Brian

Chubby Wise is a real treat! You might like this rendition, too:

Thank you!

I get "This video is unavailable"

The Irish fiddle as a foundation for the Appalachian styles which followed should be obvious here:

For those who imagine bluegrass fiddle is random sawing on an old violin:

I think TDB, and particularly some of the more revealing threads, provide truly fascinating character studies. In the most recent example, we see poorly concealed giggles perceived as anger & hatred rather than amusement.

Thing is, it isn't even that I doubt John Chang or the veracity of the video -- I just find it so bizarre to the point of absurdity that MPG'S posse says we want people to experience this for themselves because it will change the entire planet but first you have to accept this video as irrefutable proof that our system is unlike all those bogus make-believe systems that just want you to experience it for yourself without objective evidence first. Ummmm... What??? Wonder what John Chang and the real MoPai would think about this curious requirement for membership in their little club?

Thought about it ("that's where the old witch parked it!") but didn't want to derail CloudHands' thread (any further...)

What's the story with the bottle-breaking demonstration? That chi at work? Help us understand the demonstration where he put one lead on his perineum -- what happened there? What's the typical static charge a person builds just by walking around? Ever touch someone or something and experience an electrical discharge? Inquiring minds want to know...

Personally, I think the bottle-breaking demonstration was awesome. Why won't you talk about that one? Also, after they failed to get a meaningful reading with the voltmeter outside (the images you have posted are of that failed demonstration), he stripped to his underwear and he put one lead on his perineum. That failed, too. He explained that it isn't electricity, it's chi. (Of course, then he does a fairly mundane electricity demonstration...) He apparently sets a piece of paper on fire, lights an LED and jabs a chopstick into the bottom of a table at his favorite restaurant (but couldn't, for some reason, do that demonstration from the top). Oh, and there's that fascinating bottle-breaking demonstration.

Google "haint blue" -- I don't want to derail CloudHands' thread (any more than I already have...) EDIT: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/architects-specifiers-designers/inspiration/styles-and-techniques/sw-article-pro-thewhysbehind And John Denver was born in Roswell, New Mexico. To my knowledge, he never lived in or spent time in the Southern Appalachian Highlands -- he came by bluegrass commercially.

My guess would be because a broom over a doorway keeps haints away, much like painting a porch ceiling blue (they don't call it "haint blue" for nothing...)

I live in the Southern Appalachian Highlands. Geographically, it includes Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, a corner of Georgia, and a bit of Kentucky & West Virginia. The region has a wonderfully diverse biosphere and a distinct culture (although both are being negatively impacted by the "progress of civilization"). A picture or two... That cat sure picked some fine claw-hammer banjo!

We are awash with various forms and frequencies of energy, some of which we are consciously aware but most of which we are not -- electromagnetic energy, nuclear energy, gravitational energy, thermal and kinetic energy. We are also awash in a more subtle energy which is foundational. Like someone softly singing on a bustling city street, the song is usually lost in the noise. In silence, the song can be heard. The Quakers say it is the same still small voice of God which Elijah heard.

I'm confused. Who is this guy?

Food for thought -- a UN document from 2000: http://archive.is/xUQas

You are approaching this from a self-serving perspective. You are sending "love and kindness" to change him into what you want him to be for your own benefit. This rarely works out according to plan. Heal thyself.

Not your circus, not your monkeys.

You don't need to start worrying until you begin losing arguments with yourself.

No, not cool at all.

Hubris is a curious thing.

Yes, but I would argue that is by design -- they are fulfilling their agenda with the knowledge it would be messy. Individuals don't matter, you see, only centralized control of the global collective. Here's the final paragraph in the "Conclusions and Implications" summary chapter: Finally, the new challenges being brought about by declining and ageing populations will require objective, thorough and comprehensive reassessments of many established economic, social and political policies and programmes. Such reassessments will need to incorporate a long-term perspective. Critical issues to be addressed in those reassessments would include (a) appropriate ages for retirement; (b) levels, types and nature of retirement and health-care benefits for the elderly; (c) labour-force participation; (d) assessed amounts of contributions from workers and employers needed to support retirement and health- care benefits for the increasing elderly population; and (e) policies and programmes relating to international migration, in particular replacement migration, and the integration of large numbers of recent migrants and their descendants. In this context, it should be noted that immigrants to one country are emigrants from another country. As such, international migration must be seen as part of the larger globalization process taking place throughout the world, influencing the economic, political and cultural character of both sending and receiving countries. While orderly international migration can provide countries of origin with remittances and facilitate the transfer of skills and technology, it also may entail the loss of needed human resources. Similarly, international migration can provide countries of destination with needed human resources and talent, but may also give rise to social tensions. Effective international migration policies must therefore take into account the impact on both the host society and countries of origin.

I'm not a decoder but... Darkness is the absence of Light. Darkness doesn't shine, darkness doesn't glow, darkness doesn't illuminate, darkness doesn't energize, darkness doesn't clarify, darkness doesn't warm, darkness doesn't liberate. Embrace the vibrant being of light you are and shine in the darkness. Anger and resentment manifest in the crevices of our beings where light has been squeezed out. Don't fight these emotions or strive to repress them -- instead, flood these spaces with light and allow them to cleanse themselves naturally. Anger and resentment are self-inflicted wounds we project onto others as a self-defense mechanism. They are blinders which prevent us from seeing ourselves.

Having a job makes you angry?

For some reason, it seems appropriate to mention this here... When you ride a bicycle and want to turn left (for example), you push forward gently on the left handlebar, turning the wheel slightly to the right. This creates an imbalance which you then "catch" and maintain by gently pulling back on the left handlebar. You literally turn right to turn left, and you turn left to turn right -- then, as you are falling into the curve, you hold the system in a state of dynamic equilibrium until it is time to reverse the process. With practice, one learns without even being aware of the process, to bypass the process and alter the dynamic equilibrium by merely shifting one's center.