Yours Truly

Yours Truly
Janet Fauble at home

Monday, November 24, 2014

Worst year so far!

2014 is going to go down as one of the worst years I have spent on this earth so far.  It has been the most exasperating and downright unpleasant year that I have had since living in Arizona, and I have had some doozies already.  But this one has taken the cake for annoying me the most.

I think it is because I am getting older and therefore less amenable to changes, problems, and irritations that come my way.  I really believe that each person who ages thinks that old age should be a reward for having endured so much crap when young, but instead it seems that we just have to endure worse crap as we age.  What a sad and unwelcome problem to realize.


A lesson in blogging today

I received an email from a pair who are in the business of making money through blogs, so with an invitation to listen to this pair explain how to blog to make bundles of money, I listened to the webinair this noon.   It was much like old time letters of how to make money through mail order. The two are not very different in fact.  Probably, the end result is the same as well.  You pay out but get little in return except a headache and a disgust with the way the American system allows all these attempts to take money from dumb clucks who fall for all these schemes.

However, i did write down all the information that they are  willing to give away free (amounts to very little) in return for the chance that you might be foolish enough to dole out $197 to learn how to blog by a purchase of their book that gives you all the secrets of how to pitch your "niche" interest.

Google even likes to make money on blogs by selling ads but already we have long known that little fact.  I even encouraged a photo blogger to try selling ads on his great blog site.

I am not into photography blogs, information blogs, or any other kind of pay me now for all I have told you blogs unless I do finally win the lottery and think that a blog might help others to win it too if they pay me up front for all my years of work and effort to figure the dang thing out.

I said thank you for the lesson and goodbye after taking all the information that they were willing to share into my peabrain and digesting it.  Once I learned how much they want to make a killing on the internet, to get into those six figures, I said goodbye.  Too much money for me to ever pay when I can go get blogs for dummies free at the library.

The publishing game is one of the worst rackets that there is, but people do like to read, to dream, and to fantasize so it is a lucrative business.  Even non fiction books are big business for people who want information on all kinds of things regarding health, finance, romance, fitness, travel, hobbies, pets, and on and on forever.  So if one does want to blog about it, it can be done.  But when you ask for a dollar back for your information, you are a business person, not a friend.  That is the big differences between friends and business people: money!

So kiss me for a buck, I am in business; but kiss me free, I am either a sucker or a friend...and sometimes it is hard to know if there is a difference.

Think about it!


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Interstellar the Movie

I had seen Matt Mcconaughey and Anne Hathaway trot across the stages of the Late Night Show and the Tonight Show to promote their latest flick, Interstellar.  Then Todo Bramble, a Facebook friend, posted a remark about it that encouraged me to see it.

So right away, because I have always been a space junkie, I had to get to the nearest theatre to see it, but found that it was not in 3-D for which I would have paid the higher price to see but instead opted to see the standard or regular presentation which cost me much less.  I will probably see it at IMax for the high definition but believe it or not, the special effects were just as impressive in regular but cheaper mode as I had hoped they would be.  Sound was just as effective also.

This movie is one that for me is excellent!  I do not know that it will garner a bunch of awards at Oscar time but it will win the hearts and minds of people who bother to see it for its sense of urgency, its skillful method of explaining space travel related to earth, and to its theme of love in and of family, and of love as the driving force which propels us to survive in a cruel and cold universe.  Hopefully, it will also serve as a vehicle to remind people to save Mother Earth from total destruction through cleaning up after ourselves.

On that note, I wish to interject that even though the missing plane has not yet been found which supposedly went down in the Indian Ocean, it did serve a useful purpose in showing us how much a garbage dump the ocean has become for we wasteful and negligent human beings.

The premise of this movie is that the time period in which our real characters find themselves is at the near end of the earth's ability to support and sustain human life or animal and vegetable life on the planet.  Using recent actual climate events, dust storms, tsunami's, etc. the film maker shows us the struggle between man and nature.  Man is losing a battle on earth so that scientists believe that another planet must be found in the universe that can sustain human life as we know it on earth.

There is a lot of optimism in this otherwise depressing scenario of mankind's eventual extinction.  Early in the film, Cooper, a former astronaut, happens upon a secret location of NASA where astronauts are being trained and prepared for an expedition into space to find that one hopeful planet that humans from earth can be transported to develop a new habitat.

Since I already wrote one so called review of this film, I am writing this for a totally different reason.

When I was in Chattanooga, TN years ago for a court reporting stint, I happened to pick up a survivor test supposedly used at the University of Tennessee.  In it ten people are trying to flee from one place to another to survive but only four can go.  We are supposed to decide upon which four people we would choose to survive from a list of ten professionals and non professionals.  This movie reminded me of that test.  Naturally, there should be females to continue the human race and hopefully more than one.   This movie emphasizes the need for farmers which is one of the selections in this test.  I recall that I chose a farmer since I readily understood their importance in the life of the planet.  Actor or actress was one of the choices which naturally most people would eliminate without further ado.  Yet I was reminded of Frank Sinatra who made the most glorious speech at a Hollywood award show where he supported the need for actors and actresses in the community.  But undoubtedly, medicine men whether doctors or nurses would be necessary to survival, as would be a man or woman of science.  We had to choose sexes as well as job importance.  It was an interesting test that I had forgotten and am forgetting but am reminded of since seeing this film.  Intelligence is something that must survive which has always been demonstrated in a book about children's survival called Lord of the Flies.  Sometimes the smarter kids are not the most well liked kids, and popular kids are often simply popular due to pleasing appearance or nice guy behavior, but the smart kid is often needed to lead the pack due to his innate ability at comprehension and quickness and decisiveness in drawing simple conclusions.

Naturally, that leads me to Alexander the Great who I have had the pleasure of gleaning some insights into his mental capacity and his emotional stability.

Because tradition, history, and customs are so important in society and life, Alexander's birthright enabled him to follow his father in the succession of kings in his small corner of the world.  But it was his intelligence, his personality, and his character that made him the leader he became since he was dutiful to his belief in his destiny and his gods who drove him to fulfill it.

So in this movie, we find Matthew McConaughey playing the role of Cooper, a brilliant former astronaut leading the pack of young Astronauts selected for a mission into space to find that elusive planet upon which humankind's total existence hangs.

As I said, the movie is optimistic despite the depressing odds, since there appears to be a chance that on the other side of our solar system lies a planet that would sustain human and earthly life as mankind has known it.  So naturally, with that optimism, we dare to explore the system to find it.

Hollywood, being the beast that it is, conjures a plot that flies by quickly for a three hour investment of your time, and succeeds in making us understand the hazards these men and women face as well as the joys of seeing imagined planets up close and personal.  The main planet in this case being Saturn at which we are visually impressed with its many rings.

The adventures of Cooper and his crew aboard a really cool ship is contrasted to the dire circumstances on earth of the dying planet and we are constantly reminded that as we hurtle through space that there may be no human life on earth to save if by chance they could actually return to earth.  There is no sense in making this trip if someone cannot return to earth to convey the good news that a planet is found if and when it is found.   Except of course a video message has been a solution that another team of crew members could follow if any are alive to get the message that a planet does exist.  What kind of dilemma is this?  Getting there and returning or getting there and simply hoping that earthlings are alive to receive the message that a planet has been found, so another expedition can follow...which is it?

This is where I come in.  For years, I have been studying esp, remote viewing, and other paranormal studies knowing very well that the astronauts too have been doing this as well since that mental thought transference may be the one way that humans can via long distance communicate with one another.  Even those who have crossed over into the great beyond can make contact with their loved ones through spiritual clairaudience.

So there is a scene in this film which exercises this study.

Also, note to myself that I received a message the day before when I went out to see Barbara, my neighbor, watching as Shane cleaned the paint off the sidewalks in front of our apartments.  I heard my mother calling my name to me, but I did ask Barbara if she had called me. She said she had not.  That meant it had to be my mother who I heard.  That gave me hope of her being nearby.

So I could relate to the movie.  I understood well what was happening.  I will  keep mum on part of it as it is too personal to me right now to disclose.  I use it too much.

I do know positively that there are people who can communicate with one another through thought alone.  I had written a book about it years ago which is still on hold.  In first draft stage if ever I would publish it.  Not likely at this time anyway.  Too personal again in that too much of it came true, which is clairvoyance.

In fact and truth, many times so called idle thoughts and dreams do become reality.  I have had it happen to me time and again so that I have learned to be careful of what I say and do and how I say it and do it.  But remembering always that to prove my case I must at times do things in extreme!

Oh, yes, and lest I forget about the Browns in this film.  Funny that Edmund does get his credit at the end of the movie!  That did not get past me but since it is one of those optimistic bits in the film I have avoided referring to it.

Can't give everything away, can we?

Also, Ellyn Burstyn playing the role of Murphy did also make me laugh, because i always associate her with Alice Doesn't Live Here, and that makes me think of Alice Cooper.  Odd movie in its use of names, and numbers which I cannot reveal either.  Not wanting to be a spoiler.

A movie review woke me up to something in the film which is also based upon a real life experience...which may explain why one employee chose to wait while I exited to say Good Night.  I got it!

Water or dust?  And that event involving water happened only last February...no coincidence of course, but it took the review for me to realize it...another reason to see film again in either dvd form or on the big huge screen at IMAX.

I must get to Australia somehow....

Apartment's progress

The remodeling of the apartment complex where I live has been the worst experience that I have had to endure since living in Arizona.  I have been a constant complainer all summer long about this but at last my building has been totally finished except for some last minute landscaping work that must be done.

I had watched the Property Boys on HGTV renovate homes and they always try to keep the owners out until it is finished.  Very smart idea.  Nobody should live in a house that is being remodeled.

I will make no comments on the results yet as there are still three buildings left to undergo this dreadful experience.  I have to see how that goes before I can safely state a final opinion.  I am not overly enthusiastic about the final outcome.  At the moment, they are putting a fire pit next to the pool, and are finishing lighting fixtures that match the patio walls.  There is just an awful lot of heavy cement blocks in one area that is near the office, clubhouse, swimming pool, and physical fitness room.  Since it remains unfinished I am withholding opinions until finalized.  That will take another six months for sure.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Interstellar, The Movie

I had seen all the stars of the movie Interstellar do their hustling of their latest flick on the late night shows but none of them gave us even a small clue to the power of this film.  Its power is so subtle as to make you realize it only after sitting through the 3 hour extravaganza.  This movie is a real roller coaster ride, starting in a car chase and ending with a reunion in a private room and a glimpse of a colony taking root on some distant star.  Now that is all this movie is about, a roller coaster ride from earth to outer space with the intent of either saving the old world or creating a new world.

It stars many former Oscar winners, Matt McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Ellen Burstyn, Casey Affleck, MacKenzie Foy, Jon Lithgow, and Topher Grace, and Matt Damon.  Matt, Anne, and Ellen are all former Oscar winners.  What a cast!

The theme of the film is the power of love which is what truly makes this a heartwarming film, for otherwise it is just another over the top science fiction film.  But because we learn from the beginning of the movie that mother earth is about to expire, and that mankind needs to find a viable, habitable spot to relocate the human race,  we are prepared to launch into outer space to locate a potentially habitable planet to continue the human race.

Simple plot: Old retired pilot discovers a secret NASA group who are preparing to venture into space to colonize a planet with human beings from planet earth.  Because our hero Cooper played by McConaughey  discovers the secret they in turn capture him and his daughter to interrogate him on how he was able to find their location.  The group leader is a dignitary known to Cooper who then recruits the former astronaut to join the mission to find a habitable planet somewhere outside our solar system.  There exists a black wormhole that a space vehicle can navigate to then travel beyond to hopefully find a planet that will be supportive of the human race.

The family of Cooper is key in this plot because his son has been rejected from engineering school to become a farmer, the occupation which his father has been doing since his retirement from NASA, and the younger daughter has been a problem for the school so she is suspended.  The daughter is especially gifted and talented but because she she thinks for herself she is often stubborn and difficult.

This is a science fiction film which does utilize information that has long been known to most followers of space exploration.  The time with which it takes to travel to another planet or solar system is measured against earth life.  An hour in space travel is equivalent to 7 years in earth  life in this flick.  One thing I noticed in this film is the use of the old fashioned green blackboard with chalk. No computer projections or high tech devices in demonstrating the mathematics required to understand all this technical science/math talk.  We get the idea that the brilliant scientists are technologically so advanced and special that a mere ordinary guy could never do the work of this elite force.  Cooper's son is the average joe who has been relegated to being a farmer since the college admissions would not accept him due to low scores, but it has also been noted that the earth needs farmers more than engineers.

In essence, the movie moves back and forth between the travel into space with the members of NASA aboard the craft who are plummeting into outer space.  The visuals are beautiful in this film, and it might be worth the higher price of IMAX to see this in high definition.  I selected the regular for my first showing which saved me $$$$$.  However, all the while our astronauts are traveling in space back on terra firma all hell is breaking loose. Dust storms are constantly beleaguering the farms and lack of rain is destroying the earth.

The race to save the human race is on and most of this film plays in outer space with the astronauts who are able to get through the  black worm hole to find themselves in a different solar system.  A previous crew had already gone to explore the region so that it is possible that they may find them or their remains somewhere in outer space.

Cooper's family story is the basis for the emotional impact of the story because the relationship between the daughter and the father is strained because she had not wanted him to go.  She believed that he had left her and his family to die while he went out on the space mission, but after many years have passed, she reunited through video tapes that are relayed from the space center below to the astronauts aboard the ship.  We watch the earthlings age and grow old, marry, have children, while the space travelers remain the same in appearance as when they left the planet.  All due to gravity and the revolution of the earth around the sun.

We realize the loneliness of the astronauts, especially when a survivor from the previous crew is found alone in a hibernation state on a lonely planet.  His yearning for human companionship is terrifying.  Imagine being the long survivor on any planet, even earth.  People long for one another.

He is the maverick in the group who keeps the film even more on edge than wondering if people will survive on planet earth and whether any of the astronauts will survive their journey.  Matt Damon plays the role of Dr. Mann, the Lazarus of the film.

There is a massive struggle between the crew with whom we have traveled through space and this upstart from the earlier mission who has put himself to sleep to be reawakened when found.  He is programmed for his mission so he thinks that he should be the commander of the ship.  Conflict between him and Cooper drive the film a bit over the edge as the conflict between the two men is threatening and wasteful to the progress of the need to find a habitation for earth dwellers.  Already, we have fought off the terrors of a watery planet to travel to an ice planet where we find the madman Dr. Mann, but now we must lose one of our original members to take on a deranged man whose sole purpose is to destroy the mission.  What a mess!

In the meantime, Cooper and his daughter are reunited via video messages.  Skype in space.  But at least, it does ease the loneliness of our hero who has successfully brought this fantastic ship and crew with robot to finally have to hunt for a third planet.  Another love story is told by Anne Hathaway, the lone female astronaut, who suggests a planet where a loved one may be dead or alive.  She wants to find that planet so that the film travels on with our hero Cooper finally in a strange scenario of time travel.  He is near death so that he is trying to communicate to his daughter the way to save the earthlings since she has the mental capacity to receive his messages and to comprehend the code that he will be sending her.

In the meantime, he sends Hathaway to her planet while he tries to wend his way to earth to find his daughter so she can be the saviour of the world.

It all works.  And that is all I will explain away to get you to see this marvelous film.  Oh, one thing if you read this I will admit that when Murph throws her watch it took me back to my hometown in Ohio where I used to do this but much more ferociously than Murph does.  I must have told this on myself but as soon as I saw that I thought uh oh...I paid very close attention to the watch which is indeed the most important piece in the film for the salvation of the earth.  Isn't that flattering?  I am caught!



Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Month of November begins writing marathon

A few years back I actually entered the NANOWRIMO writing exercise which means putting in writing so many words per day to achieve at the end of the month 50,000 words for a story created by yourself. I used it to begin the draft for a novel about Alexander the Great and as I had wanted to make the Iliad the back drop for the story, I actually paraphrased much of the material that I wanted to use in that book.  Since that time, I have changed the idea totally, and revised my entire perspective towards writing the novel.  One was a linear, chronological approach, and another was a look back from a given point in time to a task at hand.

Why on earth would I ever write about Alexander the Great when I am not a history student, or even interested in military figures of the past?  I often wonder why I would do this except for one simple fact and that is that his life became known to me in a way that made me know more about him than the historians who read, copy, and paraphrase all the statements that others have written about him.

Why do I know so much about him?  Because a spiritual guide revealed and exposed him to me after I asked a set question during a soul searching hypnotic trance.

Were I to just read all the tired old texts about him, I would forget him in a minute. He is that easy to dismiss as just another historical figure whose life has been over exploited and magnified to make one question all the tales that are told about him.  History is littered with names of men who have led armies, defeated enemies, and who live in the chapters of imaginative novels, movies, tv shows, etc. but who are really reduced to being just another stone statue, or minted coin.  None of those things mean much to anyone today.  Even coins of our leaders mean little to us but a face to recognize the value of the piece.  We forget who or what they actually did but care only that so many dollars and cents will pay my bills.  They become jokes after awhile.

I decided to write my version of Alexander in my recollection of the experiences that I had had when I went back in time.  I actually came to like him far better than I had thought I would. I had hated reading some of the deeds that he had done but I learned to accept that a different time than this one required far different responses than we are taught today.  Very few of us admire any leader today who wants to make a name for himself through conquering other nations.   We see one now who has declared himself the caliphate of the Islamic State and we are all so opposed to his lifestyle, his way, and his leadership that hopefully, one day he will be eliminated and killed to stop this terrorist group from destroying Iraq and Syria.  He is a modern day terrorist who makes one think of Hitler's march.

Alexander waged war against his enemies and won, traveled far and wide, and imposed his rule upon the conquered nations but one thing that people tend to forget, he allowed the nations he conquered to continue to practice their own beliefs and lifestyles without change except for acknowledging his rule and kingmanship.  He did introduce the Greek culture into the lives of the conquered nations but he did not abolish their religious beliefs, but allowed them to practice them as they saw fit.

I have read so many different author's interpretations and imposed thinking upon his life that it is sometimes amusing and sometimes annoying.  One really has to read the sources to get the real feel of what the ancients thought about it.  Modern day thinking is a bit biased and prejudiced either for or against him, and such biases are truly wrong in evaluating history from a distance.

So when I went into recollections I found myself in his skin and thinking capacity and that is what endeared him to me.  His thinking, his intellect, his emotional feelings, and his appearance even had a real impact on me.  I wanted to share it, but then after time I began to think better of it.  There is no way that I want some of what I have learned and know about him to become known to the lovers and haters who truly will not understand it anyway.

At first, I was very proud of it. I was excited. I was enamored of it.  It is a great thing to relive a past lifetime, and especially of someone so unknown as Alexander.  Sure, there are many books about his feats but basically, he is an unknown quantity.

So I am still contemplating the do's and don'ts of telling all.  I just read a bit about Diane von Furstenberg's memoirs.   People only want to know the salacious.  So she has a lot to say which was truly surprising.

Alexander has a lot of romance in his life too, but he is basically a sincerely ideal driven man.  He is above reproach in many areas and I know that for a fact, but he has enemies who would like to make him appear otherwise.  Sadly, they would be disappointed to learn that he is so mentally sound that he makes decisions rationally rather than emotionally.  On rare occasions, he becomes angry, cold, and merciless.  Usually, he is mentally contemplating each and every aspect of his military tasks, and the administration of his settlements.  Fortunately for him, he had the vision and the materials to make his vision work and come true.  Whether I will share this knowledge that I have of him is still up in the air.  I am working on it all the time.   What is the best book to write for the right audience?   What should I include? What should I exclude?  It must be readable, salable, and unforgettable1

Monday, November 3, 2014

Intro to horse racing

Horse Racing has been a passion of mine ever since I learned of its power when I lived in California. An old classmate of my dad's lived in Southern California so that on one vacation that my parents made when visiting me, my dad reconnected with this former friend of his youth.  That man whose name is Bob had survived the depression by playing quarter horses.  Thus, when my dad and he got together again in California, Bob took my parents and me to the Los Alamitos horse races.  It happened to be raining that day so that there was a track bias.  Bob bert $50 per horse but I had no idea what my dad did or how he did.  But that first time at Los Alamitos turned out to be a day when the inside horse won consistently.  Whether my dad or mom won any money I have no idea, but I know that I learned a lot from simply watching.  I did not know how to bet then so probably abstained from it.

Later, I was invited by a fellow teacher at the school where I taught to go to Santa Anita to see the races there, and that was my first introduction to Santa Anita Park. One of the fellow male teachers was well known for his interest in horse racing as he was an avid gambler of the horses.  I finally went by myself one day to the shopping center in Arcadia which is located right next to the racetrack and by chance walked through the stalls where I could hear the announcer shouting out the names of the horses as they raced down the tracks. Walking through there was foreign to me but I recall very well remembering some names and numbers so that later I learned that those had been winners that day. I thought what a peculiar oddity for that to happen.

Finally, I went to the racetrack again after my first initial invite from the fellow teacher who showed me around the track but did nothing to enlighten me on programs, racing forms, or horses in general. I was just still a sight seer.

Some of my neighbors were addicts to the game and I learned how they spent hours studying racing forms. I was too busy working to pay much attention but eventually something caught my attention so that I decided to take a closer look at this game where I was feeling as though I were being used somehow or other.

In those days, I was as skinny as a jockey and had been compared to jockeys when teaching.  In fact, also one of the students at our high school had been an apprentice jockey at Santa Anita.  But when I taught in Arizona, my high school principal had said that I had used my grades like a racing stick.  I never forgot that.

So because I eventually bought a car from Ford company called a Cougar, I took interest in a horse trained by Charlie Whittingham and ridden by famous jockey Willie Shoemaker because its name was Cougar II.  I ended up at the racetrack at Santa Anita to see this horse and became instantly addicted to the world of horses.

Those were the days, my friend, as the song says!

Breeders Cup had not been invented then.