Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis

There is a saying: only children and drunk people tell the truth. Deborah Ellis, who has written some insightful books about the war in Afghanistan (The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey, and Mud City) based on interviews with Afghan women of various refugee camps, allows this truth to come to light on the pages of this short book. A very short book, indeed, but with huge impact!

In a set of interviews, Isreali and Palestinian children relate their peronal stories and thoughts on the war that is destroying their lives, tears their families apart, and burns hate and dispair into their innocent souls so deep it will take generations of care, love and forgiveness to heal. Assuming they ever have the chance to experience that care, love and forgiveness ever at all. The book, not for its literary execellence, but for its message is akin to Munch's Scream or Picasso's Guernica. None of these pieces of art is beautiful. None has been made with the artist's care for aesthetics. Rather, each expresses an extremely powerful message about the brutality and bestiality of war and about the utter human dispair in the face of such terror.

There is only one loud and crystal clear message from the stories both the Israeli and the Palestinian children relate. War alienates, drives people into dispair. It does not matter who started, when or why. What matters is that neither side is willing to stop, and it is their own future, their own children are the ones who suffer the most.

This book should be mandatory read in our schools!

"Writing isn't magic. I mean, hell, if I can do it, anybody can do it. Kids can do it. When they write down their stories, it means that people can read them 10 centuries from now and know who we were, and that's a wonderful, wonderful thing. What a blast! We can know what Plato and all those people were thinking back in those days, and generally they weren't thinking anything too terribly more interesting than what we're thinking now. We're thinking the same things and have the same questions", Ellis says in an interview with Dave Jenkinson for the Canadian Review of Materials of the University of Manitoba.

Proceeds from Deborah Ellis' books are donated to charities.

I wish you and your loved ones a Blessed Christmas!

Spain 2007 - Part 9: Barcelona

Never-ending party, amazingly rich architectural heritage. Modernista artists such as Gaudi made such contribution to the city's rich beauty that even though we had a whole week in the city, it was just simply impossible to see all that was worth seeing. Topping the list of our favourite, of course, was the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's masterpiece.

Spain 2007 - Part 7: Tangier, Marocco

A day-trip to Marocco was truly a change of culture. Different continent, culture, religion, food, scenery, language... Pretty much everything was different from Spain. The trip was well worth it, though I will probably not do this type of package tour again. There was just too much pushing around by the tour guide, too much of the trade cartell that the operator was in with the local merchants so we were herded into only certain stores that actually marked up prices incredibly for us while pretending to be best deals in town.

I will have to go back to Marocco. Maybe to Tangier as well. But with more time for looking exploring.

Follow this link to the Flickr photoset -> 7. Tangier, Marocco

Spain 2007 - Part 6: Gandia

This now relatively small and quiet (by Spanish standards, anyway) town near Valencia was once home to the splendour of the House of Borja (Borgia) family whose fost famous members were Rodriogo the bishop, cardinal, pope (Alexander VI.) and saint, the notorious son and daughter Cesare and Lucrezia known for incest, adultery, murder, and scandal.

I also managed to get an excellent hair cut bz a local barber and a real delicious churros y chocolate.

Follow this link to the Flickr photoset -> 6. Gandia

Spain 2007 - Part 5: Malaga

Classic Andalucia, great food, strong wine, and a long walk up the hill to the Alcazaba and the Gibralfaro, the upper castle are all most memorable. The view from the Gibralfaro ono the city, the port and the surrounding mountains is truly breathtaking - that is if there is still any breath in one after the countless steps up the hill...

The unfinished cathedral has wonderful, unique feel as well.

Follow this link to the Flickr photoset -> 5. Malaga

Spain 2007 - Part 4: Granada

Probably no visit to Andalucia is complete without seeing the Alhambra thus paying homage to the architectural talents, fine craftsmanship and extraordinary sense of beauty of the Moorish builders. The weather was not too friendly to us while in town, but it was no match for the gorgeous elegance of past sultans that was waiting for us in the palace and gardens. We'll remember the walk in the gardens of the Generalife (the architect's garden) and the Albaicin for a very long time yet.

Follow this link to the Flickr photoset -> 4. Granada

Spain 2007 - Part 3: Ronda

One of the highlights of our trip to Spain was this small town perched on two sides of the Rio Guadalevin among magnificent mountains. The most noted feature of Ronda is the Puente Nuevo arching over the 120m chasm that the river has cut over the millions of years. One thing we did not go to see close up is Spain's oldest bullfighting ring. We're just no that crazy about that sort of thing.

Follow this link to the Flickr photoset -> 3. Ronda

Spain 2007 - Part 2: Benalmádena

A beautiful vacation place on the Mediterranean coast (Costa del Sol) just south of Malaga. Pleasant walks on the shore or along the town's main street, great food in any one of the hundreds of restaurants lining the coast, great swims in the gentle waves of the sea...

Follow this link to the Flickr photoset -> 2. Benalmádena

Spain 2007 - Part 1

We recently came back from a beautiful vacation in Spain. We have made a LOT of pictures and would like to share some of these.

Here's part 1, which actually are pictures of Philadelphia where we landed on our way to Madrid, and spent a few hours in the city - some of it walking the streets of this city that was once the second largest city of the British Empire. The city is still very proud of its Delaware heritage, and its role in the history of the independent United States (Independence National Historic Park, Independence Bell, William Penn's Landing memorial, Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, etc.) A busy city, and remarkable in many ways, but will not be my favourite. Despite any great Philly Cheese Stake...

Follow this link to the Flickr photoset -> 1. Philadelphia

Dumbledore was gay?

What interests me is not whether Albus Dumbledore was indeed gay or not. It has little bearing on the story line of the Harry Potter series. No, it's rather the possible reasons Rowlins decided to throw this in for the masses to chew on. She has created a huge and most successful business out the Potter idea (she is richer than the Queen). Any announcement in such a businesses empire is always well calculated for impact. Unless this statement was a true accidental off-the-cuff remark (which I doubt) than I am sure she is paving the way for some other announcements yet. What those might be? No idea. But after years of writing thousands of pages of books around Hogwarts and the world of magic, one cannot just drop the pen and leave the scene in quiet and retire to fishing for the rest of one's life. I expect she is already conceptualizing a new series. Maybe a "Albus Dumbledore and the ..." series. Who knows? However, I get the feeling I will not necessarily read those book. I grew a bit tired by the last volume of the Potter series. Now I need a rest.

The Eagle has landed

Well, sort of:

The Universe in a Single Atom by The Dalai Lama

A very readable and thought-provoking book on the Dalai Lama's personal encounters with science and the parallels observable between Buddhist teachings and the discoveries of modern science. The book attempts to bring science and spirituality closer together and to find a possible common ground between the two benefiting all.

In this fascinating book the concept of a 'beginningless universe' is contrasted with the big bang theory, evolution and karma are paralleled, the meaning of 'consciousness' from the respective perspectives of Buddhism and science are compared as well as there is discussion on aspects of ethics and genetics.

In his book, the Dalai Lama pays homage to the those scientists he has come into touch with over the years and acknowledges how fruitful the dialogue he has had with them has been. He also dispels parts of the stereotype of the narrowly rational scientist and talks about the qualities of compassion and empathy he discovered in those scientists he came into contact with.

I am not a Buddhist and did not become a convert as a result of reading this book. This was, of course, not the intention of the Dalai Lama, either. Still, some of the beliefs and philosophies are presented with such power that one is compelled to review thoroughly one's own beliefs and perhaps include some of the relevant truths offered by the author in one's own convictions. No, I am not talking about giving up beliefs. But the way we interpret the world around us should never be solid beyond any possible review. I am convinced that it is possible to include important insights from other traditions without giving up the integrity of our own beliefs.

I particularly sympathize with the Dalai Lama's criticism of 'scientific materialism' that supposes that all human experience can be defined empirically.

The Healing Power of Water by Masaru Emoto and Jürgen Fliege

After seeing the movie "What the bleep do we know" I had to read this book. I was most fascinated by the subway segment of the movie in which pictures are shown of water crystals of magnificent beauty if a word suggesting love, compassion or other virtue was shown to water, and some ugly cacophony, when the word was suggestive of destruction, violence, or of some other negative influence.


Image of water after "Thank You!"

Well, I thought I need to read the book to know more about this fascinating discovery.

Then I read the book, watched a presentation of Dr. Emoto, and got really thinking. The claim that words shown to water cause the water to change in some way, in my humble opinion, is at least misleading. In this book, and apparently in some other similar ones published by Dr. Emoto, he make the claim that it is the word or image shown to water or rather its vibration that makes the difference in the way water crystals are forming. I bag to differ in my interpretation.

I do not dispute that there may be a difference in the shape or size of the crystals before and after the act during which a "scientist" show the word or image to the glass of water. Where I rather differ, though, is how this phenomenon should be interpreted, especially, that independent blind studies have not once confirmed Dr. Emoto's findings. by the way, just because no independent study confirms one's findings does not make them automatically invalid in my world.

So, here's my theory: It is not the written word or the image that make the water change. It is the person, the observer who has the influence. It is their mindset and expectations, their emission of energy of various frequencies that can have impact on the water to produce such amazing beauty of scary disarray. I do strongly believe in the power of one's mind to transform ourselves and through this act, the world we perceive. Therefore, the way I understand the world, it is perfectly acceptable that the observer's mind, that has a very strong distinction between such words as health and illness, happiness and misery, or forgiveness and revenge, that also has the ability to resonate with the concepts these words stand for, and project this very same frequency into the subject of the experiment, the glass of water.

I think it is even more exciting to follow what comes if we allow it to be the observer's mind that makes the change in the water crystals. This means there is yet another evidence how incredibly capable our mind is and what everything it can achieve if it is applied to it.

Pavarotti

He was my favourite operatic tenor. His brilliantly colourful voice (I have always strongly resonated to his performances of Nessun dorma), his passion, willingness to embrace other musical genres, boundless cheerfulness, and dedication to helping anyone he could, are but a few characteristics that make him an artist I will miss dearly.

Farewell!

Total lunar eclipse

Last night a magnificent total lunar eclipse was visible from Toronto. A picture of the event from truffes' photostream:

Samples from my mineral collection

Here is a link to a few samples I have in my mineral collection from recent trips to Bancroft, Ontario. -> follow me

Fence upgrade

Finally, I got to completing a job that has been waiting for quite a while. We wanted to put a bit of interest into our plain'n'borin' fence gate. Also, the wind will able to go through it freely allowing for less stress on the hinges and lock severe weather. Here it is:

Quirky creatures of the deep

"An octopus with ears like an elephant? Scallops that hang like bats? Yup, they're real and they live off the East Coast." begins the artical published by CBC News. A discovery of exciting, previously unknown species off Canada's east coast includes an octopus with fins near its eyes, "single-cell organism about the size of a grapefruit", "yellow and pink bubblegum-coloured coral" and "orange scallops hanging from underwater cliffs" among other things.

Caroline Myss - The Language of Archetypes (Discover the Forces That Shape Your Destiny)

A good friend recommended this set of 10 CDs by Caroline Myss, "Medical Intuitive" giving lecture on the power of archetypes. I happily jumped into listening to the program since I am very much interested in human behaviour, its motivations, intrinsic or environmental determinants. Well, I was treated to somewhat of a cold shower.

Caroline Myss basically provides a who's who of character and situation archetypes discovered by others, mixed with some overstated obvious truths and a touch of ego trip.

If one has never heard or read about the world of archetypes before, it may not be a wasted time listening to these CDs. One can get a catalog of named archetypes with some (mostly "intuitive") explanation around them. For the most part the "shadow side" discussion of the various archetypes can be interesting as it brings in some reference to excessive or misdirected application of the archetypes.

There a few issues with the way she presents what she has to say on the subject. Number one is the treatment of the subject not as a speculation now widely accepted or a study based on empirical analysis of human behaviour, but a set of hard-core facts cast into humans by some external force, that for the most part the human does not really have a lot of direct control over. My usual beef is that there are all too many schools of thought helping people avoid any responsibility in their own actions. This is another one. If the "good Samaritan" archetype is not in me, then why should it be not OK for me not to help a person who is desperate need?! I just can't help it...it's not in me...

To her archetypes are not generic versions of a personality, which they are to me, but strict classes into which humans belong whether they like it or not. In Myss' view archetypes evolve within us not giving much thought to their hosts, as it were, rather than our life going through changes for various internal or external reasons, and consequently our personality changing to accommodate or to resist such changes.

There is no such thing as straight talk for her. Repeatedly she makes claims that anyone saying anything to her or others is really nothing but a charade for various archetypal intentions that are rather different from the actual words spoken. But she, obviously, reads very clearly amongst these, and truth is never hidden from her while others would have no clue about such things. True, there are covert motives in a number of things people say. Still, I find this a touch too arrogant that hardly anything people say should be taken as is but always a clairvoyant has to interpret true meaning. Just does not work for me.

Caroline Myss' declaration that "I don't do kids...I can't stand them around me..." was a turn-off for me as well. It has nothing to do with the merits of the program. It just says something about the person.

Intolerant references to new age and organized religion of any kind (most notable anything to do with Christianity is a bad do) are also abundant. The one about new age is actually a bit kinky since she actually is preaching some of the same things that define new age... Hmm.

Finally, no reference to where she got her material. Perhaps some credit to the works of C. G. Jung and other pioneers of the field who actually defined such archetypes as The Shadow, Anima/Animus, The Divine Couple (Syzygy), The Child, etc. or even classic authors such as Plato for his theory of ideas would have been appropriate.

Curiousity...

Some of the finds from Bancroft

Finally I got around to taking pictures of at least some of the minerals we brought back from Bancroft. More to follow...

A huge rose quartz specimen:


Microline crystal (6" x 2") - some amazonite mixed in:


Fluorapatite from Bear Lake (3.5" x 1.5"):


Microline (amazonite):


Beautiful dark blue Sodalite:


Another feldspar crystal (3"):

A day at the ROM

We visited the Royal Ontario Museum. This was our first visit there since the reconstruction began to give it new "crystl" face. Some of my favourite exhibitions (such as the gems and minerals) are still closed but one cannot wait forever... I will have to go back in December to see those.

The Wisdom of Your Cells by Bruce H. Lipton

Another exciting audiobook presentation that I had the chance to listen to while driving to and from work. This one is from cellular biologist and author Dr. Bruce H. Lipton.

The Wisdom of Your Cells: How Your Beliefs Control Your Biology is about an increasingly popular theory that I have been long an advocate of: our conscious and subconscious thoughts, and beliefs control how our body responds to environmental inputs.

Through Dr. Lipton's engaging explanations the cell membrane gains new dimensions. It becomes the great coordinator of our cell-level perceptions (the way external stimuli are being received and responded to) via the mechanisms of receptor and respondent proteins. We get a quick tour of cellular biology, history and some out-of-context criticism on church and religion.

The main point the author makes is that we are not the victims of our genes as current media would like us to believe. Genes do not control our lives. We do! Genes are "simply" providing options and possibilities rather than predetermined responses. It is the cell membrane that, through sophisticated interactions, will cause the genes to perform what they are meant to do: provide blueprints for production of those particular proteins that are required to carry out certain tasks. On a human level, again, it is our brain/mind that is the governor of which of the many possible responses to things that happen to us we should manifest, not our inherent genes.

This position is in stark contrast to the current trend that humans are nothing but toys in the "hands" of all-powerful external factors such as genetic inheritance. Free will, reason and decision are but whims of poets and philosophers. Anyone committing crime is just another victim... Don't even get me going on this topic.

I found the discussion on prenatal and early childhood development very enlightening. I new about children's ability to respond to stimuli in ways derivable from their parents' behaviour even from before birth. Dr. Lipton puts forward a very plausible and acceptable explanation. In his view the mother and the to-be-born baby share an information stream, the bloodstream carried through the placenta that provides a "direct download" of knowledge and behaviour patterns into the child. Also, during the first few years of the child's development, by observing the parents' reactions children will again "download" enormous amounts of information, good and bad, about the world around them.


Now I have to say something on the negative side as well.

Dr. Lipton's discussion of quantum mechanics is not entirely satisfactory. It involves a great deal of oversimplification. For instance, I cannot quite support his jump from the realm of subatomic particles to which the quantum mechanics theories he references apply to the realm of the conscious human without a reasonable transition. I do agree there is connection, but I do not agree with his assertion that there is an equivalence between the quantum interference of wavefunctions and a person's emotional response to the "good vibes" or "bad vibes" in a room full of people.

Also, the discussion of the Newtonian physics is distorted. Dr. Lipton brushes classical mechanics (deterministic laws describing the motion of macroscopic objects) aside as completely irrelevant on the premise that quantum mechanics has done away with all things non-relativistic or not probability based. He does not care to state that classical mechanics is still very much valid in the realm of everyday proportions. It still is the norm by which human-scale world operates. True, extremes of physics (subatomic particles, singularities, etc.) follow different laws. But one should try to operate a shower in the morning without considering classical mechanics.

A trip to the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market

Although the trip did not quite work out the way originally planned (it was Sunday, so the real Mennonite market, open only on Saturday, was closed), we still had a wonderful time.

Did some shopping at the Sunday Market - obviously locals recognized the business potential in those tourists who cannot tell Saturday from Sunday. Then headed into St. Jacobs town where we spent a few fantastic hours walking the streets. Once we thought it was time to move on, we did not head back home directly but did a detour via Elora.

The Elora Gorge is truly beautiful. What is less beautiful is that if you just want to see the gorge without wanting to spend a day for picnic, you still have to pay $4 per adult to get into the provincial park :( Also, there was a huge multitude of people making the experience less then ideal for getting in touch with nature's miracle.

Martial Arts Demonstration

Finally, after long wait I have a few pictures from the public demonstration that our school, Energy Martial Arts Academy held recently.

A trip to the Rose Quartz Pit!

Last weekend we decided to give in to our urges of the rock hounds within us and headed north to Quadeville, Lyndoch Township, about an hour drive from Bancroft.

The weather was perfect for us: sunny but not too hot, with some breeze to keep bugs away for most of the day (they actually managed to launch one major campaign against us during the whole day).

The owners of the Rose Quartz Pit, Dick and Heather, stayed with us for most of the day, gave us a lot of background about the formation of this magnificent geological spectacle, and they were so generous, they even guided us to their other site the Beryl Pit to see if we could find some other interesting mineral specimens.

In the Rose Quartz Pit we found gorgeous rose quartz specimens. I ended up bringing a beautiful piece home that weighed almost 50 pounds. There were also some nice beryl (goshenite) and smoky quartz specimens that we were able to hammer-and-chisel out. Some of the rarer minerals found were: samarskite, magnetite

In the Beryl Pit we found some additional but not as intact beryl (goshenite), nice black tourmaline, albite (cleavelandite) and small purple fluorite specimens.