My Blog

A whisper of hope

unga-bunga — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:27:48 GMT

Listless eyes, a rolling glance they take. First a beat then another pounding in his throat Though they move not a sound do his lips make A bird in the rigging, the rigging of a boat! Was it a dream or was he gone away What fate awaits this wondrous ride He tried to turn himself to face her way So near the end was he, she held his side They drifted softy into the sea The Sailor and Siren sang whisperly She sang of his love ever so free He sang of their new life under the sea ---- unga Forever with Love - For helping me to find a voice when I had none

Washed Ashore

unga-bunga — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:49:43 GMT

The songs that drove him to this end are not gone, But have quietly become the gentle rush of the tide against his lifeless body. The soft and lulling voice that drew him out to sea, now replaced by the sounds - forever entrapped in the empty shell beside his. What happened to my ship and compass, my sextant and sail? Where did the desire and need to chance pass my lips against hers take me? Is this that end, cast out of her like drift wood to dry bone white in the sun? Am I now gone, to be consumed by the earthly hungry sea? Will I be entombed in the bellies of a thousand beasts? Will my heart make for fishes feasts? Will your song again revive me true? Will our end give way to timeless depths of oceans blue? Is this a dream? Your dream? My dream? A dream?

zero population growth - logan’s run vs Survivor

unga-bunga — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:15:53 GMT

City of Mysteria Population Cap - thoughts on strategy Zero population growth and a practical but unpopular method of implementing a 'Logan's Run' paradigm vs Crashed mother ship senario. Maintaining a finite population requires a stacking strategy to deal with the order inwich population enters the society and exits the society. If the population control were running as 'first in - first out' and everyone was in and out at the same time the ability to maintain an infrastructure would turn upside down everytime the population was purged. If the population were running a first in last out then the elders of the community would be the ones there throughout the life or the society., However that also implies that a last in first out was the other side and someone who just got in may be the first to be exiled next time around, while the ones to survive a few years would become more secure and the longer they survive the citizenship selection the more secure in their position they become. Many societies work like this and it is a common model of human society. A blend of the two where a percentage of members of the population come from the 'all at once' and an 'elder or previous group' is also a way to maintain some continuity of character in the society with and influx of fresh ideas and contribution. The elders at some time would be forced to 'die' and leave their roles and move on to other hunting grounds or the society would become stale and have settled at the max population for a long time. (some fraternal or closed member societies are like this) --- However, all of the members of the society have an equal value - only in the 'all in - all out' process all are weighted equally and that is the one that creates the most dramatic (radical) change. To explore this scenario, I propose a crash survivor strategy for annual population of the city. Load all members of the society on a mother ship to a remote planet to start a colony (hypothetical planet of course). The ship crashes on an uncharted planet and only the ones to survive are now in the society. That means that pairs and couples will be split, families will be broken apart, groups will be shredded with some, many or all of their members killed in the crash, people with specific (key) skills will also die in the crash... (sound familiar) The survivors have a forum/congress of sorts where they can all interact, choose leaders, establish rules of conduct, and connect to form camps of common purpose (theme camps). They will then work together to bring about a new society - they have to because there are no relief ships expected. Radical Self Reliance is the order of the day and they must survive. YES it is possible for the organizers of the process to also die in the crash - that is why this is so radical. However, there is an organization that put the whole passenger/ship/destination plan together and for any hope of again seeing their friends and loved ones they will have to keep the outside operations running and plan for the next ship/crew/destination because the world will end anyway and they don't want to be on it when it happens. So they will get a shot at getting to survive the crash next year and the next if they are lucky.

April Fools - I forgot how easy it really is to fool some people

unga-bunga — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:12:39 GMT

I usually don't play jokes on people, but April Fools Day is one day that I have to pull atleast one tiny joke. This year I decided to move Memorial Day... Yep that's right I moved memorial day. Using the tried and true method of copying the same template the admin secretary uses to post official notices to the staff, bar-b-q lunches, committee meetings and the like. I got an email from the general manager letting me know "Folks were about to get in an uproar" over the holiday switch. I guess they didn't think how Memorial Day, always on the last Monday was switched to a Friday two weeks earlier. It's the pretext that does it, just state things in a believable way and some folks will bite.

Full circle - the winter solstice

unga-bunga — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:35:04 GMT

It seems that the wheel of the year turns much faster as we get older. Maybe there is some comfort in the idea that I may live as long from this point as I have up until now, but that seems like a very short time. I somehow feel short changed being a species that lives a brief 70 to 120 years. Why can't we live to be 10,000 then there would be some perspective of events instead of the brief sliding window that we see the world through. Individuals and societies are all doomed to this myopic vision. Only through record are we able to pass the knowledge of the present to the future. I can only hope that we one day find a cure to total death - a happy between state where you can stay concious and interactive living a full and joyous after body life in communication with the living world as if you are among them. Sort of a non-zombie post-hominid living in a techno-skeletal form. One day we may not die, just upgrade to the next version of our physioform that adds physical interfaces to our being, Maybe vacation will be just an electronic transfer of our 'mind' into our vacation body located somewhere else. Then near light speed travel will be a matter of transmitting ourselves from one body to another time-share would take a whole new meaning. just some thoughts ... Ahhh It will be the future soon.

I’m in the little big time now - so famous so famous :D

unga-bunga — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:03:36 GMT

JED (rockin' metal band) has chosen some of my artwork for their rocktoberfest poster! Hell Yea!. If your in the Aberdeen, WA area around the Rocktober 20th time frame you should check this event out! http://profile.myspace.com/ghrocktoberfest

Depression or Decompression

unga-bunga — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:19:33 GMT

Decompression: It is a term used often in the burner community. For the benefit of others who may be going through this and not understand it and for the sake of getting a discussion going that one day may lead to a 'Burners Guide to Decompression', here is my take on the decompression phenomenon. What does it mean? What are the symptoms? Will I have one? How do I get through it? Is there a cure? What does it mean? The best way I can think to describe the condition of decompression is to go back to the cause. At a burn your world runs at a zillion miles an hour for 24 hours a day. During this time you experience a lot, so much so, that you don't have time to really process it. There is no time to really think about what you have just experienced before something new is happining to with and around you. The amount of stimulation is overwhelming to many people. Another contributor to the condition is the lack of a commerce driven economy. When there is no competition for your money there is no reason to bombard you with messages that tell you how much you need something, how weak you are, how desperate you are, how unable to take care of your self you are, how much you need someone to do something for you in exchange for something from you. You must be radically self reliant and bring with you everything you will need and more. The gift economy allows you to give without expectation of return and to receive without expectation of a return of equal or greater value. The only message is please and thank you. Added to the lack of a society that has continuous victim dependenacy you are radically self expressing in ways that let you get more of the 'real' you to the outside. What you have been hiding inside is now accepted as part of who you are by the whole community. Compounded further by the LNT (Leave No Trace) philosophy where you see people picking up their trash and even the trash of other people - reinforcing the desire to have a great time and what after a few days becomes a reflex to swing down and scoop the MOOP (matter out of place). All of these things and more go into your 'Compression Experience', where you just soak it in and pack as much fun and amazement into your time at the burn as you can physically and mentally tollerate. So to put it in simple terms it's like a deep sea diver, you are at the city of Atlantis, when you arrived it was so freaking weird and you felt pressure from people hugging you (never had that happen before maybe especially from stangers) and welcoming you "home" whatever that meant. After all it is your first time at a burn, you don't really know people so why is a girl in a unicorn hat and a guy in an orange fur jock stap hugging you and asking you questions about water, trash bags, porta-pots and using weird words like L-N-T and MOOP? You adjust, it doesn't take long either. Soon you are just naturally hugging people, smiling, eating, drinking, lounging, dancing and playing. What an amazing place and your eyes just get wider and wider open. The art and creativity start to pour out of the participants in this wonderous community that has unfolded before you. But you have been down here in Atlantis for a few days and have gotten used to the pressure and atmosphere. All that other world has been almost forgotten. So it's time to return to the surface world where all those other things you used to love are waiting. decompression - go up a bit, pause and adjust to the pressure. decompression - go up a bit, pause and adjust to the pressure. decompression - go up a bit, pause and adjust to the pressure. decompression - go up a bit, pause and adjust to the pressure. decompression - go up a bit, pause and adjust to the pressure. Keep doing this until you feel that you can function in your daily life. To decompress safely you may need some help. What are the symptoms? Everything is a symptom! The sudden smack in the face by your first interaction with the default world (what you get for a world if you do nothing) - Your driving or riding in a car on the street. Almost like the surreal feeling you are now in a capsule traveling through time and space at over a mile a minute. Unless you drove an art car or rode in one a lot, the fastest you may have gone in 3 days is about 4 miles an hour, now it's 70 MPH and these people are crazy and you are afraid they will kill you because they just don't care. It is all starting to hit you. No sooner than your car hits the highway you see billboards, signs, logo's all offering you comfort, food, necessities in exchange for your money. Ah, money that thing that you have not touched in three days to a week. You forgot what it was. You had all the love comfort and necessity you needed for a weekend or a week if you go to a long burn, all for the cost of a hug and a smile and some preparation on your part before you arrived there. Even lyrics of songs start to mean something different than they did before your burn experience. You just didn't think about the messages they boasted and how much we reward people for giving up and begging other people to 'save me, because I can't save my self'. They are not asking for help they are demanding that someone do it for them. The people and things around you are all now saying something different than they seemed to be the last time you saw them, they were just background noise and you didn't notice them. In the same way the tangle of criss crossing phone, cable and power lines just dissapear when we look through them, we blocked it all out and our filter has somehow become thinner or maybe even removed from our mind. You could have wide ranging emotions. One moment you could look at a plastic water bottle or a candy wrapper being tossed on the ground without a care by someone you would have never noticed BEFORE the burn and feel total rage, the next moment feel like crying because there are so many pieces of trash on the ground you would go insane and die if you tried to pick them all up. Grief because you are the only one who seems to care in a world where people think absolutly nothing of tossing their shit on your planet. Guilt because no matter how much you would like to dedicate your whole life to cleaning up this mess around you there is now way to do it. It's you against the world and you feel it crushing down on you just like you are a rolly-polly under the giant steel drum of a steam roller. Back at the rent paying job you feel boxed in by the rules and expectations of glum zombies who can only see that the way to happiness is another disappointing purchase from a shopping channel spokes model telling them that this tablet or articulated exercize contraption will make them the person they dream of and that once the three easy payments of $39.95 are made they will be loved by all who walk the earth and will be beautiful and rich and have no worries. You feel their misery and smell their dissapointment in life - you are wanting to tell them about this amazing experience, but they just don't get it, they won't get it, they can't get it, they just don't care either. They are slave zombies and there is no way to save them and this makes you feel so alone that you want to ball up under a desk and cry. The symptoms are all personal or societal and can not be listed like those of a spider bite or sunburn. Will I have one? Damn! I hope so! - What? you want me to suffer through all of this stuff? It is not that I want someone to suffer through their decompression, It's through this experience you are able to realize what the full experience of the burn is. How much our lives have gotten out of our own control. How much we no longer THINK or feel. How far we have gone from what the founders of our country or our ancient ancestors envisioned as freedom of the individual to seek happiness, prosperity, or liberty. How we have been hobbled and boxed in, coraled like cattle and branded with the mark of economy, how we can no longer look at the earth and see what we are doing, How much of a hipocrite we have been all of that time, how small we have been thinking and that the limits we have on us have all been our own fault if we chose to bear them, or that we limit ourselves out of fear of reprisal from others and we have seen no way out of that place (until now). How do I get through it? If you have access to the Internet: Read and join discussion groups with other burners who have just attended the same event and other burn events that you have not even heard of until now. Look at their pictures, watch the videos, read their stories and give them honest feedback. Start your dialog. These people are your support network. Read their posts. Note that many of them will use phrases like: I miss my new home. I wish I were back there. Reality Sucks. Everything sucks, why is this so messed up here, why are people so angry, confused hateful... These people are also decompressing and you all NEED each other now more than you think. Attend a meet and greet in your area, if there is not one within a few weeks maybe 3 or 4 at the most, have a party and invite all the people who live within a few hours of you to come over - a "Burner Party", have space for some fire spinning if people want to do that, encourage costumes or have a place for people to change. Crash space in the yard if there is room for a few tents or on the floor and maybe pancakes and bacon breakfast. Practice LNT on your hosts land or in their home. If you have some privacy for your M&G then all the better. Talk and re-live a lot of the common experiences and hear how much you didn't see or hear. Share pictures and videos at the party. At a burn you can't be everywhere and thats what all of these other people become, they become your eyes and ears to experiences you haven't had yet. Have a good time and make more connections with people. You will need them as much as they will need you - am I repeating myself? Attend another burn or 'burner related' event as soon as you can afford the time and expense (yes it takes default world money to pay for all this) to go build your own place in the world where you can be free to be you without the crushing pressure of overt society to comply to the will of the folks who just don't get you. Is there a cure? Other than total amnesia? Nope! And I hope I don't find one. The decompression experience is different for everyone. It will be different for each burn and may last hours, days, weeks, or months or a lifetime if you are lucky. It is in this period of time that you are AWARE of the world as it is around you. Comming to grips with who you are inside and what you feel about the world and what you would like it to be will give you incentive to make the next burn experience one where you WILL make your experience richer and give back to the community what you got and have learned through your decompression experience. Dedicated to Siryn and all my first time burn friends from Alchemy 2007 Unga Bunga John From the City of Payne In the Land of MaconGa

it's time.. the evolution engine is reving-up!

unga-bunga — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:36:32 GMT

The planet goes through changes and life cycles, that is well observed in the fossil record. When we hear about mass extinctions they are often over hundreds of thousands of years and they are replaced by other species that were able to adapt and thrive in the new environment. As articles purport the demise of species like great apes ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_on_re_eu/endangered_gorillas ) others note that there is massive differentiation in species like salamanders ( http://www.unisci.com/stories/20012/0629015.htm ). Some articles claim that the planet is dying! HOLY CRAP! It's dying! We're all doomed DOOMED! For every species that is unable to adapt to the changes in the world (that have happened over and over for millions of years) there is another that has filled the gap and carved out a niche to better its survival. Why is there some supposed moral requirement for every species to ever develope to a level of success to maintain that success while yielding to other species competing for the same resource. Is it not really Immoral to protect a species that is failing to adapt at the cost of the emerging species that is succeding where the previous has failed? Where will we be in this future world in a thousand years? - Are we going to adapt our bodies or has technology and our adapting mind allowed us to sidestep evolution and create a long living but progressively more feeble body through the adaptation of our environment through technology instead of the natural adaptation of our bodies. Just something I'm pondering today ....

Home Sick for BRC!

unga-bunga — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:49:12 GMT

The first burning man pods are posted TV Free Burning Man The first two pods are posted from this years burning man, Damn I wish I were there more than ever right now! Seeing these just makes me feel like I'm missing the bestest, mostest, biggest thing I could ever do,,, ever! http://www.current.tv/burningman/

A Sea of Dreams

unga-bunga — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:50:39 GMT

Softly her finger drew down his lower lip shhh, a whisper as she breathed in deep a kiss powerless to open his eyes his lids weakly lifted her calming scent of flowers and salty sweat filled him Soon a spinning and drifting sensation ran deep within him he reached outward expecting her waist or gown but found only air and warm sunlight dappled across his hand the day had come and once again she had slipped away The bottom of the steps welcomed his boots this morning with a fresh cup of coffee from the crew lead "We'll be full in port b'mid morn captain", said the lanky lad "Then I'll be in the wheel house after walking the deck", he replied Not much in life was better than standing on the rail with a steady breeze and a sour cup of galley mud in his hand except those fleeting moments somewhere at the end of sleep when she comes to him barely there and just as quickly she fades into the light of the morning Two bells from the bow and he downed all but a swig of coffee flinging the rest across the sea twenty feet below she was a fine ship and had served him well these three years a deep breath and full chested sigh then a long drag up the stairs This would be his last time he thought, last climb to the wheelhouse a hearty "Captain on deck!", was sounded and cheers from the wheel crew as he lowered his cap and stepped up through the door deep swells of emotion he felt welling up in him, his cheeks pulling down Through storm and calm, high sea and doldrums she had always held true now the portsman called too, placing a hand on her shiny brass compass he closed his eyes and felt her gentle sway rocking him her peaceful ways had comforted him in hard times and consoled him in worse Now it was time to let her go her own way and he to his at port was another love and she calls him away her lines sleek and sail rolled tightly stayed it was time, for time for them, the time they both had made The past is past and if luck has a way, will never be forgotten the warm nights and struggles of his younger days will serve him well in the complicated and rewarding waters of his waiting life her song she sings and calls him true she gets him through the night Its his need for her that calls him now to leave this worthy crew and make his way down the graying planks to where she lie berthed as he turns to step onto her walk he pauses and starts to grin sun setting warmly on patient bones he casts off his trailing line She rolls so slight as he guides the wheel, his heel agains a rail and nightward far under stars he drifts, his heart feels lifted light the sky grew gray as the horizon came so quick in to view they were alone at last, on the sea he cast a rose to call her name He closed his eyes and dragged his finger through the water down the side and drifted away to where he may have heard her singing soon he felt her say in sweet whispery ways that soon they both could stay and like the rose with a tiny note into the dark they rode Each day he woke and wrote a note to tell her of his love when the dark of night and lack of light filled his waning heart he sliped it off the side to call her back to kiss him back to life warmly wet he felt her breath she kissed his sleeping eyes So softly stroked her finger drew across his wanting lips shhh, a whisper as she breathed then they deeply kissed his desire grew to consume them both, his firey passion she'd lit her steaming scented heaves he hungered for, her salty sweat he drank Spinning and drifting his passions drove him deep into her warmth he reached out toward her and touched her waist and gown his fingers found her hair and warm soft sunlight dappled across her skin his eyes he opened the day had come, she smiled and giggled then slipped away Unga Bunga John (John Faherty)

Quenching His Thirst With Her Song

unga-bunga — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:12:01 GMT

The sky of fire relentlessly bears down on him with heat and salt his lips lie cracked his parched flesh blistered now dry tatters of fiber where where sails were once tied Days or weeks of time pass lost adrift with only dry seas to wet his leathering flesh hard times were once the topic of song and friendly banter now no tune or rhyme can bring draw his cheek Then with a scream and crushing hammer striking hard like the guardsmans pike first in his arm then his thigh faster and harder all at one time Roaring crowds and thundering chants he heard as fingers in waves passed over his windflogged skin tears filling his eyes and running down his beard were lions or soldiers to be his end A swallow of dew from her heavenly grail like a kiss from a lover so longingly missed she drew into him a breath long and fresh and woke him from slumbering deathly sleep Eyes he reached for with trembling hands with blurring sight and burning legs he clambered toward a canvas he hastened into a bowl capturing his life and essense of hope in her drumming drops Deeply he drank and again filled his hope like a madness he could not control he rubbed her wetness into his skin exhalting in his unquenchable thirst for her Her waves rolled over him relentless pulling his rope tight against the mast revived and full of hope he raised his body skyward on the horizon he saw her shape stark against the night Filling his lungs fresh washed with air he pulled fast at the rigging tasting her freshly on his lips ignighted his hunger for her more to touch her again as she touched him his hair drawn gently across her skin and lips gliding over her in his mind as he raced to hold her Still in the distance he sees her waiting for him and wanting his heart pounds and fresh hope pours from his skin wind that once tore at his flesh now brings vigor to his eyes her song is calling his heart and he is comming to set them free Her song is calling and he is comming Unga Bunga John (John Faherty)

Safe Home - from Transformus

unga-bunga — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:59:06 GMT

All I can say now is - you folks on the mountain this year made this event so incredible that just trying to peck out this post my eyes are watering. I am so honored to have met you and can't wait to see you all again on the mountain next year, at another burn or a M&G some time. Changes are in the wind for us all as we take home the energy of this Transformus. Like the beautiful cicadas of Deerfields we have crawled and some have shed their earthy husks to dry their wings, some have flown, but many are still changing and will for some time. Embrace your changes and your transformations and we'll all bring our songs back to the mountain to share and grow from next year. Mysteria is always alive in a Mysterian. Welcome home - Freaks! Unga Bunga John From the City of Payne In the Land of MaconGa

Heartstrings

unga-bunga — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 19:08:24 GMT

This morning I awoke to find that my heartstrings are more than tethers of emotional and physical need that bind me to your sweating bosom. With the eastern sunrise in my eyes, you speeding off homeward and I on to my morning work, they had become tasty sweat and chocolate liqueur drenched laces that I draw slowly open with my teeth, hoping if only to taste my trust and your desire lingering on my lips where only hours ago there were dancing tongues, surprised ghasps, and an unending want for more. I would say, "Damn the day", but I know it gives me one more chance to fall for you all over again the next time you press your body into my chest, run your soothing fingers through my hair, and kiss my lips with deep dizzying passion.

Child Hyperthermia Deaths

unga-bunga — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:05:32 GMT

In Macon yesterday we had a 5 and a half month old die in a hospital parking lot in the back of a car. Before I hear the Oh! so common - "Well I'd Never..." I thought about how this could happen and how much more common it is now than when I was younger. Could parents be more disconnected? Are children quieter? What is the deal here? Airbags and A/C! Yep, since airbags were introduced the number of children left in cars has soared from a few to hundreds. Remember when children could be in the front seat, how do you leave a baby when you are sitting right there and you have to face them to close the car door? In the back seat they fall asleep, your life gets more complicated, texting, phone calls, hustle and bustle then you are late for work or an appointment and the sleeping baby or toddler in the back of the car gets caught up in the white noise.... People often in these vehicles have the A/C on and it's cool when they are in the car, so when they hop out they are not already thinking about how hot the car will be inside and that comfortable baby or tiny child is snoozing away and calm instead of screaming hot and miserable. The statistics are all put together well on this site about hyperthermic deaths of children. It is sobering. What can we do to remedy this tragic situation? http://ggweather.com/heat/ I think the technology industry and auto industry should step up to the plate. Maybe an infant or child seat that communicates to the car and sets off a "Mommy don't leave me behind" alarm when the car door gets opened. That is something simple for the current technology we have and would be easily installed in todays cars. Maybe even connected to a symbol on the dash board or the car sterio that can wake the baby and make them cry. I'd rather be around a crying baby than one that was forgotten and died. The loss of life from forgetting is so deeply tragic there must be something we can easily do to prevent this. Just being angry at parents, who like all of us are working, busy and distracted won't keep this from happening. It will just make us grieving angry people who don't connect the real problems and are quick to blame individuals when it is a whole chain reaction of law, legislated policy and in most cases good intentions that have unintended concequences.

Love is made of Monkey-Cats!

unga-bunga — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:55:45 GMT

I was reading a 'what is love?' blog early this morning and thinking about all the things it is to me and how different it is between myself and everyone. How much more of a personal relationship identifier can there be than to call it love. Love is such a deeply personal concept like that of god or spirit. It is full of wonder and anxiety, bells and whistles and thorny barbs. Knowing how sweet or tart those blackberries will taste doesn't disuade me from reaching into what I know will be a painful thorny retreat. The barbs in love never seem to hit you on the way in.. just like picking blackberries, With ease you reach in there and pluck off that jucy finger purpling fruit - It's only when you try to take your hand away that the painful hooks of that encounter dig in. The feeling of in-love is such a wonderous state. I think there is no drug like it in the world. Everything and the world are all in unison whirrling around playful and snuggly, furry and funny, in-love is made of Tamarin-Kittens. There is nothing in the world that can convince you that in-love will end when you are in-love - But as all things grow and change so does love. The feeling of falling-out of love is made of Hissing Mad Gorilla-Tigers the kind that leave horrible scars on everyone in a relationship. Gorilla-Tigers don't care about anyting but themselves and will smash things, scream stupid stuff and most worst of all tear apart the love other people have for each of them just so they can cast their spiteful self absorbed hurt on those around them. They can't help this because they are blind, deaf and dumb to the words and expressions they say and do. This is a terrible side affect of being addicted to in-love and the worst symptom of withdrawl. That is the thing we always remember about love - the falling-in part and the falling-out part. The part we often take for granted is the fantastic space betwen the two - The playful, furry, funny, scratchy, uncooperative, pouty, snuggling, grooming, deep caring part in the middle that can fade into daily grind where we lose touch with our tamarin-kitten and get a bit of poo flung at us by our Monkey. It's this part of love that is where we really need to pay attention to our feelings and be open and honest. That is so hard for me in relationships, to open-up my heart expose my hopes and fears so that someone could spatter away at them. It's fear I know, that has always impeded this part of my relationships. How much of yourself can you truely expose to someone? Will they see the bad spots and try to cut them out only to find that you thought they were not bad, but important organs for storing guilt and mistrust? Or worse yet, they thought they were just that and those spots were really the seeds of trust and hope germinating but hidden in the dark of your insides. Now plucked from you in a torrent of misunderstanding, will they be lost and fearfully unresowable? These are my fears in the spaces of life where I need to be open and honest and fully trusting of my feelings. But being trustful that real love will not seek to remove these things from me, helping to just make me aware of them so that I can see them with my own eyes. It's only me who can change myself and only if I want to. This is the part of love where only a Monkey-Cat can survive.

I've got the power!

unga-bunga — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:46:47 GMT

My energy saving experiment continues with the first full month of running my two window unit A/Cs. They were set on 78F on power/energy save mode and left to run on their own for 1 month with a 90F degree average. 6/7/2007 To 7/7/2007 Month (kWh) ($) July 2007 82 $15.11 June 2007 13 $9.15 May 2007 20 $9.76 Last year July 2006 823 $80.31 June 2006 290 $30.11 I kept the door opening and closing to a minimum and continued all of my regular power saving habits.

Finding peace and hope in a new beginning

unga-bunga — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:07:03 GMT

Uncharted territory and hope The wind thick with spray ran salty down his squinted brow By the end of the day he will have past the edge of his fathers map Golden orange hopes dancing on the distant sea ahead Drawing up a line tied to the fore netting he hauls in a tiny smelt for sustinance What would the night bring and in the morrow would he hear her sing again His skin drew tight with goosebumps and hair felt high on end As he remembered her drifting voice breathing life into his cold limbs The sea has been a home to him as long as he could hoist and tie a rope Now more than any other time in his days there is something more A feeling that he can be more than just the sum of his bones The heavy flapping clap of the main sail twitches his eyes toward up A small grommit has torn away and the rope yeilds in steady thrusts to the headwinds demand The ruddy gold of the evening sky gave way to the still and deeply black of a moonless night Whales songs were often a treat and with the sound of the water keeping time on the bow made for a calm sailing and a night of peaceful dreams The stars seemed to blur together into a single glistening gown of black velevet and diamonds On his back with hands clasped behind his head he imagined holding her in his arms and how through the heavens they would float and dance and drifted off to dream A new day warmed his smile and with sextant to cheek he plotted a new line on his tattered map This water was fresh and uncharted and warmly welcoming he felt the breeze at his back His hair blew from behind to front wrapping around his cheek and into the corners of his eyes It was time to raise the jib and run for all he was worth into this new world A life anew unbiased by tales of woe from salty old tavern dogs and one legged wenches The wind again in his face with eyes shining clear he smiled and sighed knowing she was near Pressing his hand hard to chest and straining his ears to listen for her song Prehaps just beyond the horizon but maybe she is already in here

Her song - She rights me!

unga-bunga — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 19:11:21 GMT

"The Righting on the Sea" Never had there been turbulent times as these His deck afoam from stern to flanks As sea swells crash and mast timbers tumble like trees Hands fast to the wheel into the waves he cranks A quick sinking fell beneath his feet as the ship drew deep She pitched stem downward and picked up speed Burning sinews near to shredding begs his deathly grip to keep Rising before him a darkly growing, briny sea of greed A breath he had managed before the weight of the sea bore down crushing him with titan force against the hard plank Eyes pressed tightly shut and into the darkness to drown Lights and smiles and tavern songs with ale he drank His life had passed in him by file and rank Things he done and piles of wrongs Now weightless he drifted into the icy dank Beneath thundering seas he heard Siryns songs Neither up nor down was his world anymore when sudden as recoil from the deck cannons shock clutched by the rigging the ships mightiest roar She righted and threw him back with the block He hung there bewildered with wind in his beard still hearing her singing the gifts of his life His heart had been broken of life with no care From the old selfish plug a new beat appeared With some repairs to the ship now undertaken, He tapped on his compass, looked seaward and smiled, "I heard your song, and to my heart it was taken!" "You have righted my ship when my life was unpiled" A rumble of thunder ahead in the sky Dropletts of rain where the deck was dry Still smiling he winces as clouds flash their light He is sailing to find her through dark and the night Unga Bunga John (John Faherty)

A storm has past and wonderous wonders are ahead

unga-bunga — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:20:11 GMT

I have had a life changing month so far and I can only hope it will not end. There has been exploration, adventure, danger and fear. My path meanders a course on the sea of experience and wonderous wonders are out there waiting. My muse visited me in my sleep last night and we weathered this storm together in my dreams. The Siryn and the Tempest. Holdfast, my rope holdfast, don't break Shivs of rain she drives in through my arm Cracking deck heaves above her wake Tendons stretching and fingers whiten against her wind Oh' Tempest, why must you rage against my course Throwing your sting and storm to thwart my way One time ago you were calm and warm with fairness of force A friend for life, or so you say Now jealous need and greedy seas you bring to me My heart still hears her, no matter your rage Your pounding wind and crashing sea Try as you wish, I have no cage Her song is true and beckons me near The lips that sing away your plead To drag me down into your fear Holdfast my rope and sail will heed Through storm and sway my way holds fast Sun and sky break free from your darkening cold From my deck at last my net is cast Perchance a Siryn my heart may hold John Faherty (Unga Bunga John)

My Muse has lit a fire in me that I don't want to quench

unga-bunga — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:46:21 GMT

Adrift in a Siryn's Song Each gentle wave rocks me in it's cradling hands. Adrift in a sea of selfish dreams. Her wetness laps against the timber that holds me almost above her swells and heaves. The sound of her deepness holds me fast to her bosom, breathless, still wanting to drink. Its been a half day and I can still smell her skin and taste her sweat on my lips. Each beat of my heart throbs deep in my core, plucking at muscles and tendons like fingers tug on harp strings, vibrating, resonating waves flowing upward and out from my quiverring chest. Her scent is intoxicating. My neck and shoulder remember the feeling of warm breath and the gentle tugging of her lips drawing me ever higher into dizzying clouds of passionate ghasps, pressing, swaying, clutching, breathing her deep into my body. Her song is my breath, she soothes, calms, comforts and ignites my passion in ways I both fear and desire. Its been a half day and I can still smell her skin and taste her sweat on my lips. Unga Bunga John John William Faherty (6-22-2007) Image: "The Siren" by John William Waterhouse (circa 1900)

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue thinks God is witholding rain to get our attention

unga-bunga — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 19:11:57 GMT

This is the kind of rational thinking we need in government. God is holding back rain until we repent? Jimmy Crack Corn! He said government can't do anything about the drought..?!.. It's all up to God. How about to mandate water saving and energy efficient faucet aerators in all state buildings and businesses that do any contracting with the state..? How'bout that for something Gubmint can do? video: http://www.macon.com/149/story/63546.html -------------UPDATE----UPDATE ----UPDATE--- UPDATE: God's Mercy destryoy midstate home and dumps damaging hail and high winds on Perdue's Followers! I guess God decided to let the Governor drink from his wrathy firehose... Besides we knew for several days that this was on the way when they decided to come to Macon where the stuff was headed to "pray". For his attempt to appear holy and invoking a mighty diety while acting like the people didn't watch the weather channel the high and mighty one threw down on the governor and his minions. HEADLINE: Overnight storms bring damaging winds and hail to midstate "At least an inch of rain fell at the Macon airport beginning at about 1 a.m., and at about 1:30 a.m. a roof was blown off a home on Houze Road in Crawford County about five miles west of Fort Valley, according to a preliminary storm report from the National Weather Service." http://www.macon.com/149/story/64332.html PHOTO: Picture is from 13wmaz.com local macon news channel web site article about last nights mercy from God storm.

Still Aiming Lower - Cha-Ching!!!

unga-bunga — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:39:10 GMT

Double Yee-Haaw! 13 KWH for 5/7/07 to 6/7/07 I got my next power bill and I drove my usage down from 20 KWH to 13 KWH this past month All I did was make sure my fans were on the low (1) setting during the day while I was at work and only had them on high (3) while I needed to move the heat out at the end of the day and early evening when I got home, then turned them back down in the morning. Other than going LED light, I don't think I can drive down the usage any more than what I have. (Olde Timey inefficient fridge) I still haven't used the A/C yet. I know when I fire those up, they'll have to stay on with the thermostat set and left alone to be at their peak efficiency. I'll also need to caulk some boards and around some places in the bathroom where I can see the light from outside. I can put plastic up to seal the windows to help keep the AC in so they don't have to work as hard, but I don't own the house so putting in insulation and a whole house fan is not in the plan. I'd expect to see the usage go to 100KW when they are running regular. I did get a one time refund based on my 2005 usage of $0.76 which dropped my whole bill down from $9.15 to $8.39. This whopping refund was my share of a $4,970,000 dollar Public Service Commission Ruling. (That's over 2 days of electricity refunded back $0.29/day - yippie-gee-zonkers!) - PS - I'm giving myself kudos for this because I'm doing the 13KWH dance right now - BOO-YAAA!

reading into media bias is so saddening

unga-bunga — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:30:02 GMT

Is he a man, youth, teen, boy or student? News reporting lacks consistency when labeling people based on their age. http://www.13wmaz.com/news/top_story.aspx?storyid=39628 There was a report in the local news today about a local "man" who was charged with felony murder. Under the heading was a picture of a kid. The killer was 17 years old. Everytime I see the age and the terms used to describe the age of the person I whince with dispair at the blatant bias I see in reporting. In one instance the 17 year old perpetrator of crime is called a man, then someone the same age is called a juvinile, teen, youth, boy, high school student or whatever. I would like to see some standards set across the news reporting world where someone of a set age is referred to consistently in the media. (but we know that will never happen) Here in Macon the media is really consistent in it's treatment of this label. If they are against you you are called the most responsible term available - now you have been deemed a "Man" by the media. If they want you to be shown as the victim or not so responsible for the crime you get a lesser title of teen, youth, youngster... Often the other biases are added in there by the reporter also, if the reporter wants to show that the person is a victim of social injustice and is a killer by means of being a victim of racism or whatnot then the person is depicted as a teen, student, youth or boy, when the reporter wishes to vilify the subject he is made responsible by calling him "man". Taking all this 'salt' with my news doesn't seem good for my blood pressure. Google searching only articles where the 17 yearold murder is reported turned up the following: Headline: Man Charged With Murder (Georgia US) Subject: William Payton III, 17 of Tennille Headline: 17-year-old charged with murder after knife attack (Scotland - Europe) in the article it continues "Police said a 17-year-old man had been arrested and charged with murder and was due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today." Headline: 17-year-old charged with murder (Canada) in the artilce "Police have laid a first degree murder charge against a 17-year-old man in Happy Valley Goose Bay. He's charged with killing 69-year-old William Pardy." Headline: 17-year-old charged with murder in death of DJ (Florida US) in the artilce" A 17-year-old Miramar boy has been charged with murder in the death of a 19-year-old D-J shot at a school dance." Headline: 17-Year-Old Charged In Fatal Englewood Shooting (Chicago IL US) In the artilce "A 17-year-old was charged Monday with the murder of a 14-year-old boy shot early Saturday after an altercation at a party on the South Side in the Englewood neighborhood."..." after the boys were involved in a verbal altercation that turned physical, police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said. Headline:17-year-old charged with Nauck homicide In the artilce "The suspect, a 17-year-old male, is charged with murder. His identity is not being released due to his age."..."Detectives believe that the suspect and another man approached Araniva as he was sitting in his vehicle. One of the men fired a shotgun, hitting the victim in the shoulder and neck. " Headline: Two 17-year-olds charged in murder of Jordan Manners (Toronto Canada) in the article "Two 17-year-old boys stand charged with first degree murder and are scheduled for a court appearance today. Headline: 17-year-old charged in man's shooting death in the article: "A 17-year-old boy was charged Monday with killing a 33-year-old man during a drug deal rip-off last month." Headline: 17-year-old charged over stabbing death (Ireland) in the article "A 17-year-old youth has appeared at a special court in Limerick charged with the murder of a man in the city yesterday morning. You can go on like this for many hours pulling up article after article. Now that I am bummed out by all this killing news, I think I'll plan some database applications that will take my mind off this badness out there.

Setting my goals lower - and meeting them - Yea!

unga-bunga — Tue, 08 May 2007 18:49:29 GMT

I have always been very goal oriented - as the closest people to me have observed and commented on many times... but when it comes to being very frugal so that I can enjoy the stuff I want - Well then it's all about setting your goals low enough and struggling to achieve them. For example, my electricity saving project. ************************ UPDATE ************************* My bill for Apr 5 - May 7 just arrived and I broke the $10 Barrier! Usage 20 kWh That beats last month by 11 - Yeeehhhaaawww!!!! Total bill: 32 days @ 20KWH cost $9.76(includes $0.64 tax) = $0.30/day! Thats .625 KWH/per day I still have workstation and network stuff on all the time and lights some 24 hours and fridge freezer,washing machine and electric clothes drier - TV twice a week at least. and about 4 floor fans running 24 hours a day. (gas water heater and stove) I haven't used the A/C yet though and I think I'll see a fair hit when those go online later in May or June. Al Gore talks a bunch of smack! My challenge to the talking head of the global warming movement - Put up or shut up! My house is about 1200sqft total use May 2006 - May 2007 - 3848 Kilowatt-hours yearly use is 3.21 Kilowatt-hours per foot. Big Talking not much walking his own talk Al's 10000-square-foot 20 room home and pool house scarfed down nearly 221,000 kilowatt-hours in 2006 for a yearly use of 22.1 Kilowatt-hours per foot. (That's right each foot of his house for the year used more electricity than my whole house did Apr 5 to May 7 2007) Stuff that up your wind turbine and smoke it Al. Using 'Green Power Switch' is still not an excuse to use more electric resource. Just because you pay $5894.33 in a (feel good about myself) power sur charge to Nashville Electric Service so you can say - see I'm doing my part, does not relieve you from your blatant and opulent over consumption. It's not where you get the power that is the issue, it's the abuse of the power that leads to such a greedy consumption of resource.

Mr Complicated?

unga-bunga — Mon, 07 May 2007 01:50:59 GMT

Looking for ourselves in our own minds eye. I have been trying as all artistic individuals do - to find myself in what I do. I as anyone has, my share of bogymen in the folds and shadows of what I feel is "my mind". I had a point of criticism provided to me recently and I feel it is well taken. "You are layering and layering and putting more and more stuff" into your work "it is as if you're searching for something." I may not be exact on the quote, but I think I got the basic point. Well that really hit home as I pondered the whole thing. If I have these bogey folk in the recesses of my brain/mind then I hope that I can discover them, understand and accept them or eradicate (no really I meant buy them a nice place by the lake to live out their lives) whew!, I thought I'd ticked them off for sure. I don't know what art is for anyone else but me. For me, art is the window into my being that lets me say in pigment what I feel and am unable to express in words. It has become to me what the sea is to a sea monster - without water it is just a chunk of meat gasping for what it needs in a world that is alien and harsh and deadly