tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41569575333924811012023-06-20T05:22:29.017-07:00TNS (The Next Step) Palo Alto cable showmonthly local cable show started 2002 by galen/terry, produced since may2005 by daniel.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-69707839202060607792013-12-31T15:23:00.000-08:002013-12-31T15:23:37.942-08:00TNS#85: Everything About 2012 with author Mark HeleyTheNextStep show #85 was taped 4/26/12 and featured bay area author Mark Heley, talking about his book The Everything Guide to 2012. Mark's book covered a wide range of topics and so did our discussion... ranging from the beginning of time in Mayan calendrics to the center of the Milky Way! In preparation for the show I reviewed my whole stack of 2012-themed books, which included The Mayan Factor/Arguelles, Maya Cosmogenesis 2012/Jenkins, The 2012 Story/Jenkins, 2012 and the Galactic Center/Page, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl/Pinchbeck, and 2012: Science or Superstition/Bruce. BTW, Mark's book is the best of the lot in breadth and clarity.
Let's see, by way of summary, for starters I was just trying to clarify what the proper terminology for the end of the 13th baktun on 12/21/12 should be called. Each baktun is 5125 years, and the 13th baktun was described as 13.0.0.0.0 -- somewhat like an IP address! -- but so does that mean 12/20 was 12.19.19.19.19 since the Mayans used a base-20 vigesimal number system? Well, the answer to that was not forthcoming.
The other topic I tried to clarify was the idea that this end of the 13th baktun was somehow coincident with our solar system crossing the central plane of the Milky Way, an idea that John Major Jenkins writes about at length. That topic didn't get much traction either, although I'd refer the reader to the Doomsday 2012 Fact Sheet prepared by astrophysicist David Morrison, which he prepared for his talk on 2012 at SETI.org in Nov 2012. When asked, he did confirm that we believe our solar system cycles above and below the galactic plane, on a very long time scale that he wasn't very clear about w/r actual numbers. My comment was that, really, there was no way the Mayans could've even known about the galaxy we're in! Unless of course the extra-terrestrials told them. Yes, that's probably it...
I liked Mark's recent article http://realitysandwich.com/215394/what-actually-happened-on-december-21-2012/ and his comment that "By the time we actually reached 2012, it had become very clear that the semantic battle for assigning meaning to this date had been steamrollered (at least in the western media) towards the ‘end of the world’." Indeed!
I thought his best quote was this: "The December 2012 solstice has become a focal point for ideas about planetary change... A unique opportunity exists to harness this attention into a global event that celebrates the essential unity of humanity and the power of positive intention." Good summary Mark! BTW he continued the theme by being one of the organizers of peace2012.net which was a global day of peace on 12/21/12, and the unify.org World Spirit Day on 12/21/13.
The show has been posted here: http://blip.tv/the-next-step/thenextstep-85-everything-about-2012-6200103
thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-22928774064189717982013-03-18T20:47:00.000-07:002013-03-18T20:53:22.665-07:00TNS#84: Spirits in Spacesuits, with Father Sean O'LaoireTheNextStep show #84 was taped 2/23/2012 and featured a wide-ranging discussion on spiritual topics with Father Sean O'Laoire. Fr. Sean is the author of various books including Spirits in Spacesuits: A Manual for Everyday Mystics (2003), Souls on Safari (2006), and A Sensible God (2008). What a delightful discussion!
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From my notes: "All world religions are merely cultural articulations of the same basic archetypal human search for God"... "reality is an artifact of consciousness"... "the real object of science is to awaken the cosmic religious experience" (Einstein quote)... A 'thin place' is where the veil between the seen and unseen is diaphanous so that one can see thru... "we see things as WE are"... "Resurrection is about recognizing the face you had before your parents were born"... "God cannot forgive, because cannot develop a grudge"... "Children are god's way of reminding adults that we are spirits in spacesuits".
"May you discover the mystic within you"!
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From Father Sean's website Spiritsinspacesuits.com:
Father Seán ÓLaoire was born in Ireland and was awarded a BSc degree (major in Math) from the Nat'l. Univ. of Ireland. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1972 and subsequently spent 14 years working among the Kalenjin people of East Africa. He is multi-lingual.
Dr. ÓLaoire has an MA and a PhD in Transpersonal Psychology and is a licensed Clinical Psychologist with a private counseling practice in Los Altos, California. He lectures and conducts scientific research on the effects of prayer.
Fr. Seán is a co-founder and Spiritual Director of Companions on the Journey (COJ), a spiritual community which seeks to recognize the God/divinity within each of us and among all of us. COJ is an independent, non-hierarchical Eucharistic community dedicated to aligning itself with God and healing the separations between us. Each individual's spirituality is seen as derived from his/her own experiences of God, immanent and transcendent, and is illuminated by the teachings of Christ and the wisdom of other spiritual traditions.
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The show has been uploaded here:
http://blip.tv/the-next-step/thenextstep-84_fatherseano-laoire-6098654
<a href="http://blip.tv/the-next-step/thenextstep-84_fatherseano-laoire-6098654"></a>
thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-13185472716310770782013-03-12T17:10:00.002-07:002013-03-12T17:18:24.363-07:00TNS#83: Steve Jobs Retrospective, with John DraperTheNextStep show #83 was taped 10/27/2011 and featured John "Cap'n Crunch" Draper recounting stories about how he got started with phone phreaking and how he was instrumental in getting Woz and Jobs up to speed with how to use a blue box to make free phone calls. This was Woz and Jobs' first business venture, without which (as Steve Jobs once said) there would have been no subsequent Apple Computer. Our discussion is intercut with a slideshow of photos of Steve Jobs, and video clips of his iconic "One More Thing..." product introductions.
The episode has been posted here:
http://blip.tv/the-next-step/thenextstep-83_stevejobsretrospective-6549719thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-7847875862185781222012-08-28T20:07:00.001-07:002012-08-28T20:08:38.589-07:00TNS#82: 9/11 Revisited: The Experts Speak OutTheNextStep show #82 was taped 9/22/2011 and took a look at the new film from ae911truth.org titled “9/11: Explosive Evidence – Experts Speak Out” for the tenth anniversary of 9/11/2011. Joining me were two people featured in the film, metallurgist Kathy McGrade and structural engineer Kamal Obeid. The film was produced by Richard Gage, founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (ae911truth.org), who was featured on the show back in Jan 2008. The film consists primarily of in-depth interviews with 2 dozen professional architects and structural engineers, all with solid credentials, who all make compelling arguments that WTC towers 1 & 2 could not or would not have fallen as they did short of controlled demolition... and of course then there's WTC 7 the nearby 47-story tower which also came down that day and was not hit by any plane.
When it comes to rare complex events like high-rise towers failing it seems one has to pretty much take the word of experts, like these presented here. They do not get into the questions of who did it or why or how, other than to say it was undoubtedly done by means of thermite or nano-thermite, consistent with the way any such large buildings would be brought down by controlled demolition. The last part of the film shifted to the theme of cognitive dissonance, with various psychologists talking about how common it is for people to completely reject information that conflicts with their world-view. A very appropriate way to conclude the presentation! I showed a number of clips from the film during the show.
It's been uploaded now and can be viewed here:
http://blip.tv/the-next-step/thenextstep-82_911-expertsspeakout-6316256thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-56692782566300723342012-07-31T15:18:00.000-07:002012-07-31T15:31:34.844-07:00TNS#81: The Transition MovementTheNextStep show #81 was taped 8/25/2011 and featured Transition movement activist Julia Bystrova, who's been involved with transitionsebastopol.org. The Transition movement grew out of the ideas in the book The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience by Rob Hopkins, in which Rob does a great job documenting the activities of many 'transition towns' in the UK where he lives... chiefly Totnes UK (www.transitiontowntotnes.org). The Transition movement seeks to cultivate community resilience in response to the challenges of resource depletion, climate change, and economic instability. Rob's book starts out with a contemplation of what the future trends are in view of climate change and post-peak-oil, and manages to present an inspiring optimistic vision of how local communities can build resilience.
Julia's blog is at julfire.wordpress.com. Thanks for coming down for the show Julia!
The show is now posted online here:
blip.tv/the-next-step/thenextstep-81-the-transition-movement-6274379
From the transitionsebastopol.org website: (loved this disclaimer!)
About US - Cheerful Disclaimer:
Just in case you were under the impression that Transition is a process defined by people who have all the answers, you need to be aware of a key fact.
We truly don't know if this will work. Transition is a social experiment on a massive scale.
What we are convinced of is this:
* if we wait for the governments, it'll be too little, too late
* if we act as individuals, it'll be too little
* but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.
Everything that you read on the transition town http://transitiontowns.org site is the result of real work undertaken in the real world with community engagement at its heart. There's not an ivory tower in sight, no professors in musty oak-paneled studies churning out erudite papers, no slavish adherence to a model carved in stone.
This site, just like the transition model, is brought to you by people who are actively engaged in transition in a community. People who are learning by doing - and learning all the time. People who understand that we can't sit back and wait for someone else to do the work. People like you, perhaps...thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-55665477665019978202012-07-24T22:06:00.003-07:002012-07-24T22:07:55.085-07:00TNS#80: The Psychedelic Explorer's GuideTheNextStep show #80 was taped 7/19/2011 and featured local author James Fadiman PhD talking about his new book The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide. A very enjoyable conversation with a long-time consciousness pioneer! I was flattered that James asked for a copy of my show notes listing all the passages I liked in the book.
The show has been uploaded here:
http://blip.tv/the-next-step/thenextstep-80-psychedelic-explorer-s-guide-5605889
James' website: www.jamesfadiman.com... the book is www.psychedelicexplorersguide.com From the book's website:
"Jim Fadiman's manual offers helpful and well-informed guidance for those who seek 'the divine within' through sacred plants and psychedelic substances." - Daniel Pinchbeck, author of 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl and Breaking Open the Head
"This is some of the most thoughtful, wise, heartfelt, and essential instruction for the use of sacred medicine." - Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heartthenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-55829858326595372642012-02-29T17:33:00.003-08:002012-02-29T17:55:51.542-08:00TNS#79: The Maker Faire & Maker RevolutionTheNextStep#79 was taped 6/23/11 and featured 4 guests all involved with the Maker movement in some way... the show was inspired by the highly successful 6th annual MakerFaire in San Mateo in May2011 (makerfaire.com). Joining the panel were Alex Peake founder of PrimerLabs.com and CodeHero.org, Joe Mathes co-founder of Hack the Future, Laurence Miotto Dir. of IT for the Museum of Art & Digital Entertainment (themade.org), and Antonio Gussenhoven of CodeHero.org. Lively show, thanks, guys!<br /><br />At the 2011 Maker Faire I was particularly inspired by Nolan Bushnell's talk about his new online highschool initiative Speed-To-Learn, with curriculum to be provided via the Apple AppStore; and by Massimo Banzi's talk about how he was motivated to start the Arduino project. (The Arduino is a wildly successful open-source single-board microcontroller design that now has hundreds of compatible plug-in boards and thousands of shared code files; it's been especially popular with students and do-it-yourselfers.)<br />The show has been uploaded here:<br />http://blip.tv/the-next-step/thenextstep-79-the-maker-faire-and-maker-revolution-5993284thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-23316651359917203592012-02-28T18:25:00.003-08:002012-04-03T23:02:18.028-07:00TNS#78 - Men's Story ProjectThe Next Step #78 was taped 4/12/2011 and featured Josie Lehrer talking about her Men's Story Project (mensstoryproject.org) as well as multiple clips from the many dozens of short films on the site. The show has been posted here:<br />http://blip.tv/the-next-step/tns-78_mensstoryproject-5582992<br /><br />What Josie has done is send out a call for submissions soliciting for men to share personal stories that address their issues/experiences with masculinity. This curated group of men was then coached on developing and sharing their stories for live audiences. The live Men's Story Project events are filmed, and video clips from these events are then posted on the mensstoryproject.org youtube channel (see link on the home page), as a means of crowdsourcing culture change on male gender norms and gender relations.<br />There are about 35 pieces posted to date - all of them poignant, many funny, some brilliant. She has done this in multiple cities now, and there are two feature films available which document the live events - one in English, and the other in Spanish. Very inspiring... thanks, Josie!<br /><br />From her website: The Men's Story Project is a replicable community arts and dialog initiative in which local men explore social ideas about masculinity for the purpose of health and justice. The longterm goal is to help expand the presence of genuine personal expression of peace and social justice in communities. <br />“This program is about healing.” <br />Storytelling: For preserving and passing on traditions, for challenging and breaking traditions, and for the creation of new traditions.<br />Mission: To strengthen social norms that support healthy masculinities and gender equality, and to help eliminate gender-based violence, homophobia and other oppressions that are intertwined with masculinities, through ongoing events of men´s public story-sharing and community dialogue.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-24329549832302651142011-06-18T16:03:00.000-07:002011-06-18T16:11:13.465-07:00TNS#77: Clearing The Air (Between the Sexes)The Next Step #77 was taped 3/8/11 and featured Gordon Clay in a show titled Clearing The Air (Between Women & Men). Shauna Wilson Mora, Gordon's co-facilitator in their Clearing The Air workshops, was hoping to join us but didn't make it. Gordon and Shauna have run workshops together since 1993, under the names Healing The Father Wound, Healing The Mother Wound, and Family Reunion.<br /> <br />From their clearingtheair.net site:<br />"Turn what has impacted your life into the impact you can have in your life.<br />Transform: reaction into the power of choice, coping and settling into living with passion, numbness into clear, appropriate, emotional expression, fear of conflict into opportunities for positive change, blame and guilt into accountability, shame and/or resentment into forgiveness."<br /><br />"The highly acclaimed Clearing the Air Workshop series features various interactive group experiences. It explores the wounds we hold around our family of origin, and how these initial wounds have continued to impact our adult lives. The series is designed to help men and women break through the unresolved issues that impede forgiveness and personal freedom.<br />The workshops are experiential in nature. There is very little lecture. The intention is to break through barriers and old patterns through movement, Tantrum Yoga® express and release work, breathwork, psychodrama, meditation, and processes that excavate wounds and ties that keep us stuck. It is an intense and transformational series.<br />Healing the Father Wound® and Healing the Mother Wound® workshops are four-night, three-day events offered for 12 men or 12 women. Clearing the Air™ Between Women & Men is a six-day, five-night event for 6 men and 6 women (not couples) who have completed both previous workshops." <br /><br />Gordon Clay is also the creator of menstuff.org - the largest website in the world on men's issues, online since 1985. Our discussion was wide-ranging and highly enjoyable. Gordon lives in southern OR now so it was a treat to be able to catch him on the road. Gordon also spent years traveling the U.S. with his mobile Mens Resource Center library van. It was nice to see him participating in the recent (june'11) ultimatemenssummit.org online conference.<br /><br />"Man's inherent nature is to be curious, gentle, intimate, responsible, enthusiastic, sensual, tolerant, courageous, honest, vulnerable, affectionate, proud, spiritual, committed, wild, nurturing, peaceful, helpful, intense, compassionate, happy, and to fully and safely express all emotions. When will we stop training him to be otherwise?"<br /> -- Gordon Claythenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-71919912424120931442011-06-06T14:53:00.000-07:002011-06-06T20:34:14.484-07:00TNS#76: A Return to HealingTheNextStep show #76 was taped 1/24/11, with Dr. Len Saputo about his book A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine (www.doctorsaputo.com, healthmedicinecenter.net). I heard Dr. Len on coasttocoastam.com last year, was very impressed and was delighted when a mutual friend introduced us and he was willing to come down to Palo Alto for a show.<br />Len founded the Health Medicine Forum in 1994 and subsequently founded the Health Medicine Center in Walnut Ck CA, one of the first clinics to bring the new model of integral-health medicine into practice. In addition to A Return to Healing, he is coauthor of Boosting Immunity and editor of six other books. Len and his wife Vicki produce a weekly radio show "Prescriptions for Health" Fri 9-11am on KEST 1450 AM.<br /><br />From my show notes: Len's 4 principles of 'health medicine': integrated, holistic, person-centered, preventative. Conventional medicine focuses almost entirely on managing symptoms. New style of medicine needed: CAM (complementary and alternative medicine). The Orthomolecular premise: if all body cells were functioning perfectly, one would not be sick! The 4 factors of cellular health: nutrition, detox, genetic defects, psychospiritual factors. The 4 paths to cyto-pathology: genetics, toxins, nutritional deficiency, stress.<br /><br />Reasons why a new approach is needed: US last place in preventable death among industrialized nations; cost of health care now causing a bankruptcy every 30 secs; premiums grown 4x faster than wages in last 8 yrs; 50% of all Amer. bankruptcy due to medical bills; obesity up to 33%/population now and #2 cause of preventable death; multiple chemical sensitivity now 30%/population; cancer up 85% since 1950, now 50%/population; "war on cancer" a failure: still #2 cause of death.<br /><br />Len does a great job laying out the economic argument for universal health care. He supports 'healing circles'. He offers a 5-point plan for making America healthier:<br />1. Fund programs to make exercise universally available and attractive.<br />2. Tax junk food, subsidize sustainable farming and healthy foods.<br />3. Fund comparative assessment research for 'alternative' treatment regimes and require disclosure of all treatments supported by scientific evidence.<br />4. Provide broad support for preventive screenings.<br />5. Ban DTC (direct to consumer) drug ads, advertise healthy lifestyle.<br /><br />I found Len personally charming and his book compelling, and hopeful. Check it out!<br />Great Albert Schweitzer quote: "It's supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you... We doctors do nothing. We only help and encourage the doctor within."thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-45658307410016558602011-05-18T21:07:00.000-07:002011-05-18T21:40:40.380-07:00TNS#75: Burning Man 2010 TravelogueTheNextStep show #75 was taped 10/28/10... the fifth annual MST3K-style Burning Man travelogue! Featuring guests Shibumi, from my Leopard Martini Lounge BurningMan camp, and the renowned Dr. Hal Robins. Dr. Hal is well known in the bay area for his long-running Ask Dr. Hal Q&A show (www.askdrhal.com). In recent years he has served as emcee for the Burning Man fashion show, and he's also known as an early Church of the SubGenius co-conspirator. Mark McGothigan (home.pacbell.net/mcgmgb) was nice enough to contribute his footage of the fashion show this year, so the first part of the show has several video clips from that; then there was a slide show of 100+ photos I took this year; then a long video segment also by Mark showing the fireworks display and the start of the Man burning. All interspersed with informative, amusing or perplexing running commentary by Dr. Hal, Shibumi and myself! Shibumi (studioreflex.com) is a designer and producer, and gets credit for inviting Dr. Hal onto the show. Thx Shibumi and Dr. Hal, that was great fun!thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-37907516370988398012010-10-22T18:32:00.000-07:002010-10-22T19:01:03.250-07:00TNS#74: Exploring the EnneagramTheNextStep show #74 was taped 9/13/10 and featured a discussion of the Enneagram with local authors/workshop leaders David Fauvre and Katherine Chernick Fauvre (www.enneagram.net). The Enneagram is a psychospiritual typology or model of personality types, a nine-fold system of types where each is seen as expressing a distinctive and habitual pattern of thinking and feeling. Its development can be traced from the Sufis thru G.I. Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspensky, Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo, and a host of current authors.<br /><br />David and Katherine seem to have made their own contributions to the field with their incorporation of 'tri-types' wherein the nine types are grouped with respect to one's 'motivational' factors, into the three groups of head/blue, heart/red, and gut/green. As I understood it they seem to be saying one could correlate the qualities of a type with each of these 3 aspects of psyche (head, heart, gut), but I could be wrong about that! Just before the show they had me take their online personality test, which I found surprisingly difficult and left my head spinning someewhat during the show... difficult because I was being asked repeatedly to choose between qualities that I was pretty darn ambivalent about. Perhaps if there was a personality type for ambivalence I'd be there and the whole process would've been easier. But I do definitely see the value in this kind of work, following directly from the Delphic Oracle's invocation to "Know Thyself". Another way they expressed the goal of this work is "to transform self-defeating behaviour into empowerment".<br /><br />They eventually settled on a determination that I'm a social nine, in company with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, which I found flattering enough. Not that I'm the type to care much about flattery! Try their test yourself, at www.enneagram.net!<br /><br />Here from my notes is a summary of the nine types:<br />1. perfectionist, reformer, judge, crusader, critic<br />2. giver, helper, nurturer, caretaker, advisor, manipulator<br />3. performer, motivator, achiever, producer, status-seeker; corp America!<br />4. tragic romantic,individualist, mystic, artist; authentic, sensitive, moody<br />5. observer, thinker, investigator, sage; self-suff; can be arrogant<br />6. devil's advocate, loyalist, skeptic, guardian, rebel; safe, secure<br />7. epicure, entertainer, optimist, adventurer; <br />8. leader, solution-master, maverick, protector; can be intimidating<br />9. peacemaker, mediator, naturalist, accomodater; conflict-avoidant<br />Types 8,9,1 relate to gut, instinct (green); types 2,3,4 relate to heart (red); <br />types 5,6,7 relate to head, ideas (in their work that is).thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-81836942749498342862010-10-22T14:22:00.000-07:002010-10-22T15:11:43.337-07:00TNS#73: Open Source LearningTheNextStep show #73 was taped 8/11/10, a show on the topic of open-source learning with Scott MacLeod and Barbara Breuchert. Scott's the founder of World University & School (worlduniversity.wikia.com) - "the Global, Virtual/Digital, Open, Free, {potentially Degree- and Credit-Granting}, Multilingual University & School where anyone can teach or take a class or course." Barbara's a local Media Center producer and former educator.<br />From the WU&S site: "World University & School's mission, in reaching out to the entire world, is to provide a free, wiki-based education platform and, through facilitating the development of broadband worldwide, to make our service accessible <br />to under-served parts of the world. The WUaS mission is thus to facilitate all levels of teaching and learning opportunities (and future degrees) through an open, editable wiki in all languages, nation-states and subjects with great universities, and for One Laptop per Child countries and everyone." Very commendable vision, Scott!<br /><br />My main comment was that if there are to be course credits granted, somewhere there have to be human beings reviewing the work of students, and those human beings need to be compensated for their time somehow... and I'm dubious that some form of barter is going to be workable in this situation, and hence dubious that 'free' will be compatible with 'degree-granting'... but optimistic that some form of workable economic model can be found. Now I've joined Scott's advisory board so there will likely be more TNS shows on the topic! <br /><br />We also discussed John Taylor Gatto's books Weapons of Mass Instruction and Dumbing Us Down, which I'm a big fan of, since he came to P.A. to speak at a futuresalon in 2008. Also discussed was Scott McNealy's new project Curriki.org: his vision for a "free and open source digital compendium of just about everything teachers use to teach -- textbooks, worksheets, tests, video presentations, podcasts, you name it." The project, run by McNealy and former Sun executive Kim Jones, started inside Sun six years ago and spun out as a nonprofit in 2006. Curriki now has 38,000 educational pieces on the site, and about 135,000 registered users.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-18910286641894353542010-10-21T16:58:00.000-07:002010-10-21T17:13:00.694-07:00TNS#72: Kumbh Mela travelogueTheNextStep show #72 was taped 5/12/10 and featured Maurizio Benazzo and Gopi Kallayil. Maurizio was co-director of the documentary film Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela (2004) and the show featured a number of short clips from the film. Gopi is a local Media Center producer, Google engineer and world traveler who brought his slide show of photos from his trip to this year's Kumbh Mela. Maurizio had colorful stories about making their documentary on a shoe-string budget in the massive chaotic festival in 2004. His film company is melafilms.com. Maurizio is also producer of the upcoming scienceandnonduality.com conference (Oct 2010 in Marin, CA).<br />From the imdb.com entry for Short Cut to Nirvana:<br />"Every 12 years over 70 million pilgrims gather at the meeting of India's holiest rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna, for a spectacular spiritual festival: the Kumbh Mela. This documentary takes a voyage of discovery through this colorful event through the eyes of several Westerners and an ebullient young Hindu monk, Swami Krishnanand. Featuring encounters with some of India's most respected holy men and exclusive footage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama."thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-9217875601317528252010-07-08T00:17:00.000-07:002010-07-08T00:38:17.832-07:00TNS#71: Terence McKenna RetrospectiveTheNextStep show #71 was taped 4/14/10, close to the tenth anniversary of the passing of Terence McKenna. The show was supposed to feature guests David Jay Brown and Robert Forte, however due to the upcoming maps.org Psychedelic Science Conference that weekend, both had to cancel on short notice. Very short notice... the producer's nightmare! Fortunately Marty Wasserman who was slated to direct the show filled in as an ad hoc interviewer, and fortunately I'd done my homework and had made film clips from The Alchemist's Dream (featuring Terence) and had pages of notes from his various books. So, Marty interviewed ME about Terence's life and work, and the show went on - not what I had in mind but I'd like to think we pulled it off reasonably well. I really enjoyed reading through his books Food of the Gods, Archaic Revival and Invisible Landscape in preparing for the show... all classics! I'd read through Invisible Landscape in the early 80's but had forgotten the great diagrams he included depicting the chemical make-up of various neuro-transmitters,. and showing how close they are to various entheogens... like serotonin and psilocybin for instance.<br />From Wikipedia:<br />Terence Kemp McKenna (11/16/46 – 4/3/2000) was an American author, public speaker, metaphysician, psychonaut, philosopher, ethnobotanist, art historian, and self-described anarchist, anti-materialist, environmentalist, feminist, Platonist and skeptic. During his lifetime he was noted for his knowledge of psychedelics, metaphysics, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, mysticism, Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, biology, geology, physics, phenomenology, and his concept of novelty theory.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-26696032354895240142010-05-14T20:10:00.000-07:002010-05-14T20:19:27.080-07:00TNS#70: Legal Topics: Fair Use, Fair EnforcementThe Next Step show #70 was taped 3/10/10 and featured a discussion of various legal topics of current interest with local attorneys Mark Malachowski (sfcriminaldefenseattorney.com) and James Barrett (jb@jamesbarrettlaw.com) in a return appearance on the show. <br /><br />We opened with a discussion of Fair Use w/r copyrighted content and the need for copyright reform as espoused by Larry Lessig (lessig.org, fixcongressfirst.org); and of the recent Citizens United Sup.Ct. case giving free speech rights to corporate speech. The discussion of Fair Enforcement was w/r local red light cams, and a recent local case where police broke down the front door and seized all electronics devices at a group house where a rape case suspect apparently tried to compromise an email account of the victim. (The landlord/manager was never even contacted). <br />The big issue w/r red light cams was: whether in fact you will be held liable unless you identify the true driver, as the Notice of Violation asserts. Our legal panelists seemed to support the view that the registered owner of a vehicle could be held liable for the violation, even if the photo didn't implicate the owner personally. In this case it turned out that, in fact, if the photo indicated someone else was driving, once in court the owner was not even asked to ID the actual driver, and the citation was dismissed. (Yay!)thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-23031589433244787872010-03-11T14:12:00.000-08:002010-03-11T15:05:24.945-08:00TNS#69: The Eight-Circuit BrainTheNextStep show #69 was taped 2/10/10 with local author/filmmaker Antero Alli, whose most recent book is The Eight-Circuit Brain: Navigational Strategies for the Energetic Body. Antero's also the author of Angel Tech, Towards an Archeology of the Soul, Astrologik, A Modern Shaman's Guide to a Pregnant Universe, and The Vertical Oracle. Gotta love those book titles!<br />Tim Leary set forth his eight-circuit model of consciousness first in his book Exo-Psychology, based somewhat on someone's earlier schema (as Antero relates... can't remember the name).<br />Then Robt. Anton Wilson expanded on it in Prometheus Rising and Cosmic Trigger. Angel Tech in 1986 was Antero's take on the model, and the current book expands further the ideas, including an excellent overview, and adding alot of material from the workshops that Antero leads on this subject area. Dang, just remembered I never got a chance to read the last section, How I Got This Way... looking forward to that, for sure. <br />Lots of interesting material... the 8-circuit model, in brief:<br />1. Bio-Survival 2. Emotional-Territorial 3. Time-Binding Semantic 4. ‘Moral’ Socio-Sexual 5. Holistic Neurosomatic 6. Collective Neurogenetic 7. Metaprogramming <br />8. Non-Local Quantum Circuit.<br />(As Antero says on pg.42, the word 'circuit' should be taken loosely, in the sense of a medium or conduit for energy... "if you like, choose another word that suits your sensibilities"... I take it as more of a predominant mode of operation of one's neural equipment.)<br />Very interesting show I thought, and it was really a pleasure talking with Antero. Vertical Pool is his publishing company, www.verticalpool.comthenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-6109144668933937242010-02-16T20:16:00.000-08:002010-02-16T20:57:28.978-08:00TNS#68: It's Not You, It's BiologyTheNextStep#68 was taped 1/13/2010 with Joe Quirk, author of It's Not You, It's Biology... the paperback edition of his previous hardcover book Sperm Are From Men, Eggs Are From Women. From Joe's website, www.joequirk.com: Here's what you should've learned in high school biology! It's Not You, It's Biology provides insight, ammunition, snappy comebacks, and interesting cocktail party banter for everyone who ever wondered why we behave the way we do. It's Freakonomics for the Relationship-Challenged. "Joe takes a look at the whole issue of relationships through the lens of sociology, biology, anthropology, and some pretty awful dates." <br />From the book jacket: "Ultimately, Quirk concludes that all living things are conservative, efficient, safe, and drab until it's time to breed, at which point they become extravagant, wasteful, risky, and beautiful." Well put!<br /><br />I especially like Joe's analysis of how both men and women have powerful but antithetical reproductive strategies: attracted both to risky, challenging partners and to safe, dependable relationships. Homo sapiens is just one out of 235 species of primates, and Joe does a great job illuminating the biological factors behind our choices in looking for a partner or mate.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-33526161125589788512009-12-01T15:31:00.000-08:002009-12-01T16:09:07.334-08:00TNS#67: BurningMan09 TravelogueTheNextStep show #67 was taped on 10/14/09, the FIFTH annual Burning Man Travelogue show, this year featuring guests and longtime burners Anne Gelhaus and Lisa Doyle. The show was done MST3K-style as per tradition... (and, just saw the notice that MST3K Vol.XVI (4-dvd set) was released today.) This year I had lots of slides but no video so I included a retrospective look at my photos from BurningMan '96 and '97, in the good old days before the perimeter fence, when there was still a shooting range!<br />Then we looked thru Lisa's extensive set of slides and short clips, which can be found here: picasaweb.google.com/lisaanndoyle/BM2009# -- many featuring the HotD Hair of the Dog band and camp. Lisa and Anne both are or have been members of HotD as well as various other mutating musical entities! dmomusic.com/hotd<br />Since Lisa's media was already all on Picasa I decided to play them live during the taping of the show -- risky in case it should hang up. That aspect went well altho I ran into difficulty getting to the full-screen control on Picasa once the video adapter was installed (which cuts off part of the screen)... annoying!<br />Many fine photos of this year's Temple were viewed, as well as the very creative base of the MAN, which for the first time this year was set up to allow people to write their poems, epigrams, memorials etc on the myriad laser-cut plywood pieces that made up the structure. I think the tradition of having a Temple where everyone can offer up their sorrows or challenges from the past year, and then have them released thru fire, is one of the most valuable parts of Burning Man now. Thank you again David Best! (David was architect of the Temple that first year (2002?) and for many years after... taking a break the past two years...) The other high point of Burning Man 09 for me was coming across the NeverWas Haul steampunk Victorian house on wheels out on the playa, when it was stranded waiting for some repair -- so we got to spend some Quality Time onboard, listening to Kimrick Smythe the principal creator of it telling stories about how it came to be. What a treat! Another epic year on the playa...thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-7063399066578535082009-10-20T15:48:00.000-07:002009-10-20T16:09:03.277-07:00TNS#66: The Journeybook: Tales of Altered StatesTheNextStep show #66 was taped 9/9/09 and featured two co-authors of The Journeybook, Tim Parish and Graham St. John. I met them along with co-author Rak Razam at their author event at Sera Phi in SF recently and think they've done a great job with the book, check it out! The book is divided into two halves, one a history of altered states and the other a collection of contemporary accounts. The two dozen contributing writers are mostly Australian but the book is definitely global in scope and the included art is beautiful. Graham is also author of Technomad: Global Raving Countercultures; his site is www.edgecentral.com. Rak is also author of Aya: a Shamanic Odyssey.<br />From their site thejourneybook.com:<br />The Journeybook is an essential map of hyperspace for the contemporary psychonaut and the uninitiated alike. Travel through time and space and partake of mushrooms at Harvard, hemp in Nimbin, DMT in the Amazon and anti-depressents in the suburbs of the West, to name but a few of the experiences which await you. Dance at Dionysian festivals, meet alchemists in the laboratories of Switzerland, trippers in the corporate highrises of Brisvegas, and journey to the edge of the universe within our anthology's pages... The Journeybook is a collection of tales of altered states, essays, history and is a manifesto for psychedelic culture in the 21st century. It covers the modern usage of sacramental plants and offers insights into traditional and contemporary shamanism, as well as analysis of the current state of global psychedelic culture and its place in a sustainable future. The Journeybook is an essential handbook for those interested in the subject of consciousness, spirituality and understanding the rich pharmacopia of thought that exists beyond the confines of mainstream cosmology.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-61735222764445730942009-10-15T18:30:00.000-07:002009-10-15T18:46:35.864-07:00TNS#65: Journeying Into WholenessTheNextStep show #65 was taped 8/13/09 and featured a discussion with Deborah Dooley, Ph.D, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Menlo Park, CA. From the description of her book Journeying Into Wholeness on her site deborahdooley.com:<br /><br />"Each person will live through many changes requiring many new skill sets. These skills are not obvious or tangible. Unfortunately, they are seldom mentored in our culture or institutions. When new skill sets are required, and they are not learned, stress and negative emotional states result." <br />Deborah's work focuses on supporting individuals understanding their own development and integrating these new skills sets. Her book, Journeying into Wholeness, explains the developmental stages of growth and the required skills. The work provides a map to understand where you are in your development and what type of skills will currently support you.<br />Actually the show was originally going to be about recent developments in biofeedback since Deborah's very interested in that area in her therapy work. Since she wasn't quite ready to do a show specifically on that topic we mostly talked about her "five phases of consciousness" model for personal growth (chart on p.83 of her book): Foreign World, Social World, Confused World, Created World, and Unified World. Which in turn had me looking up Leary 8-fold model of consciousness for comparison... Well the two don't really compare in any useful way but I did appreciate Deborah's view of personality growth and recommend her excellent book!<br />Published by Delphi Press, available thru deborahdooley.com.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-56694746330163336292009-06-19T11:48:00.000-07:002009-06-19T12:13:02.583-07:00TNS#64: Memoirs of a Blind BikerTheNextStep show #64 was taped 5/11/09 and was an interview with Russell Targ discussing his new book of memoirs: Do You See What I See?: Memoirs of a Blind Biker.<br />As Russell put it, the theme of the book might be best described as 'Questioning Reality', as it covers lots of material from Huxley's Perennial Philosophy, quantum physics and nonlocality, advaita non-dualism and dzogchen buddhism. Russell was a laser physicist from NY who came to CA and got involved with psi phenomena and started the Remote Viewing project with Hal Puthoff at SRI in the early 70's, which was quite successful for many years. The memoir goes into lots of detail about remote viewing but also integrates his extensive interests in philosophy and spirituality, which I especially enjoyed. Here is a selection of quotes from the book that I liked, from my notes for the show:<br />"Questioning reality: the essential first step in the evolution of consciousness"<br />"The first principle is that consciousness is the fundamental building block of the universe – which is more like great thought than great machine."<br />"Nothing is actually happening in our world except for the meaning we give it. We give all the meaning there is, to everything we experience."<br />"Our awareness is limitless in space and time – therefore WE are limitless."<br />"The Perennial Philosophy: the purpose or meaning of our lives is to become one with universal non-local consciousness."<br />"The essence of the teaching is that there IS no self – it’s all just a story."<br /><br />I find Russell's work especially valuable because he's incorporating his psi phenomena research into a framework of quantum physics that offers at least the beginning of an understanding as to how psi phenomena can occur, namely non-locality. As a final comment I also really liked his metaphor that remote viewing is like the image of the moon appearing in calm water -- it was always there but the water (i.e. the mind) has to be calm for it to be visible.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-56622782748086777192009-05-31T20:17:00.000-07:002009-05-31T20:33:01.856-07:00TNS#63: What I Wish I Knew at 20The Next Step show #63 was taped 4/9/09 and featured Tina Seelig, Ph.D., talking about her new book What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World. Her book is filled with anecdotes and covers many themes, among them how to have a healthy disregard for the impossible, how to recover from failure, and how most problems are remarkable opportunities in disguise. It was a complete delight to talk with Tina for an hour! "Real life is the ultimate open book exam." ...Info on her Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders program at Stanford can be found at etl.stanford.edu. <br /><br />Tina Seelig, Ph.D. is the Executive Director for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program where she is responsible for strategic planning, operations, and outreach efforts of STVP. In addition, Tina is the Director of the Stanford Entrepreneurship Network and the co-Director of the Mayfield Fellows Program. Tina's latest book, What I wish I knew when I was 20, provides insights on life, leadership, and the little things that make a big difference in an entrepreneurial setting.thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-24452285707909875052009-04-08T23:17:00.000-07:002009-04-08T23:44:28.111-07:00TNS#62: Albert Hofmann RetrospectiveThe Next Step show #62 was taped 3/12/09 -- a retrospective look at the life and work of Albert Hofmann, who passed away a year ago at the age of 102 -- with Robert Forte and Paul Daley. Robert is a religious historian, psychedelic scholar and editor of Entheogens and the Future of Religion and Timothy Leary: Outside Looking In. Paul is an environmental scientist and photographer who I met at the World Psychedelic Forum in 2006, and he brought clips from a rare audio interview he'd conducted with Albert Hofmann in 1977 as well as many photos of Albert at the WPF in 2006. More recently Paul's been instrumental in helping Sasha Shulgin get his laboratory up and functional again after a dormant period. The REAL star of the show however was all the great footage from Connie Littlefield's film Hofmann's Potion, lots of great clips of Albert, Stan Grof, Ralph Metzner, Myron Stolaroff, Humphry Osmond, Aldous Huxley, Ram Dass and others. Thanks Connie! Thanks Albert... Bodhi Svaha!<br /><br />From Wikipedia: Albert Hofmann (January 11, 1906 – April 29, 2008) was a Swiss scientist best known for having been the first to synthesize, ingest and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann authored more than 100 scientific articles and wrote a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child. He was the first to isolate the psychoactive substance in mushrooms, psilocybin. On January 11, 2006, Hofmann became a centenarian, and the occasion of his 100th birthday was the focus of an international symposium on LSD (The World Psychedelic Forum in Basel; psychedelic.info).thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4156957533392481101.post-3971700539895547242009-02-28T11:50:00.000-08:002009-02-28T12:18:31.177-08:00TNS#61: The Global Warming DietThe Next Step #61 was taped 2/12/09 and featured local author Laura Stec and her colleague Dr. Samia McCully for a show looking at the intersection of nutrition, environment and health. Laura’s new book is Cool Cuisine, described below, and Dr. McCully is a naturopath – her website is www.wellnessarchitecture.com. What I especially liked about Laura's book was all the information about the carbon cycle and the carbon equivalent impact of our dietary choices.<br /><br />Cool Cuisine - Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming is a new book by San Francisco Bay Area chef Laura Stec with Dr. Eugene Cordero, Ph.D, San Jose State Professor of Meteorology. It addresses why global warming could be the best thing to happen to the culinary world in a long time, and reports on innovative science, business, and savory solutions to the Global Warming Diet. Cool Cuisine tells a story of really interesting people doing really inspiring things, and how you can too.. The reader embarks on a exploration that feeds mind and mouth with art, science, pleasure, culinary tips and recipes on how to cook a globally cool cuisine. (www.globalwarmingdiet.org)<br /><br />A few more notes from the book: takes about 500 gals oil/yr to produce our 'machine-cuisine' diets... we emit about as much CO2 eating as we do by driving... our fertilizer-based food system contributes almost 20% of U.S. CO2 emissions... takes 17M barrels/oil to make the 30G plastic water bottles used in the US/year... Recipe for one gal/gas: 200k lb plants (100 tons), buried 1 mile deep for 1M years(!)... nearly half of all food harvested in the US/yr goes to waste... we use 380G plastic bags/yr, which take 12G barrels/oil to produce... one cheeseburger takes about 10 lb in CO2 equiv to produce... Great book, thanks Laura!thenextstephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306977966593609404noreply@blogger.com0