Day 760 (Tidbits)

Get your left and right brain parts working together before delving into the Day 760 material on THE 800 DAYS blog!

There are definitely some unrelated tidbits put together for this post but don't worry... they're all enjoyable anyway.

I got SUCKED IN BY BLAKE... *LOL*

There's a text/image "loop" application of some sort right at the beginning of the post... I WATCHED/READ IT ALL TWICE haha! You might, too... btw, the "Action Jackson" font IS pretty cool, so look for it!

On a more serious note, Blake continues outlining and presenting some messages from a personality we've seen on two other posts already - "EDEN SKY." In an audio presented on the 800 DAYS blog, Eden Sky endorses and speaks about "The Universal Flag." The link provides Brian McClure interviewing Eden Sky on the topic of The Universal Flag and the concept behind this is that this flag transcends borders, race, etc. This audio is "Show 89: A Conversation With Eden Sky" from August 28, 2010. Much of the content should interest almost any person who can manage to find this recording... it's on very important information about "TIME," along with The Universal Flag.

I have a special interest in "TIME" because I've been studying about how humankind has manipulated time over the centuries...and I've been studying this topic of time in a multidisciplinary way - for about three years. A great book I've read more than once and that I keep close at hand AT ALL TIMES is Jeremy Rifkin's "Time Wars." If you can find this book, read it! You will NEVER look upon a sundial, clock or digital timekeeper of any kind in the same way after reading the Rifkin material... You will never think of the work week, the workday or things of this nature in the same way ever again... You will also likely want to learn more about "circadian rhythm" too, but...hey, I'm going too far here and getting off topic!

In short, I have found that Eden Sky's information is NOT in any way challenging to Rifkin's material or material studied on historical time-keepers and time-setters (like St. Benedict of Nursia)... and am quite happy to have come across the McClure/Sky interview!

Aside from the audio material available via The 800 Days blog, the Day 760 post also contains some fantastic images!

Then once you scroll down past some images - after careful observations, of course, then BINGO! You get to some really COOL, BASIC information about The Mayan Calendar (Mayan Calendar for Dummies - YES !!!)...thank goodness because there definitely ARE a lot of info bytes on varying topics so far on THE 800 DAYS blog...

Article: 2012 : the Pleiades and the Mayan Calendar for Dummies

Definitely read all the content for this post on the 800 DAYS blog. The 2012/Pleiades/Mayan Calendar article is a collaboration between Blake Hall and Cricket Rockastellar and is basically subtitled, "A User Guide For The Rest Of Us." If you've had a lot of difficulty understandint Mayan Calendar information, reading this article will clear a lot of things up and make things clear for you. 

What you'll find:

• explanation of what Pleiades is/are
• list of items contained in The Pleiades
• basic workings of the Mayan Calendar
• the basic four cycles of the calendar
• some historical information about the Mayans
• walk-through tidbits regarding mathematical calculations
• some narrative/mythological details on Quetzalcoatl
• details on something known as the Hell Cycle
• details on "The Time of Flowering"

more...

It's a good idea, as stated at the beginning of this post, to get your left and right brain portions working together here. This means - get your CRITICAL THINKING "going on" when you read this post! There is a lot of information here but all of it is important as basic, fundamental information on Mayan Calendar details that will help people understand more in-depth and possibly more difficult discussions and details later on as the Countdown progresses and more 2012 Theories, Mayan Calendar Theories, etc. are introduced.

The Day 760 post coincides with Sunday November 21 2010.

Day 761 (Tidbits)

There's an audio selection set upon the Day 761 post and within the larger scope of THE 800 DAYS blog content that is amazing, in my humble opinion...

If you do NOT feel calmed and garner positive feelings from hitting the "play" arrow over on the 800 DAYS blog, well... I just wouldn't know what to say to that because as soon as I started listening, I felt more calm, and got in touch with a more positive set of "I" statements within...

I was reviewing other materials before I checked out the audio on Blake's 800 Days blog today. These materials were Doomsday and Apocalypse articles, videos and audios - so although I have my own pretty solid beliefs about these matters and am not actually afraid of some of the prophecy materials that I see online in various media forms, I admit - some of the information is pessimistic and FRIGHTENING... if one gets into a mindset of believing in some of what might only be propaganda, misinformation or disinformation about Doomsday and Apocalypse Theories...

The audio selection is called "Agents of Calm" and has narrative and vocal messages on it from EDEN SKY... Christian Burne mixed the selection, so credit goes, in part, to Mr. Burne for aligning great audio with vocal bytes!

Also in this post...

THE GALACTIC BUTTERFLY... something that I didn't have much awareness of prior to reading the content for Day 761 on Blake's blog. Strangely, it must have been just the right time and head-space for me to read this blog post right on this day because in my earlier activities, along with pessimistic concepts about the future, I did learn a lot more (on a positive note) about symbols, the importance and power of symbols... so the giant, revolving GALACTIC BUTTERFLY image that is flippin' around on Blake's Day 761 post seems really important and interesting to me now. I'll refrain from describing or explaining the concepts around The Galactic Butterfly here because Blake's attention to this topic is well done over on his blog. Instead, I'll insert a definition soon for "Galactic Butterfly" in the Glossary section/tab of the blog here.

There are some charts, 13-moon calendar information, 260-day calendar explanations and things that are better left on the 800 DAYS blog... I'd just be tossing jargon out if I explained here as "narratives," psych and sociology stuff, legends and related details are more my area of experience. I'm still learning much about the various calendars as Blake posts content. If you're a beginner just heading into or just becoming interested in 2012/Mayan Calendar topics, and find a bit of this stuff confusing, I HEAR YA!!! I know what this feels like... but we'll learn together!

Go check out The 800 Days blog, Day 761 post: Take me to Day 761 on THE 800 DAYS BLOG

The Day 761 content is associated with Saturday November 20 2010 in the 800 Day Countdown.

Day 764 (Tidbits)

Blake has really offered a lot of good information (in my opinion) and has given prime attention to the Muslim celebration of Eid Al-Adha on the previous Day 765 post. On  Day 764 of his The 800 Days blog, he does something a little different and writes something to appreciate and honour a person from India who is held dearly in his heart. Blake does this in poetic form - and to my way of thinking, the poetics are as close to an "act of reverence" (definitely a focused "mindfullness") as one can get when coming from a different culture.

Blake has dedicated this piece to a dear friend of his, "dreamreachout" who was already mentioned recently in my "Follower Reader Appreciation" post.

The poem is called "Do Good" and to my knowledge, you're not going to be able to find this piece anywhere, save for THE 800 DAYS blog.

My perception of the general essence of this poem is that Blake is associating his dear friend, dreamreachout, with someone (or the sort of person) who will just "Do Good," regardless of circumstances... There are those who do good things for different motives and who sometimes need the right coaxing in order to act humanely and rightly. I gather that Blake feels his friend is one of the exceptional people who just "Do Good" without requiring additional motivational factors to push them in the right, humane direction. Of course, the poem is open to interpretation, but this is my interpretation.

I sincerely hope to get to that humane level, myself, someday but as yet... I have this poem to absorb as a guideline - and, of course, dreamreachout's materials to read when I so choose, too!

DO GOOD, dreamreachout, poetry, hints of Eid Al-Adha and Day 764 in the 800 Days Countdown are all associated with Wednesday November 17 2010.

Day 767 (Tidbits)

The topic of the Day 767 post on THE 800 DAYS blog is "Cyberpunk...As a Religion?"

Basically, Cyberpunk is a sort of lifestyle or a sub-culture...and it's also a science fiction media genre (lit, film, art) but on THE 800 DAYS blog, Cyberpunk is talked about in terms of religion. It's a lifestyle full of computers, gadgets, computer lingo, etc.

In the Cyberpunk science fiction genre, Cyberpunk is generally a blend of "cybernetics" with "punk," and as such, incorporates a mix of information technology and advanced science (cybernetics) with at least some marked degree of breakdown in (punk) in the social order, possibly a radical change in social hierarchy and social controls.

Artificial Intelligence, Hackers and Mega-Corporations tend to be subjects/themes in Cyberbunk culture and in the plot of cyberculture novels and film, generally a power struggle is acted out, usually between an extreme underdog versus (cyberpunk) a mega-corporation or the extreme whole of society itself. Sometimes the actions is with the cyberpunk group versus the authorities which uphold a certain, rigid dominant ideology of the society. The underdogs rely largely on outwitting the authorities with monumentally outstanding displays of technological know how - fantastic, speedy knowledge and work with or via computers, gadgets, etc., and usually the underdogs use the megacorporation's or the society's most highly acclaimed tech gadgets against the megacorp' or society...sort of a "using their own weapons against them" deal.

Much of the cyberpunk lit out there is definite and impressive social commentary against power, oppression and control and there are rarely any ambiguous statements made when cyberpunk is the genre used to embed social commentary messages in text or film. The message is clear "you megacorps and corrupt societies will NOT gain control of everything."

So, Blake asserts, on The 800 Days blog, that Cyberpunk can actually be thought of in terms of a religion. I keep preferring to say "lifestyle," however, points made on the 800 Days blog are pretty strong, so I have to concede that maybe "lifestyle" isn't the best descriptor for those who are extreme cyberpunks. Not to mention the fact that Blake mentions:

"The technology has a spirit of its own, as valid as the spirit of any creature of the goddess. This is the spiritual force we, those who are called technopagan, feel and must express. Not surprisingly, we find ways of bringing technology into our worship."

I suppose that in much of the cyberpunk literature - especially lit and film that is "future-based" the technologies, items, computers, etc., are shown as transforming society and cyberpunks are shown as "doing the impossible" through sheer human effort of mind, along with extreme expertise and knowledge of how to make gadgets perform in ways nobody would expect or assume gadgets could ever perform... essentially, the cyberpunks are extraordinary and they make machines do surprising, extraordinary tasks.

In all of this, we can definitely see a parallel between the cyberpunk and "the faithful" of many religions - who all intend to persevere through what ails in this world. There are parallels between the cyberpunk making a machine/gadget do the impossible - and the pagan working his/her magic which is either forbidden in society or said to be impossible in soceity.

Reading the Day 767 post lead me to do some searching for examples of "cyberpunk-ness" and I turned up the short story called "Cyberpunk" in my searches. It's an interesting little short story and the author, Bruce Bethke, is credited with having coined the term "Cyberpunk" via his short story title of the same name. The story is entertaining and is available all over the place online.

Here's a handy link: http://www.brucebethke.com/articles/shortstories.html  it's from Bethke's own site and you'll find a free pdf of the Cyberpunk story that is readily downloadable.

Well this is all for now... I actually want to read that Cyberpunk story one more time - it's got some sub-culture lingo that gave me a little trouble during the last read-through...

The Day 767 post is associated with Sunday November 14 2010 in the 800 Day Countdown.

Day 770 (Tidbits)

The post offered on Day 770 of THE 800 DAYS BLOG contains numbers...

A LOT OF NUMBERS.

Even SPECIFIC Numbers - and, that's basically what the whole post is about. What you're going to read about when you visit the 800 DAYS blog is "11:11 THEORY." These aren't all "Time" or "clock" prompts, but can also be a series of recurring numbers ie: 9999, 888, 1213, 7777, 242526, 8989, and so on. Apparently there are some people who almost always see these prompts whether they are planning on it or not. What I mean is, they're not consciously aware of constantly looking back and forth at clocks - or numbers - in fact, they're probably not attempting in any way to prompt themselves or keep tabs on numbers or the clock...what is happening is that, quite naturally, when they're in everyday - even mundane - activities do they DO HAPPEN TO glance at the clock, other time-pieces, digital technology, they're seeing consecutive or patterened numbers!

Are they subconsciously in some sort of obsessive time-checking or a similar obsession? People who are reporting this don't think so and, personally, I don't really think they're doing this obsessively either...at least some people aren't.

The kicker: this time-checking CAN BECOME obsessive for a little while IF YOU WORRY ABOUT IT or if you don't take a healthy viewpoint on this matter.

Personally, this 11:11 Theory is a curious matter - a strange phenomena to me, however, even if I don't understand it or what's going on surrounding 11:11 events and theory, I am perfectly "OKAY" to let 11:11 happen around me, unexplained. Oh sure, I want to know WHY these prompts happen, but I look into a TON of strange topics, paranormal items, urban legend and folklore - even HORROR genre tidbits - so I am content to read up on this 11:11 stuff and let it be until I come across a really valid explanation that satisfies my curiousity.

Oh wait a minute...

I just glanced at my clock. It says 12:13 as I am still typing...I just typed "1213" above just a couple of minutes ago... that was probably at around 12:11 and through 12:12... until when I looked just now and the clock said "12:13" - very curious coincidence?

Hmm curious, right?

The date for the Day 770 post: Thursday November 11, 2010.

*gasp* "11."
"ELEVEN!"

Day 771 (Tidbits)

Oh, wow...some of my favourite stuff is being presented for Day 771 on Blake Hall's The 800 Days blog ! What we're talking about here is - commentary on PROPAGANDA.....

Nice!

Well, propaganda isn't nice - but people recognizing propaganda makes me smile!

Muhahahaha!

Okay that's not exactly a smile but you get the picture.

What's in store when you head on over to the 800 DAYS blog is a pertinent and detailed message not only about reading your way through propaganda but also some information for content providers online (bloggers, article writers, THIS MEANS YOU!)...

You've already been supplied with the blog link above...

It's Blake's "Take" on a certain sort of ethical consideration for writing online that you'll find on the other blog...and it's interesting. I wish more people had the guts to BE REAL as is suggested on the 800 Days blog in the Day 771 post. Blake reminds us to BE ASSOCIATED BUT NEVER CONTENT!

The day 771 post date: Wednesday November 10 2010.



Day 772 (Tidbits)

If you've been reading and have been wondering a lot about the person who launched this project...  Here's your chance to know a little more about Blake Hall. It is a very personal post as far as content goes is on THE 800 DAYS blog for the date of Tuesday November 9, 2010 as the Day 772 posting.

I'll not provide too much commentary here as the content for Day 772 is too personal, in my opinion, and should be left in Blake's own words.

I'm just here to say, "Hey, I'm following... keep leading."

And

"R.I.P. Joe Mattingly and Robert Hall, Blake4d's biological father and first step-father, respectively."

Day 772 of the 800 Day Countdown: Tuesday November 9, 2010.

Day 773 (Tidbits)

It's a good thing Blake offers some mixed kinds of points for pondering because several of the posts so far have been BIG ITEMS - controversial topics, important discussions and themes to think about. The Day 773 post on Blake Hall's 800 Days blog contains slightly lighter fare - although you should still put on your thinking cap before reading...

There are some fun things to think about on this post - is your dog an alien? I have a cat and I KNOW he's some sort of angel or better-than-human entity. Is the earth "alive"? Is there life out in "outer space"?

Interesting things to think about, for sure - or even study up on.

After more than a dozen blog entries with very serious content, Day 773's post is kind of refreshing without being boring or insignificant. Obviously I'm not going to repeat all the questions here that Blake asks within the Day 773 post on The 800 days blog. I'm just following along, adding a "thumbsup" here and - as always - asking readers from here to go visit the work that Blake is committed to over on The 800 Days blog.

Blake has been adding content diligently already for over a month - and I have been tuned in as a "follower" for the same length of time. Let me tell you one thing - this blog here HAS TO BE much easier to manage than Blake's 800 Days one. All I have to do is follow, read and comment... Blake has to decide what topics are pertinent for particular days, what content is going to be acceptable (we're using google space here - google doesn't always like controversy, eh?), how to make a countdown "flow..." Mostly - it's a HUGE time committment for making big decisions on content and also - for just showing up all the time...

*Hat's off*

SOURCE

Whooooops WTF? Lost my head!

The Day 773 post is associated with the date of Monday November 8 2010.

Day 791 (Tidbits)

What freakin' month is it?

Ohyeah - it's OCTOBER... the month which ends with All Saint's Day and Eve... Hallowe'en, Samhain, Trick or Treat night, basically spooky-gimme-candy-night in most places in the Western world.

So maybe THIS is why Day 791 over on The 800 Days blog is about an interview with a real witch...while the previous Day 792 post was about an interview with a vampire, Montague...

Ah... it all makes a great bunch of sense now... a witch and a vampire - just in time for Hallowe'en...except that Montague and the interviewed witch for Day 791, Mary Chapman, are really not going to help you to "buy into" the whole candy-coated Hallowe'en myth set... read the interview, you'll see!

For those who think witches are Satanists and without morality, be prepared to have your thought processes turned around - by Mary's more than moral explanations about her worldview and standards. If even half the world employed the same standards in their daily lives as Mary speaks about, there would be a whole lot of peace, tolerance and human understanding in the world...

PUT THAT in your cauldron and stir on it a while...

:)~

Among the things Blake asks Mary to comment on:

• What is a Witch?
• What is Magic?
• Mary's viewpoints on sensuality, eroticism and spirituality (yes, they are all allowed to be in the same sentence together)
• What is the difference between love and sexuality? 
• ...and much, much more.

Personally, I don't know how anyone can walk away from reading this information with an opinion of Witches as generally bad, immoral or dangerous people... of course, some who identify as Witches can obviously be of bad temperament and with bad designs in life... but it would be a mistake to say "Witches are generally (insert negative)," because it's simply not true. I found that, according to the interview, Mary C. seems an extremely interesting benevolent person.

The Article:   Safe Hex - an Interview with a Modern American Witch About Being a Woman, Wife, Wiccan, and the Practice of Witchcraft  

There's not much more I can or should say "in review" of this article. Some of the explanations Chapman gets into are detailed and lengthy but very clearly voiced - best left in her own words rather than mentioned by my interpretation. I'll just finish off with the comment that I am very impressed with the clarity and honesty with which Chapman speaks on even the more controversial aspects of Blake's questions (sexuality, blood, rituals) and how she dispells some of the myths about WiccanCraft and Witches... if readers come away from the "Safe Hex" article STILL thinking of evil witch personas, I will have to argue that the readers are just being stubborn and beligerent and never intended to read the article with open-mindedness in the first place...

That's my viewpoint and I'm sticking to it!

The Day 791 post was made on Thursday, October 21, 2010.

Day 792 (Tidbits)

Get ready to stretch the boundaries of your beliefs when you approach the Day 792   material on  The 800 Days blog !

One of my favourite articles EVER by Blake4d is within this post... it's an interview with a Vampire - a self-proclaimed Vampire named "Montague." Now it probably won't come as a surprise that Montague is also a practitioner of the Dark Arts (Occult practices, Magik), but before you turn away (if you're so inclined), please think about something...

Do you wish to forever or mostly stay comfortable within your own belief system, rejecting all else but that which you've become accustomed to? (This might be the way you think if you're one who is inclined to turn away when you read the words "occult" or "vampire-as a lifestyle").

Or - do you understand that the world in which we live is full of inconsistent explanations and properties but you hope to learn more about life, living, death, morality, humankind - via open-minded exploration into topics that most people will not even open their EYES, must less their minds to...?

If you identify with the latter statements, you'll certainly learn from Blake's interview with Montague! If you put aside your reservations about the word "vampire," you'll notice that Montague has some important concepts to share about LIVING, morality, perception. I would hate to think people might miss these points just from being turned off on the words "occult," "vampire," or similarly-related words.

For me, reading about Montague, his ideas and perceptions, reminds me that life is filtered through our perceptions, our boundaries of belief but that no matter what you believe, others can and DO perceive the world in some unique ways. At the same time, there are UNIVERSAL qualities in life, perception, in living (possibly in death) - so really, our world is so very complex and, at times, seems contradictory or paradoxical... I can't imagine why anyone would shy away from the chance to read what a vampire has to say about a mix of topics... the same sorts of topics that concern everyday, living people...

Frankly, I found Montague's perceptions about life and certain other narrower topics to be more human and humane than I experience when listening to people chit-chat in a public arena like the mall, the bus, the line-up of people waiting to get in to a movie theatre, etc. Perhaps Montague is trying to maintain his humanity within his immortality - I'm not sure exactly but whatever Montague is - he is interesting and has words of wisdom...

The Article:
 Dark Art - an Interview with a Modern American Vampire on Being Human, Immortal, and the Practice of the Dark Arts

The date of Day 792  of the 800 day countdown and the post on the 800 Days blog was on Wednesday, October 20, 2010.

Following Blogger/Author Blake4D's 800 Days to The End of the Mayan Calendar

Blake4D (otherwise known as Blake Hall IV) is an innovative, creative, intelligent, mindful, and generous writer I really admire, so I'm following his 800 Days blog.

The 800 Days blog began on October 12th 2010 and is a countdown blog - timed to when the Mayan (long) Calendar ends on December 21 2012...

Then, apparently, we'll see what happens both after December 21st 2012 - and with the 800 Days blog - on December 22nd 2012...if there IS to be a December 22 2012...

To View The Blog: Blake4D's "800 Days" Blog

What will follow in THIS (my) blog will be critique of some of the 800days blog data, some interpretation efforts in response to poetry that is on or will be posted on Blake's 800days blog, commentary, in general.