socks

On his part, no, I don't think he capitalized on it or would have seen eny benefit in doing so. The reactions of others might have brought interest to the AC, maybe. If it did, I never came across it in any demonstrable amount, but that's not to say the general climate might have been created for it, I just didn't see it if it did. Maybe I was out of the loop.

Mr. Hammer, I return the Manly Love! Unity High - Five! Tom S, Manly Love Hug! I dunno, Tom. It was immensely popular, yes. It was out in 1973, and it got a bunch of AA nominations and won one, or two or something. But, if viewed as being about someone mentally ill it might be viewed as an expose' with lurid detailed views into insanity. If you take out the devil and the church, that's what it's about and in fact, the story the book and movie are supposedly based on probably isn't even close to what's presented as true. So I'd agree it went a long way towards putting the religious view of devil spirit possession on the front burner for American culture through the Big Screen, I don't think VPW picked up on it or used the climate it created for any purpose. The reason for that is, I was at the Way Nash, first year of the Corps program the year it came out. He went to see it with some of us locally and of course, there was an after-burner discussion. His feeling was it was basically b-s**t, in "his experience" he'd never seen or heard of anything that out front or blatant. He felt it did more to hurt the reality, rather than help. Anyone seeing it might know that people go completely off the deep end and lose touch with reality and do completely unnatural things - yes. But the phenomena depicted was too over the top, if anything like that truly did happen in modern times, it would be more than written about. If the person was hospitalized and there were witnesses, even in the 40's when it supposedly happened, there would have been better reporting on it. Which isn't to say that's the way it played out, but as I recall he was kind of embarrassed by it, almost. Like, "that isn't what the devil would do". He did teach about things like levitation and all of that as realities in the Advanced Class, or covered it more than taught about it, but I think his perception was that instances of anything resembling the movie were few and far between and he didn't want to associate his teaching with the movie. In a way, over the years, I'm inclined to agree. I thought the movie's impact was probably mostly on kids, that no adult would really see it as anything more than a movie. I'm sure the religious community bought into it more because it characterized the devil as a "real" force of evil, so in that way it puts the screws on you if you develop fear from it. And of course if people really believe that's the way the devil works, it's a frightening reminder of what "could" happen. Which isn't to say, in the most long winded manner I can muster , that there aren't slivers of reality to what the movie depicted, IMO. But there's something questionable in the idea that the only times we seem to "really" hear or see the "devil" in full force is in the life of some poor kid, or these out of the way scenarios. If that's really the devil, he's a p***y and he needs a good P.R. firm. His image stinks. For my money, there's better movies out there on the topic, "Prince of Darkness" is one but again it nests it's message inside a stringy story and not that many people have ever even seen it.

Nibbling at the edges, with insightful commentary, engaging wit and scinitillating insight, I offer this: In it's day, "The Exorcist" was a seat wetter alright, mostly for the impressionable. As a "horror movie", primarily. It was pretty much an embarrassment as a piece of film, although it's been given it's place in history I suppose, in the same way movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and other wastes of time and film have. It was gross, weird, and filled with religious imagery and symbolism. BOO! It was scarey. Pea soup has never looked the same since. But - think about it. What give it it's legs was it's religious roots and the premise of "possession", with a major amount of goo and gore. Plus, it centered on a child. Nothing worse than seeing a child in trouble. But the essence of the film was nothing new. "Possession" is the foundation of nearly all horror/sci-fi movies. The idea of humans influenced beyond their own control by forces they can't clearly identify. You can add all the blood and guts and green goop you want - it's always the same premise be it "spirits", the devil, aliens from other planets, psycho-nuts with chain saws. Same thing. Over and over. Nothing new there. Nothing new today. Same crap, different title. I find this kind of movie really boring, simply because they take advantage of extremely thin connections to reality - the lost hitchhiker, being alone in a parking garage, moving into a creaky old house, etc. etc. Once the imagination hears a mouse sneezing, all bets are off as to what it could be. You'd think the Devil, Grand Master of Evil, would hang out in better places and have better things to do than scare old ladies. Doesn't sound very stand-up to me, but that's another topic, titled "Evil Wears a Baseball Cap and Doesn't Shower Regularly". Like the move "Alien" and it's offspring. It's a grand movie, but once you get past the gross alien-in-your-tummy stuff the interesting part has nothing to do with that, really. The Exorcist added nothing new, unless you count the fact it's helped to loosen the rules on what can be shown in a theater to the public.

Right on, Sunnyfla. I'm sure your meeting will go well. I'm of the mind that Jesus's parables often had more than one level of meaning, and really won't make sense if we restrict them and squeeze 'em too tight. :)

Study groups like yours are great for discussion. Everyone contributes. I was in a group that studied the gospel of John, last year. Parables seem to inevitably generate lively discussion. That's what they're designed to do, they say something is like something else. The kingdom of heaven is like...How is it like that? Why? What's Jesus saying, what's He mean, what's that mean to me? These are all questions that will be personalized by the hearer. Parables don't say "this IS exactly like THAT". The comparisons are loose and don't seem to make sense sometimes when they're screwed down tight and in fact they may generate more questions than answers in discussion. Steadman's beat on the mustard tree isn't that off kilter, in context. Comparing the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed growing, with birds in it's branches, isn't exactly the clear cut image of a great and glorious tree that one might expect of the "kingdom of heaven". Jesus was being...hmmmmmmm...it reads like it was meant to generate thought in the listener. :)

What they hey makes an excellent point - $**T stinks, wherever it comes from. Having a politician blow the whistle on misappropriated funds and spending - isn't that a little like Howdy Doody calling George Bush a dumb puppet? But I also agree with shazthedancer - it's about accountability. Why should it be okay for any of these geezers? Religion is the best deal going though - just ask the Pope. Money, freebies, no-taxes. It's the best definition of "vow of poverty" you can get. You don't actually OWN anything, you just have the ACCESS to anything you need. Plus, you get to be a Big Cheese, make people happy, laugh, feel good! What's not to like?

I...see.

Personal opinion-wise, I like Joyce Meyers, to an extent. She's kinda like the little engine that said "I can, I can". I consider anyone who is financially successful in preaching suspect. I don't consider Joyce Meyers a "preacher" though, or a true "spiritual leader" in Christianity. She's a seemingly decent person who's running a successful business. I'm not discounting wealth an outcome of preaching, but I don't really see that those who taught, spoke for God or said they did, or "preached" in the bible, were ever wealthy to the tune that "preachers" often hum today. They clearly needed better financial advice. (the quoted record about Jesus, implying he drank and ate in ways that were inappropriate is a gross misrepresentation of what that verse means, but that doesn't stop people from using it to make excuses for all manner of bad behavior). David was wealthy but he wasn't a preacher, he was a King. Before that he was a shepherd of his father's flocks. I can see the religious people, like prophets, of the O.T. doing alright by themselves in different ways but hardly to the extent that the successful Televangelist of today lives. It's unseemly and uncharacteristic of someone who considers themselves a Christian leader to amass huge amounts of personal wealth when the world is full of the poor and dying. A simple case can be made that it's immoral for one person to always have more than they need when others have nothing. That might sound very "60's", very idealistic and vaguely evil. Can't a person work and have what they want? Of course. It works out if I compare a Christian Leader who becomes wealthy off their religious service to say, a CEO who's primary purpose in work is to turn a profit for their company, investors, shareholders, etc. That's the crux of it - the CEO, CFO or COO can honestly say, "I'm running a business here and the purpose is to make money, as much as I can for this company. I'll do it honestly and as humanely as possible but the goal here is to make lots of money." Their service is to the profit. A Christian Leader who takes the stage under the cover of the Name of God isn't giving their service for the money, they're doing it for God, and to further His purposes and profit. I guess some Christian Leaders will say, well, part of God's purpose is to make me wealthy, what's wrong with that? My impression is it speaks to the character of the person and the depth of their relationship with their work if they keep it. I'm all for people doing well, having what they need and enjoying life. But when religion and business mix, it's a bust. Making money for personal gain off the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is wrong, because it's not our money when it comes in, it's "Gods" money, earned by the service of Jesus Christ. Writing books and walking around on a stage talking about what someone else did - what's that really worth? But yes, I do appreciate some of what I've heard from Joyce Meyers, she says some good things and seems to want to help others have a good life.

It's heavy alright. I ended up usin' the fretted bass more second half, as it was a little easier for me to get in the "pocket" on, and keep on the right chord changes on songs I wasn't that familiar with. Plus, it doesn't weigh a ton. :) But that smooth vibe of the fretless is niiiice.

Dunno, Chatty. I let them know I was available, and could drop in again. That gig might turn into a regular one for them, and it was close by, so it might turn up again. (Now that I know the style and some of the tunes) WS-took a Fender Bassman bottom, and a Sunn Concert Lead top, for amplification. It has two inputs, which I used for a Fender Jazz Fretless (4 string) with flatwounds, and a "No name" 4 string fretted bass I've put a Fender bridge on, that has round wound strings on it. It's about 20 years old but plays well, and not as heavy as a Fender. Took a Boss Floor tuner. I like that tight "be the bass" feel and play with a 2 finger style, although I have to be careful or I get REAlly sore fingertips. Use some Xtra Heavy pick, teardrops, for some of it. Like I said, I adopted bass to get work 'back in the day' and have come to like it, but it's definitely a second-instrument thing. I just get really moved by that low down X-rated grit on the spit sound of a bass with a good rhythm section.

Hang in, hoping he fares well - he certainly can although it might take a little time. There's only one of your Dad, period. Changes in his awareness, personality - he's still (1) Dad. Think of it as how he's probably changed over the years, from the way he was when he was 15, to the way he is now. Probably a lot different. Still the same (1) Dad. It's one of the incredibly wonderful things about life that's often missed and yet points to a very unique design of life - there's only one "you". No repeats. :) Or duplicates. Similar, yes, but never the same, again.

I and I got it in me mind tonight, mon.

Hey Gitsters, wanted to share about a gig I did today, a "casual", playing bass. Got the call to fill in for a band who's bass player quit and they needed someone to fill in. They sent the set list this week, 60 tunes, and I roughed it out, wasn't able to rehearse with them, so I walked in and got their book (lyrics and lead sheets/chord charts) of songs. Had a great time. They were up for 4 - 45 minute sets, ended up doing 3 long ones. Only did about 40 tunes. The fun part of this gig is that the music was a combination of Hawaiian and Reggae music, with some Jamaican island sounds mixed into the whole thing. The main instrumentation is ukelele - two guys, one's the lead, second doubles and plays rhythm. They both sing, and there's a female singer that plays piano. Plus a conga/percussionist and a guitarist, nylon string. These guys had ukelele's everywhere, there were about 8 of them, strung differently and in different tunings and they played some serious stuff. It was a funky blended style of some standard Hawaiian songs done up in a Reggae rhythm, plus a lot of pop tunes funked up in this blended style. I LOVE playing bass, and although I'm not a "real" player, I like putting that hat on and filling the bottom. Reggae bass is all about the bottom and making a patterned pulse fit the beat. Totally fun stuff, this was music to smile to. There's a real soulful sound in these musics.

Tom, it's too much for you. If you knew, your head would explode. A straightforward answer is impossible, it would take pages just to lay the groundwork for the explanation.

Are you praying and fasting, Tom?

"discerning" of pneuma". I would broaden the definition to include a 'spiritual" sense of the condition of life, where it's understood deeper than the immediate actions or behavior and goes to the underlying causes. Less a matter of pin pointing bad "pneumas" by name. The AC usually spent a lot of time on covering "types of spirits", and generally "bad" ones, the "daimonion" and daimons, those Big 'n' Little Bad Boys. SirG hits squarely on the essence - behavior and quality of life. To get granular for a sec - typically in Way World a type of behavior might be "discerned" to be caused by a specific kind of "spirit" influencing or controlling another's behavior. What's that really mean? It means, there's an independent "spirit", that's causing a person to act or think a certain way. Why a person acts or thinks a certain way goes much deeper than that though, the cause isn't reduced to a simple "the devil made me do it'. Records of Jesus and other people indicate that I think, in that His effect on other people and their needs was - well, there's that one record about "this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting". I don't interpret that as instructions to pray and fast more "over" a person, but that they needed to grow more as individuals in their overall faith and trust towards God. "Spirit of lying". A spirit that "makes" a person lie? Why's a person lie to begin with? What's going on, really? My thought would be, the entire topic of d. of s. doesn't lie in knowing "types of devil spirits", if that's something to be known it doesn't really tell you a lot does it? That sense that there's "something else' going on is really literally, "discerning", an awareness of what's going on. Like W. G. said, the idea of knowing another person's state could be a burden more than anything else. Knowing it is just one thing, what to do to help, another. And there's nothing worse than someone wanting to do anything and everything to help but being a pain in the butt trying to do it.

tif's may not be recognized by the Uploader, Mike. Not sure - but if you can resave it as a .jpg or. gif, it wil upload. I'd suggest gif it it's a line drawing with color. If you can, maybe try both jpg and gif conversions, and see which is the smallest file size. Yeah, that's it. The Uploader wants a jpg or gif.

Ala, I'm sorry for your family's loss. I'm sure there's a heap of good to celebrate in his life. My best to you and yours.

Hey Git pickers, I've been reading and keeping up with the posts here but not contributing much of late. I may not in the near future, so please feel free to email me at soques@hotmail.com with all the cool guitar news that's coming down the pike. I'd like to keep up with everyone's progress and enjoyment of all-things-guitar and musical and share back. I'll likely be back here later this year but if I don't see ya no more in this world, I'll meet in the next one. Don't be late. (okay, it's Hendrix and weird but it's always had that cool sound to me) If I should release that big album before then, I'll be sure to let everyone know! (I can still dream right?) Peace homies! Spank that plank! :)

Ah yes! Jim was a guitarist, had studied at the Guitar Institute, in L.A., if I remember correctly. At the time I had a small photog business in Tampa and some video editing equipment. Jim mixed his original audio tape down to a video vhs stereo on one of our editing decks. Can't remember how the music sounded though. Jim was a nice guy.

Yep, take a couple gel caps everyday.

"TWI", n. def. a type of tic that attaches itself to the hind parts of anything passing by. Known to bite and cause irritation of the stinger is not removed immediately. syn. parasite. Word origin: Latin, Twitanus, used of small opportunistic animals, weasels, etc.

As being shared, lastly by Tom Stranglove, yeah - I would put it, learn from the past, plan for the future. Enjoy the moment. As much as you can. Life's far from perfect. I forget to remember. Remember things that aren't important. Do the best I can. I think GS probably sees good natured people who want things to go well for others and have their own "best" recommendations for moving forward. Posts can sometimes represent flat statements. It takes some time, sometimes, to flesh ideas out to real, living intentions. So where one person says "get over it" or some version of that, yes, there may be a critical tone to that. But what's the point? If it's just criticism it's going to get old quick. If it's communication to the end of offering the best advice a person can, so be it. The end result is really for a person to get to a point where they are able to proceed constructively. Adding- I have never felt a recovery process or anything like that describes where I'm at. There's reasons for that, different than others I'm sure.

Paw, I'm sure there's reasons. My point, it's not worth it. Screening - does that mean someone reads it and then hits it up? Pete and Repete - why bother? It just seems like an incredible waste of time. My vote, and geez, this feels like the Coliseum or something but since it's been brought to everyone's attention why not - Allow Larry to post, with an agreement that the problem is recognized and handled. If it comes up again, "delete". Larry's out, gone. If it were me, I'd expect the same thing. Get along or get out. Amscray Ootscay. How can we miss you if you won't go away? Awww, don't go. Yet. Okay - now. Go.

The French philosopher Henri Bergsen is someone who's caught my interest and imagination for years. His books "Memory and Matter", The Creative Mind", "The Two Sources of Morality and Religion", and "Time and Free Will" are killers. I've only really studied the first two, but I enjoy the way he thought.