Ideeahs

Today I ventured, virtually, into two areas that are completely fascinating.  The universe and the atomic level. One of the images from my childhood that has stuck with me through the years is one that came from a book on space that I had.  It pictured the sun and showed its relative size to some of the larger stars in our universe.  The sun was a smallish circle and the largest star was a wall upon which you could not even discern a curve.  It amazed me that the such a large object could exist.  Today I went looking for similar pictures as my son was asking me questions on space and the universe.  I found this series of graphics from Gallaudet University in Washington D.C.  It is absolutely incomprehensible to me to imagine objects that large.  I found the factoid that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches and deserts on Earth just as mind blowing.  Imagine that if you can. My son and I then explored the size of the universe.  How light...

More examples of the hunger for power and the resulting short-sightedness today.  This time it has taken the form of my beloved (please add extreme sarcasm to that last word) politicians.  We had an election recently in Canada and the Conservatives were re-elected to power with a minority position however, and therefore, with little change from the previous government. Yesterday this government presented their fiscal update. The Canadian economy, and the world's, is in deep crap.  The deepest and stinkiest that it has been in for seventy years according to many commentators (though I don't see a 1930s depression happening).  So the government took the right step in scheduling a fiscal update.  I am not going to debate what should or should not have been in the update.  What I am going to make clear is that the reaction of the opposition parties (and in turn the charade that it has set off between the various parties) is again reminiscent of kindergarten schoolyard behaviour tha...

During the last day we have once again witnessed the despicable acts of cowards.  Of extremists who do not value life.  Who are the lowest of the low.  Who act like children still at a pre-K level of social behaviour.  Who are tribal.  Who are warriors.  Who are backwards in thought.  Who are not forward thinking. Much like the Islamabad Marriott attack two months ago this group of nutsos attacked a soft target - a relatively easy target in that it was not well guarded (like embassies and army bases are).  Targets that, by their very nature, need to be open to guests going in and out as they wish - hotels, restaurants, hospitals, train stations.  What can be done to defend these kinds of targets from such acts?  Not much really other than reducing the number of entrances and exits and starting to treat them with airport security-like tactics. I don't want to sum up human activity as generally pathetic and destructive but this just seems to be another act that reinforces the thought...

Over the last few days I have been reading articles in a magazine called "What is Enlightenment?"  The October - December 2007 issue was lent to me by a friend. There are quite a few articles in this magazine that have introduced me to the concept of Integral Philosophy.  I have found the articles very interesting as they match my ideas on the world and on how societies are evolving around the world.  The basis of the subject is that individuals and societies evolve their consciousness levels along a path that becomes more and more open to the world at large, the universe as a whole.  Societies, at different speeds and moments, move away from primitive consciousness levels in which societies are focused on themselves (tribal, warrior) and slowly move up the scale towards thinking of all people (pan-national organizations) and then on to the final, yet unattained level, where the whole (everything - the universe) is considered really as one and integral to our lives. The vario...

We have had some sunny weather recently.  Autumn here on the west coast of Canada has been very nice.  Consequently I have been looking up more than I normally do at this time of year.  Most years one walks head down to avoid having raindrops and wind strike one's face.  I was downtown last week, snapping pictures of this city and took this one. This is the Shangri-La Hotel tower being built at the corner of Thurlow and West Georgia.  It will be the tallest building in the city.  But it is not the building that I want to bring to your attention but rather that little ball at the top of the picture right of centre. A nest. During the rest of the day, I noticed how, with trees' leaves now mostly fallen, many nests are suddenly exposed - no longer hidden by the green leaves that shade and protect them in the summer months. We have more neighbours then we think. Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

So I am back from Japan.  What a trip it was.  If you are interested in knowing a little about what I did there and some of my thoughts you can check out my Autumn in Japan blog.  I may write a thing or two more in it but will likely concentrate on Ideeahs (this blog) from now on. The return to Canada has not been an easy one for me.  Before I left for Japan I knew I had to go there. I had read about Japan, studied the history, been fascinated by that country for decades. What I didn't know before I left was that it would also make a change in the way I was to approach life. Japan was brilliant in every respect.  The trip made me live life, moment to moment, day to day, each to its fullest.  To experience every moment.  To sense, to see, to hear, to taste.  Every day was an adventure.  These are the reasons why I like travelling so much.  It puts you out of your comfort zone, out of your day-to-day, and forces you to adapt, accept and, again, sense the world around you.  But day...

Looking at pictures from my trip to Japan there was one that spawned this idea. It was taken in Tokyo that megalopolis of 38 million people. Along with the people come cars, garbage, pollution, chemicals, land taken for agriculture, seas drained of their fish stock, etc. We’ve all heard about how our crowded Earth is causing its slow destruction. So here is the picture. It was taken in the Shibuya area of Tokyo. Shibuya is the epitome of consumer society. There are billboards all over buildings. Because there aren’t enough shops at street level six or seven storey buildings are purpose built for more - basically vertical streets with more shops in them. You can find pretty much anything you want from the most extravagant and over priced to the most basic. There is lots of glam, glitz and bling. It is a lot of fun and has tremendous energy. One of the billboards in this picture proclaims “Save the Earth”. This picture represents a few opposites to me. Save the Earth....yet s...

Close your eyes Ignore the rest Your breath, your pulse, your skin Anywhere in the world On the land, the sea or in the skies Use your ears Water flows by Wind rustles leaves, birds chirp Anytime in hist'ry It could be any of countless years Open them Colourful mix Wonderful cacophony Not ever repeated Admire diversity and remem— Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

Sitting on the west bank of the Kamo-gawa (Kamo River) that runs through Kyoto.  Looked at the sky, snapped the picture and thought: Skies look the same to us everywhere. Under some we feel harmony, others discord. Under some we feel happiness, others sadness. Under some we feel comfort, others unease. Let's start making all the lands welcoming to everyone of all backgrounds. Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

I am sitting on the Japan Rail Thunderbird 82 train bound for Kyoto.  It is 10:21 in the morning, November 3 and playing on my iPod is Bruce Hornsby and The Range's song entitled "The Way It Is". That's just the way it is, Somethings will never change, But don't you believe them. I said "hey little boy you can't go where the others go, 'cause you don't look like they do" I said "Hey old man how can you stand to think that way? Did you really think about before you made the rules?" He said "Son,  that's just the way it is, Somethings will never change, That's just the way it is" But don't you believe them. Well tomorrow, November 4 Barack Obama will be elected President of the United States of America.  The slogan used for the successful campaign was "Vote for Change".  And that is what, finally, the world is getting.  It is a fantastic accomplishment for anyone to be elected President but this one is ...

I am sleeping on the large bed in the bedroom at the end of the short arm of the L-shaped hallway. The door leading to the hallway is closed but all the sounds nevertheless still squeak through the door jams and below the door. It is not a well-fitting door. The window let's in the wounds of mopeds and 100cc bikes. Of stray dogs barking. The beep of a car horn. The wooden floored hallway, beyond the door, transmits echoes of all that is happening in the upstairs duplex. Footsteps of my parents - maybe. The soft click-click walk of the golden haired cat - possibly. The sound of the toilet being flushed - occasionally? Musical notes from a piano in the living room also squeak through the cracks and find their way into my ears. I awake to Für Elise being played at my grandmother's house in Parede, Portugal Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!