to be pressed down but the pianist doesn't have to press the keys down, but only allow gravity to let the arm depress a key to the point of sound then un-weigh the arm so it can play the next note or set of notes.   If a pianist were to press into a key, first, they will eventually injure themselves because like the aforementioned wall, the key bed isn't going anywhere.  However, all their motion will be going down and then they can't go up to get to the next note without causing fatigue and muscle strain because they are trying to go in two directions at the same time.  A tell tale sign of this is a pianist (or typist or game player or texter) who needs to shake the tension our of his hands.  That is a sign that he is using two opposing muscles at the same time.  It just can't be done.  Well, it can but shouldn't be. 

Stand up.  You are not pressing into the ground, you are effortlessly standing there.  You don't have to do anything.  Gravity is holding you there with no more or less weight than is present.  Now stand on one leg.  The raised leg is now free and effortlessly hanging, waiting to go in any direction.  You can do that because the leg you are standing on is doing only one thing, going with gravity.  If you try hopping on that one leg, your free leg will most likely tense up. 

Many pianist can't tremolo or trill because they are trying to control the instrument, their hands, individual fingers and gravity by pressing into the keybed.  They need only to employ enough arm weight to depress a key, then rotate their forearm as a single and unified part.  The arm is only going in one direction at a time while the forearm rotation does the rest.  There is a little more to it but that is for another lesson. 

Consider a drummer who takes his stick and plays a tinkle of wind chimes.  His stick effortlessly glides from right to left down the rank of chimes and he plays them all with equal timing and intensity.  While he is playing each chime, he is not playing each chime individually.  His arm is one with the stick, the stick is one with the chimes and with one movement he creates the sound of a unified tinkle.  Uncontrolled yet, controlled.

Water is a force which goes with gravity.  There is nothing that won't eventually fail to the unyielding power of water and gravity.  Still waters run deep because at one time the water was a frothing torrent which eventually entrenched itself in the landscape.  Although, it could have been a slow drip, too.  My mother had a unique ritual for watering plants.  She had a few dozen buckets which she poked small holes in at the bottom.  She placed them next to a shrub or plant and filled them from the garden hose.  During the course of the day, the bucket would empty from a slow leak.  You see, if she poured the water out at once, much of is would spill in all directions and would only seep about one inch into the soil.  She wanted her plants to develop deep roots rather than shallow ones.  So, if the water slowly leaked in one spot, it would eventually seep deep into the ground forcing and encouraging the plant's roots to grow deeply into the ground making it stronger and healthier.   This is evident when strong winds topple huge trees and you can see that most of the roots are shallow and all on the surface.  That was another of my mother's lessons; With struggle, persistence, austerity and adaptation, comes strength.  The dumping of vast amounts of water all at once onto a plant may seem satisfactory to the impatient gardener but, slow and steady wins the race.  Trees with deep roots don't topple.

Here is a fun lesson at being at one with gravity;  go outside with a friend who is armed with water balloons.  Have him toss the balloons to you and you try to catch them without breaking them.  If you meet each balloon with opposing force, you will get wet.  If you absorb its gravitational energy and momentum by going with the gravity of of the balloon, you will dryly succeed.  Don't forget to toss them back.

Go with gravity and be at one with the universe.  Resistance is futile.

Lyme Disease, Doctors and Scares - Oh My!

Last spring I was out hiking and at the end of my hike I detected a tick embedded in my leg.  I managed to fully extract the little beast and watched the site closely for a few days.  I didn't develop the telltale "bulls-eye" rash so I thought I was safe from any sort of infection.

Approximately one month later I developed a sinus infection that didn't go away.  After a month of symptoms I went to see my doctor and she said I had only allergies and prescribed over the counter allergy medication.  After a few weeks my symptoms did not abate and I also began to develop muscle aches and fatigue.

I went back to my doctor and again asserted the fact that I was bitten by a tick and she said that since I didn't have other symptoms, it couldn't be Lyme Disease and that she would not prescribe antibiotics without further evidence of infection.  She said that the irresponsible prescribing of antibiotics can create "super-bugs."  She suggested I try a different decongestant.

A few weeks later I developed a pain everywhere I have ever fractured a bone: a pinky knuckle, a finger tip, my coccyx, a toe and a knee.  I went back to my doctor and she agreed to run (sans antibiotics) a Lyme test.  If it came back positive, we would (sans antibiotics) run a second test to confirm the positive result because there are things called "false positives."  She wouldn't want to irresponsibly prescribe antibiotics, thusly creating super-bugs.  I asked what would happen if the result came back negative, would there be a second test in case of a "false negative" and she said there would be no need for antibiotics or a second test if the first one came back negative.

A friend of mine who is quite knowledgeable and experienced with Lyme disease told me that it sounded like I had Lyme disease.  She had an extra bottle of Doxycycline and gave it to me.  Within one week all my symptoms including the sinus infection (I mean allergy) went away.

I finished the 30 day supply of doxies and none of the symptoms reasserted themselves.  Can you imagine the money my insurance company could have saved if my doctor initially gave me antibiotics when I first told her that I was bitten by a tick? 

When I was a kid, I used to hang out at a friends house who father was my doctor.  I mentioned that my dog was bitten by a tick and my doctor immediately prescribed an antibiotic for me just to play it safe.  Irresponsible?  I don't know.  Of course, there wouldn't be this 500 pound super-bug following me around wherever I go.  I named him "Charlie."  He doesn't eat much.

ADVENT

Happy New Year.  At least for the church, this is the beginning of a new church year which begins with the season of Advent.  The season of Advent is now here and for organists, choir directors and pastors in liturgical churches, there will be one common complaint: "Why can't we sing Christmas Carols?"

For many Christians unfamiliar with the liturgical year, there are several misunderstandings about the meaning of the Advent season.  Some people may know that the Advent season focuses on expectation and think that it serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas. This is actually incorrect.

During this season of preparation, the original intention was that Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for the coming of Christ.  But the “coming” that the 6th century Roman Christians tied to Advent and had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in the clouds as the judge of the world as told in the book of Apocalypse or Revelation.  Originally, there was little connection between Advent and Christmas. 

In those days before electricity, the communal purpose for this season of fasting was to ensure that the winter storage of food would last the rest of the winter so, this forty day period of fasting would help stretch out what was stored in root cellars and pantries.  That is also the origins of the famed fruitcake.  All the food which began to show signs of early spoiling would be baked into a cake helping to preserve it a little longer.  Fat Tuesday right before the season of Lent, BTW, originated from the problem of food spoiling because of the spring thaw so, communities held a feast to dispense with all the food that was beginning to thaw and go bad. 

By the 6th century, Roman Christians tied Advent to the coming of Christ and it was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was erroneously linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas.

Likewise, the Christian season of Christmas actually begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for twelve days, as told in the song, "12 Days of Christmas."  This is distressing to people in liturgical churches around the world where they don't sing Christmas Carols until Xmas Eve (the "X" is Greek for "Chi" or Christ) because the carols are already playing on the radio and in the malls.  The first day of Christmas is actually December 25th.  The Christmas season and the 12 Days song, ends on January 6 which is the date (approximately two years later) that the three astrologers (Wisemen or Kings) were sent out by King Herod whose only intention for sending out the "Three Kings" was to find and kill Jesus.  That is why two of the "gifts" they brought were frankincense and myrrh.  Those spices were used for death rituals and embalming which was also intended to help mask the stench of Jesus' decomposition during the long journey back to Herod.

When Herod heard that the three astrologers had failed him in killing Jesus, Herod then ordered the death of all two year old boys in an attempt to kill Jesus in a mass purge.  The church remembers their "sacrifice" and calls it the "Feast of the Holy Innocents."  It is written that 14,000 or 144,000 boys were murdered.  In reality, the town of Bethlehem was quite small (as noted in the Carol) and some experts agree that only 14 boys were murdered while Jesus and his family secretly escaped.

Somehow this rich history of struggle, survival, longing, hope, preparation, deceit and metanoia, has been usurped by the saccharine, warm, fuzzy holiday and season we celebrate today.   What happened?  Oh, $$$$$$.  Some people will be upset with this blog posting because they have emotionally and poignantly tied this season to their own feelings, family traditions and memories.  That is not the original intention of the season but salvation is.

The church originally believed that Christ was coming but not to be born, but to judge you and the truth in your heart.  Are you ready?  I am, I got him a toaster.