If you’ve updated your reception to hi-def, then chances are you have seen or heard about a show called “Sunrise Earth” on Discovery HD. If you don’t have hi-defintion channels (different than regular cable), then this might be a good reason to upgrade. It’s a very simple show. Just a high definition camera, great natural live sound and nature. THat’s it. And not like Africa on the plains with suspenseful music and a high profile actor narrating the consummate struggle with life and death. Nope, Sunrise Earth is more toned down.
Today’s episode was about some horses grazing in a green field with majestic mountains in the background while the sun was rising on a ranch in Wyoming. That was it. For an hour. And worth every penny. No narritive, no commercials, just some horses. Tranquil TV.
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s easy to forget to pay attention to the natural flow of this planet. Not our screwed up, technologically saavy, productive society, mind you, but something even deeper. Our natural world. Nature - as healing as it gets. And sadly, glimpses like these are slowly, but surely disappearing. I drove down a rode I hadn’t been down in a while here in town. Normally lined with woods on either side. In just a year or two, all the trees were gone and there was nothing but houses.
Thank God and the former presidents (not W, btw) for creating and preserving natural parks, forrests and the like. It’s entirely possible that someday at the rate of current construction, these video recordings might be all that we have left of what life was like on our planet before all the human development.
It’s ironic to rave of a TV show inside the comforts of our homes about nature, but I think it’s a good thing, independant of time and space to get a chance to experience moments (even if just virtual and temporary, without the smell, touch and ‘energy’) of the experience. An experience I might not have had otherwise. It’s like a breather and a reminder that we choose this life and these experiences and our stress levels. And watching in hi-def seems to help amplify the experience.
The other day, I was walking through the state park and this spontaneous thought popped in…
I don’t know what makes the trees grow,
I don’t know what makes the wind blow
All I know is that I like it.
September 7th, 2007
Alright, so I had some free time this afternoon and coincidentally got my brand new shiny tri-field meter in the mail. Everyone’s got to have a hobby right?
Well, this trifield meter measures electromagnetic fields. It’s been suggested that habitually being around devices with strong emf fields could be detrimental to our health and well-being. I’ve known about subtle energy, respect the concept and feel that it might warrant some attention.
The tri-field meter I got measures not only magnetic fields, but electrical and radio/microwave emissions. It’s very easy to use, you just turn it on and walk around. For the most part, my house was fairly inert - or lacking big emf fields. Except for the major appliances. The most notable being the refrigerator. And the side of the refigerator put out even a stronger field. Other strong ones (strong meaning way past 3 milligauss) was the stereo receiver for which I have my TV audio hooked to. That actually had a quite a big field (extended several feet beyond the device itself).
A couple interesting things. I switched over to measuring microwaves and turned on my microwave. Lesson learned. Don’t stand right next to my microwave when it’s on. The waves were strong, even with the door shut. I guess that’s why people with pacemakers shouldn’t use microwaves.
The other strong field was emitted by the Portable Sony Playstation (PSP). That cranked out some strong numbers. Makes me wonder if playing that over hours is such a hot idea. No pun intended.
My alarm clock in my bedroom had a pretty big em field. I guess that’s why the alternative docs suggested not to keep it near your head when you sleep. Fortunately, I keep mine on the other side of the room.
Lastly the surge protector to my computer equipment registered some of the strongest electromagnetic fields in my house. They were huge em readings. And I haven’t read that there are easy ways to counter em fields, something bout sheet metal. So I will have to play around with that, considering how much time I spend playing in that room.
Other than that, those were the most notable.
Being probably one of the few people in the world who don’t own a cell phone, I didn’t get a chance to play around with that yet. Also, it would also be interesting to see what the fields are like inside a car. Electric and gas powered.
September 6th, 2007
Ok, I’ve been a fan of tennis for decades. And I’ve been patiently watching and putting up with the players obsessive compulsive behavior. It’s almost funny at this point. Djokovic’s obsessive ball bouncing (the announcers even have me counting the number of times he bounces the ball), Maria Sharapova’s loud screaming (not to mention the placing of hair behind her ears before each serve), but I have to draw the line with Nadals picking the underwear out of his crack on nearly every point. Now he picks the underwear out of his crack, then bends over and checks his shoes, sometimes wipes his hand and is ready to play.
I know there’s a difference between obsessive compulsive behavior and habit, but for the life of me can’t figure it out. And for some reason watching Nadal pulling his underwear out really gets me to NOT want to watch Rafa play. I mean I respect the guy and all, I think he’s the real deal, but I just can’t handle his social demeanor, uh I mean sports ritual. And I, of all people, am not one usually for social demeanor.
So my suggestion to Rafael Nadal and his shorts problem is to try a different brand of underwear. Maybe he’s wearing a jock strap, perhaps he should switch to boxers. Maybe briefs might help prevent the underwear from riding up into his butt crack on every point. How about powdering that area so that it doesn’t stick. I mean something, anything.
I just don’t ever recall seeing any other player in the history having so much problems with his underwear as Rafael Nadal does. So there has to be a solution, somehow, somewhere.
September 4th, 2007
1) You’re pretty pissed off you own a 1080i LCD TV, as opposed to a 1080p
2) You waited in line on the first day to buy an iPhone.
3) You spent extra money on the HDMI cable for your new PS3
4) You use the extra heat and radiation coming from your cell phone to warm up your ears on cold days
5) You have to check your email at least 6 times per day
6) You lose sleep if you didn’t check your email before going to bed
7) You have calluses from text messaging so much
You have eyestrain from playing your PSP on the way to work or school
9) You crave a liquid cooled quad core desktop with a 32 inch monitor
10) You lose sleep, skip meals, and ignore people because you are too busy surfing the web, blogging, checking email, and playing video games
And this is just the beginning, I am sure there are tons more I didn’t even consider. Feel free to comment…
September 4th, 2007
I’ve always been a believer that nature offers some of the best solutions for our health and well-being. Food being one of them :) For those of you dealing with inflammation, either chronic or acute, there is an herb out there that has been used for centuries. It’s called Turmeric, or Curcuma Longa. And it’s part of the ginger family. It’s also been used not only medicinally for centuries, but as a spice for our foods. It’s in the well known yelllow/orange herb in curry dishes from the east. It’s also in a lot of the mustards on the shelf.
But for the past several years, I have taken turmeric on and off. And I have personally observed noticeable anti-inflammatory responses as a result of taking turmeric. I take it by the capsule, 500 to 1000 mg a few times per week, when needed. It’s been suggested that it even acts like a mild cox-2 inihibitor, further backing up the idea of it being a anti-inflammatory solution.
Recent studies have shown that Tumeric to have pronounced anti-oxidant properties, and even tumor suppressing properties. And it’s been suggested that a little turmeric is actually better than a lot of turmeric. I have experimented with higher doses and lower doses, and for me, found the lower doses to be just as effective. Taking more, turmeric didn’t reduce inflammation any more or longer. So just one or two capsules seem to work just fine.
There are also tons of recipes out there so that you could just as easily add turmeric into your lifestyle. Try it and see for yourself.
September 4th, 2007
If you haven’t heard by now, the government is in the process of killing online poker gambling. The stupidity of this new law could be one of the dumbest things ever done by Congress and they have done some dumb things.
In a land where the laws are supposed to protect our freedom, you will very soon not be able play poker online for ‘real’ money. How does that protect my freedom exactly? From my understanding, it was snuck in with a port security bill. Sleazy, in my opinion.
If you have ever seen any movies about congressmen, especially the one made by Michael Moore, where the congressman on camera says something to the tune of ‘We don’t have time to read everything that comes across our desks’. I believe they were referring to the patriot act on that one. That’s scary. Apparently they were asleep at the wheel on this illegal gambling bill as well. Inspires a tremendous amount of confidence in our supposedly elected officials.
What right does the US Gov’t have to tell me that I can’t spend my money on something as inncouous as a few hands of poker?? Especially if it’s in the supposed privacy of my own home?? But then again, the new wiretapping bill gives the gov’t the right to legally eavesdrop. Invasion of privacy? Absolutely. All in the name of our homeland security. It makes me concerned how much harm has been done in the name of my ’safety’.
Freedom, supposedly what we are fighting terrorists for, means “exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.”. I think that alot of people on Capital Hill either have forgotten that or simply are so self absorbed with their continued reign that they don’t care what the people who elected them actually want.
Limiting my FREEDOM is not something I am ever interested in. Even if it compromises my so-called safety. Which one is more important to you? Perpetuating the concept that we all should be quaking in our boots and instantly give up our constitutional rights is NUTS. The very rights our forefathers fought and died for is something we should be protecting at all costs.
Poker was a big part of our history. It’s 100% AMERICAN. It’s as classic as classic gets.
So, if you are interested in trying to fix the train wreck that is about to occur in the poker world, I recommend the poker players alliance. I am not affiliated with them, don’t know them, but think they could be a very sane voice in a drone world. Having recently elected Greg “Fossilman’ Raymer and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson to the board of directors, I think that’s the one I would support to help put a stop to all this bullshit.
October 3rd, 2006
I just starting taking phophatidylserine every few days. About 100 mg in the evening. Years ago I took this saliva test (to measure free coritisol and other things) and it suggested that phosphatidyl serine supplementation would be helpful. At that time is was extremely expensive, now it’s only mildly expensive. So I bought a small bottle from the Vitamin Shoppe to try it out. You can get it at any vitamin store.
The interesting thing I noticed immediately after taking 3 softgels of PS was I slept better. ALOT BETTER. More solid and certainly deeper. On occasion I wake up a bit groggy, but lately I’ve been feeling great when I wake up. I don’t take it everyday for some reason, I just take it every once in a while. Just an intuitive thing.
The second thing I noticed was how vivid my memories are. Like in great detail. Pretty cool.
Phosphatidylserine is a phospholidpid found in brain tissue. It’s also found in soya and egg yolks. It’s thought to have a positive impact on memories and age related decline of mental function. It has also been suggested that it’s helpful in reducing cortisol and helpful for managing stress.
I did try another brand besides the Vitamin Shoppe. It had a blend of neuro compounds in them (I am always a little leary of those). This blend was rich in L-alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine (or a form of choline) and also had phosphatidyl serine, I took it around dinner time (which they suggested not to do) and it gave me nightmares and I felt a little depressed the next day. So I don’t think that’s a good blend for me. I never really cared for choline anyway, always makes my mucles tense. it was called cognitive something??
So, in the meantime, I think I’ll stick with the pure phosphatidylserine from the Vitamin Shoppe, I like it. Sleep great, feel better. Think more clearly. So far so good.
August 27th, 2006
Recently I drank alot of green tea and decided to hook up 2 surround sound systems - 1 for my TV and 1 to my computer system. For my TV, I have a digital cable box and a digital video recorder as well as a HDTV. In order to get true ‘digital’ surround sound, then you’ll need a 5.1 or better surround sound receiver WITH a fiber optic digital sound input (many stereo receivers these days are also DVD players - just make sure your DVD home theater system has a digital fiber optic cable input option). My receiver has the fiber optic input, but didn’t come with the cable.
So after reading the instructions for the 4th time, I went out and bought the fiber optic cable at Radio Shack for $20, not knowing why exactly I was buying it. My surrround system (5 speakers hooked up to my receiver and cable box sounded great already. I was just using the red and white sound in cables). But an interesting thing happened, when I hooked up that fiber optic cable from my cable box to my stereo receiver the quality instantly and dramatically improved. And a little light came on telling me I was now receiving ‘digital’ surround sound. And wow, the sound quality is awesome. Who knew. Combined with hi def channels, the result is that I am going to be spending a lot more time than I already do vegging in front of the TV. Great 
So if you are hooking up a surround sound system and have ‘digital’ cable and want true ‘digital’ sound then make sure your receiver has the fiber optic input and go get the cable. It’s a nice addition to a home theater and it’s only $20.
Now, my computer didn’t have the fiber optic option, and I wasn’t going to hook up a digital reciever to my computer, but maybe someday when I have nothing better to do. Right now, I just have the Creative Labs 5.1 speakers (under $50) and a sound blaster live 5.1 surround sound card and it’s pretty good. The 3-d sound I experience from sitting at the computer is very cool, games are great and music, espcially from Yahoo, is really amazing.
I wonder what they’ll think of next….
August 26th, 2006
Welcome to the Loose Change. This site is just some random stuff, thoughts and ideas I threw together. Some of it might actually be interesting and worthwhlie, who knows! Stay tuned.
August 26th, 2006
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