Gravity and Levity

Gravity and Levity http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:49:07 GMT http://bandzoogle.com Jimmy O vs. The 49ers http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=1806942 My Armando's gig started with me standing outside the door at the venue stressing about whether people would show up. The 49er's play-off was running exactly at the same time as my show. So there I was viscerally re-experiencing all the other times big sports events have kicked my cultural butt, when <a href="http://www.globerecords.com/anniesampson/index.shtml" target="_new">Annie Sampson pulled up on the curb smiling through the windshield and instantaneously erased all my worries. She has that effect! We hunkered down on the porch stoop and rehearsed "Super Earth", a tune about leaving the solar system for another planet which was inspired by the NASA/Kepler Project. (Check them out: <a href="http://kepler.nasa.gov/" target="_new">http://kepler.nasa.gov/) It was so much fun singing with Annie there on the street with a light rain coming down that I forgot about the 49ers entirely. Thank you, Annie! Contrary to my worries, we had a full house! Even Roy Jeans, the owner--who could have easily gone upstairs and watched the game, stayed and listened. Carlos Reyes sat in the whole show. He is truly one of the Bay Area's multi-instrumentalist greats. (More about Carlos at <a href="http://www.carlosreyesmusic.com/" target="_new"> http://www.carlosreyesmusic.com/) Then acoustic guitar monster Dave Nachmanoff--who accompanies Al Stewart around the world, joined us. He also sang a solo original that blew everyone away. Check him out: <a href="http://www.davenach.com/ " target="_new">http://www.davenach.com/ David Correa of the Latin guitar group Cascada joined Carlos and I on "Plastilla". His extreme flamenco chops were in fiery display; you could practically see the monster coming out of the sea! (Check out his music at: <a href="http://www.davidcorreaandcascada.com/" target="_new">http://www.davidcorreaandcascada.com/) Annie and I left the heliosphere on Super Earth, and then my lovely wife Kathy stole the show with her dramatic recitations and singing on a new satire called 'It's Just a Hippie Thought' which incorporates famous quotes from counter-culture history such as Wavy Gravy's "It's not what you eat, it's what you don't poop." We had big fun at Armando's! Thank you to everyone who attended and worked the show. Annie Sampson pulled up on the curb smiling through the windshield and instantaneously erased all my worries. She has that effect!

We hunkered down on the porch stoop and rehearsed "Super Earth", a tune about leaving the solar system for another planet which was inspired by the NASA/Kepler Project. (Check them out: http://kepler.nasa.gov/) It was so much fun singing with Annie there on the street with a light rain coming down that I forgot about the 49ers entirely. Thank you, Annie!

Contrary to my worries, we had a full house! Even Roy Jeans, the owner--who could have easily gone upstairs and watched the game, stayed and listened. Carlos Reyes sat in the whole show. He is truly one of the Bay Area's multi-instrumentalist greats. (More about Carlos at http://www.carlosreyesmusic.com/) Then acoustic guitar monster Dave Nachmanoff--who accompanies Al Stewart around the world, joined us. He also sang a solo original that blew everyone away. Check him out: http://www.davenach.com/

David Correa of the Latin guitar group Cascada joined Carlos and I on "Plastilla". His extreme flamenco chops were in fiery display; you could practically see the monster coming out of the sea! (Check out his music at: http://www.davidcorreaandcascada.com/) Annie and I left the heliosphere on Super Earth, and then my lovely wife Kathy stole the show with her dramatic recitations and singing on a new satire called 'It's Just a Hippie Thought' which incorporates famous quotes from counter-culture history such as Wavy Gravy's "It's not what you eat, it's what you don't poop." We had big fun at Armando's! Thank you to everyone who attended and worked the show.

]]> Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:49:07 GMT DD9CA0EF3769D2A13E0924FFA57FB27B Devil Mountain Deja Vu http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=1618551 I had a remarkable time last Month performing at the 'Devil Mountain Coffeehouse'. This series is in the new event hall at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Church in Walnut Creek. Our whole concert scene began at MDUUC as an open mic over 30 years ago. In those days we brought everything in from the sound system to the coffee so it took the whole day and night, and we typically didn't get to bed until 4 in the morning. The beautiful new hall has everything built in. What a breeze! <a target="_new" href="http://www.laurazucker.com/">Laura Zucker performed the first set of the evening with some very well written originals that all told distinctive stories. She has an excellent voice and stage manner, and is doing great work keeping music alive at the Unitarian Church. Thanks also to Harry Miller for setting up the sound system and hall. We spread out the hundreds of photos of musicians who played the old "Musician's Coffeehouse" that ran at MDUUC for over 20 yrs. It took three 8' tables to spread them out with the photos piled 3-4 deep. Seeing them displayed that way really brought home all the wonderful memories as well as the hard work it took to stage all those shows. Thank you to all who took part in those concerts! About 125 folks showed up to hear my shenanigans. My main goal for the evening was to get everybody singing. I broke my set into 3 segments: Science, Satire and Spirit. So to get folks singing, I said "Let's begin with an old space classic", and launched into John Lennon's "Across the Universe". It took a while--an initially shy crowd--but by the end of the song, "Jai Guru Deva" rang out over the hall. On the second song, <a target="_new" href="./files/03-Coming-of-Age-in-the-Milky-Way.mp3">"Coming of Age in the Milky Way", the crowd really got going and we were singing and rocking the rest of the set. I tried a new song about the "mulitverse" that asks whether inanimate objects are 'alive'. It's a metaquizzical rap tune about my childhood slinky which I found in a box earlier this year. I took off my guitar--which is scary for a folk singer--picked up the slinky and let it rip. The slinky has a very distinctive sound which works nicely as a percussion instrument. I had lots of fun with that one, though the metal slinky pinched my fingers a few times. The trick is not to say ouch in the middle of the song. <a target="_new" href="./files/Slinky.pdf">(Read the lyrics here.) So the music goes on at the MDUUC! Scientific theories say music preceded language as the first form of communication. Deep stuff not to be ignored or devalued at the peril of our own happiness and understanding. <a target="_new" href="http://www.mduuc.org/news-and-events-index/devil-mountain-coffee-house">(Bookmark the website to check out future shows!) The next day a group of us went zip lining thru the tops of the redwoods with <a target="_new" href="http://www.sonomacanopytours.com/">"Sonoma Canopy Tours" out of Occidental, CA.  What a rush! It was so beautiful to stand on a gently swaying platform at the top of a redwood tree, and just take off like a hawk! <a target="_new" href="http://youtu.be/MykjLRpqlX0">(Check out this video our friend Mark Westwind made from our trip.) I was deeply fearful about doing this crazy sport, but once I was up there it felt almost natural to fly like this. I told my friends: "Playing live onstage is way more scary than this!" Put it on your bucket list. My next show is at Armando's in Martinez on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 from 4 to 6pm. If you happened to pick up a flyer at the Devil Mountain Coffee House show, take note. We had a mix-up on the dates. Initially we were going to play Armando's on January 29th, but decided to change it because we're running a benefit concert for the San Ramon Valley High School Instrumental Music Program that on Saturday, January 28th featuring the great Journey Tribute band "Evolution". (Since we're not as young as we once were--but maybe a little smarter--we decided to spread things out a bit.) <a href="http://www.communityconcerts.com/ccs-srvhs.htm" target="_new">Click here for more information. And remember, concert tickets make great holiday gifts. (Hint. Hint.) It's that time of year when we start getting together all the demos and ideas for next summer's booking. Got any? This'd be the time to let us know who you want to see next year. If we had funding for Fall/Winter shows this week we'd have the 'Fishtank Ensemble' one of the wildest, interesting gypsy jazz groups alive. <a target="_new" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGfblgFy-RU ">(Check em out!)
Laura Zucker performed the first set of the evening with some very well written originals that all told distinctive stories. She has an excellent voice and stage manner, and is doing great work keeping music alive at the Unitarian Church. Thanks also to Harry Miller for setting up the sound system and hall. We spread out the hundreds of photos of musicians who played the old "Musician's Coffeehouse" that ran at MDUUC for over 20 yrs. It took three 8' tables to spread them out with the photos piled 3-4 deep. Seeing them displayed that way really brought home all the wonderful memories as well as the hard work it took to stage all those shows. Thank you to all who took part in those concerts!

About 125 folks showed up to hear my shenanigans. My main goal for the evening was to get everybody singing. I broke my set into 3 segments: Science, Satire and Spirit. So to get folks singing, I said "Let's begin with an old space classic", and launched into John Lennon's "Across the Universe". It took a while--an initially shy crowd--but by the end of the song, "Jai Guru Deva" rang out over the hall. On the second song, "Coming of Age in the Milky Way", the crowd really got going and we were singing and rocking the rest of the set.

I tried a new song about the "mulitverse" that asks whether inanimate objects are 'alive'. It's a metaquizzical rap tune about my childhood slinky which I found in a box earlier this year. I took off my guitar--which is scary for a folk singer--picked up the slinky and let it rip. The slinky has a very distinctive sound which works nicely as a percussion instrument. I had lots of fun with that one, though the metal slinky pinched my fingers a few times. The trick is not to say ouch in the middle of the song. (Read the lyrics here.)

So the music goes on at the MDUUC! Scientific theories say music preceded language as the first form of communication. Deep stuff not to be ignored or devalued at the peril of our own happiness and understanding. (Bookmark the website to check out future shows!)

The next day a group of us went zip lining thru the tops of the redwoods with "Sonoma Canopy Tours" out of Occidental, CA. What a rush! It was so beautiful to stand on a gently swaying platform at the top of a redwood tree, and just take off like a hawk! (Check out this video our friend Mark Westwind made from our trip.)
I was deeply fearful about doing this crazy sport, but once I was up there it felt almost natural to fly like this. I told my friends: "Playing live onstage is way more scary than this!" Put it on your bucket list.

My next show is at Armando's in Martinez on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 from 4 to 6pm. If you happened to pick up a flyer at the Devil Mountain Coffee House show, take note. We had a mix-up on the dates. Initially we were going to play Armando's on January 29th, but decided to change it because we're running a benefit concert for the San Ramon Valley High School Instrumental Music Program that on Saturday, January 28th featuring the great Journey Tribute band "Evolution". (Since we're not as young as we once were--but maybe a little smarter--we decided to spread things out a bit.) Click here for more information. And remember, concert tickets make great holiday gifts. (Hint. Hint.)

It's that time of year when we start getting together all the demos and ideas for next summer's booking. Got any? This'd be the time to let us know who you want to see next year. If we had funding for Fall/Winter shows this week we'd have the 'Fishtank Ensemble' one of the wildest, interesting gypsy jazz groups alive. (Check em out!)

]]> Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:15:00 GMT 8AB7CD5D2ABA76182DCFAD514D857257 Inside the song "Macro to Micro" http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=1480234 Macro to Micro was the second song that came to me when I decided to write a series of science-inspired songs based on my readings and research about recent scientific discoveries. All my life I've noticed how small things look like large things and vice versa. Like the way the human ear resembles a curled up fetus, or how the cowlick at the top of a newborn's head looks like the swirling Milky Way. The song is my way of noticing and praising these mind-boggling resemblances. The chorus is meant as a sing along with an "echo and response" part to it. It's been wonderful singing it live. I should tell you that the whole time I was writing the song and all during the recording process I had voices in my head saying things like: "Jim you must be going off the nerdy end of the geek universe", and "You can't use words like these in a song'" The whole doubting Thomas syndrome was performing a symphony in my head. Nevertheless, my adventurous side prevailed enough to record the song (with the most amazing arrangements by Brian Whistler. Gracias!), and bring it home. I listened to it for a month or two before I had the courage to play it for anyone. Then some friends visited us here in the Russian River and asked if I'd done any new recording. As they were getting the Walkman" ready to play it, I left the room not wanting to see their faces and reactions. I knew they'd be polite and make the best of it, but I thought that I was putting them in that anguished place that artists do with their friends when they give them something new to review, and everybody knows "It don't work!" I came back in the room a half an hour later ready to accept that this science song thing was not working, but, au contraire, my cynical side was shot down by their unanimous, clear, and almost embarrassing praise. Since then, after repeated outings, Macro to Micro now sits squarely, and confidently in my heart as a song to share the wonders and mysteries of the patterns of nature. It also cut through my resistance to keep writing in this direction. <a href="http://youtu.be/emLpBjuY5Kw" target="_new">Watch the music video of "Macro to Micro" Macro to Micro was the second song that came to me when I decided to write a series of science-inspired songs based on my readings and research about recent scientific discoveries. All my life I've noticed how small things look like large things and vice versa. Like the way the human ear resembles a curled up fetus, or how the cowlick at the top of a newborn's head looks like the swirling Milky Way. The song is my way of noticing and praising these mind-boggling resemblances. The chorus is meant as a sing along with an "echo and response" part to it. It's been wonderful singing it live.

I should tell you that the whole time I was writing the song and all during the recording process I had voices in my head saying things like: "Jim you must be going off the nerdy end of the geek universe", and "You can't use words like these in a song'" The whole doubting Thomas syndrome was performing a symphony in my head. Nevertheless, my adventurous side prevailed enough to record the song (with the most amazing arrangements by Brian Whistler. Gracias!), and bring it home. I listened to it for a month or two before I had the courage to play it for anyone. Then some friends visited us here in the Russian River and asked if I'd done any new recording.

As they were getting the Walkman" ready to play it, I left the room not wanting to see their faces and reactions. I knew they'd be polite and make the best of it, but I thought that I was putting them in that anguished place that artists do with their friends when they give them something new to review, and everybody knows "It don't work!"

I came back in the room a half an hour later ready to accept that this science song thing was not working, but, au contraire, my cynical side was shot down by their unanimous, clear, and almost embarrassing praise. Since then, after repeated outings, Macro to Micro now sits squarely, and confidently in my heart as a song to share the wonders and mysteries of the patterns of nature. It also cut through my resistance to keep writing in this direction.

Watch the music video of "Macro to Micro"
]]> Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:35:04 GMT D4A50B6E2E3E2FE678A985E755D5DB6D Report from the final MetaQuizzical Cafe in Petaluma and our Gig at Armando's http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=1124517 On Sunday July 3rd, we finished our Smithsonian/Petaluma Museum nine-week run of the Metaquizzical Cafe with a fascinating video montage put together, with many hours of work and research, by my lovely wife Kathy. The video she made had moments with such notables as Michio Kaku, Deepak Chopra, and some animated subjects making points about how to deal with rage and distraction in the modern age. So kudos to Kathy for making her debut as a movie-maker!! I sprinkled my songs in between, and it was just like being at home cooking with her, only in this case, with songs, images and ideas. It felt very fluid like most things with us which is why we're still together after more than 10 years. I played 'Dark Matter', 'The First to go Under', 'Two Kinds of People', Coming of Age in the Milky Way', and my oldest song, 'Love Is a Flame' as the last song. A very personal way to wrap up this memorable, and remarkable project. We both loved it and are deeply grateful to have been a part of it. Petaluma we love you here in the Russian River! I learned so much from the scientists. I'm in awe of their discoveries and tenacities in the face of budget fluctuations and doubt. Scientists and musicians have much in common. Both listening to math in its various forms, and sending out our 'communications' to the rest of our species. A song, a new discovery, a melody, a space photo, all mingling as we live on and on peeling back the layers of the endless onion. It will make you cry! On Sunday July 10th, I had another wondrous afternoon at Armando's. Carlos Reyes, Katy and Dell, John Jordan helped me out on stage. Lovely room of old friends and new (including Genevieve Conaty who performed her wonderful song, "In your Cell". Lots of singers in the house including Annie Sampson, and Moira Seymour. It felt like the old days at the Musician's Coffeehouse at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Church in Walnut Creek. Since I still don't perform whole sets of music very often I had some nervy moments on stage. I couldn't hear my guitar very well, acoustic guitar is very tough to get right onstage... but I pantomimed nicely...years of training. The vibe in the room had a 'cloudlike' feel to it...such sweet angels/friends singing my songs with me...light and lovely...reassuring so I prevailed!! Another wonderful night at Armando's thank you Roy, Eloise, Hazel et al...your heaven will have music in it!
I sprinkled my songs in between, and it was just like being at home cooking with her, only in this case, with songs, images and ideas. It felt very fluid like most things with us which is why we're still together after more than 10 years.

I played 'Dark Matter', 'The First to go Under', 'Two Kinds of People', Coming of Age in the Milky Way', and my oldest song, 'Love Is a Flame' as the last song. A very personal way to wrap up this memorable, and remarkable project. We both loved it and are deeply grateful to have been a part of it. Petaluma we love you here in the Russian River!

I learned so much from the scientists. I'm in awe of their discoveries and tenacities in the face of budget fluctuations and doubt. Scientists and musicians have much in common. Both listening to math in its various forms, and sending out our 'communications' to the rest of our species. A song, a new discovery, a melody, a space photo, all mingling as we live on and on peeling back the layers of the endless onion. It will make you cry!

On Sunday July 10th, I had another wondrous afternoon at Armando's. Carlos Reyes, Katy and Dell, John Jordan helped me out on stage. Lovely room of old friends and new (including Genevieve Conaty who performed her wonderful song, "In your Cell". Lots of singers in the house including Annie Sampson, and Moira Seymour. It felt like the old days at the Musician's Coffeehouse at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Church in Walnut Creek.

Since I still don't perform whole sets of music very often I had some nervy moments on stage. I couldn't hear my guitar very well, acoustic guitar is very tough to get right onstage... but I pantomimed nicely...years of training. The vibe in the room had a 'cloudlike' feel to it...such sweet angels/friends singing my songs with me...light and lovely...reassuring so I prevailed!!

Another wonderful night at Armando's thank you Roy, Eloise, Hazel et al...your heaven will have music in it!
]]> Sat, 23 Jul 2011 05:10:31 GMT C0865397B11D962CF291DCB6A5883D54 The Kepler Mission--Discovering New Neighbors in the Hood http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=1076659  I was quite excited to play music at the MetaQuizzical Cafe's hosting of Dr. Steve Bryson one of the amazing project scientist who digest information from the Kepler Space Telescope. Launched in 2009, the telescope is orbiting the sun, and its mission is to discover planets in other solar systems. The results are astonishing. Over 1200 planet candidates the time of this writing and going up fast. I've been very inspired by this mission. Think about it. Before the Kepler mission, there were 9 planets. (I still think of Pluto as a planet.) Now there are over a thousand! It is possible that some of these planets could be potential harborers of intelligent/technological life forms. That possibility--along with the reality that if the human species survives long enough, we will have to relocate to another planet--moved me to write a song called "Super Earth". <a target="_new" href="./files/Super-Earth.pdf">Read the lyrics. (I'll be recording it soon; it's a rocker.) Steve Bryson is obviously passionate about the Kepler mission. He showed us what it looks like on a telescope computer graph when a planet is detected. It reminded me of the visual sound graphs in a recording studio. Maybe all of creation is singing! Steve reminds me of the early explorers gazing over the first views of a 'New World'. (First the views--and then the voyage, I say.) Steve is also a musician and composer. Many scientists are. I think math and music attract each other. We should have a festival together weaving science, music, art, and theater. As Steve and others remind us (as worthy cool projects are cut, cut, cut), it's all about funding. That's fun with a bell on the end of it! Is there anybody out there that could ring that bell? Edu-tainment is where it's at! Something fun and meaty. . . Let's celebrate discovery in all its forms.
I've been very inspired by this mission. Think about it. Before the Kepler mission, there were 9 planets. (I still think of Pluto as a planet.) Now there are over a thousand! It is possible that some of these planets could be potential harborers of intelligent/technological life forms. That possibility--along with the reality that if the human species survives long enough, we will have to relocate to another planet--moved me to write a song called "Super Earth". Read the lyrics. (I'll be recording it soon; it's a rocker.)

Steve Bryson is obviously passionate about the Kepler mission. He showed us what it looks like on a telescope computer graph when a planet is detected. It reminded me of the visual sound graphs in a recording studio. Maybe all of creation is singing! Steve reminds me of the early explorers gazing over the first views of a 'New World'. (First the views--and then the voyage, I say.) Steve is also a musician and composer. Many scientists are. I think math and music attract each other.

We should have a festival together weaving science, music, art, and theater. As Steve and others remind us (as worthy cool projects are cut, cut, cut), it's all about funding. That's fun with a bell on the end of it! Is there anybody out there that could ring that bell? Edu-tainment is where it's at! Something fun and meaty. . . Let's celebrate discovery in all its forms.
]]> Sat, 02 Jul 2011 04:57:16 GMT 40176349DFC84ADB0B40DC687E5D5C61 Getting MetaQuizzical with the Institute of Noetic Sciences http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=1059024  On Father's Day the MetaQuizzical Cafe hosted <a target="_new" href="http://www.noetic.org/directory/person/marilyn-schlitz/">Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, CEO and president of the<a target="_new" href="http://www.noetic.org/"> Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) an organization that conducts research on consciousness and other cutting-edge phenomena. IONS was started by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell. His cathartic experience of being on the moon and looking back at the Earth compelled him to found the organization. Marilyn is a compelling speaker who told heartfelt stories about how we perceive reality. She also told about us about her own unique background and how she joined the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Marilyn spoke about the fascinating research they conduct about many things, including where the seat of consciousness resides. She said that evidence indicates it may not be in the brain, but in a 'field' outside the brain. Rather like the 'cloud' in the new computer era, the brain acts more like a receiver or an antennae where the information flows through. This really spoke to me deeply. When I was 22 years old I fell three stories off a roof. As I was falling through the air time slowed down, and I remember being outside my body looking at the back of my own head with my arms up in the air! I thought I was dead, but I came right back in my body when I hit the ground cursing expletives about my accident. This experience has haunted me all these years, so when Marilyn spoke about the 'field theory' of consciousness it resonated with me! I've been to the 'field' and back again. I applaud IONS for their research in these areas. It has profound implications about the true nature of life and death. We also screened the music video of "Said the Dark to the Light" made for us earlier this year by "Shot of Life Creative Studio" in Paris. <a target="_new" href="http://youtu.be/z0OAjYoWoyo">(Watch it now!) I closed the 'Cafe' with a rousing audience sing-a-long of my tune <a target="_new" href="./files/01-Macro-to-Micro.mp3">"Macro to Micro" which is rapidly becoming the song I use to bring people together around science and the spiritual feelings new discoveries engender. Our double-header with IONS began on Sunday, June 12th with <a target="_new" href="http://www.noetic.org/directory/person/cassandra-vieten/">Dr. Cassandra Vieten, Director of Research. Our topic of the day was: "Are we waking from our evolutionary adolescence?" Cassi brought an excellent power point presentation that had some fascinating moments. One film clip had people in black and white T-shirts passing basketballs back and forth. Cassi asked us to count how many times the people in white t-shirts got the ball. In the middle of the video someone in a gorilla suit comes into the screen for a few moments then leaves. Hardly anyone noticed the gorilla! The point being that when we look at the world we tend to see only what we WANT to see, (or are told to see) and miss things even as obvious as a gorilla! This colors all our perceptions and keeps us from understanding/accepting the whole view. I performed a new tune of mine titled and inspired by Dr. Timothy Ferris' great book about science history <a target="_new" href="./files/03-Coming-of-Age-in-the-Milky-Way.mp3">"Coming of Age in the Milky Way". The audience enthusiastically sang out the chorus peopled in part by our wonderful new friends Genevieve Conaty, and her fiance' Tim. Many members of their families came up from the peninsula to see the show. Genevieve also sang her tune "In Your Cell", a satirical piece about cloning her boyfriend to get him back. <a target="_new" href="./files/In_Your_Cell_Genevieve_Conaty.doc">(Read the lyrics.) She's a very clever writer with a good sense of humor. The implications of the biological revolution has so many things to consider and Genevieve does that well. Her line "Who'd have thought Hell could be so small", is both funny and meaty as we go into the future unprepared for the huge issues that will appear as we mess with genes, DNA and all the other messy stuff of biology. I finished the show with a sing-a-long of Cat Stevens "Moon Shadow" whose lyrics of optimism in the face of loss capped the show on consciousness perfectly. Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, CEO and president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) an organization that conducts research on consciousness and other cutting-edge phenomena. IONS was started by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell. His cathartic experience of being on the moon and looking back at the Earth compelled him to found the organization. Marilyn is a compelling speaker who told heartfelt stories about how we perceive reality. She also told about us about her own unique background and how she joined the Institute of Noetic Sciences.

Marilyn spoke about the fascinating research they conduct about many things, including where the seat of consciousness resides. She said that evidence indicates it may not be in the brain, but in a 'field' outside the brain. Rather like the 'cloud' in the new computer era, the brain acts more like a receiver or an antennae where the information flows through. This really spoke to me deeply. When I was 22 years old I fell three stories off a roof. As I was falling through the air time slowed down, and I remember being outside my body looking at the back of my own head with my arms up in the air! I thought I was dead, but I came right back in my body when I hit the ground cursing expletives about my accident. This experience has haunted me all these years, so when Marilyn spoke about the 'field theory' of consciousness it resonated with me! I've been to the 'field' and back again.

I applaud IONS for their research in these areas. It has profound implications about the true nature of life and death.

We also screened the music video of "Said the Dark to the Light" made for us earlier this year by "Shot of Life Creative Studio" in Paris. (Watch it now!) I closed the 'Cafe' with a rousing audience sing-a-long of my tune "Macro to Micro" which is rapidly becoming the song I use to bring people together around science and the spiritual feelings new discoveries engender.

Our double-header with IONS began on Sunday, June 12th with Dr. Cassandra Vieten, Director of Research. Our topic of the day was: "Are we waking from our evolutionary adolescence?"

Cassi brought an excellent power point presentation that had some fascinating moments. One film clip had people in black and white T-shirts passing basketballs back and forth. Cassi asked us to count how many times the people in white t-shirts got the ball. In the middle of the video someone in a gorilla suit comes into the screen for a few moments then leaves. Hardly anyone noticed the gorilla! The point being that when we look at the world we tend to see only what we WANT to see, (or are told to see) and miss things even as obvious as a gorilla! This colors all our perceptions and keeps us from understanding/accepting the whole view.

I performed a new tune of mine titled and inspired by Dr. Timothy Ferris' great book about science history "Coming of Age in the Milky Way". The audience enthusiastically sang out the chorus peopled in part by our wonderful new friends Genevieve Conaty, and her fiance' Tim. Many members of their families came up from the peninsula to see the show.

Genevieve also sang her tune "In Your Cell", a satirical piece about cloning her boyfriend to get him back. (Read the lyrics.) She's a very clever writer with a good sense of humor. The implications of the biological revolution has so many things to consider and Genevieve does that well. Her line "Who'd have thought Hell could be so small", is both funny and meaty as we go into the future unprepared for the huge issues that will appear as we mess with genes, DNA and all the other messy stuff of biology.

I finished the show with a sing-a-long of Cat Stevens "Moon Shadow" whose lyrics of optimism in the face of loss capped the show on consciousness perfectly.
]]> Sat, 25 Jun 2011 01:30:00 GMT D4B53862CAABC9F24A2618CD9738CA03 Do We Live in a Friendly Universe? http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=1027337 We had our 5th MetaQuizzical Cafe last Sunday with Eric Korpela, project scientist with the SETI@Home project. The name of the program: "Do we live in a friendly universe?".  He came with his wife--what a lovely gregarious couple! They smiled the whole time. I noticed on his resume that he likes to go bass fishing. Since we're both from the Midwest, we commiserated about the lack of good bass fishing in California. You need warm water lakes and streams. In CA most lakes are too chilly for bass. So the question is: "Is the universe too chilly for other technological life?" He says "no", but that you gotta know where to fish! He thinks advanced life is still rare in such a vast place. It made me reflect that when the population goes down in a given area, people start to acknowledge one another, to say hello, share pleasantries and such. Imagine how amazing it would be to run into anyone 'out there'! I think the 'hello' would be more sincere and radical than anyone can imagine. I also think that it's the possibility of this first 'hello' that keeps these SETI folks going. Even though they haven't found concrete evidence yet they remain upbeat, and optimistic. Never stop looking I say! I long for the patient, mentoring aliens in Arthur C. Clark's book "Childhood's End". A highly ethical species that would banish aggression and replace it with love and aesthetic pursuits. They'd sow the atmosphere with a chemical that would reduce our ego, open our hearts, and clear our minds. Now that's an alien conquest I could get behind! As an intro to the topic, "Do we live in a friendly universe", I sang a song from the "yes" perspective and another from the "no" perspectives. First, I took the "friendly" perspective with a new song titled "Does Love Exist on Other Worlds" that shares Carl Sagan's view that any advanced alien contact would be with a loving species that has worked out all their nasty behavior problems long ago. <a target="_new" href="./files/Does-Love-Exist-On-Other-Worlds.pdf">Here are the lyrics. The audience sang beautifully along with this new ballad. Next we portrayed the scary side evoking Stephen Hawkings recent warnings about possible trouble with alien contact: 'The Alien Immigrant Song' which I wrote as a parody of 'The Immigrant Song' by Led Zepplin. In the song our world is listed on an intergalactic 'SpaceBook' page as up for 'sale' due to an eminent eco-system collapse. The hostile planet 'Rattatuk' buys the deed and then well . . . <a target="_new" href="./files/Alien-Immigrant-Song.pdf">here are the lyrics. (The ending should be fun for you Douglas Adams fans.) The audience, especially the women, sounded great on the 'Ah-Ah-Ahhhhh Ahhhh!! Eric's presentation was quite thought-provoking and had a running joke in it. Throughout history the main problem for scientists not being able to continue their projects is....ta daaa....FUNDING! So maybe the real reason we've can't call the aliens is we can't afford to pay the phone bill!
So the question is: "Is the universe too chilly for other technological life?" He says "no", but that you gotta know where to fish! He thinks advanced life is still rare in such a vast place. It made me reflect that when the population goes down in a given area, people start to acknowledge one another, to say hello, share pleasantries and such. Imagine how amazing it would be to run into anyone 'out there'! I think the 'hello' would be more sincere and radical than anyone can imagine. I also think that it's the possibility of this first 'hello' that keeps these SETI folks going. Even though they haven't found concrete evidence yet they remain upbeat, and optimistic. Never stop looking I say!

I long for the patient, mentoring aliens in Arthur C. Clark's book "Childhood's End". A highly ethical species that would banish aggression and replace it with love and aesthetic pursuits. They'd sow the atmosphere with a chemical that would reduce our ego, open our hearts, and clear our minds. Now that's an alien conquest I could get behind!

As an intro to the topic, "Do we live in a friendly universe", I sang a song from the "yes" perspective and another from the "no" perspectives. First, I took the "friendly" perspective with a new song titled "Does Love Exist on Other Worlds" that shares Carl Sagan's view that any advanced alien contact would be with a loving species that has worked out all their nasty behavior problems long ago. Here are the lyrics. The audience sang beautifully along with this new ballad.

Next we portrayed the scary side evoking Stephen Hawkings recent warnings about possible trouble with alien contact: 'The Alien Immigrant Song' which I wrote as a parody of 'The Immigrant Song' by Led Zepplin. In the song our world is listed on an intergalactic 'SpaceBook' page as up for 'sale' due to an eminent eco-system collapse. The hostile planet 'Rattatuk' buys the deed and then well . . . here are the lyrics. (The ending should be fun for you Douglas Adams fans.) The audience, especially the women, sounded great on the 'Ah-Ah-Ahhhhh Ahhhh!!

Eric's presentation was quite thought-provoking and had a running joke in it. Throughout history the main problem for scientists not being able to continue their projects is....ta daaa....FUNDING! So maybe the real reason we've can't call the aliens is we can't afford to pay the phone bill!
]]> Sun, 12 Jun 2011 02:55:52 GMT D1BFE1BACB3EFA004F7B9B2B0E447BDF Hobnobbing with Astronauts http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=1010256 Saturday I opened for a talk given by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweikart at the Petaluma Museum! I sang 'Rocket Man' for about 200 folks in Petaluma including the mayor....a real nice guy....had them all singing Elton John's classic as Rusty beamed me a smile, arms folded, leaning casually against a door jam, 5 feet from me. I did a parody of one line which got a laugh: "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise the kids...Especially if you're the 'Mars Spirit Rover'.!" Poor 'Spirit' pronounced dead just this week of Martian hypothermia. Rusty Schweikart's passion is saving the Earth from NEO's...near earth objects...asteroids, comets, planet crashers...I went up to him afterwards, and told him I too was quite concerned about this, and was willing to write their organization an 'anthem' to forward their cause. He was delighted and a bit taken back by the suggestion, but being the song-writing gerbil I am, it's already on the way inspired by his 'astro-physical activism'. Here's the opening line: "Sticks and stones will break your bones But an asteroid will break your whole species..." So 'Go Rusty Go!" I say. We have evolved to be the 'T-Cells' of the planet. What a responsibility! For more information on his efforts in this direction: <a target="_new" href="http://www.b612foundation.org">http://www.b612foundation.org Sunday's 'MetaQuizzical Cafe' with SETI@home's chief scientist, Dan Werthimer, was the perfect blend of fun and learning. His speech and power point had great moments of insights and humor. He showed several ruined radio telescope pictures saying "see this proves the aliens don't want us to listen to them!" A great, warm-hearted guy who is relentlessly upbeat about the prospects of alien contact even though it hasn't happened yet. He also thinks we should only be listening and agrees with Steven Hawking that we shouldn't be sending out a beacon or trying to contact 'them' since we're so new and technologically weak and the aliens are likely to be about a billion years ahead of us so we should err on the side of caution and not make the phone call. Problem is... we've already got 'Voyager 1 out there beaming Mozart and Chuck Berry for the whole galaxy to listen to. Voyager 1 is approx. 12 light hours from the sun and is about to leave the solar system altogether. It's interesting that at the height of the 'Cold War' 1977, an age of suspicion if ever there was one, that we would launch such a trusting call to the Milky Way..'Hey, we're over here!" I guess we trust aliens more than we do each other.  More on SETI@home's work at <a target="_new" href="http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/">http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/ We had another full house and the audience was friendly and engaging. They sang my new theme song 'The MetaQuizzical Cafe' which is a 'Stray Cats' meets the 'Twilight Zone' satire lots of finger-snapping fun. I also performed 'Sugar in Space' <a target="_new" href="./files/12-Sugar-in-Space.mp3">(listen here) for the first time which resonates in my mind as another special moment along this fascinating music-science-philosophy road.
Rusty Schweikart's passion is saving the Earth from NEO's...near earth objects...asteroids, comets, planet crashers...I went up to him afterwards, and told him I too was quite concerned about this, and was willing to write their organization an 'anthem' to forward their cause. He was delighted and a bit taken back by the suggestion, but being the song-writing gerbil I am, it's already on the way inspired by his 'astro-physical activism'. Here's the opening line:

"Sticks and stones will break your bones
But an asteroid will break your whole species..."

So 'Go Rusty Go!" I say. We have evolved to be the 'T-Cells' of the planet. What a responsibility! For more information on his efforts in this direction: http://www.b612foundation.org

Sunday's 'MetaQuizzical Cafe' with SETI@home's chief scientist, Dan Werthimer, was the perfect blend of fun and learning. His speech and power point had great moments of insights and humor. He showed several ruined radio telescope pictures saying "see this proves the aliens don't want us to listen to them!" A great, warm-hearted guy who is relentlessly upbeat about the prospects of alien contact even though it hasn't happened yet.

He also thinks we should only be listening and agrees with Steven Hawking that we shouldn't be sending out a beacon or trying to contact 'them' since we're so new and technologically weak and the aliens are likely to be about a billion years ahead of us so we should err on the side of caution and not make the phone call.

Problem is... we've already got 'Voyager 1 out there beaming Mozart and Chuck Berry for the whole galaxy to listen to. Voyager 1 is approx. 12 light hours from the sun and is about to leave the solar system altogether. It's interesting that at the height of the 'Cold War' 1977, an age of suspicion if ever there was one, that we would launch such a trusting call to the Milky Way..'Hey, we're over here!" I guess we trust aliens more than we do each other. More on SETI@home's work at http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

We had another full house and the audience was friendly and engaging. They sang my new theme song 'The MetaQuizzical Cafe' which is a 'Stray Cats' meets the 'Twilight Zone' satire lots of finger-snapping fun. I also performed 'Sugar in Space' (listen here) for the first time which resonates in my mind as another special moment along this fascinating music-science-philosophy road.]]> Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:46:35 GMT CBF9C18724E6B84019B26A7D99F263A6 Silver Linings in Rain Clouds http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=993697  The musical week started on a rainy Tuesday noontime show in Concord with the excellent American roots band Loretta Lynch. The rain was blowing in the stage and things got too wet to run the show safely. Nearly every musician I know, including myself have received nasty shocks on stage in such conditions . I remember getting zapped performing at the Boulder Folk Festival. I heard an electrical 'crack' and felt a jolt of electricity smack me in the upper lip from the microphone in the middle of a harmony. Not fun...got woozy for a second, and it smarted for an hour after that. Anyways, Loretta Lynch played one song with an encore as we stood off stage keeping our fingers crossed during the two songs. Everyone was alright and the two-song set was bright and kinda funny in it's brevity. Thursday we did a great funky soul show with the 9 piece 'Soul Power', good weather, 3,000 people, lots of dancing. I got up on stage and danced with Vince Scalise the market manager. I wrote a satirical song for Sunday's third 'MetaQuizzical Cafe' and practiced the hell out of it, being a new song and all. A swing tune in A minor (kinda Stray Cats meets the Twilight Zone!) Here's the words: I'll be it recording later this year. On Sunday we had our third 'MetaQuizzical Cafe at the Beyond exhibit. Our scheduled speaker Dr. Kevin McLin was delayed an hour getting to the museum so I was forced to carry the segment. I only had three songs practiced so it was nerve-racking for me at first. It was the universe's way of throwing me in the pool. I floundered a bit at first, but through years of training I found my voice and timing. By the end of the hour I was actually having fun! The full house of folks were great and really supported my songs and humor. Dr. Mclin arrived on my last song. While he set up his power point presentation, we took a break and watched the amazing 'Shot of Life' music videos about Dark Matter made for us in Paris, and the fascinating' Macro 2 Micro' video that Angie Schultz made for us. It's so new and different for me to see music videos about my songs and watching people view them is a real treat! Dr. McLin's Dark Matter presentation was quite studied and put many things into perspective for me regarding these huge new discoveries about space and reality. The Q and A period lasted almost an hour and a half and went into some speculative areas that was fascinating. It seems Dark Energy is the real boogie-man with Astro-Physicists...74% of reality...the dominant 'cosmic constant' creating endless space and blowing things apart that don't have enough gravity to hold together. The Milky Way, Andromeda, and the Virgo Cluster all holding things together in this part of the universe with gravity. So the way the presentation affected me is: if we don' gather enough personal gravity the universal constant will blow us away...no meaning, no inspiration, a life in the wind soon to blow out, I see it everywhere with folks. We have to hang together people. We're so small and vulnerable. We need this planet to stay life-sustaining and we need to get along or the 'cosmic constant' will blow us away. Dark Energy is the roaring current, the 'Great Dark River' and us minnows gotta learn how to swim!
Thursday we did a great funky soul show with the 9 piece 'Soul Power', good weather, 3,000 people, lots of dancing. I got up on stage and danced with Vince Scalise the market manager.

I wrote a satirical song for Sunday's third 'MetaQuizzical Cafe' and practiced the hell out of it, being a new song and all. A swing tune in A minor (kinda Stray Cats meets the Twilight Zone!) Here's the words: I'll be it recording later this year.

On Sunday we had our third 'MetaQuizzical Cafe at the Beyond exhibit. Our scheduled speaker Dr. Kevin McLin was delayed an hour getting to the museum so I was forced to carry the segment. I only had three songs practiced so it was nerve-racking for me at first. It was the universe's way of throwing me in the pool. I floundered a bit at first, but through years of training I found my voice and timing. By the end of the hour I was actually having fun! The full house of folks were great and really supported my songs and humor.

Dr. Mclin arrived on my last song. While he set up his power point presentation, we took a break and watched the amazing 'Shot of Life' music videos about Dark Matter made for us in Paris, and the fascinating' Macro 2 Micro' video that Angie Schultz made for us. It's so new and different for me to see music videos about my songs and watching people view them is a real treat!

Dr. McLin's Dark Matter presentation was quite studied and put many things into perspective for me regarding these huge new discoveries about space and reality. The Q and A period lasted almost an hour and a half and went into some speculative areas that was fascinating. It seems Dark Energy is the real boogie-man with Astro-Physicists...74% of reality...the dominant 'cosmic constant' creating endless space and blowing things apart that don't have enough gravity to hold together. The Milky Way, Andromeda, and the Virgo Cluster all holding things together in this part of the universe with gravity.

So the way the presentation affected me is: if we don' gather enough personal gravity the universal constant will blow us away...no meaning, no inspiration, a life in the wind soon to blow out, I see it everywhere with folks. We have to hang together people. We're so small and vulnerable. We need this planet to stay life-sustaining and we need to get along or the 'cosmic constant' will blow us away. Dark Energy is the roaring current, the 'Great Dark River' and us minnows gotta learn how to swim!]]> Thu, 26 May 2011 00:15:20 GMT DF25BD38AAEFA93494C6ECD89A718617 Report from May 15 MetaQuizzical Cafe http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=980662  On Wednesday evening I went on radio KGGV ‘The Bridge’ 95.1 ,here in Guerneville, speaking and playing on DJ Milo’s politics program ‘Touch’. We had another fine ramble on what it means to be ‘Metaquizzical’. I said to ‘ask many deep questions and see what comes up’, and to use new metaphors reflecting new discoveries about reality. From there we talked about the ‘Goldilocks Zone’, a common astronomical term to describe the best zone, orbit-wise, for a planet to evolve life. We then went on what that means from the temperature gradients on the planet Mercury to the streets of Richmond. An out-of-the-box conversation! Sunday we had our second ‘Metaquizzical Café slot at the Petaluma Museum’s ‘Beyond’ exhibit. There were several astronomers in the audience so I knew I had to get the science right on my ‘Sidewalk Astronomer’ song. I sang it rather nervously because I changed the lyrics to reflect what they had previously told me about looking at the moon with a telescope. It was a prodigious, last-minute, lyric change in content, rhyme and meter reflecting the best phase of the moon for viewing, how it rises on Berkeley, and how high the mountains on the moon can get. All this and not letting go of the feeling, rhythm and romance of the song! Singing science is a very tricky business! I got through it. <a href="./files/06-The-Sidewalk-Astronomer.mp3" target="_new">(Listen to the Sidewalk Astronomer) Astronomer Allan Stearn then gave a friendly, engaging, personal retrospective of legendary astronomer John Lowry Dobson who started the international sidewalk astronomy movement, and invented the ‘Dobsonian’ telescope which is the standard for amateur astronomers around the world. Allan was peppered by the audience about a number of things including John Dobson’s cosmology. Dobson doesn’t believe in the ‘Big Bang’ theory. He asserts our universe is more an endless ‘Big Composter’ or ‘Big Womb’, and that, instead of dramatic beginnings and endings, we just infinitely ‘mix’. I finished the fascinating slot with a lovely audience sing along of John Lennon’s ‘Across the Universe’. Jai Guru Deva!
Sunday we had our second ‘Metaquizzical Café slot at the Petaluma Museum’s ‘Beyond’ exhibit. There were several astronomers in the audience so I knew I had to get the science right on my ‘Sidewalk Astronomer’ song. I sang it rather nervously because I changed the lyrics to reflect what they had previously told me about looking at the moon with a telescope. It was a prodigious, last-minute, lyric change in content, rhyme and meter reflecting the best phase of the moon for viewing, how it rises on Berkeley, and how high the mountains on the moon can get. All this and not letting go of the feeling, rhythm and romance of the song! Singing science is a very tricky business! I got through it. (Listen to the Sidewalk Astronomer)

Astronomer Allan Stearn then gave a friendly, engaging, personal retrospective of legendary astronomer John Lowry Dobson who started the international sidewalk astronomy movement, and invented the ‘Dobsonian’ telescope which is the standard for amateur astronomers around the world. Allan was peppered by the audience about a number of things including John Dobson’s cosmology. Dobson doesn’t believe in the ‘Big Bang’ theory. He asserts our universe is more an endless ‘Big Composter’ or ‘Big Womb’, and that, instead of dramatic beginnings and endings, we just infinitely ‘mix’.

I finished the fascinating slot with a lovely audience sing along of John Lennon’s ‘Across the Universe’. Jai Guru Deva!]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 07:00:00 GMT 10A23CD1EB790CD95E4D9B59DB25CD0A The MetaQuizzical Cafe is launched! http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=960130  Our first 'MetaQuizzical Cafe' went splendidly at the Beyond Exhibit yesterday...the 'Saturn Room' was full! Giovanni Mandala played some beautiful finger-style acoustic guitar as folks streamed in. He did a great job on an instrumental version of the Police classic, 'Walking On the Moon". To begin the hour we sang our hearts out on my new song, 'Macro 2 Micro'. I was amazed people had no shyness and jumped right and sang the 'nerdy' stuff! Next I delivered some science news about the long-awaited discovery of the 'Higgs-Boson Particle' at the Hedron Collider in Cern, Switzerland last week. Referred to as the 'God Particle' by the media and the 'Champagne Bottle Boson' by a jury of physicists, this discovery aims us closer to that momentous day when we discover the source of gravity! . Talk about disruptive. Imagine making phone calls to your other selves in other universes! Spacebook will replace Facebook! Next I told the story of the launching of the two Mars Rovers 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity'. I fumbled with my notes on a clipboard rather awkwardly but I got through it well enough...next time I'll use a music stand...it was fun to see people's reactions to the backstage stories of the scientists and engineers as they went through their feelings about building and releasing their kids/robots to another world. The most amazing thing I learned while researching these stories is the rovers only get about one command a day from JPL. The rest of the time they're on their own making their own decisions on the Martian ground. We finished this segment by singing my tune 'The Loneliest Thing in the World' as an homage to the mired 'Spirit' rover. It was a very sweet moment! Then Marilyn Schlitz the president of IONS institute gave a masterful and inspired speech about Noetic Science and the frontiers of studies on consciousness and what it means. She also brought us up to date on their founder Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell who continues to work and travel at 80 years old. His trip to the moon changed his whole way of looking at life. We are so pleased to have IONS there with their great work and urgent messages to the world. The audience had some lively questions...a very attentive and playful room of people! Lastly, I led the crowd in a rousing sing along of Elton John's 'Rocket Man'. Our voices bounced warmly off the glorious pictures of Saturn and it's myriad of moons which frame the 'MetaQuizzical Cafe' so perfectly as we trailed off in the bittersweet coda..."...and I think it's gonna be a long, long time...". After that we went over to the Petaluma History Museum's excellent big screen TV and watched the music videos we have looped and running there for the length of the Exhibit. We watched Angie Schultz's video of 'Macro 2 Micro' using beautiful public domain images and donated clips about the patterns of nature, and the two gorgeous 'Shot of Life' videos made in Paris, France using live actors and locations to enact visual parables of my songs '4%' and 'Said the Dark to the Light'. Having music videos of my songs is a new experience for me and at first I was nervous and looking for a place to hide, but everyone was full of praise for how they turned out and they kept playing the videos over and over again. We finally stumbled out of the museum at around 4pm full of love and appreciation for what just happened. See you all next Sunday! 1 to 2pm to sing and talk about 'Sidewalk Astronomy' with Al Stearn of the Sonoma County Astronomical Society. I think there'll be a telescope (or two) set up to view the god 'Helios' out in the parking lot!
To begin the hour we sang our hearts out on my new song, 'Macro 2 Micro'. I was amazed people had no shyness and jumped right and sang the 'nerdy' stuff! Next I delivered some science news about the long-awaited discovery of the 'Higgs-Boson Particle' at the Hedron Collider in Cern, Switzerland last week. Referred to as the 'God Particle' by the media and the 'Champagne Bottle Boson' by a jury of physicists, this discovery aims us closer to that momentous day when we discover the source of gravity! . Talk about disruptive. Imagine making phone calls to your other selves in other universes! Spacebook will replace Facebook!

Next I told the story of the launching of the two Mars Rovers 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity'. I fumbled with my notes on a clipboard rather awkwardly but I got through it well enough...next time I'll use a music stand...it was fun to see people's reactions to the backstage stories of the scientists and engineers as they went through their feelings about building and releasing their kids/robots to another world. The most amazing thing I learned while researching these stories is the rovers only get about one command a day from JPL. The rest of the time they're on their own making their own decisions on the Martian ground. We finished this segment by singing my tune 'The Loneliest Thing in the World' as an homage to the mired 'Spirit' rover. It was a very sweet moment!

Then Marilyn Schlitz the president of IONS institute gave a masterful and inspired speech about Noetic Science and the frontiers of studies on consciousness and what it means. She also brought us up to date on their founder Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell who continues to work and travel at 80 years old. His trip to the moon changed his whole way of looking at life. We are so pleased to have IONS there with their great work and urgent messages to the world. The audience had some lively questions...a very attentive and playful room of people!

Lastly, I led the crowd in a rousing sing along of Elton John's 'Rocket Man'. Our voices bounced warmly off the glorious pictures of Saturn and it's myriad of moons which frame the 'MetaQuizzical Cafe' so perfectly as we trailed off in the bittersweet coda..."...and I think it's gonna be a long, long time...".

After that we went over to the Petaluma History Museum's excellent big screen TV and watched the music videos we have looped and running there for the length of the Exhibit. We watched Angie Schultz's video of 'Macro 2 Micro' using beautiful public domain images and donated clips about the patterns of nature, and the two gorgeous 'Shot of Life' videos made in Paris, France using live actors and locations to enact visual parables of my songs '4%' and 'Said the Dark to the Light'. Having music videos of my songs is a new experience for me and at first I was nervous and looking for a place to hide, but everyone was full of praise for how they turned out and they kept playing the videos over and over again.

We finally stumbled out of the museum at around 4pm full of love and appreciation for what just happened. See you all next Sunday! 1 to 2pm to sing and talk about 'Sidewalk Astronomy' with Al Stearn of the Sonoma County Astronomical Society. I think there'll be a telescope (or two) set up to view the god 'Helios' out in the parking lot!]]> Tue, 10 May 2011 04:25:00 GMT 5933C32AD441BB93AE5C2A58ADFFC66F Just four percent of reality ... http://jimoceanmusic.com/jimsblog.cfm?feature=1174473&postid=177407 Snake Skin Everything we grow inside Becomes a husk we must break free of There is no room Within a cocoon For a constantly emerging life Eyes cloud over Life looks dark But there's a spot Between a rock and a hard place Where we can peel our old selves away So, the thing is apparently we only percieve 4% of reality. This means all the planets and stars and all our friends and personal effects, your new Prius, are just 4% of reality. I don't know how physicists and astronomers got this percentage but the overall effect is ... we don't know s--t! Even compost is a total mystery. Here's how it breaks down: Dark energy is 71% ... Dark matter is 25%, and we percieve 4% of what's left. Humility anyone? Maybe this will help:  <a target="_top" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U Richard Dawkins in his book the 'God Delusion' says ... "we are all looking at reality through a burkha." That's right, imagine a burkha hanging over all your projects, insights, moods, partners, stuff, and just a little slot of light coming in. Considering how little we actually know, isn't it amazing how fast we all run around in our lives. We're like a woman on a busy street in Afghanistan racing around in her burkha against rush hour traffic. I can only imagine the shock and amazement when the ancient Greeks figured out that the sky was not held up by the distant mountain tops. Apparently, one of the appeals of converting to Christianity was the missionaries told animistic cultures that they could shed their old fears and superstitions. One tribe in remote Indonesia stopped a centuries long fear of bird omens that made them afraid to go out into the forest. So, I'm working on a whole collection of songs about these new scientific discoveries, and how they effect our emotional lives. Check out the song Dark Matter on my new CD to see what I'm mean (<a href="./poptunesformystics.cfm">click here). Here's the lyrics of a new song I just finished and will be recording soon. Four Percent © Jim Ocean Four percent That’s all we know Four percent is All we see Just four per cent Is all that shows Four percent of reality Every person Every drop of water Every apple Every apple tree All your worries Every time you hurry All the fury Inside you and me is just… Four percent That’s all we know Four percent is All we see Just four percent Is all that shows Four per cent of reality Every mountain Every coin in every fountain Not to mention all we see Every mission Every politician Swallowed whole by a big black sea Every poem Anything that you could show ‘em All your dreams and reveries All our fables All our lies and labels Ayatollahs, Rabbis, Monks and thieves are just… Four percent That’s all we know Four percent is All we see Just four percent Is all that shows Four percent of reality. Snake Skin

Everything we grow inside
Becomes a husk we must break free of
There is no room
Within a cocoon
For a constantly emerging life
Eyes cloud over
Life looks dark
But there's a spot
Between a rock and a hard place
Where we can peel our old selves away

So, the thing is apparently we only percieve 4% of reality. This means all the planets and stars and all our friends and personal effects, your new Prius, are just 4% of reality. I don't know how physicists and astronomers got this percentage but the overall effect is ... we don't know s--t! Even compost is a total mystery.

Here's how it breaks down: Dark energy is 71% ... Dark matter is 25%, and we percieve 4% of what's left. Humility anyone? Maybe this will help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U

Richard Dawkins in his book the 'God Delusion' says ... "we are all looking at reality through a burkha." That's right, imagine a burkha hanging over all your projects, insights, moods, partners, stuff, and just a little slot of light coming in. Considering how little we actually know, isn't it amazing how fast we all run around in our lives. We're like a woman on a busy street in Afghanistan racing around in her burkha against rush hour traffic.

I can only imagine the shock and amazement when the ancient Greeks figured out that the sky was not held up by the distant mountain tops. Apparently, one of the appeals of converting to Christianity was the missionaries told animistic cultures that they could shed their old fears and superstitions. One tribe in remote Indonesia stopped a centuries long fear of bird omens that made them afraid to go out into the forest.

So, I'm working on a whole collection of songs about these new scientific discoveries, and how they effect our emotional lives. Check out the song Dark Matter on my new CD to see what I'm mean (click here).

Here's the lyrics of a new song I just finished and will be recording soon.

Four Percent
© Jim Ocean

Four percent
That’s all we know
Four percent is
All we see
Just four per cent
Is all that shows
Four percent of reality

Every person
Every drop of water
Every apple
Every apple tree
All your worries
Every time you hurry
All the fury
Inside you and me is just…

Four percent
That’s all we know
Four percent is
All we see
Just four percent
Is all that shows
Four per cent of reality

Every mountain
Every coin in every fountain
Not to mention all we see
Every mission
Every politician
Swallowed whole by a big black sea

Every poem
Anything that you could show ‘em
All your dreams and reveries
All our fables
All our lies and labels
Ayatollahs, Rabbis, Monks and thieves are just…

Four percent
That’s all we know
Four percent is
All we see
Just four percent
Is all that shows
Four percent of reality.

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