Are you playa-bound? Tell me where you're going to live...

Let's find each other. Stop by the Bureau of Hospitality (Black Rock Bureau of Hospitality, that is).... 7 and Allante.

BRBH is all about providing a positive experience of Burning Man for whoever needs one. Even if you've been to lots of burns, sometimes that's you. And even if you're having a rockin' time, stop by and spread the love!

Owl

Visit me on the playa!

Hi folks,

Ready to get dusty and all magical-like?

Out on the playa, when I'm not roaming about, or performing at Center Camp (Sunday morning at 10:15 or so)... you'll find me at the Black Rock Bureau of Hospitality!

BRBH exists to provide a positive experience of Burning Man, to all who want one. Trust us, we can make it happen! Coffee, conversation, cookies, massage, advice, a vision quest... even all of the above are available to anyone seeking our unique brand of hospitality!

We are somewhere in the corner area of 7 and Allanté. Come and visit!

Al aka Owl aka Medicine Man aka Mousetrap...

massage a trois, tonight at 7 p.m.

Going to be a wonderful time... See www.massageatrois.us for details, FAQ and RSVP info!

Al

Come join me TONIGHT at Ashiyu Foot Spa

Hi friends,

Just a reminder... and a gentle prodding if you're bored and at home tonight... I invite you to come and listen to me play my heartfelt, fun and stirring music while soaking your feet in "God's Own" foot spa, in Sellwood, for only $5.

I'm there from 7-9, and then holding court at a restaurant up the street afterward if anyone wants to hang out.

There may be a few musical surprises as well!

Ashiyu
8015 SE 13th St
Portland, OR 97202
503-232-0920

Announcing Healer's Lounge

I've teamed up with fellow coach and marketer Robert Allen to create a business marketing and business support network just for those in the business of healing. We've been readying for some time and are pleased to announce the launch of:

www.healerslounge.com

Massage practitioners, therapists, alternative health practitioners, energy workers, coaches, and teachers all share the common vocation of healing, and that vocation requires specialized professional support

Please check out Healer's Lounge and find free downloads, marketing education, articles to support your healing business, healing business support tools, coaching opportunities, and workshops! Check out the site and sign up for our free newsletter, full of information just for you.

By signing up for our newsletter you will be automatically entered in a monthly drawing for a free site makeover and marketing evaluation by Robert Allen and Al Polito.



N E W T E L E C L A S S B E G I N N I N G J U L Y 1 9

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"Robert and Al lead great tele-seminars! I was able to make a marketing plan just from one session, that I am now implementing. They are dedicated to helping people, and I highly recommend them."
- Beki Rosenthal, Coach, Author, Seminars, www.bekirosenthal.com
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DEVELOPING YOUR HEALING BUSINESS FROM THE GROUND UP
**with a focus in web 2.0 for healers**

A dynamic group coaching teleclass for those in the business of healing.

Facilitated by Robert Allen (www.coachingwithrobertallen) and Al Polito (www.lifeluster.com), founders of Healer's Lounge (www.healerslounge.com)

****with special guest LaSara Firefox (www.lasarafirefox.com), speaking on social media marketing.

4 successive Saturday afternoons at 1pm
July 19th, 26th, August 2nd and 9th

In addition to e-books, pdf's, and other marketing tools, each student will have a post class dual coaching session with the instructors. (a $500 value)

Teleclass fee: $399 (early sign up prior to July 5: $299)

This class will allow time for discussion of your specific healing business, website, current advertising, networking. The outcome will be personal control over your sustainable business and marketing plan. You can do it!

CLASS 1: Beginnings, with sustainability in mind from the start -- state, local, and federal requirements, tax planning, developing your healing business plan, financial plan, and long term marketing plan.

CLASS II: Web 2.0 and Marketing -- websites, blogs, newsletters, social media marketing, online business networks, receiving online payments, affiliations. --with special guest LaSara Firefox.

CLASS III: Review and conclusion of Web 2.0. Creating Your Healing Brand -- and placing it firmly in the world. Social/professional networking. Special offers.

CLASS IV: Ideas into Action -- moving forward. Implementing your business and marketing plan, financial planning, developing professional support networks for long term abundance.

Sign up today at www.healerslounge.com

Dear Dad...

Hi Dad,

Tried to call you this afternoon but the phone just rang and rang.

Anyway, I wanted to take a few moments to honor you today for everything you've been and done for me and my brothers and sisters.

Today, in my daily prayer, I took that black and white photo of our family, taken when I was probably just a few months old, where we're all seated on a lawn. I was considering you in that picture, just a few years younger than I am today, and noting all you'd accomplished by age 42 (I'm 44 now). Nine children, a successful marriage, and a terrific medical practice that made a difference for countless people -- beginning a legacy that will last far beyond your lifetime.

Of course, it wasn't lost on me that I'm not a dad, and am not sure if I will ever have that distinction per se. But I took time to look at the fatherhood of all in our family -- kids and inlaws, Chris, Vinny, Boon, and all the way up through Paul to you... and realized that even though I don't have children of my own, the energy of fatherhood runs through me as well in the way I care for others and the way they look to me for guidance and advice.

There are things one does in life without thinking, without realizing, the effects that manifest years down the road. For instance I'll encounter people from time to time whom I've not seen in years who will quote me some line I gave them and tell them the impact it had on their lives since that day. Of course, I had long since forgotten the conversation and probably even its context, but my words lived on, they had a life of their own.

I submit that on this Father's Day, that you pause for a moment to consider all those things you've done and said over the course of your life that have made such a profound difference for people. I imagine that if you, at 86 now, were to magically play a movie replaying those things, with the people you impacted say just a few words of acknowledgment for your wisdom and kindness, you would be watching a very, very long film and it would make you very happy, never bored. You would surely cry tears of joy.

So on this day, dad, I love you, honor you and pray for you.

Your youngest son,

Albert

It was one year ago today...

...that arrived in Portland and I officially called this city my home.

What a great, change-filled year it has been for me.

In the past year, I:

Moved in with my old friend Scottica from LA
Made more friends than I can actually count
Played some pretty good gigs
Wrote some pretty good songs
Created the Jumpstart Your Art workshop
Began Lifeluster Spiritual Services
Began TheWriteThing.biz and actually got some work
Got into creating bonsai again
Joined HIPPNet
Fell in love
Had my heart broken
Experienced despair and ecstasy, and sundry emotions in-between
Met my housemate and dear friend Delinda
Moved into Delinda's place
Got published in a local magazine
Got interviewed on internet radio (that was yesterday, btw)
Had a fantasy fulfilled
Actually enjoyed my first Portland winter
Began the Contemplative Listening program at Namaste Center
Began offering spiritual direction
Got healed from a spiritual injury sustained in Peru
Dreamed BIG
Stood by nervously as my father and niece fell ill (they're both doing really well now, thank you!)
Galloped headlong into my midlife transition, and have been filled with questions
Got an amazing spiritual director
Began Healer's Lounge with my friend Robert Allen
Gave three presentations on marketing
Ate and drank like a king
Got to make a difference for a few folks
... and I feel like I'm only scratching the surface.

This time next year, I anticipate:
Having found a good job and getting my finances going really well
Getting a little more clarity on some of these questions
Getting some good male buddies
Being surprised, pleasantly
Learning and growing in ways I never imagined...

Thanks for being part of my life here, people! Couldn't have done it without you! Love you,

Al

UPDATE: Healer's Lounge Teleclass

The code number for today's Healer's Lounge Teleclass has been changed to 20631. The phone number is still 724-444-7444.

We look forward to being with you on today's call!

Healer's Lounge link on Talkshoe: www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/...lkCast.jsp

And they *didn't* see this coming?

GM to close four plants, may unload Hummer line

By Soyoung Kim 14 minutes ago

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - General Motors Corp on Tuesday said it was closing four truck plants and could sell its Hummer brand to cut slow-selling trucks and SUVs from its lineup in response to higher gasoline prices the automaker now sees as a permanent threat to its business.

Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, speaking after a revised restructuring plan was approved by the automaker's board, said GM would close the four North American truck plants and add shifts at two U.S. plants making more popular car models.

In addition, Wagoner said GM was reviewing the Hummer brand and could sell the military-derived SUV line, which has become synonymous with gas-guzzling excess.

"U.S. economic and market conditions have become significantly more difficult," Wagoner said, adding higher gasoline prices have caused consumers to swap out of higher-margin trucks and SUVs faster than GM had expected.

In a related shift, Wagoner said GM's board approved funding for a next-generation compact to replace the Cobalt and a new subcompact to replace the Aveo. Both Chevrolet-branded small cars, which have been under development at GM's Korean unit, are set to go on sale in 2010.

GM's board also allocated production funding to the Chevy Volt, a heavily touted, all-electric vehicle that GM expects to have in showrooms by 2010 and to assemble in Detroit.

GM said the latest steps would cut $1 billion from its structural costs by 2010, but analysts questioned whether the steps would improve the automaker's turnaround prospects in the face of a U.S. market now seen slumping well into 2009.

GM shares, which have lost almost 60 percent since peaking in October last year, were up 3.7 percent at $18.10 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Wagoner said GM, which has lost a combined $51 billion over the past three years, was not ready to detail a timeline for returning to profitability.

Some analysts questioned whether the embattled automaker had moved too slowly, particularly with regard to Hummer.

"Unfortunately, it's just a sign that once again they're behind the curve," said Peter Jankovskis, a chief investment officer with OakBrook Investments, which owns GM shares in some of its portfolios.

"If they were looking to sell the Hummer brand, the more sensible thing would have been to do it three years ago. They're not going to get anything for it. Just in terms of timing, it's a very poor example," he said.

Pete Hastings, a corporate bond analyst at Morgan Keegan, agreed that GM had missed a chance to shop Hummer with potential buyers earlier.

"I wish they had done it awhile ago when it was really hot," he said. "I don't know what price they will get for it as now everyone is conscious of the permanent shift away from less fuel-efficient vehicles."

GM said it would stop making light trucks at plants in Oshawa, Ontario; Silao, Mexico, and two U.S. plants covered by its contract with the United Auto Workers: Moraine, Ohio, and Janesville, Wisconsin. The Mexican plant will close this year with the other three facilities shutting down in 2009 and 2010.

Canadian Auto Workers President Buzz Hargrove, who last month negotiated a three-year cost-saving contract with GM, called the automaker's decision to close its Oshawa plant making the Silverado pickup truck a "betrayal." He said the union would press for a reversal of the planned move.

"We are not going to let GM walk away from the bargaining table," Hargrove told reporters in Toronto. "I want to state as clearly as I can: We are not going to allow this to happen."

'TOTAL CAPITULATION'

Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer with Solaris Asset Management in New York, said GM would eventually see cost savings from its decision to close the truck plants.

"This is total capitulation by GM management to the price of oil," said Ghriskey, who does not currently own GM shares but has in the past and follows the stock closely. "GM believes that the high price of oil is permanent and therefore they are making dramatic cuts in their low-mileage vehicles."

GM said it took the latest steps in a 3-year-old program of cost-cutting in response to a U.S. sales decline and a shift out of higher-margin trucks and SUVs that have both shot past expectations.

Major automakers, including GM, are expected to post steep declines in U.S. sales for May later on Tuesday, as the spike in gas prices batters an industry that has been reeling this year from weak consumer confidence and tighter credit.

GM's rival Ford Motor Co warned last month it no longer expected to turn a profit in 2009 because of the impact of runaway gas prices.

President and Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said GM was no longer confident the U.S. auto market would recover in the second half of this year as it had earlier predicted.

But Henderson, who was speaking to reporters before GM's annual meeting with shareholders, said GM has adequate cash to fund operations in 2008 and could raise more liquidity if the downturn in the auto market persists.

GM ended the first quarter with $31 billion in cash, available liquidity and undrawn credit. Analysts handicapping GM's turnaround efforts have increasingly focused on the cash drain from its operations and support for troubled former subsidiaries, GMAC and bankrupt parts supplier Delphi Corp.

In a sign of the deepening trouble for GMAC's mortgage unit, ResCap, GMAC and Cerberus Capital Management on Tuesday said they had agreed to inject more than $1.4 billion to help the struggling mortgage lender avoid running short of cash.

Cerberus bought 51 percent of Detroit-based GMAC from GM, which retains the rest of the equity in the financing company.

(Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Chicago and Poornima Gupta in Detroit; Writing by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Healer's Lounge Teleclass (FREE!) Wedn. 6/4 NEW CALL ID!

The "business" of healing is a lot like the "business" of art or music. We do what we love, but we tend to be distracted if not outright turned off by having to market ourselves. Yet, to attract clientèle, we need to somehow find a way of marketing that is within our own integrity and truly effective. And on top of that, we need to make our vocation work on other levels that integrate into who we are and how we live.

Confronted by these issues? You're not alone! Join me and my friend Robert Allen Wednesday at 1 p.m. PST for a free teleconference in which we discuss these issues and respond to your questions. We look forward to hearing from you!

The details...

Wednesday, June 4, 1-1:45 p.m. PST
HEALER'S LOUNGE - A Free Teleseminar with Robert Allen and Al Polito
on Talkshoe Radio

This free telesummit is for bodyworkers, energyworkers, coaches, therapists, educators, yoga teachers--anyone in the healing business. We'll cover what it means to be a "healer," its rewards and recoveries, the occasional periods of burnout, and developing a steady client base while we further increase our art.

Simply call the following conference radio number on June 4th at 1 p.m., and become part of the call!

I recommend creating a Talkshoe account (free) if you have time, but it's not necessary.

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444

Call ID: 20631

Here's a link to the teleconference page: www.talkshoe.com/tc/20631