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Contact Reza via email: (info {at} rezamusic {dot} com)
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My last stock pick went from $4 to $30 (DNDN). Here's my new pick: BCON
Clean Technology/Alternative Energy Investment Tip: stock symbol: "BCON"(Nasdaq) Beacon Power Corporation is starting to build the world's first flywheel plant for Grid Frequency Regulation ($1Bil/year market). Beacon's zero-emissions solution
has faster response and higher efficiency than coal-burning
plants. Beacon has won the support of major Grid operators, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Dept. of Energy with a recent
$24M Grant and a $43M Loan Guarantee. I believe the stock is a strong
buy at the current price.
Increasing revenues at high margins is just a matter of time. Do your own research. See www.beaconpower.com for more information.
Reza Ganjavi's Archived Online Journal
(current journal is on Rezajournal.com)
(c) This document is copyright Reza Ganjavi and may not be reproduced in whole or part without written consent of the author.
Feel free to email me: info (at) rezamusic (dot) com
Jan 2010 - Music Fashion
- Fashion in sound of music changes every few months or weeks even (e.g. in NYC).
- I don't follow fashion. I don't believe in fashion. Fashion only benefits fashion makers. Fashion is too transient.
- Our sound will emerge on its own. I am not looking for it.
-
I do want to do more with keyboards but guitar will always be a central
figure in my music, and the world needs that because too much of new
music is dominated by too much keys and beats.
- Steuart Smith is a great artist. He carried all the lead guitar on Eagles tour.
Jan 2010 - Emotionally Deprived Swiss Kids
- Friend stopped smoking after one session of mental ginger discussion we had.
-
Unless they're really needy the parents I know would never charge their
child for use of the occasional use of their car. In Switzerland it's
normal I guess. Even parents who make good money, charge the kid by
kilometer for the use of car. Hard to swallow but it is what it is....
Actually, come to think of it, it's sick, it's flipping sick -- that
your kid buys something and needs a car to go pick it up and you charge
the kid mileage while you have a good salary and the kid earns pennies
compared to your dollar.. Incomprehensible.
-
The Swiss parents both had miserable childhoods, deprived of emotions
and love. So they don't know any better. They're loving and smart and
so I suggested putting some ginger in their mind -- provide a different
perspective on things. There's something very uncool to charge a kid
IRS mileage rate which is more than the price of renting a car to
borrow the car for 2 hours to pick up a personal item and not for
business. Putting it in a form of a question is non confrontational and
it may make them start thinking there's a different way...
-
A Swiss grandmother told her kid who was then a mother herself: if your
kid cries just lock her in the bathroom until she stops crying. Years
later the mother admits she received bad child-raising instructions.
Jan 2010 - Cleanup After George W. Bush's Disastrous Mess
-
"The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed stricter
health standards for smog, replacing a Bush-era limit that ran counter
to scientific recommendations."
Jan 2010 - New Leonardo
- "Profile of the Bella Principessa"
was bought from Kate Ganz in 2007 for about $19,000 for a rich anonymous Swiss
collector. Fingerprint matching has experts believing it's Leonardo Da Vinci.
It
is now estimated to be worth $150 million and the first Leonardo
painting to have been discovered in a 100 years. The Swiss collector is
ecstatic. Ganz is in denial: "Nothing that I have seen or read in the
past two years has changed my mind, I do not believe that this drawing
is by Leonardo da Vinci".
-
Updated http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/misc_jokes_funny_sad_stories.html
Jan 2010 - Swiss Supermarket & Drivers
-
Sign says 7 articles only in express lane. Woman goes with 15. Groups
them and says it's 7 (5 bottles of jam she called 1 item).
- People are cool and even the cashier doesn't react or says anything in a similar case my friend saw.
- Got almost hit with a car two times today by these mad drivers.
- Bought drum set today.
- A little bit of progress at a time.
Jan 2010 - Full Moon
I wish I could run and hide from the full moon.
It
seems that everytime I say something to some one that everybody else
wanted to say it too but didn't or couldn't, they smile in approval.
E.g., train today told girl blasting rap, sorry, I don't want to hear
this. Or girl on bus shouting on her cell phone, sorry, this is a
public bus, please keep it down. In both cases others who were also
bothered by the noise signaled their approval of my comments.
Jan 2010 - Azari
He
said my positive prejudice towards Turks (Azari's) is due to my
"fetrat" which he defined as "esalat mabni be ehsas" linked to my
upbringing around Azari speaking grandparents, mom, etc. and fondness
of that rich warm emotional culture.
He cited case of a boss
who was badmouthing a subordinate tea-man, and an Azari office mate
emotionally slapped the boss. He said if it was a Mazandarani person he
might have ignored it. He said it's a genetic matter -- that Azaris
speak what they fee.
I am wary of stereotypes but there might be
some truth to the fact that different cultures have different
temperaments, values, etc.
3 Jan 2010 -
-
People are so unnecessarily stressed and hurt by drugs that are so
decadent and so common such as caffeine and nicotine and alcohol.
-
A problem should never be approached by the attitude "forget it" "it
can't be done" "impossible". Never. Otherwise it surely will become
impossible as all doors are shut immediately. A much more intelligent
approach is to start with not knowing - without stress - without
hysteria and emotional reaction - in calmness - and ask, what is the
problem? what creative ways can be found to solve it. If after thorough
investigation it is determined that it can not be solved that's a
different story than starting with a "can't do" attitude.
-
I am a feminist in the sense of believing in the freedom and equality
of women and feel utmost upset that women has been treated the way she
has been. I have a deep rooted distrust towards women when it
comes to "love
& relationship". Basis of it is Neda Notley, a girl I knew in Iran
as a teenager and all that I've seen in women specially in the big
cities. I am very cautiously optimistic that someone from a small
village who is not corrupted by ways of the ego and the world can be
loyal. Otherwise, by default I don't trust my heart with any woman and
surely depend on none. I trust Angela though. She's not a woman. She's
an angel. Oh, I remember another Neda -- it was surely before I was 7
-- maybe 4 and 5 -- she used to come - eat - and leave. Grandma
would wonder: you came to play! Very practical girl already!
31 Dec 2009 -
-
It's 12:48 a.m. on Jan 1, 2010 and inconsiderate people outside,
probably drunk, are doing fireworks. The sound of explosion is torture.
- We welcomed the new year in singing. Came up for a harmony
for Knocking on heaven's door, nicer than Clapton's. On his recording
the background vocal sounds wrong to my ear and mind.
-
I don't believe in any prophesies that certain year will be special and
this and that. 2012 will be just another year. Of course, humanity gets
more and more dangerous to itself as long as fanaticism (with or
without a tie and suit) prevails over reason. It happened in America
for 8 years under Bush. And it's happening in several other places as
we speak, and fragmentary action always breeds more fragmentation.
- Migro's CEO is upset that the discount stores keep dropping the
prices. Yes, global competition is real and it's here to stay. These
big Swiss companies may finally have to start paying attention to
customer service too!! A classy hair salon opened here for 20 / haircut
compared to double and triple elsewhere.
Dec 2009 - Newly Discovered Cousin
-
http://www.josephlerner.com/audio.htm
29 Dec 2009 - Drummer
-
Spent 4 hours with Markus in the evening working through the scores,
recordings, etc., in helping to bring him up to speed on the music.
Categorized the songs for him, etc etc - intense session. And finalized
list for the gig.
- Raining cats and dogs.
- Navaii is an lying prick.
-
She calls lichis "epiled cow eyes" :) -- A little note on the box says
they contain "l. anhydride sulfureux" which is the same as
sulfur-di-oxide (SO2). Most people don't know it because they buy
it by weight and not in the box.
27 Dec 2009 - Blood in Tehran
-
Tehran saw one it's bloodiest days. I followed the news very closely
with videos being posted on line throughout the day, with great concern
for the well being of people there.
26 Dec 2009 - Good Jam
-
Jam session was energizing. Remembered how much energy I spent training
Rosa. There's still something about her playing that I like. At least
Markus is motivated and can do some good fills. Gotto get him to not
change his sound within a section. A drummer's biggest asset is
patience because their job can be thought of as boring and in the
process of wanting to be more, to do more, they run the risk of making
the rhythm more complex. He needs to go through a big learning curve on
the Beatles material -- not sure if he will - but will drill his mind Monday.
- Some new news blew my mind.
Dec 2009 - Dead Dogs
-
It's so nice to be able to adjust my site reports to exclude psychotic
dogs and hogs so I don't even see their IP address. A consciousness of
of their presence, even if it's just a number, is much nicer. The world
is a beautiful place but it also has some vicious ugly creatures who
get their psychological sustenance out of bothering other people. And
as a great composer friend beautifully put it, it's impossible to
achieve anything important and not have these jealous disgusting
creatures trying to give you a hard time.
Dec 2009 - Reactive not Proactive
-
Nigerian terrorist's dad warned the embassy but they didn't do anything
about it. Now he tried to blow up a plane. Thank God he didn't succeed.
Today TSA made a new rule that passengers can't carry anything on their
lap or leave their seats 1 hour before landing. Reactive. Like the shoe
bomber after which time they started searching shoes. Why can't these
genius authorities be proactive instead of reactive ?!
Dec 2009 - Global broadcast
- My song was broadcast on a global satellite TV/webcast program on the environment 3 times in the last 24 hours !
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/Lets_Keep_Our_Planet_Clean.html
Dec 2009 - Skiing
-
heart and passion won over reason, not in a battle, but in action which
was not produced out of any conflict. The right thing to do was to get
up no matter how late it is and try to make it to the next bus. It was
7:23. I had not slept good the night before with the lady
doctor's bed shaking in the middle of the night and making the old
house's floor squeak, and other reasons including having slept too
late. And being tired was the sole reason for not wanting to go skiing.
I was looking for an excuse not to go on different weather site but
overall the weather seems ok. Going to bed last night, remembered the
excitement that would keep me up all night in Iran as a kid when we
were going skiing the next day. Anyway, left home at 7:27 (4 minutes
after getting out of bed) dressed in ski gear, packed with fruit
(forgot the cheese), laptop for the way, and made it to the bus.
-
Stereotypically, Dutch women are the most beautiful. Have seen so many
beautiful Dutch faces in my life that I allow myself to stereotype. Two
sisters, Carlonjne or something like that, and majke - such beautiful
noses, cheeks, eyes, and so full of life after having skied several
days already. Met several other people too - Michaela of the tourist
office was very kind. The facilities were first class - utmost comfort
provided - lockers, internet, etc.
-
Another two Dutch kids in the cable car simply didn't know how to speak
softly. Their parents never taught them the virtue of being soft
spoken. Same mentality grows up into the group of teenagers also
staying at the Dutch favorite holiday spot, started shouting in the
tunnel and it got louder and louder and such a torture for sensitive
ears.
- Met Ana and her friend - she was a doctor - i thought she's a gynecologist. She is! Her blond sister is a German cop.
Dec 2009 - Iran's Air Pollution
- 22,000 people died in Iran in 2008 due to air pollution.
- Iran is rated as 10 worst polluters in the world and the only non-industrial country on the top 10 list of polluters.
- 88% of Tehran's air pollution is due to car exhaust.
Dec 2009 -
-
Her brocolli had worms - floating on the soup - she tried to catch them
and they put out a green substance. It seems like when there's bad crop
they drop it 50%.
- Beautiful music. Very relaxing.
- Bravo. Schone.
- Nice music. People liked it.
(Guests at Nati's).
- A (22) has the same boyfriend since age 14.
Dec 2009 -
-
Another disastrous apprentice -- bank put first year apprentice in
charge of counter with 6 people in line and she is lost. Only in
Switzerland.
-
Bob Gault started singing in slightly over-zero temperature which for
him is warm enough to play his guitar. He sang and played powerfully
and wonderfully.
-
Email is an easy way to pass the buck but in important issues good
customer service and good business practice means not to just send an
email but to make sure the solution is delivered.
- "When asked what they thought about the past decade, Americans by a
2-1 margin rated it negatively. In contrast, they rated every other
decade since the 1960s positively." No wonder: Bush ruled the decade from 2000 to 2009.
Dec 2009 - Black Culture
-
That's a big generalization but I have a lot of affection for African Americans -- Blacks in
general - of course there are many exceptions and it depends on the
person's own character - and that's same as saying I love whites,
Asians, etc. - same thing. But there is something special about the
African American culture. Again, that's a big generalization, but let
us generalize for a minute. What would American be without African
Americans? There's a special warmth about my black brothers and sisters
that makes our world a more lovely place to be in. Part of the vile
attacks that the group of guitarists that attacked me did was to
publish material that I never wrote as my writings, and one of them
published the most insulting remark about Blacks on my behalf
which could not be farther from the truth of the sentiments I have for
this great part of our human race.
21 Dec 2009 -
- Had
an old friend Phong Tran at PCI (later taken over by Cullinet) - we
were office mates - Chinese/Vietnamese - very happy person - used to do
his administrative work in the office. There's also a lot of heart
in Asian countries and Europeans often look so deprived of
it.
- To test the greatness of a person, give them power and see
if they can remain great.
-
There are two present and past leaders of different nations whose
voices is like torture. Hearing these two jackasses speak is the worst
sound ever.
18 Dec 2009 - CD
Reza,
Did
I ever tell you that Pam and I used your CD at our wedding reception
Cocktail Hour? Pam still listens to it in her office. It's
awesome!
David :)
Dec 2009 - Success!
-
Got a large cyber criminal network to comply to our request to cease
and desist its illegal action against my client. Big success for us.
----------
- James Bain exonerated after 35 years behind bars after DNA test results came after all these years.
"No, I'm not angry," he said. "Because I've got God."
The
good news is: "Florida last year passed a law that automatically grants
former inmates found innocent $50,000 for each year they spent in
prison. No legislative approval is needed. That means Bain is entitled
to $1.75 million."
- Very old man said Iran is a good country and he hopes it flourishes in a good way .....
- Love little kids - their way of talking is such a music.
-
Returning good here, let's say you buy something and it's too small, is
tabooed and simply not part of the culture. It's rooted in the supplier
having upper hand.
- The less educated can think less clearly
(not that the highly educated can necessarily think clearly). It's a
virtue to think clearly and be able to put forward ideas in concise,
clear ways, or if longer, for poetic reasons.
17 Dec 2009 - Daliah Saper Lied
-
I can't believe the Chicago attorney, Daliah Saper, stood there in
front of people in her "October’s Seminar at Saper Law about online
defamation" and lied about the case: "Reza Ganjavi vs. Jeremy C. Smith,
Todd Tipton, William D. Jennings, et al."
She
said, for example, talking about back then:: "all these people are
anonymous to each other – they don’t know who each other are -- they
just know each other by their handles". That's a flat out lie. The
clients she represented in my case knew very well who I was. They had
seen my website, saw my
postings using my real name, one of them had called me on the phone
before, one of them had sent me personal email before, and the other
one also sent me personal email during the course of the attacks.
Furthermore, those who set up fraudulent website, used my email address
and real name to post thing, knew exactly who I was. So her statement
is a lie and sets the stage perfectly for her next statements which I
could not believe my ears when I heard them. Here's an attorney talking
about one of her cases in front of the camera, bringing justifications
for the same kinds of acts which later her seminar condemns as against
the law, and says things like, it was just high school humor, and other
crap like that.
I like to know how she would feel if somebody
went on a widely read, international newsgroup, used her name, her
email address, and wrote a message sympathizing with
terrorists. If she considers this crude act which can put someone's
life in danger, as humor, I am speechless. I don't know what kind of
humor they used in the high school she attended, but I hope, every high
school in the world considers it a criminal offense to write a note to
someone using another person's identity, threatening to kill them. That
is not funny, but a felony. And these are just two examples of the
kinds of things that were done to me. And she takes cheap shots at the case,
which I find very unprofessional since her client settled this case
with me, about the motives, and suspicion on why I filed it pro-se,
which again can not be further from truth.
I have sent her a formal notice to retract her video which lies about a horrendous case of attacks which I was a victim of.
More on the case: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/litigation.html
A news story about a guy who pinned his wife's kid and said he thought he'd never get caught
reminded me of her saying a long time ago when I first talked to her on
the phone that her client these these (horrible) things to me because
he thought he wouldn't get caught.
23 Dec 2009:
Daliah Saper got the defamatory part deleted from her
seminar video (which incidentally was on Defamation) on her website. It
was a very distressful few days once I found out about her video. I am
happy she complied. I was not looking forward to having to take legal
action on the matter but having those false remarks online was one
of those things that I absolutely would not have tolerated. It was good
of her to act quickly to end the saga.
16 Dec 2009 - Boeing 787
Watched
the first flight of Boeing's 787 jetliner. Congratulations to Dr.
Kamiar Karimi, my dear friend, guardian, brother, and mentor.
"Nearly all of the
787's fuselage and wings are made of lightweight composite materials
such as carbon fiber, accounting for about 50 percent of the aircraft
by weight... Boeing
says the aircraft will be quieter, produce lower emissions and use 20
percent less fuel than comparable planes, while giving passengers a
more comfortable cabin with better air quality and larger windows... Boeing, has orders for 840 of the jets... The
version being tested will be able to fly up to 250 passengers about
9,000 miles. A stretch version will be capable of carrying 290
passengers and a short-range model up to 330." AP
Dec 2009 - New Year Messages Already...
- I third that :)
Let's hope people come to their minds and stop killing each other over ideology, and worse, fanatic ideology.
Let's hope the economy recovers after the long slump.
Let's hope I can go to the Filenet Reunion next year :)
Let's hope I can find time to update the pictures files with the pictures Suzanne rotated :)
Love to you all
Reza
----------
-
"Credit Suisse , the second-largest Swiss bank after UBS , said Tuesday
that it expected to pay a fine of $536 million to settle charges with
the federal government and state authorities in New York that it
violated sanctions against doing business with Iran and other countries."
Dec 2009 - "A concert on a very high level"
- Many thanks again for your beautiful guitar performance. It was a concert on a very high level which I appreciated very much.
-
Five year old Tara gets taught in school that angels put the kid in
mother’s belly... She is so smart and has a big mind. "How did the
first kid ever come? where did the angels put the baby if there was
nobody else on Earth." She asked her mom. Then she continued herself...
maybe they put it in the belly of a dinosaurs...
- Called the hotel: "What category are you?". She: "I’m an apprentice." :)
-
Asked him how's your baby: "He smiles sometimes but at night he wakes
up a lot..." Poor guy looks tired. Big project isn't it? "yes, and with
a lot of unexpected events".
-
Berlusconi has about 9bn euros! He already paid his wife 60m to 70m and
I guess proposed a monthly payment of between 200,000 and 300,000 euros
but she's sued him for 43m euros according to
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8380526.stm
I can't tell you.how enticing marriage is [NOT].
And
he got a punch from a crazy guy that broke his nose and teeth which I'm
sure many Italians cheered as 10's of 1000's rallied in Rome against
him.
Dec 2009 - Wall Street Executive Comments on Beacon Power Corp. (stock symbol: BCON)
-
Talked to a Director at one of my clients from years ago. He recently
structured a deal for Beacon Power. His remarks are best summarized in
these two statements which I fully agree with:
"Beacon has a promising business model"
He expects "a lot of upside from here"
I
gather the demand for shares at the latest offering was much more than
the supply and they selected institutions that were interested in long
term investment over the toxic kind of investors we've been a victim of
before. Many small companies are victimized by Wall Street vultures sharks
& wolves but looks like Beacon will be holding its own soon with
increasing revenues as it builds its first plant. I was also happy they
are not allowed to short or long the stock. I am cautiously optimistic
about this new relationship.
Dec 2009 - More Clueless Swiss Customer Service
-
It was like pulling teeth trying to get the Sunrise agent to escalate
the call. Her inclination, typical of poor customer service was
to pass the buck: go to our website, go to the shop. Well, we've
already been to the shop and the guy did the same thing: pass the buck.
"it's not possible to talk directly to a cust srvc manager". Well, then
have one call us back. "not possible". Are you sure? When I go to the
CEO suddenly things change and it turns out I was getting wrong info.
Can you double check that you can't escalate this to 2nd, 3rd level
support or have a supervisor call me back. "but today is Saturday".
Monday is perfectly fine. Anyway, after not taking all her no's and
excuses for an answer she said "but I have to fill a form or write a
mail". Well, do it. That's exactly what I've been asking for all this
time (lazy woman). Also, sadly she didn't understand that an
escalation is not necessarily a complaint, and her English was perfect
as was her Spanish, French, and German.
- Swiss Hanna herself says: "I say good morning to everybody on the bus -
nobody says anything. People here are dead and don't talk to each other"
-
Solved her Access problem on the phone not having Access, not having
touched Access for 10 years and even then for maybe 2 hours total in my
life. The technology principles are all the same. The Computer Science
background is helpful.
-
Good talk w/ R – old friend from Netherlands. I apologized for
answering email so late. They come to CH several times a year for
mountain sports and holidays.
- Mom: we keep coming back to the conclusions you say “maa hamash be natijeye harfhaye to miresim”.
- http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/useless_usenet.html
- http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/angel_journal.html
- IE is the worst thing that ever happened to computing.
- Those who don't open their mouths for the fear of frogs jumping in have trouble articulating :)
-
She's learning not to get so manipulated by sellers of bogus overpriced
products like a supposedly natural hair oil for $40 which turned out
artificial, and flax oil in animal capsuls (gelatin) at least 4 times
more expensive.
-
RJ is one of the biggest distributors in North America. He gets calls
from Wall Street regularly to invest there but he says he doesn't trust
them. He calls them crooks. I call them sharks, wolves, and vultures.
Dec 2009 - Senate looks at Grid-scale energy storage -- Beacon Power (stock symbol: "BCON" is a key player there.
Grid-scale energy storage gets Senate scrutiny
"In
Chicago, Illinois, Beacon Power Corporation plans to design, built,
test, commission and eventually operate a utility-scale 20 MW flywheel
energy storage frequency regulation plant, and provide frequency
regulation services to its grid operator, PJM Interconnection."
Dec 2009 - SBB Customer Service: Customer is wrong by default (typical in this part of Europe)
- Dear SBB: Mr. Vetterli, the senior conductor on the 22:36 train from
Zurich to Basel had a junior conductor with him and not only he acted
falsely, he falsely instructed the junior conductor and taught her bad
customer service. I was in the wagon where four British drunk men had
their i-phone very laud and at an obnoxious level to the point that I
and other passengers were bothered. I asked them to turn it down once,
and they did but being drunk, the volume of the distorted video went
right back up. Mr. Vetterli was standing in the vestibule which is
noisy and so he could not hear them. I told him and his response was
that it was no problem - that this is not a quiet wagon.
I
know Swiss trains very well. The "quiet wagon" means no cell phone, no
loud talk, etc., and those are special wagons. But, on every wagon,
certain things like disturbing distorted loud noise is prohibited.
Furthermore, he didn't even bother to go in the wagon to see what I was
referring to. He immediately assumed I was wrong, which is pretty
typical of terrible customer service: that the customer is wrong by
default, and started to argue with me but I immediately dropped the
subject as I had no wish to argue with him, gave my place to the drunk
men, and left the wagon. Maybe your senior conductor should have some
training about your own rules which you display on train walls before
they start training junior conductors about poor customer service.
Dec 2009 - Gig
-
Got a ton of complements at the gig:
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/Comments_music
- People are so addicted to their high-tech iphone type gadgets. Even at dinner table, several were using it.
Dec 2009 - Society's Tobacco Disease
-
On a bloody cold night, swiss teenager smoking in a warm train waiting
room, mandating that all others waiting be exposed to his poisonous
lifestyle. On the door there is a big no smoking sign which we lobbied
to have. He says he didn't see it, that he didn't know. That it's his
first time in this room. Lying like a dog. "but now you know".
- According to the data of the Chinese Ministry of Health, there
are 350 million smokers on the Chinese mainland (an average of one in
three individuals). The population of passive smokers is more than 540
million. What is worrying is that the number of young smokers has
reached 200 million.
10 Dec 2009 - Swiss Suicide
- "After eight years of inaction under the Bush administration, Obama has
offered to reduce U.S. emissions by about 17 percent by 2020"
-
Continental hostess doesn't like Switzerland b/c she says the people
are unfriendly. But it's not true. Once you get to know them they are
very kind gentle people (as accurate as can be but the perfect society
has reflected inside and thought domination has made it unspontaneous,
stiff, and so unhappy and high suicide rates.
-
W saw a 15 year old Swiss guy jump in front of the train and splash to
pieces. His blood and debris was on K who was standing by as well. The
locomotive driver tried to pull the breaks but going 140 km/hr makes it
impossible to stop that fast. She said the drivers see it but can't do
anything about it. She knows a loco driver who's seen three suicide
cases. The boy's friends said there was nothing wrong with him
(apparently). Was it deep depression? Or more likely as Persians say
"khoshi zade zire delesh" (happiness has hit him under his belly) in a
society where everything is provided and motivation for youngsters is
generally a problem (from what I've heard from some educators and
parents) but of course it's difficult to generalize. Or is it looking
ahead at the stiff thought-dominated emotionally deprived society which
is trying to mold him into?
- After spending 20 days at the Caspian he finds Tehran air unbearable.
Dec 2009 - Beacon Power
-
Beacon raised a lot of money through a public offering which we
expected. The stock got hammered as expected but it will rebound and go
up next year huge because unlike a lot of dream companies this is a
solid company with a solid technology and solid target market. It's
just manipulated by a corrupt Wall Street but the stronger the company
gets the less it can be a victimized. BCON is the symbol and it
definitely gets my "Aggressive Buy" rating. Start your research with www.beaconpower.com
Dec 2009 - Unofficial Lawyer
- I got two cases representing friends as unofficial lawyer.
One friend wrote: "of course, you know laws more than a lawyer..."
The other friend wrote: "you're my best lawyer! "
-
I'm impressed by Markus. He's alive, sensitive, very musical.. He said
he feels the emotion that we feel so the jam session was really good.
- She's still "right" so yes we haven't met much lately (wrong :)
- Good fonts include "Palatino Linotype" - "Lucida Bright" - and good old "Times New Roman". Sans Serif group are overused.
-
Trying to pass a cross walk in Switzerland is a dangerous affair. In
the US cars stop when they see a pedestrian standing there, but in
Switzerland I've seen numerous times when cars just keep coming.
Dec 2009 - Swiss Prejudice
-
Sometimes I forget that a foreigner is a second class citizen in
Switzerland (and most of the world except America which is built by
"foreigners"). You do not find that level of integration that is
offered in US anywhere in the world. Here, if you're a foreigner, you
can be sure you won't get any kind of an award in a setting where Swiss
folks are also participating.
Dec 2009 -
-
Failed to clean the aura after meeting the Osteopath who sees patients
back to back with only a 10 minute break the entire day. Picked up all
the junk of the other patients he transmitted and had all sorts of
strange dreams. Best to go as first patient of day.
-
Her cousin pulled her eyebrows to be cute and it didn't grow back.
03 Dec 2009 - Bush vs. Obama in Europe
-
It's noticeable. During the Bush years you'd see dart boards with his
picture. Europeans seemed to hate him. They seem to love Obama. Saw a
poster of him in Superman outfit today in an office.
01 Dec 2009 - Another Fanatic Republican Disaster
-
"As governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee had a hand pardoning or
commuting many more prisoners than his three immediate predecessors
combined. Maurice Clemmons, the suspect in Sunday's slaying of four
Seattle-area police officers, was among them."
30 Nov 2009 - Psychological Evolution
-
Rain turned into snow. We have proof everywhere that the human
consciousness is as primitive as it was during the dark ages. Time
doesn't bring psychological evolution. Insight does.
30 Nov 2009 - More Bush Admin Screwups
-
"Osama bin Laden was "within the grasp" of US forces in late 2001 but
escaped because then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected calls
for reinforcements, a US Senate report says. Entitled "Tora Bora
revisited: how we failed to get Bin Laden and why it matters today,"
the report commissioned by Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, says Bin Laden expected to die and had
even written a will." (AFP)
Nov 2009 - Back in the USSR
- The Russian sisters were totally absorbed in the music. Such a nice boost.
Nov 2009 - We sent the stalker to Prison
- Helped friend get the stalker to go to prison.
- Swiss post has gone downhill. A A-post letter took 3 weeks to come from her grandmother! It's happened a lot lately.
Nov 2009 - New Articles on Beacon Power (BCON)
http://eastwickpress.com/news/2009/11/ground-breaking-in-stephentown-for-the-world’s-first-flywheel-based-frequency-regulation-plant/
http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_13873027
"You're
being very low-key about having probably the greatest technology
advance in present time," she told the Beacon Power executives. "As
time goes by, I think people will begin to understand what a huge thing
this is and what a great discovery it is."
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4337758.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10405069-54.html
Nov 2009 - Meditation
- By
the power of attention, meditation - sitting quietly without any
compulsion, control, and becoming - releases tension at levels that are
not apparent.
- Gender in German is completely arbitrary. A telephone is neutral, but a lamp is feminine, and a tree is masculine.
25 Nov 2009 - Old Friends
hello Reza,
long time no see.
You probably don't remember me by now. We met in a train from Boston to New York back in the early 2000s.
Since then I have bought your two CDs and also I became an avid reader of your not-so-frequent messages.
I have appreciated everything you have wanted to share with us, your fan base.
I have something I'd like to share with you to hopefully get your insight on it...
25 Nov 2009 - Useless Usenet
moved to:
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/useless_usenet.html
Nov 2009 - Backward Swiss Mentality Regarding Smoking
-
They allow people to smoke inside the government building in Switzerland. Guess the rest.,
Nov 2009 - Recharding in Sleep; Quality of Energy
-
The earth too, waking up from a winter sleep may feel a bit tired
first. Our batteries can recharge in sleep. A nap is a precious thing.
Not doing it from the fear of feeling tired afterwards makes no sense.
One may feel a bit tired afterwards but after that one feels calmer and
more energetic. Usually, the corrupt, drugged society that's constantly
buzzing itself with coffee and other drugs, thinks of being energetic
as being active. A powerful tiger may be very calm but burning with
dynamism and power. Power and calmness go together. It's all about
quality of energy. A person after these stupid "energy drinks" could
feel energetic from the caffeine, sugar, etc., or a person may
feel energized after an argument or when in conflict, but there's a
different quality of energy, angelic, otherness, or whatever one can
call it, that is being energized from correct, clean, intelligent,
holistic way of life without a shadow of conflict. Nerves must be
strong to handle that other kind of energy.
-
In our thought-dominated society thought plays a big role in
determining body's ways. We can give more space to body's own
intelligence.
Nov 2009 - Avoiding Smokers
-
You help smokers by not joining their party and not supporting them by
tolerating their nasty habit which also poisons passive smokers.
-
There are number of techniques to avoid shaking hands with smokers. It
may involve learning their ways and adjusting one's tactic accordingly.
Nov 2009 - Old People
-
Why do some old people turn out like this? It can't be natural. It must
be all the drugs they're given. And the animals they ate all their
life.
-
Some companies make so much money that cutting fat is not an
interest.Partly it's cultural. IBM continues to cut fat despite being
very successful.
Nov 2009 - Heart in California
- My heart is in California
- What's so special there?
- The light and the mind.
- People are anonymous - it's so big - you don't see people that much. That's what I don't like about big cities.
- That's what I don't like either.
-
There's something that's hard to explain. It's the new mind that
emerges from California (and other special places?) vs. the old mind
everywhere else........
Nov 2009 - Music Gives Life
-
He had an accident and was in a coma for a long time. His mother kept
playing the music which he loves and he came back !! Now he sings in a
choir.
- Talked w/ Bia - Southern Italian pronunciation is so musical and melodic it always melts my heart.
- "my friend who had also bulimia when she was younger has to operate her bowel now!
thanks again for saving my life!!"
i didn't do it
we did it
you did it
it did it
intelligence did it
inquiry did it
love did it
Nov 2009 - Gerry The Drummer
-
Trying to explain a vacuum cleaner to non English speaker was funny. carpet - then sucking air....
- Sarkar Ostovar in one episode of Samad refers to "Ostovar Ganjavi filmo dar biyar".
- The organic persimmons have been heavenly.
- I owe a lot to many teachers including psychology 101 teacher Mr. Courtland Holdgrafer. He changed many lives for the better.
- Some make sure they sit in the back of the bus like in the back of the class. The guy was stinking of pot.
- Sold the band on many grounds
- no ambition or competition but we do it for the love of it and everything else usually follows.
- 3-piece - lot of freedom - like the ride to fill in during solos - no
playing too loud/hard. He understands role of drummer.
- Beatles night packed.
- Angela is learning all these great bass lines.
- etc.
-
1357 Tir grandpa died. Then we went to Shomal. In Dec I went to Ithaca.
We went to pelage sherkat naft once (or maybe twice) but went to Farah
Abad every year...
Nov 2009 - Found Two Long Lost Friends
-
Faramrz is a professor in California. He recalls that I had boor-hair (light colored hair). At our
school desk in kharazmi school there were four of us: Ghobadi (he is now a doctor)
– Imani – me – and faramarz. I went with
bicycle to his house and we studied together – we went to chelokababe
ghahremani – he left iran
a year before revolution (sept 1977) – we were in avalle-nazari together. Persian
wife – kids 12 and 1. PhD in elec engineering / computer engineering from UCI
same years that I was there and we didn’t know each other – we both thought of
each other. So nice to find this missing piece of the puzzle.
- Reza is an inventor / top Intel engineer. 2 young kids. We lost touch many years ago.
This day is to be taken as a good omen (faale nik).
Both
these friends were found as result of finding a few papers from
pre-revolution days. The bulk of my papers and writings for the next 7
years were destroyed by my stupid cousin's family.
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/lost_treaure.html
Also found flyer for my band's concert before the revolution. http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/the_cheaggers.jpg
Sisi wrote: "My goodness! Reza my brother must have been Sherlock Holmes in his previous life!"
12 Nov 2009 - How I Miss California
-
I need the light of California - internal and external light to
recharge my lamps in this old world mentality of Europe. Kevin
was visiting from Costa Mesa today - I could feel California in his
aura. Remembered Miners' Oak while awake with a dry mouth and clogged
nose. Failing to take vit C following last cold and given how miserably
cold it is here was not a good idea. I was sick for a few hours
yesterday but seems that I won the battle. Dreamed of meeting some old
yoga center people - and we recollected mutual friends - Satya, Dave
Forsyth for is an incredibly good guy and good friend, Dhruva, Todd
Stoutenborough, & Tara, and others. Can't get a flight to LA last
time I checked but I can try SJC, SFO. SNA, etc. - will take a look.
Also other dreams of US -- all good.
- Called Jackie Pool Associates Limited after finding a letter from many years ago from Jackie Pool. She's not the same Jackie.
-
Chavroux cheese is so delicious. Gotto find the organic version. Ate it
to the health of Dr. Taghibeygi who had some at the Caspian
Nov 2009 - Letter to CEO of SBB
(updated http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/smoking-swiss-2008-2009.html)
Dr.
Streit leaves home at or before 6 a.m. and returns very late (tonight,
at 11:11) and she'll wake up again at 5:30 a.m. -- talk about
workaholics.
Nov 2009 - More Bad News About BPA
(updated http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/toxic_plastic_water_bottle_etc.html )
BPA
is used in a wide variety of consumer products, including some hard
plastic bottles and metal food or beverage cans. Several makers of baby
bottles recently said they had stopped using the chemical. Some 90
percent of the U.S. population carries detectable levels in the urine.
Scientists
are concerned that BPA exposure might harm the reproductive and nervous
systems, and possibly promote prostate and breast cancers. Last year, a
preliminary study linked BPA to possible risks for heart disease and
diabetes.
BPA is used in hard plastic bottles, etc. BPA exposure
has been linked to reproductive and nervous system problems, prostate
and breast cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and most recently to sex
problems (i.e., trouble achieving erections, difficulty ejaculating,
low sex drive, low satisfaction with sex).
The legality of BPA
is questioned by FDA's scientific advisers so the FDA is reviewing its
stance that trace amounts of BPA that leach out of bottles and food
containers are not dangerous and the US government has recently
announced new funding for BPA research. Already 90% of the US
population show BPA in their urines.
Nov 2009 - Insight & Thought
From discussion between K and Dr. Bohm - the following is a paraphrase:
Ordinarily thought runs on its own, like a machine on its own, it's not rational, and it's based on memory.
if we are completely rational there is total insight
when thought is the instrument of insight (insight uses thought),
then thought is not memory, it is not based on memory. Memory is used but thought is not based on it.
Nov 2009 - Bass
Went
to a friend's place on Landstr which is like a mini takhte-tavoos
street - a mini motorway - with constant back to back traffic several
hours a day. Got a mild headache and smelled the exhaust of the cars
from the living room -- a sour reminder of Tehran with its incessant
pollution.
I'm
convinced hard water makes people hard. Swiss are often stereotyped as
being dry people (which is not true) but I do believe their hard water
(high PPM) has an effect. Until recently, Tehran had one of the softest
waters in the world (lowest PPM) until it got ruined with over
population, over-migration from villages, and economic mismanagement.
Angie
is playing really nice bass -- she's diligent and intelligent and sits
down and learns all the bass lines, simple and complex, and plays them
very musically.
Nov 2009 - Why Don't I Speak German in Switzerland?
1. They don’t speak German in Switzerland.
2.
They speak Swiss which is a very thick dialect of German which is not
understood by Germans when they come to Switzerland.
3.
When Swiss kids first go to school they have to learn proper German
(“high German”) almost like a second language.
4.
I know many Swiss people who can not write a proper German letter. The
SwissGerman language is not accepted as official communication and to
write correct high-German is difficult for many.
5.
Most foreigners who learn German do not speak it well enough like a
native and are therefore always identifiable as foreigners. Many speak
German wrong and are just tolerated. They can say what they want but it
is grammatically wrong.
6. German grammar is a nightmare.
7. You have to spend hours learning if a laptop or a pen or a guitar is a male, female, or neutral.
8.
In Switzerland English is almost a national language. Many large Swiss
companies offer English as a appropriate customer service language –
even ahead of Italian and surely Romansch.
9.
All my jobs in Switzerland have been in English. English is the
official language of most large companies in Switzerland.
10. My friends want to practice their English.
11. Check out Mark Twain’s article: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/german.html
12.
Everybody speaks English in Switzerland. Even though who say “none”,
speak a little or understand and those who say “a little” speak a lot.
13.
Swiss German is spoken everywhere and in school they teach you
high-German which is a different language. Therefore the environment
does not support you in learning the language.
14.
I’d rather spend my time communicating with music which everyone
understands and loves than learning German grammar which is like
pulling teeth.
15. I went to school and university so many years that I dread doing homework.
16. I don’t have time for spending 2 hours a night doing homework.
17.
I am not talented with languages. I don’t know grammar of any language
well. My English and Farsi grammars are perfect for speaking and
writing but I don’t know the rules. Therefore to learn a new grammar is
more difficult.
18. I don’t like to do anything that I know I will not be able to do well.
19.
I speak Reza-Deutch – to know and learn a lot of vocabulary and to be
able to say and understand things which may not be as good as
Albanisch-Deutch but it’s something. Still, you’re a second-class
citizen unless you speak perfect Schwizer-Deutch and I believe that is
part of the historic reason behind these dialects: to make sure
foreigners are known – it goes back to our tribal roots.
20. The is just what comes to my mind now, I’m sure there are other factors involved.
8 Nov 2009 -
So
happy I found two other unwatched Samad movies. I've seen these all as
a kid but it's been a looong time. Parviz Sayyad is a genius in the
Samad role both as actor and director. I could watch it all day. Samad
Artist Mishavad is probably his worst movie in the Samad series. The
rest are awesome and this one too has some very funny moments but the
plot is weak. The series, made in early 70's depicts the pre-revolution
Iran with the Western influence including hippism.
Got a lot of complements for the cooking last night and got asked for the recipe but it was improvising....
Interesting
visitor: Someone from Isfahan has a folder on their D drive:
"/D:/amazingly%20beautiful%20kids%20-%20Rezamusic%20-%20Reza%20Ganjavi.mht
7 Nov 2009 -
- Subu, what's happened to you? :)
I disagree with several of his quotes and some are said by a million
other people too so are nothing special, "learn from others' mistakes"...
But the most I disagree with is number 5. I am friends with you and
there is not a trace of self interest in it. It's only because of love.
Keep it simple!
Subu wrote: "I agree with number (5) more than any of the others.:"
5)"There
is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship
without self-interests. This is the bitter truth." Chanakya
-----------------------
- "We all have the same amount of time, why is your time so short".
That
question came from someone who has a part-time job. I have two
professions. Normally people have one profession. I am working
full-time as a project manager, and also am a musician with a number of
projects, e.g., 10 scores on my desk that need attention.
-----------------------
- Man in bus - 5 meters away, stinks from cigarettes.
-
From the office you can see majestic chain of Alps. Their house is cold
like those icebergs we are looking at. There was a carrot market
with several types of carrots on sale : black, yellow, orange, white,
red...
-----------------------
They
complemented one's cooking -- that it's a nice autumn menu. Just
improvised. Secret to good cooking is empathy and imagination. The
potato dish was awesome -- had to insist on it getting cooked
more so it's a bit mushy. And found the right herb for it. And Hannah
went to the garden and got some fresh parsley!!
The stove was broken
- 1 is like 10
- so 10 must be like 100 :)
-----------------------
She called for consultation. She's dying to have a boyfriend she said. She said a long story of liking a guy but ...
Another friend contacted for consultation on her computer viruses.
-----------------------
Watched another two Samad movies -- absolutely fun and engaging. Played guitar meanwhile,
-----------------------
6 Nov 2009 -
- What is becoming of the music industry? I bought 7 new classical CD's today for less than $30!
-
Subway is in our town. $16 for a sub and the line is long. It must be
the American marketing and image that still can rise fever in Europe
despite Bush having ruined it.
Nov 2009 -
-
The use of perfect rhymes in rap is so boring. In every language, every song, sounds alike: just a bunch of perfect rhymes.
- Grandma used to say your dad has no-one. There are lots of friends but the father and I are one.
- Talked to Rahel - she's now married and has a kid. Annina has 3 kids. None of them had kids last time we talked :)
-
Called Yadi -- gratefulness for the guitar he bought me when I was 15
or so -- that I never forget his favor. Gratefulness is beautiful. It
brought beauty to his life. And for me it was only the expression of
truth, of love, of gratefulness. He said it's no problem doing the
interview as long as it's not political. If anyone ever objects you
say, listen to it. Mom also says it's no problem. A few people said it
could cause problem. The ability to reach to many hearts outweighs the
risk.
- If it wasn't for her i'd go to SZ. aside from emotional
aspects it's good for music. but fact is i haven't found a place i've
liked yet. i don't want to live b/w the railroad and the street.
-
United, US Airways, American, Delta: no mileage ticket available for
xmas period. I hate talking to automatic agents -- I sometimes just
press zeros until a real person answers.
2 Nov 2009 -
-
Had a lovely little 6 month old baby on my lap from Dietikon to Baden.
She was soooo sweet and friendly. Usually I have a laptop on my lap! I
love kids as long as it's other people's. Saw Antonio at work. How's
the baby? "Lots of sleepless nights".
- A good project manager
doesn't sit in an all day workout while tasks on the critical path have
not been initiated. Got nine balls rolling at once and got lots of
people talking with each other and went head-on with the questions and
problems and a lot got resolved. Great team work specially in
collaboration with the chief architect. Having been a system architect
myself as well as technical at all levels, it makes it so much easier
to understand address problems and relate and bring the best out
of people.
-
Good talk with Marcus from Brockwood -- he was surprised and happy --
long time no talk -- I don't forget old friends but don't get time to
call all the ones I want to -- called him because his email was
disconnected and at least gotto have old friends' emails.
- Got the mx3 compilation CD -- what a junk -- perfect collection of a lot of bad songs.
- Nice night walk.
1 Nov 2009 -
- Stefan knows Iceland very well. He said: Iceland is not as cold as Switzerland!!
- Got an invitation to appear on a global TV program.
- When I told her I missed her she melted in simplicity of love.
- With great wonder she said:I never need a terabyte in my WHOLE life.
- X talks in sleep and walks in sleep with eyes open. They say it's
dangerous to wake up a sleep walker.
-
$1 per 100 km electricity to charge it. Very nice looking car:
www.kamoo.ch but damn expensive($24,000) and it seems very unsafe for
accidents. I would buy an electric car if I ever buy a car again but
I'm happier not having it.
Oct 2009 -
- Talked to 16 year old about smoking hazard. She: you're a musician... how did she know?
-
Her mom's boyfriend left her. She was all sad for her mom. It's good to
care but we can burden so much. Can you think clearly? is your heart
good? Is the body healthy?
- Saw Markus, old friend, great
drummer -- we jammed years ago -- and he likes the material we play and
wants to jam. I am excited. "you play great guitar" he said.
- Made organic halvah/halvardeh -- http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/meatless-recipes-by-reza-ganjavi.html
- told her to get up and go buy it -- don't wait for the right time --
kids can't afford drinking more BPA contaminated water. Rescue them
from laziness.
-
Watched 4 Samad movies!! and rest of Love Story (played guitar
meanwhile). Parviz Sayyad (as Samad) was a genius and extremely
funny.... nice to see so many funny characters after so long:
ghooch-ali, siamak, ein-ollah(bagherzadeh)… and hear some funny
expressions such as "yaboo alafi"
Oct 2009 - mobile phone hazard
- If you use mobiles best to get one of these
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=headset+air+tube&spell=1&oi=spell
like:
http://www.healiohealth.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jnkrooprq
Oct 2009 - Saturday
-
Picked up the wallet that was lost on Wednesday on Saturday from the
Rail system. The agent yesterday said: it will not be here till Sunday,
I am 100% sure. I told her it would be here Saturday -- professional
systems analyst sometimes know systems better than people who are in
those systems :) -- I had gone to the ATM the day before losing it so I
had a lot of cash. All of it was given to me -- it gets taken out in
the L&F office in Bern and then is refunded off the cash register
of the ticket agent. Every item that is lost in Switzerland goes to the
Capital to a central place where they match it against loss reports. I
just had to pay a $10 fee for the found item, and a $5 fee for not
having had my ticket in my possession when I took the train home after
realizing the wallet was lost -- since I had a ticket for that trip but
it was in the lost wallet (which I now presented) the fee was only $5
-- otherwise it would have been a $40 fee plus the price of the ticket
despite it being a fast train which allows buying tickets on the train.
The slow trains which are checked in random have a $80 penalty vs. a
$40 fee on the fast trains. Actually I think the $40 fee is for not
having a ticket and not having money to pay for the ticket (with the
wallet gone I had nothing on me - no cash, cards, or ID). If you have
money and no ticket the fee is $10. It used to be $5 but recently
increased. The only people I've seen buying a ticket on trains are
first class business people whose companies pay or those who don't
care for money.
-
I already bought a green wallet -- Nadia found one on sale for 1/2
price. The red was too pinky. I had a red one before which was perfect
- never lost it. A black one is easier to lose.
-
Gave 2 bio pears to Marouni-man who later gave me a bag of free top
quality chestnuts. We don't speak each others' languages but affection
is a universal affair that is binds everything in the universe together.
-
Saturday buzz in the air -- natural old town car-free regions beat
American artificial shopping malls hands down. These markets here have
been around for over a 1000 years. You don't need a car to get to them,
and if you play music there no uniformed security guard comes to stop
you.
- Switzerland country side is an amazing postcard.
- For the first time, Haas will offer an undergraduate course in energy markets. http://ei.haas.berkeley.edu/
Oct 2009 - Credit Card Companies
Great customer service pays off
I
have been a customer of US Bank for many years,. I only have a credit
card by them. I had had credit cards by all major credit card companies
including US Bank, BOA, Chase, Amex, Citi, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, HSBC,
Barclay’s, Capital One, GE, MBNA (now BOA), Discover, Washington Mutual
(Providian), and several others.
Undoubtedly the worst credit
card companies ever, in my opinion are American Express and Bank of
America, and some others like Providian which is no longer in business.
MBNA was a great company until BOA took it over and ruined their
excellent customer service. Barclay’s was a new unit in the US and
their systems really sucked (e.g. even if your account was paid off it
took the automatic payment – something no other card company does)
which wasted a lot of my energy.
"Bank
of America Corp. plans to overhaul its credit-card business after the
unit posted five straight quarterly losses totaling $4.7 billion with
no sign of profit ahead." I am sure one reason for it is lousy customer
service.
Chase and Citi have excellent
customer service. One bank however, consistently proved its superior
customer service attitude and that was US Bank. Therefore I was happy
to read today:
• U.S. Banker magazine, published by
SourceMedia, has ranked U.S. Bancorp’s women leaders as the top banking
team in its annual “Most Powerful Women in Banking” issue in 2006,
2007, 2008 and 2009.
• U.S. Bancorp is ranked #1 by Institutional
Investor magazine in its 2009 "America's Most Shareholder-Friendly
Companies" for the Financial Institutions/Large-Cap category.
•
In July 2009, U.S. Bancorp was named the “Best Bank in the U.S.” by
Euromoney magazine as part of its 2009 Awards for Excellence.
•
U.S. Bank ranked first in the nation in the Privacy Trust Study for
Retail Banking conducted by the Ponemon Institute in 2006, 2007 and
2008.
Good Job US Bank -- if I need new banking service you can be sure I'll call on you.
The European card providers are far far behind the US
providers in terms of customer service which is often a foreign word in
much of Europe.
Also, Amazon.com has really good customer service. And guess what? They're extremely successful.
Oct 2009 - Wallet Found -- Viva Schweiz
-
Swiss have a great system of rail and associated services, e.g., lost
& found in trains. Wednesday my Wallet disappeared. I thought I had
left it in the train. The timing was: if found, it's sent to Bern
Thursday, they get it on Friday, I filed a report immediately. Today,
Friday, they emailed me that it's found !!! In more than one way I had a hint it would be found.
- 6 person family have 5 cars. This is the American way. Without a car they can't go anyway.
-
Been pushing her for a year to get away from her BPA - 7 - water
bottles. Finally this sunday maybe... at least for the health of kids .
-
Opera tip: It detects IP, and returns local language
search results from Google. To make the default Opera Google search
language English, change search setting to:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%s
- Made Pumpkin, ginger, mushroom tofu soup/stew. Very nice and hot. Got some organic pear bread today. Soooo nice.
- Thanked god for a great job.
-
Acronis 9, Acrobat 9 suck. Acronis totally changed the user interface.
Acrobat stopped allowing multiple files opened in one window.
Oct 2009 - Another case of prejudice against foreign renters in Switzerland?
-
Dr. Martin Huber is a coward. I wrote him a few times asking for an
explanation on why his agency lied to me. Of course, in my opinion the
matter was nothing but prejudice which is strong in Switzerland when it
comes to renting – in the old days they could tell you out right, I
don’t want to rent to you because you’re a foreigner but these days
it’s illegal to say that. So what I got was: your fax was not readable
(I have a confirmation that it went through just fine), that we did not
get your emails (this turned out to be a lie because on another
occasion they had a different declaration), that the attachment to your
email was missing (well it wasn’t – attachments don’t get lost just
like that and I have a hard time believing it given they already lied).
I guess they just thought, here’s a foreigner, we’ll just ignore his
application. Well, it’s against the law to do that but when I wrote to
Martin Huber he ignored my letter. What am I supposed to do? Pick a
legal fight with this idiot?
Related information:
ImmoCompleteService GmbH
Kantonsstr. 81, 8807 Freienbach
manuela.rhyner@icsgmbh.ch
(Manuela Rhyner is the one who lied and told different things to
different people about the same subject)
martin.huber@icsgmbh.ch
Oct 2009 - Food Therapy
-
Food is the best medicine. Some tofu miso brocolli carrott lots of
cayanne pepper and good oil and touch of apple cider vinegar already
makes me feel better.
- Angel brought natural nose spray. A walk also helped. It's damn cold outside.
-
PARIS – "Former French President Jacques Chirac has been ordered to
stand trial in an alleged corruption scandal dating back to his time as
Paris mayor — a case that caught up with him in retirement once he lost
the judicial immunity of France's highest office." Good. I never liked
Jacques Chirac -- remember the underwater nuclear tests? He's a
low-life weasel
29 Oct 2009 - Lost Wallet?
-
Lost wallet last night. If it's not stolen it will come back. That's
the Swiss greatness - - small, well-managed, and helpful people. But it
was hard a bit.
Swiss driver’s license
California driver’s license
Credit card - $
Credit card – CHF
Insurance card
Train ½ price card
Several unused train tickets
Customer cards from 2 healthfood shops and a record store
Postcard
Money
Guitar picks
Visit cards (they’ll have no problem finding me)
Phone card
-------------
Told
the Swiss card customer service agent: Let me give you a tip about
customer service: it is a very bad practice to tell a customer: "my
manager will tell you the same thing". Your manager has different
powers, is a manager for reasons you're not, etc.. He appreciated the
tip.
And
fact is, his manager came on line and got me what the
first guy said would not be possible, i.e., a print of recent
transactions, which for American cards is a 2 second matter but for my
Swiss card it's like pulling teeth. The junior agent had in mind that I
want a statement or that I wanted to dispute a charge, neither one was
true -- he was only seeing what he thought I wanted despite my not
saying a word to that effect. The manager listened and understood.
No charge for withdrawal (normally there is) she said, since
the wallet is lost or stolen – very nice lady, and miryam at healthfood shop
gave me ½ of a full card’s stamps for a lost card. We shared the cornbread with
her.
29 Oct 2009 - Night in Hell
Caught
a cold 2 nights ago after taking shower and window was open and it got
too damn cold. Last night was hell. Couldn't breath - kept waking
up - couldn't find the chemical decongestants which I probably threw
away after they screwed me up last time by their strong side effect.
Must have taken 20 grams of C since yesterday. Got worse at
ostheopath's office which was cold. I don't welcome the Swiss winter
and don't want another long streak of cold like last year.
Oct 2009 - Boring Flamenco
Flamenco
is so boring. After 5 minute it all sounds the same. Watched a DVD of 3
great flamenco players -- sooooooo boring and harmonically shallow (not
as bad as classical Persian music which is poor in harmony but strong
in rhythm and melody. In contrast Western music is boring rhythmically.
Flamenco seems to be just a matter of who can play more notes given a
boring standard chord progression.
Jon
Bon Jovi's voice is not pleasant - just like Springsteen and Phil
Collins whose color of voice I don't like - Springsteen is the best
among the three. I love his songwriting and musicianship - also Collins
- but just talking about voice.
Oct 2009 - Persian Empire
Noreen wrote:
"Iran is one of those places I have always wanted to go to in my search
for the ruins of antiquity.I tell people that the U>S. is a blink in
the eye of history -now the persian empire that was a culture."
Oct 2009 - Music
-
Gave lesson. Jammed with new drummer. Then we met Rosa by chance. Future unknowns.
- 4 tickets on a weekend between the two of them :)
- Baechliweg is the most dangerous road in Switzerland :)
- Music is magic. All you need is one good note!
Oct 2009 - Switzerland
-
It's always good to be in Switzerland, a country which is the dream of
the world in many ways but like a beautiful woman who becomes
unattractive when she becomes proud, any sense of arrogance backfires.
Swiss people are generally humble, kind, simple, and highly
appreciative of arts. It's highly admirable that this country cares so
much for the environment and it is possible to live a clean life free
from pollutants and toxic material.
- 2 spinach pies are not too much. Guessed Mirjam's name right.
-
I must have met the most beautiful policewoman in the world. What the
heck is she doing being a policewoman? She should be a Vogue model, a
goddess in a temple to be worshiped by lowly bumblebees, or in a museum
being adored by spectators, or just posing for Japanese tourists for
photos. What the heck is she doing arresting criminals, even going near
them, although it must be only in the utopia of Switzerland where I
guess crime is non existent except maybe by the likes of some big
bankers (check the news) that an angel like her can take on such a
rough job and probably never have to touch the likes of criminal that
the police in LA or Chicago have to deal with. Who said something
against the looks of Swiss German women? Today I saw the prettiest
goddess ever.
Ok, back to Earth Reza, I know nothing about
her, her personality, her ways of life, etc. etc., or even truly how
she looks like except her standing there making sure there are no
musicians in the train station or whatever, and her laughter. The
flower is smelled - it enriched the being - and we move on - there is
no residue of it continuing - no image that is sustained by thought to
make up desire - none.
Oct 2009 - Being a writer, Breeze of Now
- "How
could you read my email and write such a long answer in such a short time? do
you have a pre-made answer? it's not possible."
I don't have any pre-answers but words flow out as the mind sees. That's the virtue of being a writer: words are not blocked.
------------
Talk with a friend:
-
Lack of balance gives way to more imbalance until balance is regained.
Just as the notion J. Krishnamurti speaks about that fragmented
action breeds more fragmentation. Another factor is that old habits
could have ripples that come and one needs to be attentive to them, let
them tell their story, otherwise they'll come back. One way is to go
with the flow of habit, another way is to be in the present, quietly
fly with the breeze of now.
-------------
- I think many Swiss businesses take
advantage of the people's simplicity and trust and forgo of better
quality control knowing the degree of tolerance is high towards poor
products and services since traditionally this has been a society where
service provider has had the upper hand.
--------------
-
X spoke of crippling jealousy where she is not even allowed to see her
girlfriends because her boyfriend is so damn jealous (sounds more like
sickness).
19 Oct 2009 - Swiss Suicide
- Thought
has made the swiss society into a perfect one – every minute detail is planned
and configured. Same
thought wants to have it perfect inside, perfect happiness, perfect
relationships, a perfectly predictable life just like the predictable tram
system – but it doesn’t work – it fails again and again and this leads to
frustration and the high degree of suicide which is the case in this society.
Suicide a reaction that exhibits lack of tolerance in an extremely wealthy, comfortable
society where tolerance for discomfort, uncertainty, and unpredictability is
very low.
18 Oct 2009 - Iraqis' 4-year toll: 85,000
-
Congratulations Mr. George Bush (NOT). You F'd up. Mission Accomplished
(NOT). One idiot thrown a stone in a well, fifty wise men can't
get it out. Ruining the economy is another one of the nightmares of his
presidency. Now a lot of the same kind of folks who put him in the
office complain about high spending. Well, look who screwed it all up.
How much was wasted in the wrong war? Now Senate is saying Afghanistan
needs a boost -- where was Bush back then? Like Molla-Nasr-e-din
looking for his lost ring where there was light not where he dropped
it.
- One
study of re-published/recorded music it: mainly they boost it: 10 years later –
10 db higher - 20 years later 11 db
16 Oct 2009 - Flax + cottage cheese magic
Updated: misc_health.html
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/misc_health.html
-
Taxi: since you used the old name of the street I gave you a ride. He
is very cool guy. He said next time you see me in the street call out
the old name of the street.
- World news pronounced "costarica" as "caastarica" I guess because the guy was too shy !
- The
amount of love is breathtaking -- taxi driver - one eyes shoe shiner
from whom I hoped to buy something because to just give him money may
have been insulting... but didn't take the change back and he showed
gratitude with pure love and gesture of hand to chest which clearly
symbolizes heart action.
15 Oct 2009 - circa
17 year old astrophysicist from Latvia couldn't figure out how to tie a seat belt.
Lufthansa
meal was disgusting -- I ordered a VGML - it was a pumpkin polenta
which is fine but they were deep fried in old oil so it reeked.
Tried a face cream at the Duty Free shop which was 150 Euros !!
They
have not solved such a simple subject as airport taxi. Complete chaos
and mis-information and so on -- it's a real pity to get worked up over
such a trivial subject -- even though I expected some drama, but never
so had as I went to the airport taxi authority. Shame! The taxi driver
was just as pissed citing corruption -- that sometimes he has to wait
several hours to get assigned a passenger while there are plenty of
passengers because, he says, there are entities who own the Camarys who
have a grip on the passenger traffic...A real shame that in this day
and age the simple problem of airport taxi has not been solved and
according to the driver, is plagued with corruption. The taxi driver
said the boss said all letters of complaint that come to my desk
about Camary
and Corolla I tear up. He said he works 5 pm till 8 am and gets 1
service (20$) sometimes.
Not surprising that I had a nightmare about the frikin airport taxi.
Talked
to the assistant to the chief of airport. He was full of argument that
the airport taxi has nothing to do with the airport. Anyway they are
apparently aware of the chaos with the airport taxi and said it is
being addressed and will be solved in the next couple of months. Seeing
is believing.
14 Oct 2009 - Project Management is Fun
I
love project management because you get to bring the best out of
people, and your role to a large part is to facilitate communications
and to ask the right questions and strive to clarify questions ...
- Let's make the question clear.
- Do we have enough information to make a decision now?
-
Given the constraints what are the options?
Humor really helps dry meetings. It helps people loosen up, enjoy it more, and also perform better.
Motivating people, teaching them not to pass the buck (after
several roundrobin passing the buck he finally gave the answer), demanding
clarity of questions,
--------------
- How's your Italian Gwen?
- Terrible. how's your Italian?
- I love it.
--------------
- She's eating gelatin capsules - disgusting - it comes from
pigs and horses etc. - don't send me an email tomorrow saying Oink, instead of
good morning :) - she couldn't swallow the capsules today after reading the
ingredients.
- "the required annual storage build in the State of California was
estimated at 500 MW per year for the next decade. Of this total, 50 MW
would need to be fast storage in the form of flywheels and Li-ion
batteries and the 450 MW balance would be 4 to 6 hour storage in the
form of pumped hydro, compressed air, flow batteries and advanced lead
acid batteries. When the California numbers are scaled up to a national
level, they translate to billions in new annual demand for as far as
the eye can see. When you add in billions in new demand for
transportation, it's clear that the sector isn't even close to ready
for the near-term demands" Source:
http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2009/10/eesat_and_energy_storage_opportunities_on_the_smart_grid_1.html
13 Oct 2009
-
To have a bus is to have your own driver. Everyone else is lined up in
their cars hands on the wheel but I am free to look around and free to
write.
- They were traveling together - a couple and a single
woman - the tour guide became interested in the single woman. The
married woman got so jealous she started scorning the single woman,
comparing herself with her that married woman is taller and thinner and
after the trip broke up their long friendship. Another instance of how
crippling jealousy which is rooted on comparison and competition is.
-
Elegant lady walks in first class train with a piece of processed
dead-animal in a bun that is so stinky it makes you get up and go.
Another guy later comes in stinking from cigarettes. If these people
stink so much from what they consume, I don't want to imagine the inner
state.
12 Oct 2009 - Beatles Remastered CD's
"One of the reasons I like you Beat, aside from the fact that you're a
great human, a wonderful sound engineer, an audio-guru, a patient man,
a kind man, and a wise scientist, is that your name is the first four
letters of the best thing that ever happened to music: BEAT-LES :)
Anyway, I listened to another Beatles remastered album: HDN. The
opening chord had plenty of high pitched disturbing tones. The entire
album felt over-boosted, over-thin, over-eq'd on the high ends. I have
to listen on a nice system again to judge it but so far I like the
classic sounds better. The girl at Jecklin said she's heard this from
many people -- that old things should be left old. Of course I'd be
interested to hear your take if you get to have a listen...
Kind Regards
Reza"
11 Oct 2009 - Airplane
-
Heard the surprise sound of airplane going by - - it took me to
grandpa's bed sleeping on the rooftop of their house in Tehran - the
peace and love that was and is.
-
The dolllar is getting killed because of US's economic weakness which
is mainly due to Bush/Cheney's absolutely terrible leadership:
Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Banks Shift Reserves (Update3)
-
White House Communications Director Anita Dunn told CNN's "Reliable
Sources" on Sunday that Fox News operates "almost as either the
research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party."... The
president avoided Fox when he visited five Sunday morning news shows
last month, and a recent White House blog post accused Beck of lying.
10 Oct 2009 - John Lennon
- A
peace monument designed by artist Yoko Ono, the
widow of John Lennon, was installed in the capital of Iceland on
Tuesday, to mark what would have been the late Beatle's 67th birthday.
The
imagine Peace Tower was lit in Reykjavik to mark the late
Beatle's 67th birthday. The Imagine Peace
Tower is engraved with the message "Imagine Peace" in 24 languages and
is filled with about 500,000 capsules containing messages of hope sent
by people around the world. The monument's cylindrical
illuminated base silhouettes the tower and sends a "peace light"
skyward from the world's northernmost capital... The monument will
light up annually on New Year's Eve and also from Oct. 9 through Dec.
8, the anniversary of the death of Lennon, who was shot dead in New
York City on Dec. 8, 1980, as he and Ono returned home from a recording
session....
(excerpts from The Japan Times Online)
-
The International Lunar Geographic Society announced today that a
crater on the Moon has been renamed to honor John Lennon today, his
birthday. The crater, located in the Moon’s Lacus Somniorum
(“Lake of Dreams”) district, has been named the John Lennon Peace
Crater. It measures approximately six kilometers in diameter, with a
depth of about 990 meters.
10 Oct 2009 - Rosa's Out
-
Rosa is officially out of the band today. We wish her luck. We already have some hot drummers lined up.
- Rosa's out of the band but I
left the doors open for us to collaborate again and suggested if she
decides to play the drums seriously to pick up our repertoire. I still
like the 3 of ours configuration but for now it is over. We will now
gather our energies and don't have to spend any energy on anything but
musical direction of the band. Christina had the best cheese -
chocolate tasting amazing Swiss cheese. There is love, peace and
friendship. We got the stuff on Oct 11.
10 Oct 2009 - Quiet Saturday
-
Baden senior chestnut man who will never touch a computer in his life
gave one free chestnuts again. Lorenzo - we don't speak each others'
language but friendship knows no language; friendship doesn't require
words. He's an old man with arthritis and bunions in his feet and hands
-- he works barefeet cooking his Tessin chestnuts in three different
grills. Heavy rains gave way to clarity during the last 1/2 hour of
markets being open. Made a trip to the healthfood store for some
over-priced reduced salt Tamari, an over-priced piece of fruit
bread, and tofu. Organic raspberries was all I needed from Coop, and
then some stuff at Migros -- the godly organic mango and obvious
grapefruit which the girl thought were oranges - "they're bananas :)".
Suffering is in the background and only hidden by activity -- the
sorrow of aging, of disease, of fanaticism which so vehemently rules so
many people. But it is my role, and all I can do, is to end that
suffering and sorrow in my life -- first, not to let the brain fall
into the human-brain-habit of having a sorrow problem, and secondly,
living intelligently enough to end that which is not love. We can go on
pursuing various things and cover the nothingness, but creativity seems
to be the important thing that stands out -- and with creation comes
joy and benediction.
- Very enjoyable video talk w/ Shadi, Tara & Rusteen.
10 Oct 2009 - Environmental Music
Kudos to IGSU and everyone who contributed for the efforts to raise
awareness of this important environmental challenge that faces our
societies and planet.
My little contribution to it is "Let's Keep Our Planet Clean" :
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/Lets_Keep_Our_Planet_Clean.html
The song had a lot of interest already:
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/Comments_Lets_Keep_Our_Planet_Clean.html
Some
people think it should be translated to different languages and because
it's groovy, melodic, and harmonic, it may attract a large distribution
network... who knows... I did it for the love of it and to support this
important cause.
This event has motivated me to pursue a new genre
of music which I believe will be more and more popular: Environmental
Pop. Our planet needs all the help it can get. And beautiful music, not
trashy music, will contribute positively.
09 Oct 2009 - Kaspersky Anti Virus
After
waiting 17 days for an answer from tech support I called -- I don't
have time to wait 20 minutes to get a call answered. The sales person
sent me to a customer service line which she said takes longer than the
tech support line. Fed up, I called the President. He personally
answered. Stephen Orenberg. He said he'll have someone call me right
back :)
08 Oct 2009 -
- 20 years ago I took Pat to Filenet. She still works there! Love of old-friendship. Also located Steve.
-
In Zurich Main Station there was a big loud smoked filled tent for
October Fest -- just another excuse to get drunk for some folks.
- Frita the wheelchair lady of Zurich Main Station wants a Persian Newspaper.
-
In American many people are not taught manners that to say hello and
goodbye is just basic human respect. Try calling Creative Artists
Agency in Los Angeles. The rudest operator: No hello. No
goodbye.
-
He said in the last 6 months he's learned to like foreigners because
he's learned from them. The other agency was a beautiful Turkish lady. She said they put
her in charge of difficult owners because her oriental style makes it easier for
her than locals who have a more stiff approach. Nice apartment too bad it
stincked from cigarettes. Wrote more but lost it in paste buffer.
07 Oct 2009 -
-
Got a lot of response from Filenet reunion pictures. S. is such a
sweetheart: "Thank you so much, it is great to see your pix,
FileNET
reunion pix, and even better hear your music again and read some of
your
writings. Great person, great info!"
- Someone in Ardabil searched the web for “imeil for reza” and landed on my site :)
-
Certain Swiss-German accents can have such an unfriendly,
confrontational melody. Or maybe when speaking English it sounds like
that. Of course, it's only a matter of perception as the person
speaking it is very friendly. Just the intonation...
-
In General Swiss-Germans are very friendly and wonderful people. In
general I have not seen so many unfriendly people in my life in certain
Swiss-French speaking places -- Geneva is the capital of unfriendly
grumpy people (there are many exceptions) and Lausanne is next.
06 Oct 2009 - MISC
These journal entry dates are often not accurate but approximate.
Talked
to old friend. His time is totally consumed with his kid who's 11 -
piano - football - etc. -- I often hear this complaint from parents -
and the more kids you have the less time in this modern world where
kids' process of becoming makes their schedules more busy than CEO's.
-
When we played football as kids we didn't have to be driven somewhere
at a set time. We just played in the ally and had a ton of fun.
05 Oct 2009 - Programming Joy, Country Music
-
It's been a long time since I was a professional programmer. A year or
so ago I rolled up my sleeves and wrote some cool programs for managing
my own databases. Simple powerful fast code. Running these to do my
utility work gives me so much joy -- computer programming is so much
fun and I was really good at it -- a hotshot, they used to call me.
-
In terms of genre sales, the Latin category leads the decliners so far
this year, with a 35.1% slump to 12.6 million units. Rock sales dropped
11.5% to 88.1 million units. R&B (which includes rap) fell 6.6% to
51.4 million units. Country was off just 1.7% to 30.3 million units.
04 Oct 2009 -
- She slept like a baby at parents' home -- 23 to 9 without waking up!
Own perfume replenished. This quality of energy is to be cherished.
-
The music exhibition was good. Leaving I thought Michael, I have not
seen yet and as the thought finished Michael showed up. Contacted Angie
and she said she just called me. There's synchronisity.
04 Oct 2009 - Another Gathering of Idiots
Stephen Moore of Wall Street Journal is talking at a gathering of the
fools and they’re blaming the high unemployment on Obama and completely
forgetting that it was Bush’s screwups that put the US and the rest of
the world’s economy in a hole.
Just to prove he is a complete
idiot he said “global warming is the greatest hoax of the last
century”. Fools remain fools and their Fox News and Wall Street Journal
will make them feel good.
Now he’s complaining about the
national debt. How about all the money Bush wasted in the wrong war? I
better turn off this crap on VOA.
He's
trying to describe debt using a basketball players' salary. I guess
this is the only way his constituents would understand it.
These
same fools put Bush in the office who screwed them up but since they're
still fools they now believe it's all the fault of the present
administration.
------
Another
idiot is on, Phil Kerpen… he’s complaining that the government took
over banks and AIG. Well it had to because Bush screwed up the US and
world economy. Now he’s trying to cause fear of Green jobs and
Cap&Trade with lousy logic which only suits to other idiots who
fail to see it was the idiot they put in office that screwed things up
and that the Green Jobs will do the economy good, and that global
warming is not a myth.
02 Oct 2009 -
- Almost a 1000 visitors to the new song's page.
-
Fr. Dr. Peter made my day. She’s a pharmacist but knows a lot and is
wise. The floaters are dead veins – she said they’ll go away after 2
months
- Also I was happy to hear from my computer shop friend a webcam of 1.3 is good enough for video calls.
01 Oct 2009 -- My New Song: Let's Keep Our Planet Clean
To hear the new song please click here
To see listener comments about the new song please click here
- Did a mailing about the song. Before going to sleep had 600 visitors.
01 Oct 2009 - Law of Attraction: Cheap Pop-Psychology Nonsense.
S wrote:
> Do you know any thing about Abraham Hicks? Have you heard of him?
didn't
remember the name but i know the book / video and am very familiar with
the message which is essentially cheap-pop-psychology stuff which is
rooted around self-centered-ness, will, ego, and the root of it:
thought.
There is a totally different movement most don't know
about but most feel at some points during their life and day -- that
other movement can not co-exist with a crystallized ego, self...
Law
of attraction is true in some sense but not in the sense I understood
this book/film. You can repeat a 100 times a day "a big house by the
sea". You may get it but it has nothing to do with the repetition and 9
out of 10 will not get it because not only repetition only makes the
mind dull, but and power of the self is very very limited. The other
movement can only come when the way of the self comes to an end --
which is quietness of thought, comes out of order not force, and
requires observation of what one is, in relationship...
01 Oct 2009
Disgusting smoking smokers sit next to you on train
Woman inhales a puff and exhales it in the train.
Man goes in train’s toilette and smokes in there.
Swiss
road signs make no sense. A 2 lane 2 way road (one way each way) is
divided by a broken white line!! And 2 lanes going same direction are
also divided by broken white line. The proper way to do it is to divide
the opposite traffic by a solid double line with a broken inner line to
indicate passing zone.
29 Sep 2009 -- Finished Song: "Let's Keep Our Planet Clean"
- From vision to reality. Less than a week ago a melody sparked in my head in the train at night. Now it's recorded.
-
Back to Luzern at night for a last touch up edit to:
bring guitars up
take backup vocal down and fade in or out or eliminate (deleted backing vocals)
fade-in eggshake that comes in middle of verse (eliminated it until the drum roll)
lower one of the guitars during a connection phrase (done)
So
most of the time on this recording project was spent on technical
issues which Beat solved, regarding for example, synchronizing tracks
on Wavelab vs. recording on multi-track device, and secondly to take
out unwanted parts which were performed by a friend who is not
professional, The lesson is, if you want a professional sound use
experienced players. But now the record sounds good. We are quite happy
with it. It was a joy working with Beat as usual. He's a philosopher
and our minds, hearts and ears are very much in sync.
This was a
fast job. Two takes or so on the vocals. Could do everything better but
we have a deadline and between writing the song and recording it in
such a short time, I am very happy with our performance.
27 Sep 2009 -- Marathon Studio
-
Spent over 12 hours in studio -- job done -- it seemed mission
impossible -- form the conception of the song 3.5 days ago to complete
recording. Of course Beatles have done a lot faster recordings but I'm
quite happy with this progress -- Dr. Beat Hohmann did amazing work.
He's patient, very technically competent, and has a great ear. We
worked hard but had a lot of fun
-
Recorded on a microphone built based on Beat's specification -- there
are 2 of these in the world before they're commercialized.
- I did:
classical guitar
steel string guitar
drum
lead guitar
backup vocal
as well as writing the lyrics, melody, chords, and arrangement.
- Everyone who's heard the song says they like it a lot.
26 Sep 2009 -- New Song
-
Three nights ago in train idea of a new song's motif ignited in my
head. Tomorrow, I'm recording it. Will be doing the lyrics on the way
to the studio.
-
Marouni man was out for the first day of the season. He brings
the Winter. We're good friends and understand our Italian/Persian
warmth that is not so common among Swiss Germans. We don't speak each
other's languages but love needs no words. He gives a big bag of
marouni's without weighing it over the amount I paid for as an act of
friendship. He ran out -- I was his last customer and told the rest
it's sold out!
26 Sep 2009 --
- When he was 5 his father was assassinated. He had a 1 year
old sister. Mother never got over it. She died when he became 18. if she was
alive she’d have him study engineering or something but he liked music and so
he pursued music. He’s an amazing musician.
-
Saw Berna after 10 years which seemed like yesterday. What an active
day but as of 16:30 everything is done and the rest of the day will be
dedicated to a nap-a walk-and mainly finishing the song I have to
record tomorrow. The lyrics at 30% done. The music, 80% but everybody
who's heard it so far has liked it.
- Borrowing car today -- it's so easy but I hate the whole subject of cars -- it is so stressful and stupid.
-
With ear plugs and windows closed still got woken up by the flipping
church bells that rang at 3-digit decibels. Ok, we heard you for 20
minutes. Now what?
- He said it’s been hard financially to be a musician despite teaching and
performing He has kids but finds them to be too much
work – it’s almost a full time commitment – to take them here and there …
25 Sep 2009 -- Polluted Waters
Woke up with the worst nightmare which I know the reason for --
polluted energy. I try to be careful but it's the friend of friend whom
I had not expected to bring so much crap into the energy field. I can
not tell anyone how to live but I can at least ask to know when such a
deep mix happens so I can wait till the polluted water passes away.
-
Woke up again with another nightmare. No doubt in my mind that the
system has some astral 'malware' which I could not clean while sleeping
and need to get 'debugged' today. It came from a friend of friend who is into this astral crap and
is also not careful about what she takes in -- she had close contact with friend I had close contact with. All my life I
tried to stay away from the astral field and now it comes pouring in my
backyard. Now I know and can close this loophole.
-
Also neighbour is back -- a smoker -- and he didn't bring the purest
energy back. Smokers and astral field are always related because of the
effect of narcotics on chakras which according to Leadbeater reverses
their movement. Myth or truth, I do not know but empirically, the
correlation is undeniable.
25 Sep 2009 -- Beatles Harmonies
-
Angela is singing Beatles harmonies like a bird. It soothes my heart.
-
WASHINGTON – New satellite information shows that ice sheets in
Greenland and western Antarctica continue to shrink faster than
scientists thought and in some places are already in runaway melt mode.
24 Sep 2009 -- Special Energy
-
That other type of energy is precious. It may come with right living.
Cows are to be guarded. Some people are so quick in mixing their energy
at a core level with others without really knowing how another lives.
We can not take it for granted. When we do something changes. Suddenly
the stresses of another's ways of living whether it be stupid diet or
lack of inner clarity, jealousies, etc., effect the person they mix with. In a way
it's a subject of responsibility.
-
She went arm in arm, hand in hand, with another woman who happens to be
a lesbian, in the forest after midnight. She's not a lesbian and views
it as just friendship. For the lesbian woman, she's also getting a kick
out of the physical contact. So be it. But the lesbian woman was in
smoky bars regularly befriending or at least hanging out with lowest
common denominator of peoples -- drug dealers and so on. She's now got
a degree in healing, which means nothing as far as I'm concerned aside
from showing an interest in the subject which can possibly not be
guaranteed or degreed. I've seen far too many out of tune people who
tried to be healers. Smokers who tried to help others quit but couldn't
themselves -- good example and there are many more. The commercial
world made such schools and promotes this as another occupation.
-
Anytime we get mixed with another by extended hand holding or similar
contact, we should just expect that their "stuff" will come
across.
-
Some entities love to suck angelic energy. It's comforting for them.
They suck on another's clarity, tolerance, beauty, wisdom, and straight
road -- things they don't have.
24 Sep 2009 -- No wonder I never drink Green Tea, Rooibos, Black Tea, Coffee, White Tea, Oolang Tea
-
Had a 1/2 cup of green tea -- I never drink it -- thought, ok, it has
anti-oxidant. Flok the anti-oxidants. I was wired -- like drinking a
cup of coffee. And sure enough, in the afternoon I was tired as hell --
hell is the right word -- my energy was dragging like I've not
experienced for years. No thanks. I'd rather live without caffeine and
similar stimulants.
24 Sep 2009 -- New Song
-
Last night new song appeared in my mind on the train back. It developed
and the verse and chorus were solid by the time I got home.
- Got Hindi and Italian lyrics. German French and Polish will come. Farsi easy. Tried Chinese -- impossible to pronounce.
23 Sep 2009 --
-
Zurich Main Station is like filthy bar: full of cigarette smoke -- what
a pity for commuters to have to get exposed to such poison and out of
control sympathy for Big Tobacco.
- Healthfood store exposed samples of very fancy tofu. Guess what? They all had sugar! Even in tofu!
- Man in train chowing down a disgustingly smelling kabob sandwich (cooked dead animal) in first class.
23 Sep 2009 -- City Buzz
-
There's a very cool buzz in some special big cities like Tehran and New
York. Many other big cities don't have that buzz. Villagers in quiet
countries like in Switzerland have no idea how much fun that buzz can
be :)
-
Great talk with Dr. Beat Hohman my old friend and acoustics guru
yesterday. Dedicated recorder is more reliable than computer recording
of a live event. Chances of mis-haps with a computer given a live
performance that can't be repeated is higher than with dedicated
recorder.
-
Byrne: SEC Enforcement Division Takes Orders from Short-Sellers
"You know how it turned out that Bernie Madoff could basically call the
SEC and get them to stop an investigation. It's also turned out that
there are short sellers who can pick up the phone and get the SEC to
start an investigation."
22 Sep 2009 -- Beatles & Buddy Holly
-
I'm willing to bet The Beatles got an idea about their name from "Buddy
Holly And The Crickets". They liked Buddy Holly who was extremely
talented. Crickets - Beatles - no surprise !!
-
Organic Raspberries soaked in organic orange juice -- yum yum.
- "I am not a warm gipfeli" :)
21 Sep 2009 --
-
Met Shakiba after years. It was good seeing him. Coming from Germany,
he was appalled at how smokers are out of control in Switzerland --
everywhere you go you get attacked by second-hand smoke.
20 Sep 2009 -- The Stream
-
"When the Body dies, the desires, the anxieties, the tragedies,
attachments and the misery go on. They go on to contributing to the
vast common stream of consciousness in which mankind lives. Each of us
is a representative of the whole stream ... "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFPaf72DWMA
19 Sep 2009 --
-
An almost blind man was trying to find his way. Held his arm. He said
he could not find his way because the floor of the train station was
too dark. Once he saw the light board he was ok. There was affection of sorrow.
18 Sep 2009 --
-
Had a malware attack which AVG did not catch. The malware broke into
FileZilla unencrypted password file, sent them to the evil hackers who
are just out to disturb other people to get a kick out of it; a
program of the hacker broke into my server and put a script in all
index files.
- Got the ftp passwords changed, dumped AVG and
FileZilla in favor of two better programs (WinSCP to which not saving
passwords comes naturally) and Kaspersky anti-virus which is the best I
could find (Bitdefender already had a problem on the free trial, and
Norton I developed a sour taste since just before renewal I used to get
viruses in email that I didn't get all year).
- Verified my other FTP enabled tool, Kompozer does indeed encrypt passwords.
-
Tried other malware removal tools and various utilities but finally
settled for the above and want to end the day free from this subject.
- Always good to search for coupons before purchase. Found one and it worked and bought the software for 3-years.
- Also had to repair MDAC which got corrupted. Found a quick way to do it that the tech support group didn't think of.
17 Sep 2009 --
-
CS visited an Arabic country. He said the local women are completely
covered – not even their eyes or a burga – it looks completely covered.
They go through normal passport control completely covered !!
-
Alex wants to go to California. Like most Swiss youngsters, visiting
America is a dream – it surely was mine as a youngster. We talked about
the weather… there has to be sunshine inside. It’s true the Swiss
winter is miserable but one could live in a sunny area and have snow
and cloud inside or live anywhere and have sunshine inside, in one’s
heart, mind, and body.
16 Sep 2009 -- They Don't Talk German In Switzerland
-
German lady, been in Switzerland 2 years, still only understand Swiss German 50% and can't talk it !!
- Stupid doctor -- I knew more than him.
-
Good talk with R. They had an unusually warm summer in Alaska but the
glacier is still there. He said having one metal crown is ok. More than
one could set off a current.
15 Sep 2009 --
-
Switzerland only has two seasons: winter and winter :)
-
Found a punch card in my old notes. Most computer users today have no
idea what a punch card is -- we had to program computers with punch
cards :)
14 Sep 2009 -- New Letter to SEC
-
This one just came out spontaneously yesterday:
http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-08-09/s70809-4590.htm
14 Sep 2009 -- Sugar's Ugly Aftertaste
-
The toast at friend's, although organic and whole-wheat, had sugar
which we realized later. Funny that all night there was the ugly
aftertaste of sugar in the mouth.
13 Sep 2009 -- Ugliness of Competition
- NEW YORK - Serena Williams walked toward the line judge, screaming,
cursing and shaking a ball in the official's direction, threatening to
"shove it down" her throat.
-
Competition is destructive in sports, music, arts, etc.. In arts
specially it is frivolous because it's based on measurement which is
never accurate.
13 Sep 2009 -- Animal Abuse
- There was a program on cattle farming in the US. Lots of cruelty.
-
Poor calves have their balls cutoff in industrial cattle farming.
"testosterone from the testicles makes the bulls grow big and strong.
you castrate them so the muscles will stay weak and the steak will be
tender and not all thick and coarse. the animals are less aggressive,
and instead of spend time fighting for procreate , they eat and gain
weight.".. their meat is supposed to be better for dead-animal-eating
consumers. How disgusting.
13 Sep 2009 -- Funny & Sad Stories
-
Updated http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/misc_jokes_funny_sad_stories.html
12 Sep 2009 -- Another Crap Animation Film: Mary and Max & others
-
The cinema was packed but I walked out after 20 minutes of that crap.
Most of these movies I've seen at Fantoche festival are "thought
diarrhea" ... the computer allows creating anything visual but
unfortunately the level of creativity has been very low and and like
most of the decadence in the human society they either cherish sorrow,
are caught in lots of words, or resort to sensory distortion or
violence to create stimulation. Friend who stayed till the end left
crying because the film was so sad -- sad about things we already know.
-
Saw another crap movie (walked out) Genius Party Beyond. And a short
collection of Swiss animation movies -- one worse than another. The
world-wide collections suck 90% let alone a small regional one. This
whole line of work, animation, is just like music and movies business
in that 90% of what's produced is crap.
12 Sep 2009 -- Imposition of Deafening Church Bells:
-
At some 2000 Decibals these church bells go off for 15 flipping minutes
at 16:45 on Saturday imposing their stale ideology on people of land.
12 Sep 2009 -- Switzerland: Hostage of Big Tobacco
-
Everywhere you go, indoors and outdoors, you have no choice but to get
exposed to second hand smoke. This flippin cinema, Trafo, is supposedly
non-smoking, but the cancer-inviters stupid smokers occupy the front
entrance and the smoke blows right in and the entire hall stinks from
second hand smoke.
Outside
in the restaurant last night, outdoors, you had smoke blowing in your
face by flipping chain smokers that sat in every adjacent table. The
girl who was with us asked if we mind if she smokes. “I will cry”.
12 Sep 2009 -- HSBC Sucks
-
The manager apologized for the misinformation and wrong information
they gave me. They're so clueless. With a 10k credit limit who needs
them when you have much better companies on your side with world-class
service. Anyway, had to escalate it to the executive resolutions and a
guy by name of Guillermo took care of it immediately. It's never
encouraging when floor managers are not good enough to take care of
things and you have to escalate it to the executive office. Anyway,
done deal, but it wasted 1 hour of my life.
11 Sep 2009 -- More Animation - -- Fantoche
-
Unbelievable how many crappy nonsense animation movies people make --
such violence and stupid stories and very disturbing pictures - like
this guy who made a 5 minute movie in which the screen constantly
vibrated and killed the eyes. It just reflects the sick prevalent sick
aspects of society.
- One good movie was "Lost and found" by Philip Hunt. Very enjoyable
10 Sep 2009 -- Prejudice
- Swiss friend returned broken bowl guaranteed against breaking - no questions asked - it was replaced.
-
I took the same one in -- no, we can't do it - blah blah - I said,
look, my Swiss friend had the same case and you did it immediately.
When I said this it had an impact on her -- kind of like, realizing her
own stupidity, and she refunded the money. False advertising is not a
big deal here -- I've seen it several times.
- Friend said, the
reason is foreigners commit 99% of crimes in Switzerland. BULL!!
According to the government's own statistic the number is "44% of the
persons convicted of criminal offences are foreigners, half of whom do
not even officially live in Switzerland." (Source:
switzerland.isyours.com)
- Misleading statistics: "The Federal
Police Office has admitted that the figures do not give the full
picture because they refer to suspects, not convictions." (source:
swissinfo.ch).
- The reason for the higher % of foreigners in Swiss prisons than Swiss people is only because:
"Researchers
at Bern University concluded that foreigners are seen as "flight risks"
by authorities and are therefore more likely to be sent to prison than
local criminals" (source: swissinfo.ch)
-
Now the proposal a friend made was that the prejudice is due to 99%
crime rate of foreigners which turns out to be false (the rate
exaggerated by over 100%) but regardless prejudice has much deeper
roots than 40 some percent crime rate of foreigners. The roots of
prejudice are in the working of thought itself -- in identification,
desire for psychological security, belonging, and the deep rooted
animalistic conditioning of tribalism. A human can recognize and get
free these conditionings through attention, learning.
10 Sep 2009 -- Why Are There So Many Corrupt Republicans?
-
The list just goes on and on and one. Every once in a while there's
another Republican lawmaker or person of power that's caught e.g.
soliciting sex in men's toilette, etc etc etc
- In their latest
contribution to the party of George W. Bush, the dumbest and worst
president in the history of the wold, Mike Duvall Republican quits
after spanking boast is caught on tape.
09 Sep 2009 -- Triplets & On Makeup
-
The four-year-old triplets were soooo cute. They wore the same outdoor
adventure outfit of the highest quality only children in these rich
countries can afford to know. The funniest part was their Swiss German
speaking with their childish accent and every other word being a "kh"
deep-throat distortion accent.
-
I have nothing against makeup.
It can be beautiful. But there are certain societal conditions that are
merely assumed by the makeup-wearer: for example, that contrast that
helps bring the eyes "out" is good. How many paintings by the greatest
of masters I can think of in which the eyes only had their natural
level and were out or in only as far as nature intended for the given
complexion. Mona Lisa did not wear makeup and it is still the most
visited painting in the most famous museum in the world. Da Vinci, the
one of the greatest painters of all time whose energy still
reverberates in Europe vs. the dark shadow of fanaticism, could have
easily added makeup to Mona Lisa, but the chose the natural
shades.
Those
who don't have a natural strong contrast of dark eyelashes and light
eyes for example, can still be very beautiful. I personally find the
lack of such stark contrast sometimes very beautiful, gentle, angelic.
But the world and its corrupt ways of conformity and mediocrity
cherishes stark contrast, Las Vegas style glimmer of eyes popping out
accentuated. Yes, that can be beautiful, but that natural state of not
such heavy contrast is, has, in my opinion, a quality of purity and
beauty which the world doesn't know that often -- it's not normal --
Las Vegas glamor is the way of the world and of course sexual
attraction is at the root of it, so those looking for a partner use it
more.
- She remembered meeting one on the train 3-years ago. I remembered her face.
09 Sep 2009 -- Drum Machines Suck
- I will not play live with a drum machine.
- Iran, holder of the world’s second-largest oil reserves, must
import gasoline because it lacks sufficient refining capacity to supply
motorists. Bloomberg
- Met brother of current world record holder in weight lifting.
He showed me a stage color changer which I ended up buying from another
vendor because of lower price. I had forgotten who his brother was and
didn't give the acquaintance much weight which he must have found
surprising because he pulled out his brother’s card from his wallet to
prove it. I guess he’s used to people doing summersaults when they hear
that but I was so untaken by it.
08 Sep 2009 --
-
Saw animation movie "Up". The first
20 minutes were great and then it was downhill -- perfect demo of loose
thought jumping from branch to branch. Waste of time but because of
friend just stayed.
- New Beatles remastered works are released this week. Looking forward to it.
-
Sent letter to x outlining what it'll take to stay in the band. The
ungratefulness of many young Swiss kills me -- it is so common --
everything is so provided for them in this ultra-rich country. Several
people have commented that their kids have everything they need and so
lack motivation. In this relationship that may not be the case -- but
whatever it is we were waiting for this for over a year and now we need
to see results and if not we find a different solution. I like the idea
of a percussionist who can sing. Also to have freelancers -- our friend
can be one too but only with the right attitude. Attitude is everything
-- life is too short to do anything half-hearted and unenthusiastic.
Communication is golden and many young people suck at it.
07 Sep 2009 -- Another lying Swiss Realstate Agency
-
When you're a foreigner many of
these agencies don't get your email and your faxes are unreadable until
they find a Swiss or worst case German person to rent to. This is a
hard fact of life in Switzerland. It's illegal. We caught once agency
doing it to someone and we gave them hell -- with logic law and reason
and not their way which is lies and vulgarity -- until they worked with
my friend and accepted that she leaves early. This time, a different
agency. It's not Fr. Rohner, but it's Fr. Rhyner. Same rubbish,
different agency. Fr. Rhyner lied like Fr. Rohner lied. These people
belong behind bars but I guess lying is simply accepted. Where have
ethics gone?!?!
07 Sep 2009 -- Father
-
Thanked dad for all the favors. He: Whatever I have is all yours (mom and us kids). I have nothing of my own.
- Good night guys, don't forget to go home :) (logged in http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/quote_reza_source.html )
07 Sep 2009 -- Start of a Long Cold Winter
-
Miserably cold in Switzerland. Last night it was 9 degrees (48 F) which
is colder than it ever gets in deep winter in Southern California.
That's a start of a 10 month winter which I abhor. For a while it's ok,
but day after day of cold creeping into the bones gets old after a
while. If it wasn't for how great this country is, the wonderful
people, the deep love for music, and a few special friends, I'd be long
gone.
06 Sep 2009 -- Did Prince Charles Murder Diana?
-
Saw a picture of Prince Charles. He looks scary and miserable.
Google found this quote: "But
this time, Fayed added a new co-conspirator, Prince Charles, 59,
Diana’s divorced husband and heir to the throne. Fayed said Charles had
“participated” in the plot so that he could marry his “crocodile wife”
Camilla Parker-Bowles. By arranging for Diana and his son to be killed,
Fayed said, Philip and Charles had saved the royal family from having
the princess marry a Muslim and bear his child. “They cleared the
decks,” he said. “They murdered her.”
[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/charles-killed-diana-to-wed-his-croc-wife/274746/]
06 Sep 2009 -- Gift of Life
-
We were endowed the gift of life another day. Father is old. When he is
weak, death is so near just as it is also for the young and strong. But
he is better today - his voice is stronger.
-
It's a lovely day in Switzerland. The temperature has hesitated to step
into the cliff that it will eventually do in a 10-month long
winter. Nights are already very cold for September but don't
forget it's Switzerland, the land of Alps and lovely people, and
massive glaciers.
05 Sep 2009 -- Opera Browser is The Best !!
-
Opera is very cool - I've been using it for a long time. Here's a
feature list: (Google: 10 Features You'll Find Only In Opera).
The new Opera 10.00 has many cool features:
tab previews
speed dial customization
auto-update
in-line spell checking
webmail integration
crash recovery and reporting
resizable search field
04 Sep 2009 - Swiss Prejudice Against Foreign Renters
-
There is a hard sad fact of Switzerland having incredible prejudice
against renting to foreigners, ignoring their application, etc., before
they pass laws making this illegal it was a lot worse but it still
happens regularly.
03 Sep 2009 -- Big Pharma Crookss Drug Pushers
-
"Pfizer fined $2.3 billion for illegal marketing in off-label drug case
In the largest health care fraud settlement in history, pharmaceutical
giant Pfizer must pay $2.3 billion to resolve criminal and civil
allegations that the company illegally promoted uses of four of its
drugs ..." "It was the largest health care fraud settlement
and the largest criminal fine of any kind ever."
02 Sep 2009 --
-
Giving love to children is absolutely essential. Perhaps it's more
necessary than food and everything else! Babies and children absorb
love like a sponge, they react immediately with a smile. It helps them
become better, happier persons.
01 Sep 2009 --
-
It must have been such a traumatic experience to have my adolescent
diaries destroyed by my cousin's family's stupidity. Dreamed about it
again. Again, hoping in the dream to find the lost writings. I have no
choice but to observe this bubbling up of the shock to my consciousness
from the betrayal of trust and realization that it's long gone -- my
meticulous writings that meant so much to me are part of the Orange
County Landfill. I am also surprised that this shock has not cleansed
itself -- those writings must have meant a lot to me. Anyway, life goes
on and I trust this will eventually clean up from my consciousness, not
eventually in time, but eventually through the observation of any remaining ripples.
My
name was on the box, they knew how much my writings mean to me, yet,
they destroyed it -- I can guess as to the motives -- but let's just
say, utter stupidity and craziness which is common in Orange County,
specially in Irvine -- the machine life Oriana Fallaci wrote about is
right there -- soul of cars are everywhere but people don't walk in the
streets. Of course there are always exceptions.
In the dream I hoped that I would not wake up so I can find the box.
(logged in http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/lost_treaure.html).
01 Sep 2009 --
Persian saying:
Harche-pish-aayad
Khosh-aayad
Whatever comes
is welcome
literally:
Harche = formal for whatever (slang: Harchi) (it's not Kh but Ch like cherry - I write my Kh's as Kh).
pish-aayad = pish is forward - aayad is comes, pish-aayad= event that comes
Khosh = good, well
aayad = comes
whatever turns out is welcome....
it's
a good positive attitude towards life that whatever life brings one
welcomes it with open arms. Of course this can be analyzed and
one can argue, what about things that are not good -- well, that's our
dilemma -- but we have strength and when something not good comes we
deal with it with intelligence to solve it or push it out.
----------------------
31 Aug 2009 --
- Wrote:
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/Talk with a confused friend - by Reza Ganjavi
-
Another case of camel dreaming of cotton seed. Dreamed of the destroyed
diaries – this time the box was found at Parand’s – Farid’s sister’s
house – a lovely lady and lovely family – haven’t seen them for ages –
but back then we were close. It was like, Gosh, that’s right, the
diaries were there, in her garage – they were locked and sealed and I
was incredibly thrilled happy joyful ecstatic to have found this
biggest lost part of my life. Only to wake up in disappointment that it
was only a dream. (logged in http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/lost_treaure.html)
30 Aug 2009 --
- Very loud thunderstorms last night. It was so loud that the sound frequency shook up the walls.
Dream of R. A sandcastle takes a lot of work to create but can be
destroyed with one kick. There's nothing noble in that kick unless
there is a good reason for it. "I've learned when issues are talked
about
they can get clear and truth can be found easier in communication and
dialogue."
-
Spent a long time studying music, song writing, classical guitar, etc.,
which makes the day well worth-while, as well as planning trip to the
US -- the US Airways agent Laura was very professional and wonderful --
she called in and got a seat on a flight that had no seats. Will send
complements for her.
- Cooking an amazing bouquet of beans and
grains -- about 7 different beans plus quinoa and amaranth, eggplant,
chili peppers, carrots, etc.
-
A&R were impressed. Told them the other day how mom told me in first grade: look,
if you study you study for yourself and not for me -- so she never
forced me to study. I was making the point about being in the band that
X should want to herself and not do it because of me ...
29 Aug 2009 - Guitarlove
- Started work on producing a video of guitar technique exercises..
28 Aug 2009 -
- Nice to be back at home.
27 Aug 2009 -
- Shopped at Damavand -- fresh
pistachios (double skin), mangos, okra, sweet white figs, nectarines,
peaches, watermelon, cantaloupe, long melon, local yogurt, etc.
- Many lovely trees including the tall slender Tabrizi tree and the humble romantic "beede-majnoon".
- Jalal picks tomatoes and cucumber to have with cheese for eftari (breaking of fast).
- Dinner was godly: lentils, quinoa, okra, olive oil, yogurt, and a few pickled garlic as an exception.
- Updated the comments section of :
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/on_work_around_k_etc-june2009.html
- Good talk w/ Shahin and some fun recollections from our days and years before the Revolution as teenagers in Tehran.
-
There are several interesting books here including Beethoven Letters
(in English), teachings of confucious (in Farsi), and a meditation book
titled first & last freedom (same title as Krishnamurti's famous
book) but Osho also has a book with the same title and probably a lot
of ideas he obviously got from K. Curious thing is this book's author
is a guru acharya but I think this is probably osho's book -- it's not
uncommon in Iran to change titles and even authors -- I've seen it
happen. Aside from all this the K influence is huge in this book - not
only in the title but in the ideas of what meditation is and is not.
- The stress of Swiss trains and trams are getting washed from the consciousness.
- Big discrepancy between the local villagers with their simple old homes and the multi-million dollar villas.
-
Some sunflowers in the village including one that stood there shyly all
by itself bringing color and beauty to the dirt around.
- Little 2 year old Afghan kid said: "Hey!". Salam. "I have a car". Barikallah.
-
Possum or a similar animal killed all Jalal's chickens - it'd cut the
throat - such the blood - and throw the chicken in the pool. Now he
only has turkeys and ducks.
- Told x about the many incidents
of accidents which happened when driver of car or train sends an sms.
Talking on mobile phone or sending sms is very very dangerous. It's
much more dangerous than
playing guitar while driving because it
totally pulls the mind its way.
26 Aug 2009 -
-
Good long night of sleep. Some dreams. Dream of Gisele Balleys who apparently didn't like
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/on_work_around_k_etc-june2009.html I
doubt she even read the whole thing. It appears that she tends to see
things black and white sometimes. The famous saying comes to mind:
"You're either with us or you're against us" which is a very closed
minded statement Bush said. No hard feelings about her but when someone
just doesn't respond to your emails and you pick up from the air that
she's upset and she never tells you why... what can I do? It's almost
kind of like the drummer drama or the case the radio was talking about
of the wife who wants to throw herself out in the freeway but doesn't
tell the husband what's wrong with her.
-
Also in the picture
was Nick Short, the New Zealander lawyer who is part of Friedrich
Grohe's organization KLI, and a Trustee of KFT. It is interesting how
close KFT is to Friedrich. I think Gisele Balleys, a Trustee of KFT,
receives financial backing from Friedrich for
her "center" in Geneva. I don't know much about the activities of the
center which located in her apartment. I have not seen any programs of
activities but while in Geneva I know there were some dialogues at an
Ex-Trustee's house, Jean Michel Maroger, a kind and apparently wealthy
gentleman. And Nick, whom I assume is on Friedrich's payroll is a
trustee of KFT. A senior member of KFT and one of the School is also
very close to Friedrich. Nothing wrong
with all this, and not surprising given Friedrich's large donation to
build the Brockwood Park Study Center some years ago, and his very
generous help and engagement in helping the school, and his deep care
for the place (which I also share).
- Nice set of stretches etc.
-
Instead of antibiotics, taking lots of C, as well as onions and garlic
(which I don't usually eat because of the smell except odorless garlic
pills), and these mean green peppers from the garden which Jalal says
are unbearably hot. Also picked a number of other things form the
garden tomatoes, cucumber,and pears.
- Another friend called to invite us to Shomal ("North") (Caspian Coast). Hopefully next week.
-
Jalal, like 10% of this village is Kurdish. He's from Sanandaj. They
speak Kurdish which is very different from Farsi. A optical cable has
been broken by road work so 1000's of people don't have phone. This
village became popular with the rich as a quick getaway when Iraq
bombed Tehran. The price of villas here soared to 5 million dollars
before recession. Jalal says he's Zoroasterian but then he fasts and
says he's a Moslem -- he explained it but I don't understand his
arguments and mixup of historical dates -- I doubt he has beyond a few
grades of education but he's a good hearted, honest, hard working man.
- I like how natural languages are like
computer languages, and having been an expert in computer languages it
is fun to optimize and compose in a natural language.
-
At the communication center internet costs 360 toman per hour (about 30
cents). Hours: 09:00 to 15:00 during Mah-Ramezoon (month of Ramadan)
otherwise: 7:30 to 16:00
- Phone works - internet works - after 26 hours of being without it -- but at a very slow speed.
- Perfect holiday day - of rest reading songwriting playing etc.
-
Mom made a great Aash, a Persian thick soup of herbs legums vegetables,
and I added Amaranth to it -- been eating it every day... Tomorrow's
menu is lentil and Quinoa and bircher muesli as well as fresh zucchini
and other goodies from the garden.
25 Aug 2009 - Trip to Village
-
Hard to find a non smoking taxi. The driver was a wrestler who had an
injury and had to stop sports despite lots of physiotherapy and best of
doctors. We talked about holistic health, etc. - cleaned his flash
drive of virus and gave him advice on software. Although the village is
an hour drive from Tehran, you can still feel traces of pollution. Big
villa. The keeper, Jalal asked the taxi driver to come in for tea in a
taarof of all sincerity. None of the local shops had local egg this
late in the day. Got a sangak break with extra sesames - but nothing to
write home about. There some nice garlic pickle here, and an older
bottle of very premium, old ones that are like char coal. Shopped some
kask (whey), yogurt, dates. The garden outside is awesome -- full of
fruit many kinds of trees and vegetables -- had some fresh picked
tomato and Persian cucumber, and plums. All godly. There are
donkeys, cows, and ships in the village, as well as these lovely old
Benz trucks :)
-
No telephone (= No internet. The lines don't work. Good! Got a guitar
that and lots of writing to catch up on and surely there is space for
nothingness among activities. Worked on a Jodle song :) It feels like
being in Saas-Fe.
-
Mr. & Mrs. N. who own this villa used to own a lot of land in this
village, Jalal said, until it was taken away. I told Mr. N. this
morning, thanks a lot for letting me go there -- he said "this is your
dad's villa - - I am just the care taker" -- in sign of humble affectionate friendship.
-
Forgot to bring the antibiotics - but doesn't matter - 2.5 days is
enough if the doctor said 3 days - got lots of vitamin C instead.
-
A beautiful girl called -- daughter of someone we know -- to maybe meet
-- but I know what she has in mind and I am not interested. I know it
will offer nothing but complication and the motivations are pretty
clear.
24 Aug 2009 - Email to a Bulimic Friend
Dear <>
The body is a bit tired after traveling to Tehran and oral surgery but the mind is good and heart is good.
> unfortunately i haven't been in the position to fight mia yet (not that i haven't tried).
I don't think you can fight it. All you can do is to understand it, understand yourself.
> food is still so important to my daily life that the thought of me loosing mia is making it worse.
food is important to everyone's daily life.
Exactly.
"thought of losing" makes it worse. so stop thinking about losing it.
understand how thought creates an image which involves time (future or
past) and that creates sorrow and fear.
> i believe i'm too scared of what would happen if i could not compensate my anger through mia.
anger?
we didn't talk about that before. If you have anger then you need to
understand anger. When you're angry, you are anger. you can escape
anger through vomiting or alcohol or drugs but anger remains. isn't it
more interesting to understand anger so it can resolve?
> it's not the right time.
you will be what you are in the future unless you change now.
> i can't deal with it, i need to function somehow for another year. who knows what's going to happen afterwards.
nothing will happen. you will not change in time unless you change in some 'now' and the only now that is true is now.
> thanx for your help though. i really appreciate all you have done.
anytime. Feel free to write anytime.
good wishes
Reza
24 Aug 2009 - Day 3 in Tehran
-
Got some sleep but still tortured by air pollution which could be a lot
worse. Summer is the best time for Tehran's air quality. Didn't take a
pain killer at all after the surgery.
- Taxi was parked outside our house. Want a taxi? How
much? dad: 2k. He: forget it. I: how much do you want? 3k. Ok, let's
go. A friendly conversation was started by dad and the whole time
wonderfully interesting conversation followed. He's 55 without any white
hair. He calls my dad, "my dad".He wouldn't take money as a normal
"taarof" but with a real affectionate sincerity.
- Tehran city is bigger than the entire country Switzerland.
- Worker came this morning and brought her 10 year old son. He was eager
to work with the computer -- he's now scanning :) -- between him and
Neda they scanned all the old letters that include also some elementary
school cards and letters and some old precious letters.
- To hospital with dad. The other errands.
- Many beautiful women.
-
Kashk, a traditional dip used with eggplant (kashke-bademjan), noodle
soup (aashe-reshteh) is really very healthy. It's just made out of whey
which is wonderful and salt.
-
Spent a very interesting 2.5 hours at old friend I met in Poland.. He
has 2 Swiss children. He underscored the problem of many Swiss
youngsters with motivation because they have everything.. Several
people who've heard the case have found it very interesting. I am still
highly motivated to make the video when it finds its right priority.
New ideas came. Very nice meal - several courses. He
recalls that in renting apartments in CH they told him he couldn't
because he was a foreigner. Later they passed anti-discrimination laws
in CH.
23 Aug 2009 - Day 2 in Tehran
-
Had gum surgery. She was very good. Having to take antibiotics is no
fun but also will take mega-doses of Vit C. Hope to surprise the
surgeon next week.
-
One taxi broke a clutch. Another taxi tells story of passenger who
cheated him! "Whether passenger cheat me or not what is my (Roozi)
daily share I take home at night - and cited a case... ". Roozi is an
interesting word. It's a spiritual concept of one's daily need -- like
God provides the Roozi for the birds... Told him that the passenger he
thinks cheated him may not have had the smarts to decide right action
under such circumstances - when the taxi broke down and he left without
paying.
- One taxi talked of seeing a guy get hit with a car and
his tongue dropped out and he died. There aren't that many accidents
here because people drive very alert, but when accidents do happen
they're extreme.
- One taxi talked about Afghan man who was hit
with another car and landed on his. He took him to hospital. Nothing
wrong with him but the Afghan guy made false report. The taxi driver
got arrested and beaten to confess it was a hit-and-run. The Afghan guy
came in bandage saying legaldoctor gave him 40 days off work. Taxi
driver's friend remembered the doctor who came and testified nothing
was wrong w/ the Afghan guy. Back to legaldoctor and they checked the
Afghan guy and found nothing wrong and case got dismissed and instead
of filing a counter suit the taxi driver beat the guy up on the way to
get the file archived and paid 10k to the soldier accompanying them to
not say anything.
- Dad insists to pay for my surgery. Something magical about fatherhood.
-
Spent the rest of the day with mom and dad. Mom pulled out the old
letters - thank God a small part of the diaries that were destroyed by
my stupid cousin's family are back in form of letters I wrote home
during those precious years.
22 Aug 2009 - Day 1 in Tehran
- Got home at 3 a.m.. Cooler blowing -- happy to be there -- relinking
to the roots and short sweet painful musical loving exploring
transforming memories of pre-revolution teenage years (I was a teenager
for 3 years before I left Iran). Orderly Grandma's apartment. Her peace, wisdom, energy, and love is still there. Internet instantly connected at a good speed.
- Woke up with a inhale of toxins in the air - -like swallowing
a gulp of poison that ended all sense of smell. Actually the air is
relatively clean -- you can see the gigantic mountains on the north of
the city. Had a dream of a rigged deal which is in the air.
- Had
softest and sweetest grapes that can't be found to the west. On the way
back from dentist the taxi driver was 26 and complained of heart
palpitations which shake his shirt. He smokes heavily but not today
since it is the first day of Ramezaan ("Ramadan" as it's known in
English and I guess Arabic). We talked at length - about stress,
smoking, drug interactions, exercize, diet, etc. -- he does not eat
meat - he said "why is meat even part of the diet - it has so many
harms". Told him about mind's tricks on itself to defer quitting
smoking and some stories and encouraged him to stop smoking.
Another taxi driver said he can't fast because he works 7 am to 1 am to
support his family. His dream is to go to Lichtenstein and see some
lords. He wants to be a lord. Told him happiness is important -- "to be
a lord within". He said true that in rich countries they have
everything and then they lose motivation as experience is limited...
-
Fresh walnut seller howling as he walks in alleys to advertise. Cousin
came for visit. Other guests come and go - such active social life. The
big city has a buzz which reminds me of New York in some ways. No other
city has the buzz of Tehran and New York.. Several taxi rides to
dentist, oral surgeon etc. - bought lovely figs and fig-peaches and anbeh (Asian mango).
-
Dad does "what would take others 6 months in 10 minutes". And I believe
it and have seen it. Through moral ethical legal ways yet using the
magic of love, good reputation, truth, etc.
- X said dad's
generation will never get revived.. He is right. This was a special
generation which this country will not see for a long time. He
characterized it as: manners (adab), recognition of rights (ha-agh
shenasi), knowing / study of people (mardom shenasi). He said it
was a pity the rich culture and history doesn't have a chance to repeat
itself.
-
What a crazy day after 3 hours max sleep last night. Ophthalmologist's
assistant said don't worry,everybody slept late last night since it was
the first night of Ramadan. Went to get a tooth xray that the surgeon
required. Forgot the letter - on the way back stopped by at another
surgeon for a second opinion. She gave a different view - I think both
are extremes in every way (e.g. one wants 50k one wants 300k - one
takes 1/2 hour, one takes 2 hours. Confused, came to mom who call the
surgeon she went to whom she liked a lot. He gave me a 6pm tomorrow --
mom insisted and I am on yet another taxi there.
- No time for a nap and got a message to be at Arsalon's at 7 pm with the guitar. Don't think it'll happen.
-
Vali Asr, the biggest street in Tehran has become one way. Haven't been
there but heard from a couple of drivers that it's a mess and made
other streets a mess too. Another driver just said one way means going
one way but now buses come the other way and the traffic is just as bad.
- Crossing Takhte-Tavoos street is risking death every single time.
- The wind is much welcome in Tehran. The air quality is generally much better than in winter time.
-
It's lovely hearing all the expressions of affection that are embedded
in everyday conversation. There are many - e.g. - may you live long
(zendeh bashi), may you be healthy (salamat bashi), and many others.
-
Mom's doctor was excellent. He knows the first surgeon whom he said is
really good. It all depends on healing period etc etc. - but it looks
like I have to come back for a followup - we'll see. Anyway, not much
of a choice unless I want to spend megabucks in Switzerland. Anyway as
dad specially gets older I'd rather pay the money to an airline and
come see him than to an dentist in CH. So, surgery 9 am tomorrow -
still have to get an xray tonight but it's open 24 hours and am off to
Al's - but without the guitar. Knackered.
-
Played guitar. S loves Tarrega. They complemented a lot and the vocals
a lot. Since the many gigs we did and the preparations voice has
improved a lot in the last months.
- Tajrish Bazaar is very
exciting. People who live in these circumstances are constantly
bombarded with sound and external movement. Bought a kettle from an old
man I know -- his son is a surgeon in Switzerland. Bought a "faal" of
walnuts (unit containing 10 fresh walnuts) -- heavenly -- ate them all.
More nice figs.
- Met a man in the x-ray center. He was in a
lot of pain. I felt sorry for him and asked him what's wrong. He
admitted to having been at fault on her motor when a car hit him.
His knee was destroyed and his ankle broken and tendons torn. He
appreciated a bit of sympathy.
- People in this ultra-big
city are too nervous, stressed, anxious. This is not really a vacation
by any means. Can't wait to get finished with the gum surgery and bail
out to the relaxing Caspian Coast.
- Cute Persian kittens roaming the streets.
- I prefer the life of small village Switzerland. Here everyone is running - running fast to find something only to run again.
- Finally found the singer for the famous Nathalie song: Gilbert Bécaud. Thanks for Joubin.
- Day ended with peace and love and kisses.
21 Aug 2009 - Swiss Utopia; Toxic Fish
- It's been so long since I've flown. After years of
constantly flying around the last project has kept me out of airports
for a change, which actually I enjoy. Airport life can be fun but it's
stressful for the body.
- You're reminded from time to time
why in many aspects Switzerland is the envy of the world. Such a small
and absolutely perfectly managed place. Of course it has its problems -
which place doesn't? But the people are generally kind and simple in
their approach and living is truly comfortable here. Switzerland's
worst problem is that of dominance of thought in the psyche -- same
problem much of the world faces but moreso in places like here and many
Western and Northern places where love and emotion is not such a big
part of the culture.
-
Conductor accepted offer for a bio-gipfeli. She refunded the extra
ticket Angel bought. Swiss trains call for guitar -- guitar+rail+nature
-- such lovely combo.
-
Airbus 340-600 "the longest aircraft on earth" - "nothing serious, it's
from the air conditioning" he told the woman sitting under the leak.
- Did a lot of physiotherapy / exercize at FF airport. Paged through 3 papers.
- Sample of fish caught in 300 US streams show they all contained mercury!
-
Started the meal course with a banana, later 2 bio-gipfelis, then nice
mixed bio salad from Zurich healthshop. Airline food was pasta in
plastic. Hard to get away from plastic. Everyone else seemed to have
dead animals for dinner (lamb, chicken, turkey). Desert was bio corn
bread with butter. Not much protein today so later had some bio mild
Gruyer cheese. Lot of people on the flight,
mostly gentle, cultured, peaceful, beautiful Iranians. Two empty seats
away from a oversize guy who's double his weight. In America, you
meet people who are multiples of their healthy weight.
-
Tired as hell today because I slept late last night. Luckily unlike the
last days work was a bit lighter than normal today. I feel sorry for
the people who are coming from California. They must be knackered.
- Lovely seeing Mehrdad on the flight -- old friend from Orange County. It had been soooo long.
-
Passport control officer had a name tag: Mehdi Turk. "What a nice name,
are you turk?" - yes. he said with a smile. He had light eyes like many
turks.
- First impression of Tehran's airport: smell of air
pollution. Sweet, funny Azari(turkish) accent in the air. All incoming
luggages have to go through x-ray but it was totally chaotic: zillions
of luggages from two full flights going through one x-ray machine and
one lady supposedly monitoring the x-ray screen from time to time and
the rest of the time wondering what to make of the piled luggages at
the other end. It seemed impossible to spot a bag if a search needed to
be made.
- Shared a taxi with old friend Mehrdad. We were good
friends in Orange County many years ago. He is one month younger, and
like his father and forefather is a rug merchants from Tabriz which is
where the best of Persian Carpets come from. We shared memories of the
our lives in Iran -- we both left at the same time (when revolution
started). He said Kharazmi (our school) had the highest English
level of all high schools. Our teacher was actually English.
21 Aug 2009 - Drama
-
On the radio morning talk show in California once the guy was talking
about a grumpy wife and how you're driving, she is ready to open the
door and throw herself out, and you have NO idea why. (Talk about good
communication). I know someone who reminds me of that.
Communication is golden. Often people who breed illusions in
their head don't or can't communicate because the illusions extend the
self, and if they communicate, the illusion may end but they rather
keep it because the dissonance gives them continuity.
-
A: I have no hope that she will stay because she shows no enthusiasm,
no interest... She's right. and no caring either - not communicating is
a sign of carelessness. Everybody, even an enemy, deserves
communication.
- Good to see Nati at the station. Had no plans to shop for food but the bad is now full of organic stuff.
- Saw Natalia after a long time at HB.
20 Aug 2009 - Meditation is Annihilation of Society's Content
-
Society is constantly providing content to the being. Meditation,
whether sitting quietly or walking, still or in motion, is the
annihilation of that content so the mind canbe fresh and free and unburdened and uninfluenced.
-
Wasn't even asking for money -- the guitar case was closed - yet - a
group of young Swiss people came and dropped all their coins on the
guitar case. Swiss coins add up quickly. Something like 15 francs. Very
nice of them and shows how much they love music.
- Reserved a room for 2 people and the intelligent software got me a room for 30 people!
-
Such nice lady at Railway station - she checked me into a flight and
took the luggage without a passport based on an electronic image and a
promise and knowing one for many years. I didn't weigh the
luggage before but she said it was exactly 20 kilos. I had
to talk to the lady directly otherwise the junior clerk would have
asked: can I check someone in with a copy of passport, and get a clear
No answer and once a No comes it's harder to reverse it than to get a
yes initially. Good feeling. Got boarding card and luggage checked
in.
19 Aug 2009 - "Mission Unaccomplished"
-
"Wave of explosions around Baghdad kills 95" Didn't Bush said Mission
Accomplished? What an idiot he way. The world can thank Carl Rove for
helping the worst president ever take office. Rove's an animal who
knows how fear mongering and subjects like abortion and security works
among the uneducated fanatic masses. He's a smart animal.
19 Aug 2009 - Santana's Pick
- Saw it on video a few days ago.
- "Santana's manager gave me one back in 1984. It's one of
the large equalateral type triangle ones and is pretty thin, which
surprised me."
- He uses a medium soft 0.03 triangle pick.
19 Aug 2009 - A Filenet (Not IBM) Reunion
"Thanks
Michael and Suzanne for your work. I got a message that after being
quite busy Audrey is now involved and is going to head the organization
of the reunion. Of course she prefers to be known as the "Retired VP of
Human Resources"!
Just spoke with her. She's going to check
out the venue with Suzanne on Thursday. We'll then do a mass reach-out
campaigne. I have 259 people on my Filenet mailing list. Suzanne also,
and Audrey has plans for how to spread the word.
By the way, let's be very clear, this is NOT an IBM reunion, this is a Filenet reunion.
The turnout should be good. I still hope to make it but Oct 1 might be tough. Later would be better but let's see... "
18 Aug 2009 - Heaven on Earth; Power of Nothingness
- Fresh picked raspberries served from the garden. Meal
from garden picked organic vegetables under masses of kiwis hanging on
trees. Yellow butterflies cruising by. Flower in the pond that grew out
of dirt like a person who flowered her way out of clinics and hands of
stupid psychologists and psychiatrists who just drugged her, into the
wonderful blossom of a happy life.
-
She said they don't know
what to do with so many old people in old people clinics in CH so they
just use a lot of drugs -- people are easier managed if they're
drugged. And she said Swiss prisons are like five star hotels -- in the
mountains -- tennis court, swimming pool,hikes, ski touring...
- Dad still knows Paris quite well.
- Life's boring sometimes for people who don't have inner richness, so they get stimulated by poking at other people.
-
When the otherness is there, when God is there, when the mind is empty
of things, things that push out out, when the eyes are turned to
eternity, then one doesn't need to be like the rest of the people by
the lake getting pleasure from wine, smoke, and eating dead animals.
Ultimate joy is right there in the air, in being nothing.
18 Aug 2009 - Early Sleep is Bliss
-
Dream of mountains. And Gisele - there was love for her - she was older
than reality - kind of like grandma - yet she is young at heart - and a
kid in some ways - being so attached to the gathering - etc. - but no
ideas where there - we just met - and in that spontaneity of meeting -
like we have a thousand times - there was love & joy. Things of the
mind push out love. My brain has been empty - I hope she's not carried
things and images that stop love - but if so, it doesn't matter because
there is love here for old friends despite. In another scene was
meeting Javier - in the instance there was also love - there was a
detection of his desire to put one on trial (for not putting up with
his BS) and have one ganged up on - but spontaneity melted that thought
form that I detected arising from him and there was love. And last
scene, Friedrich was there. And so on.
- Last night slept very early
-- at 21:15 -- until 8 a.m. minus some time of not being able to sleep
because of the early hour and a couple of short wakeups. I love it.
It's a dream come true. Sleeping early is one of the keys to happiness.
9:15 is an exaggeration but even 10 or even 11 is better than what I've
been doing. A step in the right direction which I knew it'd be coming
as one strives to simplify the equation of life.
17 Aug 2009 - Drummer Drama
-
Drummer playing Drama is no fun. There is love so there is patience.
- MT made me realize I'm a year younger than I thought :)
16 Aug 2009 - Beatles Forever
-
"the Beatles remain
the most popular band... In a generation gap survey by
the Pew Research Center, the Fab Four came up tops ... who were asked their opinions on 20
popular musical acts, past and present."
- Met a 19 year old who knew lots of Beatles lyrics / played piano.
-
Practice was short and very strange. Good talks. I have a grand idea if
Rosa quits: A&I can play drums with 4 pedals :) she can do cymbals
with 2 feel going ssssssss, I can do bass drum with one foot and snare
with other. We have no tum tums so we can have a button that turns her
cymbal pedals into tums :)
- She said her problem was solved since she wrote about it. Such is power of self-therapy/emptying/writing.
- She got mugged. Tehran has become such an increasingly dangerous place.
-
Dr. Streit is here at 11 pm cranking the radio. Must be some religious
program. She is sooooooo loud at such off hours. 5:15 a.m. she
starts to rock.
- Dini CigerettE Shtink-khet --- your cigarette stinks
15 Aug 2009 - Parents as Friends
-
Advised a friend to explore a new relationship with parents. After a
certain age the relationship with parents can change from a
superior/inferior where parents make ultimate decision for children to
one of friends – equals. It’s good to give this a chance instead of
operating based on past unpleasantness. In that equality, when one can
also assert how one sees the world, what seems right, what one wants to
do, etc., it also changes and effects the parents in some way in
finding a good way of relating as friends. Then traveling together can
be fun. It takes awareness not to fall in old grooves and habits of
being, relating, image making, etc.
15 Aug 2009 - Decadent Society
-
There are always a group of druggie drunks by the train station. Some
of them - or maybe all - are junkies in character and life style. One
guy came tonight with tattoos up to his ears -- was such an asshole. We
just packed and left instead of confronting him. The sad part is when
these losers come they want to hear music but their approach is so
vulgar that it stops everything.
The bus stank like a bar full
of smokers but mostly drunks. Such a decadent society -- the pressures
of becoming backfires on weekend nights in the form of getting drunk,
trying to find release, find happiness in the bottle -- so stupid,
un-angelic, and destructive. And not even mention the cigarettes which
are everywhere. I come home and because the windows are open the place
smells like cigarettes from neighbors. Time to pack and go far far
away.
15 Aug 2009 - news
- UBS Client to Admit Failure to Report Swiss Account to IRS
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXrlMpdDXYGs
The case is U.S. v. John McCarthy, 09-00784, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).
-
Drug violence has claimed more than 11,000 lives in Mexico since
President Felipe Calderon took office in late 2006 and launched a major
offensive against cartels, filling prisons with thousands of drug
suspects.
14 Aug 2009 - Filenet Connection
-
Nowadays it's IBM but we still know it as FileNet. Dave created the word
Workflo (later, it became part of the language: Workflow). Linda
Wallace, an old colleague for whom I did an MBA project while I was
working at Filenet has the following on her site: "Managed a
pivotal group of select, software engineers to
create the first imaging and workflow software solution for the
software
industry in a leading-edge, funded start-up company that had a
successful IPO
in 1985." She joined Filenet in 1983 !
"Managed a pivotal group of select, software engineers to
create the first imaging and workflow software solution for the software
industry in a leading-edge, funded start-up company that had a successful IPO
in 1985.
"
That's
history. David Seigle invented workflow "Workflo" back then and Linda
already managed a workflow project. I did my first workflow project in
the late 80's (88 maybe) on Filenet's proprietary platform. Then open
systems kicked in and Filenet did a great job of adjusting with the
times. Ted Smith was a great CEO.
13 Aug 2009 - Mobs & Their Fox News -- Fanaticism as number one human problem.
- "A former health insurance executive
just went on record saying that right-wing mobs at town halls are the
result of "stealth efforts by health insurance companies.". And The
Huffington Post reports that dirty energy companies are helping
bankroll the mobs."
-
It was very entertaining watching these townhall meetings specially in
"Red" states (Bush Country). There were some genuine questions, and
there were also many who were obviously fanatic and got their info from
Rush
Limbaugh etc., and worst of all, Fox News. Insurance companies must
love this. It's so easy to play out the less educated fanatic layer of
society against health care reform where people will win but insurance
companies will lose. But since Obama is heading this movement --
something that I think every president including Republicans promised
to do (I remember Bush talking about it before he was elected) but
never did it -- since it's now Obama who's actually going to do
something, the fanatic Bush supporters are opposing this not knowing
their opposition just benefits large insurance companies. But they
oppose it out of ideology.
- In
Hillsboro, Missouri, for example. The lady Senator handled it so well.
Many of the anti-healthcare bill Republicans don't like
Federal healthcare but like Medicare and veteran's healthcare (both of
which are Federal).
- In Hagerstown MD
a woman complained that we are on debt up to our eyeballs. She forgets
how Bush wasted Billions and many lives by rushing to an unnecessary
war that only strengthened fanatics.
- I bet the mobs also
believe Iraq had WMD and Saddam was linked to A.Q, two notions
which are proven false by Congress's own investigation yet the fanatics
can believe whatever they want as long as it's opposed to an image they
have of those they can blame for their misery. Fanaticism is
fanaticism, in East or in West, and it's the number one problem we face
as humanity.
13 Aug 2009 - Les Paul Died at age 94
-
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090813/ap_on_en_mu/us_obit_les_paul
I
had a Gibson Les Paul when I was 16, a new, shiny black Les Paul Pro.
Nobody in the high school had an instrument like that. I got that as a
gift from a very dear friend. It was heavy as hell though but had a
sweet and powerful sound.
"the guitarist and inventor ...
changed the course of music with the electric guitar and multitrack
recording and had a string of hits, many with wife Mary Ford...
12 Aug 2009
-
Some idiot drunk showed up at the show and got too close for comfort.
- Singing harmonies is so much fun.
11 Aug 2009 - Biotta
-
Friend did the Biotta wellness week and hated it.
- As a side note, be careful, some
Biotta juices have added sugar and some of their juices is way
overpriced (e.g. tomato -- you can get organic tomato juice for 1/2
the price).
11 Aug 2009 - Postfinance
-
Had a clueless guy on the phone the other day. I asked to talk to a
manager but he refused. I had his name. Unfortunately in this climate
of terrible customer service I had to write to the CEO but before
sending the letter gave it another try. Finally got a manager on the
call and he told me what the first guy had told me was wrong. "We
realize people should read this but many don't and we have to do a
better job of informing them. Other customers complained about this
issue as well." Aha! In the eyes of the first guy, I was at fault. He
talked to the first guy said we will give you a refund and assure you
it won’t happen again. That's better.
[next
day got a call - they refunded one fee - and offered to go 1/2 way on
the other fee but since based on their own argument the other fee
should not have been charged either (them saying many customers don't
know the fee exists and we're doing things to improve it so customer is
better informed), I said, no. They agreed to full refund. ]
10 Aug 2009 - Sugar Mafia
-
Sugar is cheap and addictive. Two characteristics that makes it very
attractive to be in foods. The cheese patties with cauliflower inside
had sugar also. Everything seems to have added sugar unless you read
the package! They must have used a lot of sugar as its ugly after-taste has remained hours later despite bruch and floss.
-
Lots of drama yesterday, which I guess is part of having young friends.
But it had a happy ending. Dialog will continue. The current
educational system can be so tough and so destruvtive to the
student's psyche that upon graduation condolences may be more warranted
than congratulations. In fact, the congratulations was for finishing
with that hell. University is a lot better, and I still believe the
American higher education system is the best in the world. There are
many great universities in other places as well, including Tehran which
has one of the world's best universities.
-
I wrote to the CEO of Migros and then received a call and letter of
apology that they were wrong in how they handled the situation. the sad
part is, why did it have to get to that point? And I know the
answer. I can write a book about what constitutes good customer service
and why in many cultures, that is such a foreign idea? The District
manager apparently notified store. Today, my friend went to return
something and she was surprised how well they treated her. She was
convinced it was because of my letter.
- She said, don't
have kids. She had drama over the weekend as well with her grown-up
kids. she read in the paper that the number of 18 to 30 year olds
taking antidepressants has skyrocketed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
09 Aug 2009 -
-
Grandpa used to clean the room before sleeping - pick up the small
pieces from the carpet... I do the same. My room includes the computer
Desktop. Not every night. And to organize it by priority. Now one thing
is top priority and only item on center of desktop. The desktop is an
extension of the mind.
- I support universal healthcare but I
think Obama should have waited a year until the country which was sick
by Bush's stupid presidency recovered first. He's trying to do too much
in too short of a time.
-
Even Iraq has gone no-smoking in Public places and most of Switzerland
is still living in pre-historic times of allowing smokers to violate
other people's rights to clean breath.
- Wrote this last Monday, the day a friend started her new job. http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/tip_new_job.html
-
Some Republican leaders are criticizing Obama for spending so much
money. Huckabee called it "stop the spending orgie". What they tend to
forget is the spending orgie of Bush. At least Obama is spending it
internally to boost the economy. Bush's miserable gang spent it, I
mean, wasted it, on a useless war based on lies (where are the WMD's?).
- She might have swine-flu, poor girl - she worked in a tourist hotel.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
08 Aug 2009 - Notes from past
Her brother ran 42 km up the mountain in a race.
I love the sound of the Ferrari.
He
said emotions was treated as a virus. It was promoted that you have to
think, and very little with your heart. He said we live in the best
place in the world but we have no time to tell our kids that I love you
and to spend time with them, so we buy them gifts. And the children get
rewarded with computer games and they don't need any more rewards in
their school. They’re not thirsty.
Actually that's a bit of
problem I have with x -- no thirst, no enthusiasm. But I accept her for
what she is. She's quiet and low-key… so be it.
rain washes away a depression that didn't come due to the minds demand and power over body.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
08 Aug 2009 - Won against HTML
-
I absolutely hate HTML. What a nonsense. The editors put so much
garbage in the code and not using an editor is out of the question
since it's a dog of a language and this comes from a guy who can
"speak" 12 different computer languages. Finally managed to tame the
code of this file and strip it off all the shit html put in there.
- 4 pm, guy in grocery line was stinking of alcohol. "At least he hasn't killed himself yet". She got the joke?
- Met Nadine and Julia - 2 good songs. Flight attendants. Her mices are ill and had to be given antibiotics !!
-
The drug store at Baden station is way overpriced. The same juice
that's 4.70 in a healthshop is 5.20 there. 10% is a lot. We got the
bath oil that was 17 something there for 15 something 2 doors down.
- Another rainy day in middle of summer in Switzerland. At least we had one summer day.
-
5:45 Saturday the misery of these church bells starts. If this is not
imposition what is? There are about 5 extremely loud bells one after
another imposing themselves on the community. Where are my ear plugs?
The flippin bells rang for 15 full minutes till 6 pm. What is religous
about this imposition except to push the idea to the world that "we
exist".
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
07 Aug 2009 - True Dream
-
Dreamed of aunt. It was unusual dream so I knew something was up.
Called her. She said she heard record of guitar and tears came as she
missed me. How to explain this? Morphic connection b/c she spent time
w/ me as kid? or sensitivity and picking up the energy? or both?
"This is how energy transmits. I missed you this morning. He
played a 33 (rpm) record. First song was a guitar song you play. delam
havato kard. Two tears came. I miss reza… and immediately you call."
-
Played by the river -- pity as flipping smokers are everywhere. I was
full of power and dream - to play by the river on a finally nice summer
night - but the flippin smokers were everywhere. Even upstirs in the
main circle. You just can't get away from smokers in this tiny country.
They've infilterated the place and Big Tobacco loves it.
-
Met 3 girls - all beautiful - 18 or so - they were boxers!! Is there
anything beautiful in boxing, I asked. They could not answer. No, they
said, but that the trainig is good.
- Met 2 girls who have a band - she wanted to play my 10,000 Fc gutiar
but she didn't wash her hands well (just soaked them in the pool to
satisfy my requirement but didn't work). I liked their energy and music.
- She lost her dad who killed himself when she was 6. He was schisophernic.
-
Met 3 other girls who gave me a list of their favorite music -- all
minimalist genre. I always hear about new categories of music.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
06 Aug 2009 - Quietness Is The Root Of Fearlessness
- She said if you're quiet people think there's something wrong.
Society, specially in the West, often does not realize the virtue of quietness. You're supposed to be talkative.
She
said maybe she should drink alcohol to be more talkative. Why? Many
people use alcohol to help them drop their inhibitions - but at a cost
- and it's temporary. Why not understand fears and inhibitions in a
sober state? Why not be like a child who is not driven by fear? This
does not mean one is not quiet. A fearless person can also be quiet. In
fact, inner quietness is the root of fearlessness. It isa fearful person who makes a lot of noise.
-
Better late than never: Law360, New York (August 05, 2009) -- The U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday announced the
settlement of its first two enforcement actions targeting naked
short-selling, just weeks after the commission made permanent a rule
barring the practice.
-
The poor flowers are sitting in the same water in the plastic foil
since Monday. Told her, you may want to cut them a bit, change the
water and take away the plastic as they may enjoy some fresh air -- how
would you like to be in a plastic for 5 days? She laughed as her
"2-rial" coin fell (do-zarish-oftad) (expression meaning the coin fell
in and enabled the public phone).
- The guy said a new plague
like disease in China kills people in 24 hours... "that's worse than
Planview :)" That's the wittiest thing you've ever said :) -- I was
looking at a Planview email as he was talking.
-
A guy walked in the train with a big puff of cigarette and exhaled it
in the train. He took 2 deep inhales of poisonous air before entering
the train with total lack of consideration for other people. I told him
this train is non smoking and he should exhale before coming in the
train but he lied and said he didn't exhale smoke in the train. I saw
him do it so he was also a liar as well as an inconsiderate person.
Other people objected to him too after I said something to him. I don't
think he will do it again.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
05 Aug 2009 -
-
Played guitar for the full moon at the park. It was therapeutic for the hands and the being.
- I want to give her time to see how she unfolds now that school is over. To see the level of initiative and learning.
-
We are lucky to have someone who really understands marketing (has a
Master's in it and a natural sense for it). The product placement is
clear as day and the promotion will follow but I first want to be clear
about the ingredients. We don't want to promote something that is half
way.
- She thought she couldn't play a certain thing. We
worked together and she could play it. All I did was to slow it down
and give it a level of attention that she could have given herself but
part of being an effective teacher is to teach the student how to teach
themselves.
- Good old MBO would apply nicely.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
04 Aug 2009 -
- "Milton Babbitt - Sheer Pluck for solo guitar" -- what a nonsense.
- The day flew by with one conference call after another.
- my nick name is paperless : Reza Paperless ;)
-
Made appointment with another osteopath in Zurich. Unlike Johnny Kessler who
charged me 170 Fcs, this guy is 140 which is more reasonable. Kessler's
assistant told me 2 times that it was 150, still, I got charged 170
(160 something plus tax which is still more than the quoted 150). And
when I asked why, his reaction was a typical European old-mind lousy
service-provider attitude of service-receiver being at fault. It seemed
that his success had got into his head and just wanted to raise
his prices on the fly and not expect any resistance. He's free to do
that but when a customer is quoted a certain price, the service
provider should at least not pretend it's the customer's fault :)
- "I Dream Of Jeanie" has a very nice theme song.
- A dream job nobody would even dream of dreaming of. [logged]
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
03 Aug 2009 -
- This is the anti-thesis of 8 years of Bush cowboy diplomacy: "North
Korea Pardons U.S. Journalists After Bill Clinton Visit". Another proof
how Bush's stupidity ruined the world. If he was diplomatic the world
would have been a much better place. Stupid idiot Bush and the fanatics
who still like him!
- Lotus Notes has to be the biggest piece of junk software ever written. It has so many bugs or lousy design features.
-
Was tempted to consider going to the Krishnamurti Gathering in Murren
but it's too long of a trip for a weekend and only reason I'd go is to
meet new people and see some old friends but also I don't look forward
to the torture by psychological monsters.
- Guitar after a long day's work is very rewarding and it's proven to keep hands healthy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
02 Aug 2009 -
- Really looked for a Swiss German song to play with the band but so far have not found any.
- The generation doesn't matter the sound doesn't matter as long as it's a strong melody. [logged]
- Helped friend figure out drum parts.
- "Each day goes by so fast... you turn around it's past... "
-
Playing classical guitar was so wonderful. The band is also sounding
good - - long way to go still but it's motivating, specially seeing how
well Angie plays these great bass lines. Rosa is also very talented.
- Another miserably cold day. August 2 for God's sake. Oh how I miss a warm climate.
- Wondergirl used to run barefoot and beat all the kids in running -- they taught her how to run with shoes at age 16.
-
They don’t have good old fashioned kettles you can buy here. They are
all electric. After explaining she said, ah! The grandma kind.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 Aug 2009 -
-
I don't like Aug 1 because of fireworks which are so loud for my ears
and so polluting. The night was hell. The air full of smoke and
explosions. What a misery. Poor trees, plants, and animals. Until past
1 a.m. there were fireworks.
-
Richard Quest has a terrible, harsh voice. It's a pain listening to
him. He should quit smoking or take voice lessons or somehow stop doing
whatever wrong he's doing that's straining his voice. A good voice is a
basic requirement for a reporter. He's on again and it's pain. I can't stand his voice.
- Nice to get bug catcher for friend from FG who generously gifted it. Wrote nice email.
- Added: Brockwood_A_Unique_School
Added quotes to: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/quotes_misc.htm
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
31 July 2009 -
-
Hectic work these days. We have to transform a mixed OS solution
to a single OS solution in a matter of days.
- Only ate a cup of raspberries from morning till 5 pm.
- Some guitar at night. Wrote.
-
Sign of a society where there's a high degree of isolation and suicide,
parents taught her not to call anyone after 8 pm. There's life after 8
pm.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30 July 2009 -
-
Spinach pie from Zurich HB health shop for breakfast was lovely.
-
He sms'd her a month later that he couldn't find his phone for a month.
He probably didn't bother looking for it given how relaxed he is. She
may answer him a month later.
- Fond memory of sitting in groups
with lots of relatives on peaceful friday holidays sitting on the floor
in grandma's house when I was very little -- they did have furniture,
couches, etc., but upstairs in the guest rooms -- these relatives were
all "informal" so they sat in the every day living rooms -- it was fun
- big circle on the floor. And later in the day one would yawn and
another one and another one and it was so funny. Every week the
relatives - mom's uncles aunts cousins would come to grandparent's
house -- open door -- open house.
- Playing guitar outside was therapeutic.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
29 July 2009 -
-
Police friend said he'll send me the address of the woman who almost killed me by
totally ignoring the stop sign -- I will write her a friendly note.
- She said rabbits and cats now can be only sold in pairs (of each) else they get depressed.
- Didn't eat anything all morning - then some dates - later a banana - later steam veggies, tempeh, soy sauce, etc. -- lovely.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 July 2009 -
- Everybody and their mother seems to be on holiday. Migro's in rush hour is not busy. Mary has beautiful light blue eyes.
- Plummer charges 107 per hour. Accountant 150.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27 July 2009 - Zurich HB
-
Zurich has a charming train station (the main station is called HB
(Haupt Bahnhof) but it has a disgusting air of a bar because there are
so many smokers and people who just hang out around the meeting point,
the place is filthy with cigarette smoke.
- Physiotherapy was good.
-
Getting your call transferred to India for customer service is often
like pulling teeth. The woman in Mumbai said only USAirways is the
partner for United!!! Had to call back -- of course she was wrong but
just wasted my time.
-
A big win for us (let's hope it's not lip service): SEC Takes Steps to
Curtail Abusive Short Sales and Increase Market Transparency.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 July 2009 -
-
Two
warm glasses of water or liver tea - wait - then oliveoil+fresh lemon
juice - wait - then melon - wait - then having rice/grain/lentil mix
soaked for 2 days then cooked - and steamed brocolli and tomato and
yogurt. Dinner is salad + artichoke + tempeh or an egg. All organic.
- Big meeting with RG.
- It was so sweet of Tara to say: Dayee ZEZE , come take us to zoo. "Zeze Zoo"...
- He went through a divorce and a heart-attack and surgery and then quit smoking -- he feels great now.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
25 July 2009 -
-
Swiss culture is not caught up with the changes that are occurring to
Swiss big businesses in face of global competition. The businesses,
facing growing challenge are being forced not only to adopt their
customer service policies (a foreign concept in a supplier-is-king
culture), but also to try to maximize profits by pushing the line and
almost abusing the Swiss people's good natured simplicity. The culture
historically is based on honesty: when you get a bill, you pay it. When
you buy a product you don't return it, etc.. We have seen, however,
numerous cases of ways where these attitudes would hurt the customer if
the bill is paid unchecked, if the product is kept despite being
defective.
- Y.A. called -- he was very thankful at the tip I agave him regarding the phone company charging practices.
- Sent a long over-due letter to "Y" to get off his high horse and walk with the lowly: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/letter_to_Y.html
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 July 2009 - More on Murren Krishnamurti Gathering Article
- I wrote to the organizer a couple of times a while ago but received
no feedback -- not that I was expecting any feedback but I had made
some remarks about how a
replay of the 2007 illusions
would be a real shame. I also stated clearly that while email may be
prone to misunderstandings, I have only good feelings for her and those who gossip. I
have no hard feelings for them. I send them no negative energy and I
wish them well. To wish ill on another is to wish ill on oneself, but
that is not the reason I wish them well. I wish them well for no
reason. Love has no reason. Anyway, I ended up summarizing what was on my mind in this: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/on_work_around_k_etc-june2009.html#updates
- After days of rain, the morning air is glorious.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 July 2009 - Swiss
-
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/on_work_around_k_etc-june2009.html
Everything is provided at the material level -- every form of basic
comfort for all people who live here -- perfect socialism -- even low
income families get cheap, government sponsored vacations! But
psychologically is very tough -- there are a lot of people with deep
stresses and deep psychological disturbances -- the mental hospitals
are full of people, some of whom would never be in an institution in
other countries. I heard if you fail your driving test 3 times you have
to see a psychiatrist. Suicide rate is high. The open cinemas in my
town this summer have one after another depressive movie. I've known or
have seen several depressive theaters where it's about mental
imbalance. It all comes from emotional poverty. A Swiss artist calls it
"an emotional ghetto despite perfection of tram schedules. Love &
emotions are wiped out at the cost of thought - thought rules this
society -- every little aspect of life is planned, even death in some
cases. Outward certainty, security, has crept into the mind and the
price of that search is the killing of emotions and love which are
spontaneous. Instead people are quickly drugged and put away or they
take their own life. Great cheese though, and great simple people who
love arts and I love them.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 July 2009 - Drum Machine? Never!
-
He said maybe we can get a drum machine. I said, forget it. You will never see that day.
- He signed up for Tweeter and immediately people he didn't know were following him :)
we don't get it.
-
"FBI agents lead arrested suspects from their headquarters as part of a
corruption investigation in Newark, N.J. The mayors of three New Jersey
cities, two state legislators and several rabbis were among more than
40 people arrested Thursday in a sweeping corruption investigation that
began as a probe into an international money laundering ring that
trafficked in goods as diverse as human organs and fake designer
handbags.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 July 2009 - Migro's Apology
-
I have no issue with worms but with people there who were absolutely
clueless about customer service. If I deserved a refund why was I given
such a hard time. If I didn't, why was a refund given? Why did I have
to escalate it to the CEO to get them to admit they're clueless?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 July 2009 - A Day In The Life
-
Finally a nice humid warm morning that takes you back to the
gorgousness of Caspian coast where we spent many summer as kids.
The morning air is filled with love, renewal, joy, calmness, and people
around are totally spoiling it for themselves by chasing away the
otherness as they chase after joy in drugs and toxic substances
(cigarette, coffee).
- Late morning train so shops were
open - organic frozen raspberries, organic mixed dark salad, 2 organic
gipfelis, organic cheese (lowest weight piece, on sale) (it was sweet).
Some Swiss cheese is the best ever in the world -- sweet like mango.
-
At work had to call for timeout a couple of times in meeting with
technical folks as they got into round-robin discussions. That's why
facilitators and project managers exist -- to pull techies out of the
depths of thought into a level where a solution can be found based on
the wider context of the problem. As an ex-architect I proposed waiting
for the infrastructure architect to return and as an ex-programmer I
suggested not to try to find a workaround to the unstable mount by
changing the application code. The application architect agreed with
both points.
- It is so hypocritical for any meat-eater to call a flykiller "absolutely unethical" like the article in paper called it.
- A sunny day turned into very heavy rain while still sunny.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 July 2009 - Childhood Summers by Caspian Sea
-
Flower smells took one right back to days and night of innocence.
- Still loving Benz trucks. Saw a beautiful 1848.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 July 2009 - Band's Image
-
Image is icing on the cake, The cake is the music. Icing sometimes
makes a lot of difference. (of course we're talking a sugar-free
organic cake :)
-
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, still clinging to office after
admitting to an extramarital affair, wrote in an opinion piece released
Sunday that God will change him so he can emerge from the scandal a
more humble and effective leader. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 July 2009 - Village People
-
Dinner at small village. The garden is full of variety of vegs & fruits - a marvel.
-
Humor is an act of creativity. We only wanted one spoon of the low
sugar cherry cake so got the biggest spoon from the drawer. If police
comes she just says I'm from that small village......worst case
cries..... (just joking) but Saturday the musicians are not bothered.
'Does the camera do anything else than video and picture? - ya,
it makes pizza ...
- They had a conference call from up to down the stairs.
- Wrote hot letter for friend to agency to get their deposit back -- based only on truth and justice.
- Breath and ask yourself is it possible for my hands not to do anything when it's not necessary for them (she was nervous).
- Helped U select and buy camcorder
-
Lot of crazy people in this area, she said -- the woman who worked at
the gas station and her husband killed themselves - others did too -
suicide is common in Switzerland - so much natural beauty and so much
unhappiness.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
21 July 2009 - Little Child
-
A little 2 year old shopping with her mom. We waved smiled and there
was such a connection that only her and I knew the depth of and we both
showed it in our deep smiles. Our eyes could see the uncorrupted child
inside the other person.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 July 2009 - A Unique Planet
-
It seems so clear. This planet is so unique. Apple trees and flowers of
many smells and color. It IS heaven. And conflict is ruining it. Root
of conflict is misuse. Misuse of body and thought. Poisoning the body
with fear-causing food (meat) and other toxins, and applying thought to
where it doesn't belong, therefore creating conflict because thought is
limited and therefore divisive, and division brings conflict.
-
I like to move to a place that has big skies. Maybe even in Switzerland
that has small skies, and small horizons, a place like that can be
found.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 July 2009 - Swiss Summer Iceberg
-
So sick of Swiss weather. I was rejoicing the warmth that only lasted a
day it seems. Last night was cold (11 degrees) on July 18. God!!
- In Davos, 1200 meter, it snowed.
-
Very productive day. We made hummus with 2-days soaked garbanzo beans,
boiled, de-foamed, rinsed, mashed, sesame, etc., 100% organic, big
salad, rice, lentils from before, pressure cooker explosion :) ,
laundry, cleaning, vacuum, etc., figured out the bass line to Genesis'
Carpet Crawlers (hot) and other songs -- we'll keep T&S in C
(best I've ever sang it in C), cleaning floor reminded of childhood --
I
enjoyed cleaning floors of big house -- grandma's motivation -- always
liked cleansing.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 July 2009 - Not "I"
-
Careful when you say I can heal myself. I understand what you mean and
you don't mean it in an egotistic way but there is a lot of momentum
and habit around thinking "I" can heal. The healing energy is not
personal. It can flow through a person.
- There are a ton of
books and ideas around self-glorification and power of "me" and "I".
Things like the popular movie "The Law of Attraction". Of course if you
think negative thoughts you attract negativity but people take it way
too far and nonsense like, repeating in their thought again and again
"a big house" in order to get it !
That's simply naive and only serves to make authors of books and movies that promote such ideas rich.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 July 2009 - The Lennon Connection
Strong
dream of John Lennon. I am not superstitious but there are a lot of
supernatural forces in play that ordinary eyes can't see but when
chattering thought gives way to deeper perception abilities it becomes
evident beyond a mere feeling that there's more to it than meets the
eyes. As K puts it "deeper layers of cause and effect".
Anyway, something very strange happened after John's death. We have a connection. It proves itself in the music.
There
are lots of bands and there are lots of musicians. Right here in our
surrounding villages there are a gazillion bands. Probably none of them
will ever make it big, and I don't mean big in terms of world class but
even regionally. And even more, are the number of musicians. Most play
for themselves which is good as art is therapeutic, and a few play for
others, alone or in groups, ensembles, duos, trios, quartets, or rock
or jazz bands. This country is full of classical musicians. And Jazz is
also big. There are a lot of musicians here but not a lot of great one
as the culture was stripped off emotions a long time ago in favor of
rationality, perfect watches and perfect timetables -- these are no my
words but . It's just regaining it, very slowly, and people from other
cultures are helping it a lot. There is a thirst for warmer cultures,
warmer events, southern music and southern dances, but it doesn't
always work. This is all beside the point.
Most of these bands
don't make it because if they write original all their songs sound
alike, or they try to satisfy some youth rage and be cool and make a
lot of noise in the process, or even if they are cover bands, there are
several cover bands around, they're missing the spirit which is
required for greatness. Even if you play all the best songs ever
written, you can still be a very ordinary band if the spirit is missing
and I've seen a ton of cover bands here with exactly that problem.
Yes, Lennon, he was performing. He was not there yet. A very clean drum set was in the background and we were ready.
If the spirit there it is to be cherished. And togetherness is never to be taken for granted.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 July 2009 - Posted on Angelo Gilardino's Blog
Dear Angelo
Great
pleasure to read your account of the journey. I was very curious but up
to now, bogged in life's demands, was not able to catch up with your
journal.
Glad you had a nice time. Ithaca is indeed beautiful. I
don't know if you had a chance to visit the lakes, the water falls and
the gorges.
Ithaca's weather, almost 30 years ago when I lived
there, was a lot more gray and cold. Climate change has made it more
tame, but cloudy and rainy days are a staple, and what makes such
greenery possible.
Congratulations on your Artistic Achievement Award addition to Hall of Fame.
Listening
to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The summer weather in Switzerland feels
like autumn. Starting to see light at end of tunnel that I will be back
to where I was five years ago -- in terms of freedom and space for
creativity -- prior to the attacks carried on my the handful of
classical guitarists, and the complications it caused. A few more steps
and I'm there.
Hope you're well and healthy.
Reza
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
17 July 2009 - TIPS FOR EATING HEALTHY & MEAT-FREE
- Wrote: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/ESSENTIAL_DIET.html
- Told friend: you had a breakthrough (complete psychological change). She: A Rezathrough.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 July 2009 - 1980's, a terrible era for pop music.
-
Listening to a selection of best of 80's. So much bad music was
produced in that decade. Lots of ugly drum machines, octave bass, and
cheap sounding synths.
- Wrote to the SEC about entities who manipulate Beacon Power: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/SEC_Investigate_Manipulators.html
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 July 2009 - Blessings
-
Talked with Mary Cadogan. She just came back from University of
Lancaster where she received an honorary doctorate (D.Lit (Doctor of
Lessons)) for her work on Children Literature and her work for KFT.
So lovely talking with her. She is so energetic and so clear.
So
lovely to hear from you..... Bless You. Those two last words were so
powerful and shook one up like a thunder love and blessings...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 July 2009 - Help!
-
She wrote: " i'm lost for words, that you put so much effort in helping
others. of course, you explained to me that you are interested in
psychology. but still... have a wonderful day, i am really looking
forward to meeting you."
- Met her today -- long talk about her problem, bulimia, challenge and nature of change, role of body/health, etc etc etc etc
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 July 2009 - Dad, a Happy Man
-
He referred to sixty of Dad's students and said dad has the highest
morale of them all, that his morality, ethics, correctness, is
exceptional. The most powerful of his friends got corrupted but he did
not. He could have been a billionaire but he preferred to be correct,
not to steal, not to accept bribes, and to help people and fight for
the cause of the good, the right, the correct, the fair, the just. As a result he stayed a happy man.
-
Sound of Music. Liesl (Charmian Carr) was 21 (acting as 16), Maria
(Julie Andrews) was 28. I was in love with Liesl when I was a kid.
-
Charmian Carr worked for Michael Jackson for many years as his interior
designer. Interesting fact: he liked to sleep on the floor with just
his pillow and blanket.
- Lunch with Dr. K. He's 20 years older. I still enjoy dealing with people with a big age contrast - up or down.
-
It's so cheap to let the breasts hang out. Societies in which the
breasts are totally out the mystery is taken out. In others, the
part-showing creates sense of teasing and therefore part-showing is
more provocative than full showing. It's aggressive, vulgar, cheap, on
some people. A woman may not see it herself as the boobs start acting
out in movement.
- She stands naked in her room with no curtains even when there are others watching. Talk about naive! Binoculars!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 July 2009 - Some News
-
"Astronomers on Wednesday said they had found the farthest supernova
ever detected, a giant star that ripped apart around 11 billion years
ago."
- "North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, 67, has life-threatening pancreatic cancer."
-
"Two senators including the head of the intelligence committee
suggested Sunday that the prior administration broke the law by
concealing a CIA counterterrorism program from Congress... The
assertion that Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the concealment came
amid word that Attorney General Eric Holder is contemplating opening a
criminal probe of possible CIA torture."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 July 2009 - Ojai Connection
-
JW had been hiking alone (with dog only) for 6 days and hadn't talked to
anyone. He said you notice I'm more talkative than usual :) Great
friendly talk.
- Good talk with UB. Proposed writing a article about the excellent dialogues / study he led.
- Good talk with MM. He: let me know if I can help you with your script????
- Good talk with EB.
- School doing well. things going well. regrouping. All to the good. We're all doing the best we can.
- KH was a perfect fit in my eyes for a long time.
- Two of the people I nominated as trustee became trustees.
- Suggested to Shadi to check with dad once before deciding. He might need one final push to say yes or no.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 July 2009 - Torture by Some Swiss German Dialects
-
I love this country and its people but some dialects of Swiss German
can be torturous -- on the train -- these three old women are all
talking at the same time with a loud volume. Pain!
- Hip is better today thank God. Playing classical guitar sounds good. Love is here.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11 July 2009 - Great Gig
-
Gig in Baden was great. One kid gave us money about 5 times. Many
people donated. The event was sooooooo cool. People of all ages
came appreciating the music. Several people gave us 5 franc coins which
means "we like you a lot!". We only played an hour and half because sun
came out and it was directly on us. As I sang the line "you with golden
hair", Andrea walked by and smiled with her golden hair.
-
After CPR class Rosa joined us to get the stuff out of Minerva to her
house -- I drove : 3 people in the car with a full PA, monitor, full
drum set, guitar, bass, chair, effects, etc.
- Found ticket for sister for France by Air Tahiti. Would love to go there.
-
Sound of music -- what a timeless great movie. Still tears came in a
couple of scenes, same as it did when I was 8 or so and watched it.
- Wrote an email to Gisele and copied Rita, Hanns-Peter, Rita, and Friedrich since I mentioned their names.
- She dumped her boyfriend. "I start a new life" (she
shaved 1/2 of her hair). The hair has changed but the person is the
same. The person can change too but it takes understanding.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 July 2009 - A Krishnamurti Gathering Management
[UPDATE:
On July 12 I wrote an email about this issue, and on July 13 wrote an
update ensuring love is not forgotten -- unacceptable tendencies in
another doesn't mean love is not there]
-
I really want to tell her something but I can't find the right words.
She's an organizer of the K gathering somewhere in the world. I respect
her but she's gone around soliciting gossip and fueled a lot of
illusions which I guess keeps her customers entertained. I am kind of
fed up with it. It's time to say something. For years I let it go but I
already see it coming related to my recent article.
She's
the big boss, the master, the speaker in every dialogue and every panel
even if she's not a part of it, by the virtue of being the organizer --
and I have no problem with this except that innate will to power which
she projects onto others. My impression based on certain concrete
statements is that she finds importance in this organization --
organizing around K seems to be the calling of her life at this stage
-- she works on it diligently for most of the year it seems, and she
does very well at it except when it comes to a few subtle things. She
is not a philosopher and her engagement, time and again, in gossip, is
an evidence of this -- she has gone around soliciting opinions about
others from others which is a perfect recipe for gossip and when an
organizer does this, it sets the tone. These are not some illusory
images, these are facts that can be backed by specific citing. But
facts don't always matter in the circle of gossip.
Luckily there
others in the group who are much more educated and open minded,
scientific, philosophical. Like Hanns- Peter who's a retired physics
professor. He wondered about some of the points in my latest article
and took the time to write and asked questions and I explained how some
of his assumptions were not what I had in mind. It works. But the
gossip crowd don't communicate. Communication would be anti-thesis of
gossip. It makes gossip disappear when you find out the fundamental
argument in the gossip is flawed, then there is no more entertainment,
no more occupation.
Image making is a big part of it. An image
is made about someone and regardless of truth, it is maintained. That's
the nature of images. For example, a guy can come around for whom
listening has been a key to his very successful career -- he possibly
could not have gotten where he has, managing over 100 million dollars
of projects, without being a good listener, but the gossip chain is
that he can't listen, and that claim is propagated and pushed onto
others. A person can inject images onto others by the type of questions
asked -- self-fulfilling prophecies. In this instance, an organizer is
on record for going around asking others what they think of others --
what kind of response do you expect to get? That is a pretty lame
question specially coming from an organizer. To organize around a man's
work who was very wary of organizations is fine if it's done very
carefully, but to go around soliciting gossip is not ok.
She's
also very uncertain to stand alone. Over the years, on numerous
occasions I've seen her soliciting others' opinions in order to form
her own. Perhaps this is why she puts such a heavy reliance on a few
and puts them on pedestals. It's about will to power again -- you
empower others to give you power and think that power matters to
everyone else -- but it doesn't. On occasion she's thought denying
others on what she considers important roles would somehow bother them
not knowing the measure of importance in another's mind may be
completely different.
She
criticizes judgments but at least some of those who express opinions
and "judgments" -- (which
is a no-no word in this circle but only the most thoughtful see that a
judgment is not a bad thing, it is pre-judgment which is) -- are able
to form their own opinions clearly which is much better than those who
don't have that ability.
Sometimes
criticisms of certain aspects of the gatherings are quickly taken
personally by her and her immediate reaction is to try to discredit the
person in whatever way, including a favorite one: gossip channel:
telling others bad things about the person, injecting images, or
prompting them in thinking bad things about the person. A person has
made a number of comments which has concretely improved the way the
gathering is run. She discards them, does not give them any credit,
which is fine because the comments were not made to get credit for but
it's interesting that giving such credit in her mind, appears to be a
way of giving power which is contradictory to the image she apparently
prefers to maintain.
She's not a bad person. She is lovely and
has many qualities but her mind is too petty in this particular area of
gossip. She ignores people but doesn't really ignore them -- she goes
on gossiping. Talking behind people's backs is still directing energy
towards a person.
So what I want to tell her now, is to give it
a break. But she's not the only one. There are a couple of other
regular ladies too who thrive for gossip. Year after year, come to
a summer holiday, in the name of K, but still utterly confused, and
need gossip as entertainment and stimulation. The problem I have with
these folks is they don't talk to you, they talk behind you. I know
this as a fact. The ones who care enough to talk don't fall for gossip
-- they wonder about something, they ask, find out, see another's point
of view, and move on to more important things.
She also
worries so much about what people are thinking. Her role as an
organizer should be down to practicalities not managing psychologies.
Last few years she's provided a new service to the participants: psudo-psychotherapeutic recommendations (see http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/on_work_around_k_etc-june2009.html )
A
friend went to the 2007 gathering and was totally appalled by the level
of gossip which had absolutely nothing to do with truth, speculating
that another is jealous or that another person wants to get attention
and power and and all this "network of thought" stuff which were
illusions that had nothing to do with truth. Instead they could have
wanted to find the truth or at least ride the wave of not knowing which
is not nearly as fun as the certainty of gossip, however illusory.
I
didn't care about the gossip of 2007. But I see it coming like a wave
in 2009 because of the self-protective motives of an organizer and
another regular who's also a gossip lover.
The articles I wrote
had a clear section on intension. Problem is an organizer is not all
that studious. In 2007 she had not even bothered reading my article and
already judged it as wrong because I happened to talk about a man who
helps her center financially and his people play key roles in this
gathering -- for the last several years almost every panel and dialogue
were comprised of this team (maybe this year it will change since the
last article), and much weight is given to those nominated by this team, and of course he does a lot for the K
foundations, and I said nothing bad about him -- but in her mind, as
she put it, she wanted to protect him. Protect him against what?
Against an article which had not read yet. That is petty. I am not
being nasty to say these things. At least these are facts, and far
different in quality than the kind of violence someone who gossips
does. Many don't realize that backbiting is a form of gossip -- to say
things behind people that you would not say in front of them. I have
respect for those who express their views, out in the open, and do so
either factually or as expressions of opinions.
The message is:
Give it a break lady. If you don't agree with what someone says, don't
try to organize others against the person. If you want to find
something out, ask. Let the power of inquiry you speak about apply in
interpersonal relationships as well as so called philosophical areas.
I am not a Christian but this is a good quote I just came across:
"Telling
lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding
them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow". -Proverbs
25:18
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 July 2009 -
-
Another case of camel dreaming of cotton seed. Dreamed of the destroyed
diaries – this time the box was found at Parand’s – Farid’s sister’s
house – a lovely lady and lovely family – haven’t seen them for ages –
but back then we were close. It was like, Gosh, that’s right, the
diaries were there, in her garage – they were locked and sealed and I
was incredibly thrilled happy joyful ecstatic to have found this
biggest lost part of my life. Only to wake up in disappointment that it
was only a dream. (logged in http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/lost_treaure.html)
My
beautiful little journals -- what a shame that they were destroyed by
my cousin's family. How painful. This must be one of the most traumatic
things in my life.
-
Thunrderbird 2.0 has a bug that attachments can't be deleted and saved.
Here's the workaround: "In the attachment area, unmark all attachments
and right-click on an empty space". It works.
-Good article about Beacon: http://newenergyandfuel.com/
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
09 July 2009 -
-
Colleague from Istanbul said Azari is more clear and original form of
Turkish because of European influence on Turkish spoken in Turki.
-
What a idiot is this Fox news's "sean hannity". He interviewed a
director of a movie about stoning and soon linked the subject to
"liberals" and took a stab at O -- it has nothing to do with stoning
but he had to link it because in his divisive hateful mind the opposite
is the problem -- the 'liberals'. 8 years of Bush, a so called
'conservative' which was the most reckless president US has ever had
wasn't enough to teach this airhead a lesson.
- Band practice was really excellent. We worked mostly on vocals. And also played and sang. Harmonies are cosmic.
- "Can I have a person not half machine operator stay on line"
- "Smelled" corn bread from a long way away and went in. Reformhaus had one.
.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
08 July 2009 - 52 degrees Fahrenheit, 11 degrees Centigrade in Switzerland on July 8
- So 9 months of winter is not an overstatement!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
06 July 2009 -
-
Not clear if I should go to Tehran. At the prospect of postponing the
trip I feel better -- prospect of need for pole in tooth is highers
(thanks to Amir's message) and I don't have 2 weeks to spend there
given current level of work load, hot weather there, pollution, etc.
. Dad said there are unprecedented dust storms in Tehran. Some
flights are canceled and any have health issues. Work was intense and
heavy -- and prospect of handover itself was cumbersome (another reason
not to go) as the project needs attention. Was starving. Ate a little
at home. Called Dr. Balov -- going there now -- spontaneous decision
and she's open to it. I want another opinion if I can wait on the tooth
which is not bothering me at all... Happily left home with a carrot,
banana, and pear. I am also looking forward to playing with the band --
after a year of hard work we're now really sounding good and it's a lot
of fun to play.
-
Dr. Balov -- or "ba-love" (with love) -- said there's no danger -- can
wait on the tooth. Not going to Tehran. Can stay with the Lindens in
Switzerland, after all they're only here a couple of weeks or so per
year and their rare visit should be cherished. Walking back saw a plum
tree with delicious red plums and took some -- noone else would.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
05 July 2009 -
-
Good band practice -- it was powerful.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
04 July 2009 -
-
What I absolutely have no space for is drama. Certain things in life
I'd compromise, certain things not, and in the case of being in a band
with a a member who has a extreme punk tattoo head will simply not
work.
-
It was great to be out on Saturday -- so many little children like
flowers brought so much joy simplicity and glory to the day.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
03 July 2009 -
-
She showed up with a tattoo on her head. What a pity -- how quickly
beauty gave way to rough edges -- or was that roughness always there
and is now just expressing itself? It's hard to believe. I know her to
be gentle inside. Quiet, simple, sensitive. But she associated a lot
before with people with hard edges -- drunks and druggies who hang out
in the street with their dog and black leathers - punky rough haircuts
- and all this has a different meaning in this society which is so very
affluent. In her mind, she did it -- as an article of beauty. I don't
think so. Course of action is clear purely for placement and
positioning purposes.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
02 July 2009 -
-
Anklin said we were not made to sit. What about monkeys? They sit to
eat bananas. He: but not for long. Short sits is ok. We sit for hours
in meetings, etc.
-
Last night long discussion about a
friend's desire to tattoo her head which I strongly discouraged her to.
There is too much historical association of tattoos with crime and I've
met so many people who regretted having them. Prison gang members, porn
stars also have tattoos but so do average people these days, but I
don't like it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 July 2009 - There for me
This was a song from a long time ago that crept into my head - so I found it - "There For Me" by Italian disco duo La
Bionda, who originally recorded it - in English - in their 1978 album. It is so easy to regress.
Played
in Aarau in the evening. It was really good -- a milestone for us and a big success.
We learned to pack the car
with reduced drum set and three of us ride it - it's like a puzzle,
we're getting good at solving. They were quite happy. Loved the new mic
(Shure Beta 87A) as I am really learning how to use it and singing
through it was a lot of fun.
Very hectic day at work.
The
Murren gossipers will continue their ways this year too -- but it's
already explained and documented. I probably won't have time to go.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30 June 2009 - Agency
-
The real-estate agency that manages the apartment came to check
friend's apartment after she moved out. They're picking on totally
normal wear-and-tear items. It's their job -- same people who lied
multiple times -- they try to get as much as they can -- here's a mark
of a couch on a 10 year old carpet and you have to pay for every
mark... They forget that they lied and their bargaining power is very
very little. We further got power by her remark to friend "don't write
to the headquarters". Because the last letter we sent exposed her lies
and got us what we wanted which was totally just and fair.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 June 2009 - The Old World
-
There are so many beautiful aspects of the old world of the not too distance past that younger generation has no idea about.
They
used to sew their blankets -- not blankets but quilt (duvet "laahaaf")
-- blankets were also sewn with a cover of soft sheet but one side of
the blanket minus the frame was still showing. The quilt ("lahaf") were
sewn differently -- on both sides. There was a profession of quilt
sewers / one who'd come to "hit" the cotton to make it uncluttered "lahaf
dooz" -- they would show up at random, walking the alleys yelling their
beautiful penetrating chant of "aay laaf doozi" (hey, duvee quilt")(I
sew quilts). They carried a large 1 stringed bow with them which made a
nice sound as it "hit" the cotton or wool -- "an old rhyme dad used to
sing to me as he held me and I made a sound with mouth with lips closed
and he'd bounce his finger up and down my lips to make them sound funny
to the rhythm of "ping ping panbeb, shangoole man zi-panbeh" or
something to that effect. ping ping being the sound of the cotton
hitter's one stringed instrument.
Charcoal was sold by a charcoal man who had a small shop full of charcoal. He always seemed blackened.
We had a yearly fun event of making tomato paste in the summer in the backyard for the whole year from fresh tomatoes.
And the list goes on -- things that these days don't happen that much if ever -- surely never in the West.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27 June 2009 - Curry Disaster
-
He washed 15 white shirts together and a curry pack was in the
bag by mistake. All shirts came out yellow and subsequent washes
too.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27 June 2009 - Friendliest people in Iran
-
He gave a presentation about his travels throughout the Middle East. He
said this place people were friendly, and that place people were
friendly. The children asked him, which place had the friendliest
people? And he said, Iran.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27 June 2009 - Rosa Graduated ! Yes !
- Rosa's
graduation was huge -- I counted about 700 people in the church. Long
boring talks - and some music. I went shopping and came back and there
were still speeches and the room was stuffy as hell. Hot sweaty and
stinky. I opened the church's big doors wide open and people looked
back and gave a smile of relief. Finally commencements began and I saw
Rosa up there getting her rose and blew a whistle for her. What an
accomplishment!
-
Drunk group at 11:30 pm on balcony, very loud. I asked them to quiet
down. But being drunk and therefore stupid they didn't take it
seriously and made a joke out of it - I warned them that it's against
city's rules and police will take action. They joked it off and
continued with their holler. One call to police took care of it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27 June 2009 - Osteopath who couldn't handle getting caught for over-charging
His
secretary told me it was 150 francs for the first meeting. That's a lot
of money but I agreed to pay it since I needed the service. Most other
therapists charge anywhere from 70 to 100 max. A great osteopath I know
in Geneva charges 90 and his work is absolutely fantastic. This guy in
Zurich charged me 172 francs. I didn't make a fuss and thought I made a
mistake -- I said nothing -- till next time I talked to his secretary
for an appointment I asked her again, and again she said it's 150.
I
wrote to him about something else and in the same email I said by the
way, this is the story about the amounts -- your secretary told me 150,
2 times, and you charge me over 20 fcs more (excluding tax, it is still
more than quoted but usually patient, in every therapy I've been to,
when asking the price, get the total price). I was nice to him, I did
not say anything un-gentle, but I guess he didn't like the fact that
his price was questioned. His reaction was very telling.
If a
person makes a mistake they can admit to it, apologize, and move on. We
all make mistakes. But this guy didn't have the character to do that.
Getting caught in over-charging me did not go so well with him. A Swiss
friend with whom I talked about this and she explained the osteopath's
behavior as such:
"It’s very uncomfortable when you know you did something wrong and
somebody doesn’t play this game with you. Playing upset is just a protection to show how strong you are. It’s
harder so say sorry than to show upsetness. A way of saying, you did something
wrong, I never make mistakes. I guess in this society to be 150% perfect so important. For me to be
perfect means to be true. I guess sometimes we are so pressured from
expectations that we become machines and loose the true view for things."
She
is right. As the old saying goes, if you have a case you're quiet. If
you don't have a case you make a lot of noise to make it look like you
have a case. His reaction, another-words, getting upset at me for
asking him, why are you charging me 172 when I was quoted 150, just
shows that he was indeed guilty, that he was indeed trying to
overcharge me, and as is customary in Switzerland he never thought I'd
object to it because I looked like I have money - a suit and a good job
- and the culture here is, never question the supplier. Supplier of
goods and services here has the upper hand. They're not to be
questioned. Customer is at fault by default in this culture as in
several places in Europe -- it's the old economy, backward thinking
which is being challenged and changed by global competition.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 June 2009 -
-
How many men invite a woman to travel with them and don't want to sleep
with her? Even Swiss men who are raised with women -- when they
ask a woman to go on a trip with them their goal is very very clear.
What's the explanation? Just want an escort? I like to suck your
angelic pheromones? It's all of that but many men think just with their
penises and that is a biological fact: to spread the genes, conquer a
woman, touch and go. A few can step out of these conditionings. What I
don't like, what is really ugly, are lied: knowing a woman is with
another man, and lying in order to create division, or any attempt to
create division. Nasty stuff, but I'm glad I don't have to deal with
such people.
- Tip
for women: if you don't want someone, be clear with them otherwise they
will interpret your remarks as leads. Most people don't get hints. But
direct speech works.
- Moved a lot of furniture and boxes.
- Russell 3000 reindexing - many securities dropped at day end.
-
The stream of thought is strong - like that river - but insight like
the smell of those linden trees brings a end to that stream and bring
silence in the mind. Precious silence.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 June 2009 - In Friendship CD is selling for $256.79 on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00004S359/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&qid=1245878906&sr=8-3&condition=used
Amazing !!
And another one also the next day for over $250 - then one disappeared (someone bought it?)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 June 2009 - Conference with Robert Blackwell
In
the evening conference Robert was the keynote speaker - another guy
gave a boring talk after he did. Robert's talk was good. We had a meal
together actually -- among over 100 participants, a few were selected
for one-on-ones and I was one which spontaneously was having a meal
together. He generously picked up the tab and he witnessed first hand
the poor customer service attitude I
was telling him about Switzerland (in the hotel restaurant). We both
love Switzerland. He's been
a friend of Obama since 1993 - O was his company lawyer - and they were
also neighbours. We have one very funny thing in common - we both
started our own business as a kid - and the line was also similar. He
bought candy for the classmates and so did I ! And we both made good
money as kids. (that was one of my several businesses as a kid and
teenager - others included broiled corn (big business) and sandwich
shop, etc.)
-
Three top characteristics of a CEO of a top global company: Integrity
(value honesty transparency), Passion, Fearless (take risks). Robert
added:
- I answered both questions right while noone else vocalized an answer. Who's ultimately responsible for the customer problem?
Who gets the benefit at the end?
- Majority of CIO's in survey said communicating is the most important factor in being a leader.
-
At the end Robert asked something to the effect of how Europe feels
about US. The CEO of Harvey Nash said it's improved a lot since Obama
came... one of chaos to one of leadership. I said: "In general People
in Europe are quite happy that Bush is gone." That received a big
clap ;)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 June 2009 -
- Linden Trees are finally blossoming and their gift to us is immeasurably beautiful.
- Worked on vocals with Tanja.
- We met one of Rosa's classmates who said the whole class passed. Yes!!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 June 2009 -
-
"in support of the Cancer Research at Princess Margaret
Hospital in Toronto.... Our
team raised a total of $17,338 – surpassing our total goal. THIS WAS
ONLY POSSIBLE due to your generous and kind support. WE THANK YOU
SINCERELY. Overall, 3,500 people took part in the ride – raising over
$14.5 Million. The ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls took us through
some of Ontario’s most beautiful and scenic route. "
- Switzerland is flipping cold on June 22! Sad reminder of the long winter that still lingers after days of nice warm weather.
-
Asked her to ask the cheese counter which one is delicious. In German
delicious is not really used - she just said "which one is good" in
German. "here, everything is good or bad".
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
21 June 2009 -
-
We tried our new microphones - the Shure Beta 87A. Being tired hurts
the vocals most - but the reserve energy came with good music.
- He said in 1980 there were no CS degrees in Switzerland.
-
Beacon Power Agrees to Accelerate Funding of up to $14 Million from
Seaside 88, LP. Good news. DOE loan guarantee should be coming. The
stock is a steal (BCON).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 June 2009 -
-
Finished big article - big burden off my shoulders - it was low
priority task that lingered around for too long and finally I went
heads on with it. Some of the writing was fun and creative. There were
certain things that needed to be said and documented. Commentaries on the work around J. Krishnamurti’s work, etc.
- Saw Adrian
Stern and Seven in Baden. Seven was boring -- both bands were too loud
-- louder than necessary. I hate being among so many people in a
sardine like fashion - smokers and meat eaters - but managed to get
away.
-
1 out of 6 people are hungry. "The global financial meltdown has pushed
the ranks of the world's hungry to a record 1 billion, a grim milestone
that poses a threat to peace and security, U.N. food officials said
Friday. Because of war, drought, political instability, high food
prices and poverty, hunger now affects one in six people, by the United
Nations' estimate."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 June 2009 - Obsession with Letting It All Hang Out
-
I don't understand, this obsession with letting it all hang out. Is it
a 9-month-winter complex that as soon as the weather turns bearable
tits start flying out? Of course we can have different tastes and
values but anyone, anybody, in a civil society, unless they believe in
nudism, would agree that an outfit that allows a person standing
near-by at a salad buffet to see not only a woman's breasts but the
entire breast including the entire nipple, is not right. What can
I say? I can not even object to it. It's not my right. I can say I can
see it but that's about all I can do. Many people have a psychological
complex and use naked clothing as a way of attracting attention when
they're empty inside. If that is not the case, then what is it? Isn't
wearing clothes a social agreement we've implicitly made? If so, then
we should respect it. Nipples is simply off limit.
What
I saw today was pretty extreme. A woman in this society is allowed to
show some of her breasts and she can manage her outfit designed for that effect, and some do. But to have a nipple showing?!?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
17 June 2009 - Swiss Latin
-
Swiss man passed the Latin dance test. He practiced every morning
at 4 a.m. before work (he is not a farmer). His daughter said, it
doesn't come to us naturally...
- Going heads-on with the Murren / Krishnamurti gathering 2008 / K-related article. Hope to release it soon.
- What are you doing? "writing a love letter to life".
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 June 2009 - Politics vs. Music
- I
am so fed up with politics because last few days have been following
flipping news too much. It is at a level that is not in sync with my
work. I am fed up with stolen elections, dictatorships calling
themselves democracies, and corruption. I'll stick to music. It's much
more beautiful.
- Talk about ripoff: Swisscom mobile: if you
call a landline it's 80 cents an hour. If you have your phone on
forward-when-unreachable for example, you pay 80 cents a minute. Is
this fair? Or is it, let's milk the customer any way we can.
-
Friend has found the guts to return something she bought and decided
it's the wrong product for her -- within 24 hours -- Swisscom shop told
me on the phone she can return it -- but the totally new product with
receipt, she got a return after getting a hard time: "only as an
exception". Let's face it -- in Switzerland, often, if you return
something you're treated like you're a criminal.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 June 2009 - Water
- Water therapy was good. Water is healing.
-
Got stressed over finding Rosa's flying into Basel instead of ZH on day
of the show and that means we'll have to pack her drums and take them
and she'll just show up and play with no practice for 10 days. God help
us :)
- Beautiful guitar reduced the stress.
- Swiss girl said: "next to you we're not swiss at all - you're so organized".
- Jealousy cripples a lot of minds.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 June 2009 - Andrea
- Band practice was really good minus the brain lapses of some members due to lack of sleep from the festival.
- Andrea joined us for some tambourine. She's got a good beat and may come on the video.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 June 2009 - New Pictures
- A picture says a 1000 words. A video says a 1000 pictures !
- New Pictures on:
http://ganjavi.110mb.com/rezangela/rezangela_pictures.html
www.rezangela.com
-
She said she went to sleep in her hammock at 8 a.m. after the festival.
At 9 a farmer came around with his tractor to revenge :)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 June 2009 - The Father
- Least I could do to the man who gave his life to me is to call and give him the good news from time to time.
-
Just as I was a bit down - not down but under strain of travel and
load, etc., 2 separate kids in the bus - one on the way there and one
on the way back, who were sitting across, gave one a nice smile :)
It meant a lot. It was a sign that something is very right... and it turns out that one's predictions are becoming true.
- Two girls asked me to spend the night in their tent at Ehrendingen Open Air but I'm going home instead :)
Played guitar by the fire. Met several people I knew and made new friends. Tomorrow night Rezangela performs.
African drums were very nice - we followed them from one stage to another doing African moved.
Nice
walk during the boring Irish music. The fields so beautiful but all
these young people forsake the night by violating their bodies'
intelligence. Mine now needs sleep!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 June 2009 - Clueless Swiss Customer Service
I
usually try to avoid this subject and just take it as given that in
nSwitzerland the business is king and the customer is a peon; the
business is right and the customer is wrong by default. I should
just accept it as the way it is but I simply can not and fall in the
same bitter experience almost everytime. But on a few occasions when a
matter was escalated way up top, form example, to CEO level of Swisscom
or SBB or Coop, it turned out that I turned out to be right, but why,
why does it have to get to that point? Why do I have to waste so much
energy escalating matters that a CEO understands but the workers don't.
The answer is: lack of education. Swiss companies miserably fail to
educate their workers about customer service. In the US, a kid grows up
seeing how it is - it is part of the culture - here, it's impolite to
return something. I have been on occasion treated like a criminal when
I returned something, unused, immediately, in original package, and for
good reason, and according to the rules of the company which were
simply not communicated to the store manager, and it was up to CEO then
down to the regional manager to declare that I was right, and
apologize, and teach the employee something.
Same thing today.
We bought 3 packs of organic (bio) broccoli and two had massive live
worms inside and I took the 3rd, unopened bag which had worms visible
from outside, back to Migro's in Baden. Ms. A. Haldemann who spoke good
English was quite aggressive and gave me a lot of hard time and a long
lecture and wanted to argue. I was there for a refund not an argument.
She said if you want food that doesn't have worms don't buy Bio. She is
wrong. I've bought Bio food for years, and even at their shop on
regular basis and 9 out of 10 there are no worms. This was a bad crop,
not cleaned well or whatever, and the company can't expect to sell it
and not expect any returns. She I had to wait and wait for her to check
with grocery department etc etc to issue a damn refund. Of course it
wasn't the money but the principle, and her terrible attitude was
another proof that the roots of "customer is wrong" is very deep rooted
here.
She said, ok I give you a refund only this time. I said
no, it's your company policy to give refund on such returns (I know
that from talking to them before). Returning things, for any reason, is
close to being a crime in Switzerland. Customer is wrong by default
here. Unless that changes, Swiss companies will not be able to compete
with global players who do know what customer service means.
I
expect an investigation and statement from Migro's management. If a
refund was warranted why was I given such a lot of nonsense along with
it? If it was not warranted why was a refund given?
Regards
Ganjavi
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11 June 2009 -
- The annual shareholder meeting for Beacon Power (BCON) went really well. The stock is a steal at $1.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 June 2009 - Another Victory
She
said if it wasn't for me she would never have done it and just paid
extra 2 months of rent. I encouraged her to write to the agency's big
boss about the lies they told her and the prejudice they showed (in
dealing with a prestigious Iraqi tenant because they don't like to take
foreigners), and demand that she
gets out early. It was very hard for her to do it as the Swiss culture
is very non-confrontational. Hey, these guys have not had a war for
centuries. And some businesses take advantage of people's goodness
and
rip them off and count on people never asserting their rights. They
were going to rip her off. They lied to her and cheated, and her
cultural conditioning was to say nothing and just accept it.
They assumed she will just take it. She didn't. I helped her in
writing two very good letters spelling out what they'd done wrong, how
they'd broken the law and breached the contract. We gave them a
deadline of tomorrow. Today they wrote back agreeing with her terms and
now she can leave at the end of this month. Yes. Another win against
crooks.
She was ecstatic and said she had no idea how to do
this on her own. I had a lot of
confidence in her case and spent a lot of time writing for her and
reading every version of the letter and the hardest part was to
encourage her to be patient and not to give up while at the same time
not wanting to impose my ideas on her -- she decided everything on her
own.
A good letter takes time. I once
spent days on a letter and the day the top executive of the world's
largest concert merchandising companies got it he called me and settled
the case. Honesty, clarity, and strong logic are the keys to success in
standing up for one's rights.
After days of anxiety she said she'll sleep good tonight. Her mom sent her thanks too :)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 June 2009 - Guitarjoy
Even a little bit of classical guitar brought so much joy. That little
friend sleeping in its case is such a source of joy when amalgamed with
these hands and heart.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 June 2009 - Saudi Arabia's Primitive Culture & Appalling Attitude Towards Women
-
(AP) Saudi Arabia – For the first time in three decades, Saudis in the
nation's capital did something that most Westerners take for granted —
they went to the movies. But it wasn't exactly date night. No women
were allowed. ... And in a sign of the challenges that face every small
step toward reform, a group of conservative men gathered outside the
entrance to the center to try to discourage the moviegoers from going
in.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 June 2009 - Rezangela
- We
sounded really good today - the vocals have really taken us to a new
level...and the new drum heads sound really good....and the bass sounds
really good, and the guitar too... and the playing too.......and the
spirit of friendship, love & joy & harmony & understanding
that's between Rosa, Angie, and I.
- Talked w/ Afsaneh, Dr.
Christian, Dr. Parvizi who is an amazing doctor and speaks with a bit
of Azari accent - another brilliant Azari speaking talent from Zanjan
(Iran) whose research was a breakthrough in Medicine.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 June 2009 - Foreigners in Switzerland
-
Helped friend with letter to the lying agency. They told her outright
that they don't want to rent to foreigners. They forget the great
contributions of foreigners in Switzerland, the many many doctors,
engineers, scientists, and so on. I came here because nobody else could
do this job. The company ran an advert and got nobody so I got the
permit as a Document Management Consultant. Back then, and still today,
there aren't a lot of people with the skills I have. A doctor told me
years ago that when she was a doctor in Switzerland some decades ago,
most people were interested in farming and other skills. This is a
traditionally farming country. The entire banking industry is being
helped by foreigners. So this anti-foreigner obsession just shows the
fears and closed mindedness of the right wing party. I don't say doors
should open and every foreigner should come in. All I say is, anyone
who associated foreigners with a criminal is dead wrong. As friend out
it, the news media just give bad news and sometimes these are
associated with foreigners. The guy who stole the girl and killed her
was Swiss. But news don't say Dr. Parvizi's discoveries, Dr. Komeyli's
and Dr. Balov and Dr. Gaspar and so on's contributions, all these
top-notch MD's, scientists, artists, etc. who are foreigners and are
working hard and making Switzerland a better place.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 June 2009 - Swiss
-
Why is it so hard for a Swiss person I know to stand up for her rights?
It seems so much against the culture to not take how you're treated as
given when the treatment comes from a established business no matter
how crooked they are. They take advantage of passive simple
non-objecting Swiss and lie and cheat them but people seem to just take
it as granted. In this case, the friend sees that she was wronged by
this real-estate agency but it's so hard for her to say something. The
case is so clear. They lied to her on several counts and other terrible
things. She's now writing a letter demanding termination of contract.
But to write a good letter that gets results it takes a lot of
patience. It has to be just right. And it does get results. It's
been proven.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 June 2009 -
- On
the evening walk followed ears and found music coming from a boxing
ring. Walked in. Boxing is such a stupid and boring activity (I refuse
to call it sport).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 June 2009
- Played at gig by River. Well received.
-
She's afraid to call people after 8 pm so as to not bother them. What?
8 pm? 'so they can have a peaceful night'. what's un-peaceful about a
friendly caller except in an isolated individualistic society with high
suicide rate...
- I said No to MRI with contrast agent - Gadolinium MRI Exposure Causes Serious Side Effects – Kidney Disease, Skin Reaction
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 June 2009
- You’re very funny. Thank you, I was in a shit mood this morning, you made me laugh. Fatieh
- Both my parents are very social...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
June 2009 - Bush's VP, Cheney: An animal in his own right.
Bush's VP lied:
-
Cheney's lying about what's in CIA memos, Levin says http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/29/levin.cheney/index.html
- Spent over an hour researching water filters for Shadi
---------------
Cheney & Torture:
-
AP - WASHINGTON – Dick Cheney as vice president conducted secret
briefings for lawmakers in 2005 aimed at defending harsh interrogations
as their methods were coming under congressional scrutiny, according to
current and former government officials.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
June 2009 - The Lying Swiss Real-estate Agency
-
İ told her not to trust these real-estate agencies but she said, oh,
they're honest. My experience has been that the wonderful honesty of
Swiss people is abused by companies who know that trust is there in
favor of money and prejudice.
A few weeks later she found out they lied to her. I
actually went and asked too, on her behalf, since she could not go on
that day. Again they said, no, nobody has applied yet just as they told
her a few days before. Fact is at least one person
had applied if not more. Several others had said they were going to
apply for sure. Other similar apartments had many applicants. Fact is,
these pigs, did not want any of the applicant(s) for one reason or
other.
The one we know about was an Iraqi refugee making 6000 Fcs a month and
credible, good person, with good reference from his current landlord
where he'd been staying for two years,
who was looking for a bigger place. We caught the agency lying. Dr. S.,
with whom I consulted with, a very "Swiss" man, told me "everybody
lies".
God forbid! This is Switzerland - the land of the simple, honest folks,
until money worshipping companies start to lie.
- In fact that
same day the Iraqi guy had called them to follow up on his application
after 2 weeks of waiting. They told him, we will review it now, and
immediately told him, no. A few hours later they still lied to us and
said nobody had applied. The agreement as the friend explained it is
that if three people apply then she can break her contract and leave
any time even if those folks don't qualify. I have not seen the
contract. I am sure however, that they lied to us and denied
a good qualified person from getting an apartment without giving us any
good explanation. The Iraqi man is now forced to stay at his own place
until the next moving allowed date.
-
Once friend wrote the letter they called and lied again. They said the
Iraqi guy had a family of 5 but he had family of 4. They said he
wouldn't integrate well but he would as there are other foreigners in
that building. One secretary outright told my friend they didn't give
him the apartment because they don't like to rent to foreigners. How
about all those foreigner scientists, engineers, and doctors who are
here?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
June 2009 - Power of Dialogue & Inquiry, and the Unknown
-
A mature brain can ask a question, go into it, and out of understanding
the question, insight comes. This occured on the walk about a issue the
friend was facing with and the solution was in the question, and it was
clear, lucid, pragmatic, and light for action.
-
Switzerland is a great country but the arrogance against consumers is
appaling. There are so many cases experienced by so many people who
care to note it that a book can be written. In the lastest saga, the
orange juice I ordered was old. It had layers of old settled crums in
it. Boy, was it a mistake to tell them about it. "How dare you tell us
that our orange juice is bad". It was a fact. They poured it from an
old carton that was sitting in the fridge for at least a week (they're
a mountain top restaurant).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
02 June 2009 -
-
Friend's mom who was a nurse, then a therapist, and finished schooling
in Switzerland and is originally Swiss and lived all her life here,
still has friend verify her letters for and correct her German. This is
how difficult German is.
- Two lambs were calling out to their mother which had disappeared by the
cruel action of a butcher who'd transformed her into a meal on
someone's table. You could feel the pain of longing in the lambs'
calling.
- The villagers are not all so simple, she said. The
farmers organized a stripper from Zurich to come and the licked whipped
cream off her body.
-
My dear friend, Friedrich Grohe, believes a long hike up the mountain
will cure any leg & so on's condition. There is truth to that.
- The day flew by with long meetings etc.
- There is love and that sweetens everything - - love of life itself, love of dignity beauty, wisdom
and inquiry; love of music, and love of art of wondering, and love of
beautiful people in this ugly world which we have to make beautiful by
being beautiful.
-
Hossein Rezazadeh from Ardabil, Iran, is the world's strongest man. He
currently holds the world records in weightlifting's super heavyweight
class.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 June 2009 -
-
Spoke with Dr. Javad Parvizi, a very prominent and important doctor and
a very kind man. He has a PhD and a MD and did breakthrough in medicine
together with Dr. Ganz, the Swiss orthopedic surgeon. Updated iranians_in_america.html
- 4 hour hike.
-
We've frozen about 50 songs and concentrating on the vocal harmonies.
After Rosa's graduation we can add more. Fingers are crossed for her to
do well after all that she's been through. More power to you Rosa !
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
31 May 2009 - China US Dollar
-
China is worried about it's US investments. China held about $768 billion of Treasuries as of March.
“I
will, of course, make it clear that we are committed to a strong
dollar, that we are committed to bringing our fiscal deficits down over
the medium term to a sustainable place, to a sustainable level,”
Geithner said in the briefing May 27. “We believe in a strong dollar. A
strong dollar is in the U.S. interest."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30 May 2009 - A Day In The Life
-
Swiss people always amaze me at how responsive they are to music. I've
not seen anything like it anywhere. Even 1 note makes them
response like this a.m. by the lady who was walking opposite direction
and heard me sing a note of Three Times A Lady. She was.
-
Last
night it got too late too early. Had taken a long walk, soaked hands in
thermal waters (not goo idea given m finger status). And got sucked
into answering emails, research, and looking for proper water filter to
replace the BPA containing container many use in the US to buy
water in. Body made a big crack during sleep. Yoga upon waking.
-
The ugly butcher in Baden was celebrating 100 years of his killing
innocent animals by having a whole huge cow roasted. They setup the
frozen carcass yesterday and offered free meat to people but even today
it was pretty red and uncooked and filled the 9:30 morning air with a
filthy smell of burning carcass. D I S G U S T I N G to say the
least. And the butcher shop was full of people.
- Wrote long letter: "Drop by drop it gathers and suddenly it becomes a sea" as the Persian saying goes.
-
The trial took a month and jury deliberated for a week and came back
asking questions about giving punitive damages - at that point the
defendant decided to settle. How stupid of him to want to fight my
friend anyway. The real winners were the lawyers.
- Hauled the
Behringer system - it was a lot of work to do b/c they sent it to wrong
address - the sound is really good unlike all the people who say
Behringer sucks. It does not. It's just an image of more expensive
lines b/c they're getting killed by this lower cost but high quality
brand.
-
Had call from Iran. It's such a tightly knit society and relationships
- and when people die there's always lots of ceremonies and coming and
going of even most distant folks-- sister of cousin's husband has died
-- etc etc - for the Swiss it's a joke to have such long
relationships and care so much. Told her there's still something young
inside her , she can rescue herself from suffering by taking care etc.
-- in one case, X is stressed for having to go to husband's niece's
husband's sister's funeral. Swiss friend just laughs at this. She
doesn't even know her cousin's name!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
29 May 2009 - Prejudice
-
Iraqi renter, refugee, makes 6000 fcs a month, been in an apt for 2
years and paid rent on time. He can't get a new place because agencies
act out of prejudice.
-
I told friend to not trust the agency and check on them. She trusted
them and they betrayed her trust. They lied to her. They said they had
no applicants but they did. We have proof. We'll teach them a lesson
with reason and law.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 May 2009 - Perfect Society
- She
said here it is normal to kill oneself. She knows four students who
jumped in front of the train by the school. To her small village, four
or five people hung and shut themselves last year. The village has only
520 inhabitants. I told her in the culture was raised as a kid, suicide
was considered a grand sin - as in, you're guaranteed to go to the
worst spot in hell. Here the society provides everything. Here, there's
such a degree of social provision that the tolerance for hard times is
very very low. this is not spent here be psychologically ill, because
so many people have this problem, perhaps because the support of the
family is not there. Two of my close friends hardly ever talk to their
brothers, for example.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 May 2009 - Hiltl Ripoff
-
Took a plate at Hiltl buffet -- it wasn't that big -- I could have
eaten more -- it cost 37.50 Francs. Talk about ripoff! At lunch the
subject of divisions came up.
- Got an invitation to see Richard .....................
- "More than 90 percent of economists predict the recession will end this year, although the recovery is likely to be bumpy."
-
"General Motors Corp. on Wednesday withdrew its offer to swap bond debt
for company stock, saying that too few bondholders agreed to the deal.
The move sets the stage for what almost certainly will be a bankruptcy
filing." Cool. We need fewer auto-companies specially given the
practices these companies were engaged in historically to sustain their
gass-guzzling model of doing business and destruction of good public
transport.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 May 2009 - Swiss Renter
-
Agency told friend they like to take her because all the other
applicants are foreigners. It's no secret. Landlords prefer Swiss
renters and are not shy about that discrimination.
- I don't like TV (including CNN live webcast) because it's nonstop noise. Nonstop. Silence between notes is golden.
-
Called Bank Of America about their stupid uneducated agent -- I don't
know how some people get a job with such narrow mind other than a job
that's meant for robots or monkeys.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
25 May 2009 - Swiss Wonder
-
There are numerous things in which Switzerland is number one in the
world and defines what world-class means. "Swiss Quality" is not
a myth. I want out band, Rezangela, to be "Swiss Quality" in terms of
excellence in execution of songs, and be world class even in areas
where Switzerland doesn't define standards.
Balgrist
is truly a world class organization. Met Dr. Nagy & Dr. Kalberer
who gave invaluable information. Being a disciple of
Dr.
Kalberer does hip replacements like drinking a glass of water. He's
clearly very good at it. What a marvel ha? Just take out a human hip
and put in another one. He was a student of Dr. Ganz, the Swiss guru of orthopedics.
Dr. Nagy is a master of hands and a true gentleman.
Both
Drs. Fucentese and Schallberger were walking by and we met and both
thanked for the CD. Dr. F. had it in his pocket. I had promised him it
a long time ago.
The level of specialty is amazing. There's a clinic for hands, one for shoulder and elbow, one for knee, one for hip, etc.
Downstairs
they have world-class physiotherapy with a pool cleaned with ozone not
chlorine, and a shoe shop, etc., and there's a whole floor it seems
dedicated to artificial limbs. A woman was walking fast with a
artificial leg on her shoulders.
---------------
- Met 1 month old Laurine in
train :) and a group of joyful youngsters from Washington state. Health
is the most valuable asset. Those who sacrifice it to gain other
assets, including fleeting pleasure are fools..
- played guitar outside
then weight exercizes
disk has no errors
doctor came home and went to bed before 10 pm
professor came home too
both looked unhappy and out of tune
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 May 2009 - Giga Om
-
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/GigaOM.html
- Good practice w/ RG. Some Beatles harmonies are so complex (e.g. a small section in Ob La Di).
- Cell phone was on all night by mistake so I had strange dreams.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 May 2009 -
-
I am sure your (psychological) problems is rooted in thought --
sometimes it's so fast like a computer program - but as we put programs
in debuggers to slow motion them and see where the problem is, the
subtle movements of thought which are often habitual need to be
understood. But avoiding situations where such problems occur will not
make the problem go away - the situation is important in bringing up
the problems so it can be seen. Once we see, understood, what we are,
how we function, then we don't have to be slaves and run by those
habits any more -- through seeing the habits can disappear.
- July we'll have a DVD recording concert.
-
Made another trip to music store (2 train + bus) to check out Allen
& Heath AH-ZED-12FX. I don't like it. The certified sound engineer
who worked there couldn't get a good delay+reverb sound.
- He said there are more open minded people in IR than in CH. How
in CH complaining is so unaccepted and how much the government is
pro-business and how customer service in CH is non existent. He said in
English: In Switzerland a customer is not king, he is slave. He is
right in the context of history but that is changing as competition is
more global.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 May 2009 - Baden is Heaven not Hell
-
There's a wonderful exhibit of hearts in Baden and they raise money for
children in Africa and it's all positive and stuff. Take this:
AZTon was playing. I am friends with the drummer who's a very
nice guy and excellent drummer. But their music is too heavy for my
taste and has its place in certain places but as they're Baden's staple
band, they play in most major events and that's what the city has --
hard stiff distorted rock. I like some of their songs but can't handle
some and their general sound which is "hellish". Groups like AC/DC and
Guns&Roses and so on did so much disfavor to history of music by
promoting this awful distorted singer voice which is clearly hurting
their vocal cords. And to top off this nice positive event the raucous
sounding singer led good people of baden in chanting "I'm on a high way
to hell". Such a contradiction given the amazingly beautiful setting
which is indeed heavenly - with the singing river below and gradually
blossoming Linden trees. Surely the music was not one of heart but one
of distorted minds which follow the decadent aspects of American music
culture. Don't even mention the rest of the lyrics to "Highway to
Hell". The drunks certainly all enjoyed it like the obnoxious drunk
lady behind us who kept shouting to echo the same distortions she was
hearing. Others, like Francisco, did not look like he was enjoying it as
much as he could if this was really good music. But left without
choice, many, even those who did not subscribe to the trash metal
sound, went along the music.
- Wrote a lot on discussions regarding friend's miserable times.
-
Anytime dealing with a clerk type in the US I am learning to assume the
person is generally quite uneducated. Dealing with a yesterday I
learned she was not educated enough to do basic math or understand
basic common sense. What a pity. That was one of my first impressions
when I first went to US as a young teenager: focused narrow vision
approach I faced time and again. A person just knows their bit and
that's all - missing big picture - and without big framework the mind
can not be very intelligent.
-
Explained that the tendency is to separate the seer from the seen but
seeing one's totality of being is essential for any change to occur.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 May 2009 - Psychological time
Psychological
time is an illusion. The idea that i had this problem for 7 years it
takes time for it to go away only gives the brain an excuse to
procrastinate. The physical aspects of the problem yes, but if you
think you need time to change fears, desire for certainty, escapes,
anxieties, etc., that is an illusion. Those things can change
instantly, in a nanosecond, upon holistic insight.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 May 2009 - Division as the root cause of problems
-
Obama received an honorary PhD a few days ago. Rev. John Jenkins,
president of Notre Dame, in his introductory commencement remarks said:
"The
world you enter today is torn by division – and is fixed on its
differences. Differences must be acknowledged, and in some cases
cherished. But too often differences lead to pride in self and contempt
for others, until two sides – taking opposing views of the same
difference -- demonize each other. Whether the difference is political,
religious, racial, or national -- trust falls, anger rises, and
cooperation ends … even for the sake of causes all sides care about.
More than any problem in the arts or sciences - engineering or medicine
– easing the hateful divisions between human beings is the supreme
challenge of this age. If we can solve this problem, we have a chance
to come together and solve all the others."
How true, yet division is inherent in identification, and conflict is inherent in division.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 May 2009
- Lots of voices are delivered to the SEC but they probably all fall on deaf ears:
http://www.sec.gov/comments/4-581/4-581.shtml
-
a young Bahar-naarenj (spring naarenj) (is it Linden?) tree grabbed me
by the nose and injected a shot of pure balsam from heaven deep in my
heart.
- I can see in bulimic persons that it dulls the nerves, takes away sensitivity which is required to live happily.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 May 2009 -- Breasts!
-
Some stupid ass smoker in the bakery line. This is a face of
Switzerland that's better not seen. It's everywhere I go - and we're in
2009 not 1979. The tobacco regulators must be asleep at the wheel.
However, I continue my little fight against this poison and how it
poisons lives minds bodies, hearts. Had an encouraging email this
morning in response to the kind note I sent to Lallinger, that he wants
to quit smoking.
-
We don't know what creatures from other planets in our or other
galaxies have. We don't even know what they look like. We know their
spaceships can make moves that do not conform to our limited
understanding of laws of physics - or our physics - different form of
gravity for example could provide entirely different laws of physics -
but their physics works in our world so it probably has to do with
limitation in our advancement which surely will come. What I am sure is
that they have music.
-
A woman had her boobs showing and a Christian cross hanging right in
between. So tacky and so contradictory. What does Jesus have to do with
it? Another woman is wearing such sexy outfit that some of her breasts
are showing but it is clearly done to provoke male response and
compensate for lack of something else that's missing in making her
inwardly rich.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
17 May 2009 -- I'll Be Back - The Beatles
-
Band practice was great. The potential is tremendous. The vision has
been there since I became a teenager. She's reading the emails. Last
month of school. We're all looking forward to her freedom from the
miserable school, the pressure of which sends some students to mental
institution. The songs are excellent. We froze the repertoire to zero
in on the ones for the next gig -- and vocal harmonies. If I Fell
really worked well with me dual harmonies. M finger's
first knuckle was inflamed again but it's behaved.
-
Figured out chords of I'll Be Back against using 3 sources. I hate it
when people change melodies of masterpieces, like this girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOG3MGPkAok&feature=related
I told her what I thought in the comments section.
-
I like Farrah Fawcett but couldn't handle watching the documentary
about her cancer. I can't handle new of killings, torture, pain,
misery, natural disaster, illnesses, crimes, etc. -- have had enough of
bad news in the news media.
-
Dad said good news is like vitamin for him. Here's some good news out
of FERC that effects positively Beacon Power (Nasdaq: BCON):
"On
March 11, 2009, as corrected on March 18, 2009, the New York
Independent System Operator, Inc. (NYISO) submitted, pursuant to
section 205 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), proposed revisions to
its Market Administration and Control Area Services Tariff (Services
Tariff) to integrate energy storage devices into NYISO’s day-ahead and
real-time regulation service markets. We accept NYISO’s
tariff sheets to become effective May 12, 2009, as requested."
-
How nice to see Obama speak at Notre Dame and receive his doctorate.
What a refreshing difference to that joker Bush who rules America for 8
years, and his sidekick Cheney (or was it the other way around)? Those
8 years will prove to be the darkest chapter in the history of the
US.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 May 2009 --
-
Spent hours on microphone and PA research. Finalized decisions on
microphone, speaker, mixer, and where to buy them... Learned a
lot about the latest sound gear as well as drum parts.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 May 2009 --
-
Some young people think mail is email and post is post but mail is also post (still).____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 May 2009 --
-
One fun part of managing a technical team is that you get to grab them
out of depths they dive into to the level where big picture gets
visible. It's so easy for some technical folks to get lost in detail. I
was a techie too but never lost sight of the big picture -- that extra
"analyst" part required that anyway, and it's my nature not to walk
without seeing the pig picture otherwise the step could lead to a
detour.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 May 2009 --
- Swiss bus stops are like ashtrays. It feels like you are sitting in an ashtray when you're on the bench waiting for a bus.
-
Almost impossible to wait for morning train and not get exposed to
secondhand smoke. So many pathetic smokers. When even the Green Party
is pro-smoking, you can guess the rest.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 May 2009 -- Whose side is the SEC on?
- Yet one more comment to SEC:
1)
The SEC should stop protecting criminal naked shorts who abuse the
3-day-hard-delivery rule by enforcing this rule which for a long time
went unenforced and finally the SEC said it should really be followed.
But to date, not a single naked short abuse case has been prosecuted.
2)
The SEC should stop protecting criminal naked shorts and criminal
manipulators who shortdistort by releasing to public names of major
short position holders in public companies.
Anything short of
the above means only lip service and the public is tired of getting lip
service from SEC for years -- lip service that SEC is there to protect
investors. So far, it seems, SEC is there to protect Wall Street, big
hedge funds, big short sellers.
Help us SEC, the house is on fire. Wake up.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 May 2009 --
-
Had a conversation in the train with a 1 year old Alexander. a-dah,
dah, deh, a-deh... he was an absolute delight. I love kids but am
really happy to have my own. Instead of spending the energy on one kid,
I can give to many in form of music, talk, etc.
- Another conversation with a 9-month old African boy from Congo with his mom dressed in a beautiful traditional dress.
-
interesting click while stretching. Taking it as positive. Last night
body stretched itself in sleep. Lots of changes from day to day. Hoping
it's finding equilibrium.
- deep breathing , visit with nature ,
flowers, etc. late in day before sunset. I love unpaved roads and
untrimmed grass. It is so easy to get caught in realm of thought. Order
is essential. Sitting quietly is powerful. Body loved walnuts.
- 2 new articles :
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/Dr.Parekh.html
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/k_harshad_parekh.html
- Mr. S. is almost 69. As youthful as ever despite not particularly healthy life style - but a strong man with good genes.
- Wrote to Farid Larijani and Maryam after years of not talking with them over the destroyed journals.
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/lost_treaure.html
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 May 2009 --
- Practiced dual harmony w/ Angie.
- Friend depressed: he got report that he will retire in year 2044 !
- Book had 1136 page. Friend said page 466. I opened the book and came page 466 ! Totally unintentionally -- no ego involved.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11 May 2009 --
- Bought Boss Chorus Ensemble effect - what a sweet sound - from US. Less than 1/2 the price of Switz.
- Published new article: http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/Critique_of_SEC_Roundtable_on_Short_Selling.html
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 May 2009 --
- AH getting brain tumor removed from his brain. He was a frequent user of cell phones.
- Many sang If I Fell but inaccurately. Our version is excellent. We are not a mediocre band.
- Rosa's last week in school. Tough exams can make one cry. Band practice was short but great.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
09 May 2009 --
-
One who does not take care of herself can not expect others to take
care of her. Caring for others can become an escape from
disequilibrium, from disorder from one's own being, whether physical,
mental, emotional, but it is often physical. So, take great care of the
body.
- The SEC's Roundtable on short selling
was a big reminder of the Waxman Hearings where 7 CEO's of cigarefile:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator/Desktop/chorus.pdftte
companies swore nicotine was not addictive !! Now Fidelity and other
big brokers are saying there is no problem with shorting!!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
08 May 2009 --
-
Busy day of work - so much of the projects I manage is having to deal
with politics and being able to manage relationships and bring the best
out of people makes a lot of difference. I like working from home -- I
am so much more productive than the very noisy office environment, and
I save commute time.
- Having order seems to be a goal but only
an interim goal.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
07 May 2009 --
- News came that 2 performances are sealed for the price we offered.
- Nice walk. Another summer night performance by the river is almost sure - we agreed on the terms.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
05 May 2009 --
- "UBS
reports $1.7 billion loss!" Karma for bashing Dendreon. Maged Shenouda
was one of the main Dendreon bears who even published a research report
that had false information when Dendreon shorts were killing the
company. And then UBS talks about ethical behavior!
-
Excellent article that recommends SEC force all short sellers to first
borrow what they're shorting. It only makes perfect sense!
"The
Impact of a Pre-Borrow Requirement for Short Sales On
Failures-to-Deliver and Market Liquidity" by Robert J. Shapiro and Nam
D. Pham - April 2009
- Went to voice class with friend. Good teacher. Good student.
- Indian food with project people. Good talks.
- Met smoker in train. Interviewed her on recording.
-
Talking to Marc, German, educated, honest man. So aware of what so many
pro-Bush Americans didn't and don't see -- it doesn't take much wisdom
to see some things but millions of Americans don't have that wisdom,
unfortunately, and millions of them do. Thank God the ones who do are
in a ruling role.
-
Dubai is shit-hole - I had a job offer there but could not stand it
more than 1 night. http://www.uaetorture.com/ shows the UAE Royal
family engaged in gruesome torture. Shame on them.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
04 May 2009 --
- Had
an email from Minoo. She tells me a story how when I was a kid I used
to tell her how delicious she is, referring to the colorful clothes she
wore. There’s something about old friends, old souls, old companions,
eternal friends.
-
why do some bands have to play so damn loud? This band was doing a
sound check, it was already obvious that they are way too loud.
-
feeling particularly good today. I think it's related to several
things, primarily, drinking lots of water, pranayama, a nice big organic salad and
beans at lunch, the vitamins, order in one's life, the refreshing
letter of Dr. Parekh about how K touched his life deeply and his
clarity which I can so much relate to, versus the confusion among the
folks who go to the K gathering in the mountain in Switzerland. And the
pineapple heart friend is so sweet.
- now comes the heavy footed workaholic doctor upstairs. Time for some guitar.
-
The pain in shoulder, elbow, hip were better today as result of lots of
water. M-finger first knuckle traumatized (needs more classical guitar playing to fix it). TMJ has been quiet due to
great care and healing hands of the angel.
-
Girl on bus wanted to shake hands but I dodged it -- don't take it
personally... allergy to smoker... She was easy - first admitted to
liking smoking, then saw quickly after some questions that she doesn't.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
03 May 2009 -- Year 3909
- Rezangla is really into the Hard Days Night album - what a masterpiece. The girls are learnings If I Fell, ISHKB, and HDN.
- There was a medieval market around here. Anna dressed accordingly. Very cute.
-
Yahoo Travel date showed calendar from year 3909. IMAGINE!! What will
they think then, looking back 2000 years? There was an idiot called
George Bush. The next elections, the Republicans counted on stupidity
of millions to win again but the other half won. Will they say there's
been 4000 wars in the last 4000 years? There was a guy K who discussed
the stream, that you are the world, and if you mutate the root of
suffering you help humanity change. It worked. There was a band, The
Beatles. 2000 years later we're still listening to them. Or will we not
be around because some stupid nation started a nuclear war and wiped
the world out? I doubt it. I am still optimistic for peace because I am
having it. Will they look and say, look these ineffective leaders in
Palestine & Israel still have not managed to find peace -- talk
about lousy management and power of fanaticism.
- on of my goals is again to sleep same time - and write the time and stick to it - i did it before - it feels incredibly good.
-
Singing 3-part harmonies is so much fun. Short but good band practice.
I hear drum fills that I tell Rosa and she executes them. She's very
talented but her school is so heavy she's too burdened to practice much
-- but she's soon graduating. Angie has become an amazing bass player.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
02 May 2009 -- Is it necessary to teach kids individuality?
Individual means indivisible, so to be truly an individual we must live in peace within ourselves.
Society's notion of individuality is the opposite: to be separate from others.
Kids
have their birthdays near each other. Why not have one birthday party?
Some lame psychologist says so they learn to be individual. The society
is teaching them more than enough ways to be separate. One could argue
a joint party is a occasion for cooperation. And a lot less hassle for
the poor parents who are already spread too thin. Try it next year - a
joint party - and you'll see life will be easier.
-----------------
I love some of Giuliani's music but listened to these -- some of the most boring ever composed:
Mauro Giuliani: Rossinana n. 1 op. 119
Mauro Giuliani: Rossinana n. 5 op. 123
Even the mastery of Giulio Tampalini can't make these boring pieces interesting.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
02 May 2009 -- "Where is my dead father"?
> Hi dear reza,
> Thnx for your email...My biggest question at the moment is "where is he right now"...Do you know someone who can help me?
> Love
Boy, that's a tough one.
As
you know, there are many beliefs that attempt to answer this questions.
On the East and West, some think his "soul" is waiting for the day of
judgment, some think he is in a suspension state to be re-incarnated
according to his actions in this life, and so on, but regardless of
what theory you believe in or not, the fact of the matter is that his
physical form is gone. Was he something beyond the physical? Clearly
yes, there was life that gave his physical matter the ability to move,
think, feel, love, etc., -- where is that gone? And I also sometimes
wonder if this idea of individual soul is really so separate from other
so called souls. There are so many of us... So what's the answer? This
is the million dollar question mankind has been trying to answer since
the very beginning of its existence.
Based on my personal
experience, observation, and examination of this question, I know
certain things and don't know certain things. Ultimately the answer is
we do not know for sure. For example, I know the love and goodness of
someone who's no longer here, lives on, in the hearts minds and being
of those who were touched by that love and goodness. Your father was a
very loving gentle wise person. Those qualities do not die.
On
the other hand, if you look at the stream of human consciousness,
it is comprised of a lot of suffering accumulated historically. That
suffering also goes on unless a person can free themselves during their
lifetime -- from the stream of anxieties fear uncertainties
image-making, and other psychological processes that give rise to
suffering, pain, and sorrow -- those qualities continue in that stream
that we know.
I would say, in summary, to your question of
"where is he right now", that he is in your heart. He is in our hearts.
When the sun warms a room, after it sets, the room is still warm. And
unlike that room, once warmed up, our hearts can not get cold again as
love is an eternal flame.
------------------
Hi,
it's not crazy - many have tried to have contact with a dead person,
but I think it's better to let the person go.There is beauty in death.
------------------
> Hi, Reza...You are right...We have to let him fly...as more as we keep ourselves calm, more he feels less weight...
Exactly. I think so.
> Maybe I have to help myself to keep away from my curiosity about the other world! :)
It's a perennial question mankind has always asked. I think we ultimately do not know. Water can not know water.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 May 2009 -- Kingdom of Purple Flowers
-
The spring has brought its many bouquets of gifts. The big and small
pink flowers came marching in for a short period, smiling at passerbys
and greetings the sky and earth, and left us with a fairly-tale ground
of pink pebbles. Today the rulers were the violet and purple flowers
pointing to eternity. There is always time to stop and smell the
flowers and their fragrance brought the otherness to the senses.
- met group of women who had twins and triplets in strollers.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 May 2009 -- Fun in Tehran
- Talked to Tehran. They really have so
much fun - even when someone passes away and they have many gatherings
for them - the service and after 7 days and after 40 days -- and there
was joking and laughing in the 7 day service of our dear relative.
- I got a call
that my mom’s cousin’s kid’s husband died. Bless his heart, he was a
sweet man, a true gentleman. Swiss colleague finds these close
relationships intriguing as she doesn’t even know her own cousin’s name!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 May 2009 -- Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Myspace, etc etc
-
I get invitations regularly from friends asking me to join these and a
zillion other services. Everyone things their chosen social networking
site is the best, and some are on all of them. No thanks, I appreciate
the offer, but I have my own website: www.rezamusic.com
Farewell Tribute to Great Moments in Presidential Speeches -- Is George W. Bush dumb or what?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 May 2009 -- Do smokers have rights?
> Do smokers have rights ?
Good
question. If we look at them as addicts, which they are, as victims who
deserve our tolerance and sympathy and accommodation, then yes, we
should give them some rights to use their ugly drug, but only in
confined and separate spaces, separated from the rest who should be
protected against second hand smoke. In that case, the drug pushers,
a.k.a. tobacco companies should be banned from all forms of advertising
and manipulation of minds which is happening in large scale in most
countries, specially less developed ones. Switzerland has a huge
smoking problem and tobacco advertising is rampant.
Otherwise, no, smokers should only have the right to smoke in public as long as they don't exhale :)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30 Apr 2009 --
-
It's good to leave everything behind psychologically.
- Brain silent, in present, alive & intense.
- I had so many reasons to be skeptical about "relationship". Met so many men and women who left their partners...
- spelt and red beans etc., soooooo nice, e really have no reason to eat meat.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
29 Apr 2009 -- Women's Clothing; Vitamin C; etc.
-
The worship of alcohol in the UK is crude and common.
- There
are still chickens at the train station in Neuenhof, the village I
moved to from Los Angeles. One white sheep among 19 black sheep at
another station.
- I’m the resident pseudo-pharmacist at work – I only prescribe and give vitamin C :)
- Some
women wear shirts with an open front that either shows their breasts or
goes deep down between the breasts, teasing a man’s eyes and
imagination. I think it’s important for a woman to at the very least
understand the significance of doing this – psychological, cultural,
historical, etc. – and not merely dress as such because it is fashion,
or because everyone else does it, or because they sell exposing shirts
and tights pants that provoke others. My observation is that people who
dress as such have another short-coming. Like a man who is bald
sometimes wears a beard or long side burns to compensate for the lack
of hair on his head. For me, attempts to be attractive are actually
unattractive because they show weakness.
- I almost quit the band
last night, thinking sometimes you do what’s right without
consideration of consequence. But quitting was not right, without
giving it one more chance.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28-30 Apr 2009 -- Dawn of a new era in treating cancer
-
Dendreon announced results of its important study that again proved
Provenge works. Immunotherapy is in, chemotherapy is on the way out.
Big Pharma, hedge funds, FDA's Padzur, Dr. Howard Scher and Dr. Maha
Hussain who lobbied the FDA to turn Provenge down despite strong
evidence of safety and efficacy, Maged Shenouda of UBS, Jonathan
Aschoff of Brean Murry and other lowlife analysts who bashed Dendreon
for so long, and lastly, the cartel of hedge funds who manipulated and
shorted and naked shorted Dendreon stock for so long............ all
lose, and cancer patients win. The alpha was exactly 0.043, the risk
reduction of 22.5% is much better than Taxotere 21%, the median benefit
of 4.1 months is fantastic.
-
This weasel Jonathan Aschoff, who once faked his identity as a doctor
(and was later suspended and fined by NASD) was clearly supporting
clients who were short DNDN. He was extremely negative about the
company for years and even recently gave a $1 price target. Today he
changed his target to $35. Who needs these flipping anal-ysts
anyway?!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 Apr 2009 -- Pork Flu
-
I must have heard 10 times on news that eating pigs is safe. They seem
so worried about the pig industry that raises and kills pigs --
disgusting! They call it "very important", "significant" that it's not
called swine flu (pork flu). Hog, pork, swine, all polite names for
pigs, and as the old saying goes, you are what you eat! I'd rather be a
carrot than a cow, a peanut than a pig...
- It is worrisome that the flu has taken more victims but if we could beat SARS, and bird flue, we can beat this, let's hope!
-
"Swine flu name change? Flu genes spell pig -- No matter what you
call it, leading experts say the virus that is scaring the world is
pretty much all pig. So while the U.S. government and now the World
Health Organization are taking the swine out of "swine flu," the
experts who track the genetic heritage of the virus say this: If it is
genetically mostly porcine and its parents are pig viruses, it smells
like swine flu to them."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 Apr 2009 -- Swiss Smokers
-
Hard to find a place on the platform to wait for the morning train
without getting exposed to second hand smoke -- there are cigarette
addicts everywhere. It's even harder to find a place on the 2nd class
coach where the person next to you doesn't stink from cigarettes. First
class is sometimes the way to go. I generally prefer second class for
the human contact which is nicer than first class (less unhappy
people in second class!) and when I have a guitar.
- It's never a good idea to put away the winter jacket in Switzerland. Today's rainy and cold.
- Entities potentially affected (by new legislation)
include the Swiss firm Vitol, the Swiss/Dutch firm Trafigura, the
French firm Total, the Swiss firm Glencore, and British Petroleum, as
well as the Indian firm Reliance, while Lloyds of London insures the
majority of tankers carrying gasoline to Iran.
- Highest price I ever paid for nuts. Organic Macadamia nuts.
- I love this country but hate its weather. 10 degree fluctuations from day to day. It's flipping cold.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 Apr 2009
-
There was suddenly pain in the back on the tram. Turned out the guy
behind me with the loud headphone was a smoker - I was feeling his
pain. I moved and the pain stopped. It's happened so often that it's a
fact. Knees are also points of sensitivity to polluted pained auras.
- She found her tooth in the bus! Next time she won't use chewing gum to stick her tooth.
- A friend went on a sugar spree. Sugar is addictive and like any other drug when you take it it makes you want more of it.
-
Habits of thought are unfolded in daily life -- the culturally spoiled intolerant
youngster who says "life is shit" and has very low tolerance for
unfavorable situations learns to act intelligently.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 Apr 2009 --
-
Media is going crazy with scare of Swine Flu. It is serious no doubt
but media loves every news, good or bad, because it means more viewers.
I had to listen to several news videos today to get to the key point
most of them didn't tell you: the good news is the medications we
presently have are successful in treating this flu (UPDATE: This is not
true, today (28 April 2009, they say it is not treated with existing
vaccines but they talk a lot about telling people eating pigs is safe
-- give me a break!). Let's hope that it
gets contained in Mexico, in US, and it doesn't show up anywhere else.
-
Bethenny Frankel was on one of these channels -- I barely listened --
she had some good things to say about food but the way she spoke -- so
masculine -- which is the case with the way many American women speak,
vs. the femineity and that gentle soft spoken way of many
European and other women have. Could it be cultural in the sense that
aggressiveness is a quality that is cherished the further west you
go... you find a lot of it in the UK as well.
- The sick filthy German smoker is back. He's been coughing for months.
- Added page to Rezamusic.com on UFO encounter in Tehran in 1976. Very interesting.
- There's a lot of happiness waiting for her in her natural, balanced state. (logged)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
25 Apr 2009 -- Ugly Cigarettes
-
A snapshot survey showed over 70% smokers at the Dietikon train station
on the platform. It was amazing, shocking, and sad, how many people are
hooked on this ugly habit and how it leads to utter unhappiness and
suffering of people; prosperity of drug pushers, i.e. Tobacco
companies; and how it hurts the national health system while on the
other hand the government enjoys the tax revenue.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
25 Apr 2009 -- Spring is Back
-
5 degrees warmer today.
-
Nice long set of yoga. Dreamed of making a yoga postures video. Thomas
revived the idea I had for a long time. He watched many yoga videos on
youtube but non were suitable.
- Performing today with Rezangela (Reza & Angela & Rosa). Singing harmonies has put us at a different level.
- Got my annual credit report. Crystal clear and strong credit history.
- She had phone phobia since she was young. Just recently she started being ok with talking on the phone.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 Apr 2009 -- Teaching Children About Priorities
-
A parent can teach a lot to her kids by the way she lives. Giving
importance to her own well being, to having harmony, to her health,
teaches her kid about the importance of that. And in doing so, in being
in harmony, living a healthy life, managing stress, she behaves better
with the kids. On the other hand, always going after some stupid calls
of tradition, never having time for herself, accumulating stress, has
negative consequence on her health. She can drop everything and go for
walk, or do 1/2 hour yoga - kids, you can be here, be quiet - and if
they get bored and want to play with toys they do it quietly - she does
the yoga. The inner healing powers need to be given a chance otherwise
she takes medications and disequilibrium continues... She dropped
massage b/c of some stupid ritual. Once a week of massage is essential
for her -- stress of 15 year project is still there.
- Uncle
says he has partner so he didn't call for Eid. I don't always call for
Eid, and have no problem doing that. I call sometime, and not others. I
never call b/c tradition says I should.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 Apr 2009 -- Flashback
- Memory of sledding accident came back at sleep -- a cleansing, I hope.
-
She took rice milk to make spinach pie but instead the spinach burned
and rice milk got drunk :) -- I want my rice milk back -- my own rice
milk not another one :)
-
Friend went out with a nun. She was extremely into it. But one day she
cried - gave no reason - got in the car and left and never looked
back.
- If there's no health there is nothing.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 Apr 2009 -- Iron
To music store with R - tested different crash cymbals. I like to get a combo ride/crash.
Doctors are so quick to tell women to eat dead animals for iron. There are so many other ways of getting iron.
Friend
wants to quit coffee b/c it depletes iron. But coffee is so promoted by
culture. If one lives intelligently, eating, resting, and exercising
enough, and loves what one does, there is plenty of energy. Kids have a
lot of energy. And caffeine causes stress.
- Good sources of non-meat iron :
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/iron.html
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm
http://www.soystache.com/iron.htm
http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutrition/iron.php
http://www.hhsc.ca/documents/Patient%20Education/VegetarianSourcesIron-trh.pdf
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 Apr 2009 -- Not resisting criminals
A
guy allegedly robbed a woman and robbed a second woman but because she
resisted he killed her. Not resisting criminals is sometimes the
intelligent move.
"Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said
he believes Markoff's original motive was robbery, but he ended up
killing Brisman when she fought back.
The first woman Markoff is accused of robbing said she believes she's alive because she didn't resist."
I can do without reading the news which is mostly bad news.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 Apr 2009 -- Lucky Number; UFO scientific hearing;
-
Today the secure-ID showed: 900009 which is very cool given the machine is a random number generator.
-
We all like to have private trainers but it simply is not feasible, I
can get a student started on a journey and show the way regarding a
technical, practical, musical matter (not psychological or spiritual)
and they have to run on their own, otherwise, I simply do not have the
time to give them private training.
- A scientific presentation
by a group of very well credentialed scientists and doctors at the
National Press Club on UFO abductions. While I know UFOs exist, some
abduction stories I read were simply hallucinations. But I do not deny
abductions either. In this meeting they spoke about having removed
metal objects from bodies of people. Large metal objects with a unknown
coating which appears to protect the body from showing inflammatory and
other reactions against the foreign object. Also there is no scar and
no way of telling how the object got into these bodies. The most
likelihood is that it grew. The metal seems to be engineered. The
coating and material and engineering are far more advanced than
our science can explain. The objective of this group is to lift
government ban on secrecy on UFOs, and money for research which can
benefit and advance our sciences if we can, for example,
reverse-engineer this coating which will help advance medical science
for example.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 Apr 2009 -- Rezangela Vocals
-
Rosa and Angie were here tonight and we worked on voicing and learned a
lot. It's very nice as they're both very talented and joyful.
-
Swiss guy said 90% of Swiss men would not like it if their partner
signed up to a dance class with another man. Makes perfect sense. Same
is true with a female partner living with other men.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 Apr 2009 -- Swiss vs. American Credit Cards
-
This should tell the whole story about customer service attitude:
AMERICAN
CREDIT CARD: I've had credit cards for decades. I have about 10 of
them. All from American companies, majority with no annual fee. If I
lose one they send me replacement card, free of charge, anywhere in the
world within a couple of days.
SWISS CREDIT CARD: If you lose
your card you pay 15 fcs and you have to wait 5 to 10 days for a
replacement card. There is no fast service.
-----------------
If your card gets defective after
some period of use, the company will charge you for sending you a new
card. I got a free replacement but only after telling them how stupid
their policy is, which is, the only way a card is replaced for free is
if it is shipped to the customer defective.
-----------------
- Report: Bush policies led to prisoner abuses
- Rice OKed CIA waterboard request as Bush adviser
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
21 Apr 2009 -- Disgusting old smoker; Drug pushers (a.k.a. Tobacco companies)
-
Morning paper read by thousands in Swiss trains has a 1/2 page ad by
Chesterfield, a cigarette brand, advertising a special promotion. The
motto is "BE TRUE, BE YOU". These worse than scums of earth tobacco
companies are trying to fool people to associate good life, truth,
originality, individuality, etc., with these miserable little
disgusting cancer sticks.
- It was painful to see the old man
chain smoker, utterly unhappy yet pretending to be happy, utterly
unhealthy, carrying a deep level of pain which is obvious by looking at
him. Tried to avoid him as he kept the rest of his cancer stick when
the train came but he walked by and smelled pukingly awful.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 Apr 2009 -- SUN; Robots in America; Lost Journals
-
NEW YORK – Information technology company Oracle Corp. said Monday it
is buying Sun Microsystems Inc. in a cash deal the company valued at
$7.4 billion after IBM abandoned its bid to buy the networking
equipment maker.
-
I have never seen people anywhere so robotic as they are in America.
Over the years, I've come across so many narrow minded people
everywhere, but many specially in America where some act and talk like
a robot -- some learn their job, a certain scope, and not only they're
not able to think beyond their little scope, if the existing scope
requires any elasticity, because they're not educated well, they're
unable to handle it. Of course there are millions of intelligent bright
people in America but millions are also poorly educated.
-
Strange dream of the Larijani family (minus Shirin who surely did not
have a hand in it) who destroyed my early journals --
hopefully a flashback that's now cleansed off the consciousness -- of a
reality which was very painful and likely the biggest loss in my life.
We were very close and I
will not forget their kindness and I love and love them -- we were all
new to the US and had
noone else but each other. However, I had to cut the relationship –
which takes a lot on my part to do – after they destroyed my journals
from the most precious years of pre-revolutionary Iran years as a
youngster, through the first love, revolution, moving to the US, etc.
etc. - until I was 21 or so - the first 7 years of my writings -- gone.
They flipping just threw them away. They had agreed to save them for
me. It was in their attic. During the course of my investigation --
which I had to rely on a number of things, including psychic power (as
well as live witness), to get to the truth of the matter of how these
journals melted and disappeared into the ground -- Payam and his
dad, Farid's stories were not matching (dead giveaway), and sad but
true, he said "they were fire hazard"; Heck! one phone call, one sms,
one email, one sign of life that hey, that box needs to go, and it
would have been out of there. They had agreed to keep it in their big
house's big attic. Once I saw the truth, it was so painful, that I can
never look in their face again. Someone who destroys the most precious
sensitive, intimate, part of your life. Anyway, I wish Payam and his
family well. I suppose he was inspired to play the guitar, having seen
me play all his life, and now he's almost a doctor of guitar.
Irvine
is one heck of a soul-less, strange place. Full of Republican rednecks
and robots. And you barely see people in the streets. Hardly ever. Just
cars. Cars cars cars. Oriana Fallaci's dream come true.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 Apr 2009 -- Drug Lords
"U.S. manufacturers, including
major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of
pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water —
contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked,
according to an Associated Press investigation."
-
She said surgery is for only when someone can no longer live with pain.
"we have a lot of self-healing powers that the doctors ignore".
-
Got the strangest call looking for another Reza Ganjavi who used to
live in Manchester in the 60's. She was a nice lady trying to help her
ill sister and her daughter find someone who was a friend of that Reza.
Nothing wrong with a shot in the dark. She said you're gentle person -
gentle speaking.
- He said Swiss people don't know how to be
happy. (of course generalizations are inaccurate but the point is well
take as a deeply socialist system in a very rich country is conducive
to lack of appreciation for what they have and taking it for granted)
-- then in S. America and other poor countries poor people are so happy
and here, rich people have a high suicide rate.
-
Joy Davidson has some good things to say on intercourse etc. -- I have
seen a few of her videos. I don't agree with some of what she says but
some good info is there.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=loveandhealth&view=videos
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 Apr 2009 -- South American Indian Loud Musicians
-
During the summer Europe is infiltrated by Indians from I don't know
where, Bolivia? Peru? Ecuador? And they take around these massive sound
systems with them - hundreds of Watts of amplification and their wood
flutes and pre-recorded boring background music and they play such
boring unoriginal music and repeat the same thing over and over and
over in hope of selling CD's and getting coins -- it's really more of a
show of their ethnicity and Indian clothes that's so interesting to the
"White man". The music is trash. Makes you develop allergic reaction to
Guantanamera, El Condor Pasa, etc. - yuyks. I don't care, they can play
all they want, but their aggression is in their very very loud sound
systems which is totally unnecessary for street busking.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
17 Apr 2009 -- Beacon Power
-
Beacon Power (BCON) gained gained another 20% today, that's 70% in 2
days on the news that Dept of Energy will be giving away grants.
- Sunshine turned into heavy hail.
- The rainbow was so big one could reach and touch it with bare hands.
-
Closed the case with Wells Fargo in a friendly way but it took a lot of
persistence and shakeup and escalation to get them to admit something
had gone wrong on their end.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 Apr 2009 -- Clean Guests
-
Our host said he was surprised how clean he found the place - as though
noone was there - which is not often the case after his guests leave.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 Apr 2009 -- Beacon Power
-
Beacon Power (BCON) gained almost 50% today. The wall street crooks
who've been holding it down are running for cover as demand increases
due to prospects of DOE loan guarantee.
- Good News: "Colombia's most wanted drug lord was cowering like a dog
under a palm tree when he was captured Wednesday in a jungle raid
involving hundreds of police officers, the defense minister said....
President Alvaro Uribe described Rendon, 43, as "one of the most feared
drug traffickers in the world." National police director Gen. Oscar
Naranjo said his organization is believed to have committed 3,000
murders in the last 18 months."
- Bad News: (the trouble with US
economy can be blamed on George Bush and his gang's terrible and stupid
policies). "The number of American households threatened with losing
their homes grew 24 percent in the first three months of this year and
is poised to rise further as major lenders restart foreclosures after a
temporary break,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 Apr 2009 --
-
Four controllers on the bus and 3 people, who had seen them, still had
no ticket -- one guy wanted to pay with a credit card (I think he was
American). An Italian guy endlessly argued with the conductor;
the other convict was a kid. The bus driver friend said it happens
often -- people without tickets get caught and have to pay a huge
penalty. He said it's very good income for the company. That sucks if
you ask me.
-
A-post used to get your letter delivered in Switzerland in one day.
Friend's took at least 3 days. And it's happening more often. Pity for
such a great postal system to be faltering.
- Played in Baden early evening. One Persian man gave us a 20 franc tip!
- We turned down a gig contract because the venue was smoking.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 Apr 2009 -- Swiss Army
-
Swiss army soldiers entered the train with a 12 pack of beer, sat next
to the quiet zone, cranked the stereo, ate and drank and had a loud
party, and before leaving the train, lit up cigarettes in the non
smoking train. No respect for the quiet zone, no respect for non
smoking zone, what do they teach them in the army?
-
Some smokers are so in considerate. The chap enters the train after a
big inhale and exhales the entire lung full of poison in the train.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 Apr 2009 -- Early Linden Trees
-
After a few days of warmth has already brought the sweet fragrance of
linden (lime) trees. The baby trees blossomed faster than older ones.
- Music producer Phil Spector was convicted on Monday of murdering a Hollywood actress in 2003
- Facebook users have lower overall grades than non-users, according to a survey of college students
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 Apr 2009 -- How to read a boring book if you have to?
Friend's
reading Joseph_Murphy's famous book. First she found it interesting but
then it is slow as it repeats the same ideas. Many authors covey their
key points in a fraction of a book's volume and the rest is filler --
like a lot of average music albums. One could jump to next chapter, or
next section, read the key idea and move on. A paragraph's main
idea is in the first or last sentence -- if it's interesting one can
read the rest. Of course with a rich good book I might read every word
phrase and chapter multiple times but those books are rare.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11 Apr 2009 -- Mountains
After
weeks and months of hard work it is nice to be in the mountains in a
real holiday spirit. The grandeur of mountains are a good reminder of
how small we really are, as the friend said, and as I've conceived of
it since childhood, we are really like ants, and yet some think they're
so big, and many have their own little problems and their own little
preoccupations, and constantly busy mind with no space to perceive the
otherness.
She said she knows noone else that eats healthy
like I -- I started young, at 18 or so, and it's easier at younger age,
than to give up habits at older age -- to be free of sugar mafia,
synthetic and artificial food, etc., and the stupid ways of living such
as smoking and drinking to find peace.
The jaw's been slightly better which helps and sports are healing.
A great walk - the mountain air is so beautiful.
Felt
guilty for over-eating but did a rough calorie count and it's around
2000, which is not too bad. My average days is much lower.
Went
to Samedan - been wanting to see this place for a long time since it's
probably named after the ancient city which was once part of the
Persian Empire. The language here, Romansh, is really beautiful.
We
gave organic lettuce to the sheep, a dream come true for them in a
place where nothing green was around. The baby lambs were so cute.
Lots
of music. Our objective is to play really good songs not just OK songs.
And our target audience is those who have not heard this material
before so first impression of quality of a song is important.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 Apr 2009 -- St. Moritz Eggs
Got ripped off in this restaurant in St. Moritz:
Bergbahnen Engadin St. Moriz AG - Via
San Gian 30 7500 St. Moritz MwSt. 255 444 Restaurant Gluenetta, CH-7505
Celerina - 10 April 2009 around 14:30, table 107.
Asked
the waiter how much would 2 eggs cost. He said about 2 or 3 francs
each. I asked him to ask, knowing this is a tourist area and if the
price is not fixed they can take you for a ride, yes, even in
Switzerland. The other guy whom he talked to said supplement egg is 2
francs. So I ordered 2. They charged me 10 francs for 2 boiled eggs. I
asked why. Lots of garbage was gargled in Italian to rationalize it but
at the end they couldn't. In my opinion they were trying to cheat me, a
tourist, and probably thought I'd just pay the bill like many others
who don't bother questioning the charges, specially in Switzerland!
Their rationale was, each egg is 4, and two is 8, that the waiter was
new and the chef didn't know the prices (but those were the two
who gave the price to customer, but of course, by default in this
culture, customer is wrong).
There was no rational explanation for why I was quoted 2 or 3 by the
waiter, 2 by the guy from the kitchen, and even if 4, why 2x4 does not
add up to 10. As a proof, I have the receipt for 10. I paid the 8
francs because argument would be a waste of time, but made sure at
least they know that I know I was being cheated, and that it's not cool
to cheat tourists.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 Apr 2009 -- Soy & Testosterone
This
is a perennial debate with lots of good arguments on both side with the
unethical meat industry having a big stake in it. The following
is from a study which will soon be published in the journal "Fertility and Sterility."
Quoting Drs:
Jill Hamilton-Reeves, Ph.D., R.D. is an Assistant Professor at
the College of St. Catherine and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the
Department of Food and Nutrition Science at the University of Minnesota. She
currently teaches at the College of St. Catherine and collaborates on nutrition
research projects at the University of Minnesota.
Mark Messina,
Ph.D. is the co-owner of Nutrition Matters, Inc., a nutrition
consulting company, and is an adjunct associate professor at Loma Linda
University. His research focuses on the health effects of soyfoods and soybean
components. He is chairperson of The Soy Connection Editorial Board.
Conclusions
CONCLUSION:
The
results of this meta-analysis show that neither soyfoods nor isoflavone
supplements derived from soy and red clover affect either free or total
testosterone levels in men. It should be noted, however, that many of
the studies included in the full model of the meta-analysis were of
poor quality; for example, many were not placebo-controlled and many
were relatively short-term, with the average study duration of about 10
wks. On the other hand, isoflavone exposure was quite high relative to
typical Asian and Japanese intake. Overall, the results are very
reassuring that soy does not lead to any adverse or feminizing effects
such as reducing testosterone concentrations in men. These data also
indicate that changes in circulating levels of testosterone are not a
mechanism for the proposed role of soy in reducing prostate cancer risk.
Also added to: protein.html
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 Apr 2009 -- Love
-
How is it that such love suddenly fills the heart at the sight of the
humble face of a man whose eyes are not well aligned, holding the hand
of his daughter with possibly similar eye deformation. The "how" is
used only poetically. The field of love is a mystery.
- Failure of Socialism is an ungrateful populous. The high suicide rate
in Switzerland is not a myth. I know people who've thought of killing
themselves due to pressure and lack of love. In a system where
everything is provided, it is easy to take for grated those which
people in other places would cherish. In Iran, for example, there is an
expression we use: Thank God 100,000 times. In our family we used this
often. We mean it.
- Smokers could do deep breathing instead.
- Moser's has organic gipfelis now.
-
The society is much more separative here. Part of the reason may be the
socialist system -- people may thing the society takes care of us so we
don't have to take care of each other. I know so many cases of parents
and children that don't have contact or rarely see each other in this
little country. And people who go to hospital alone and never get a
visitor. The conditioning is, it's not my business, but it is, when
your closest friend is in the hospital going through same thing you
went through... about to get the same drugs that made other have
hallucinations and schizophrenia. At least she can be given a tip that
drugs don't solve problems with family and school. They just make one
dull. Where is love, where is warmth, the power of affection that heals
all wounds? Friends owe it to friends when they have found light and
the friend is in the dark -- to help the friend be a light to one's own
self.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Apr 2009 --
-
Added to Rezatv.com
Another shocking documentary of the misery meat-eaters are supporting
-
Sarina Duerst is a great physio-therapist. When someone teaches you
something useful they become a part of your life and being forever.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
07 Apr 2009 -- TMJ Treatment
-
Quoting from http://www.ctds.info/tmj.html on TMJ
Here's a recap of what helped me:
Changing my diet, especially to get more magnesium.
Improving my computer workstation set up and switching to an optical scanner mouse.
Using a fanny pack instead of a purse.
Using extra sharp knives in the kitchen.
Seeing a physical therapist who specialized in ergonomics and posture.
Doing yoga postures and ergonomic stretches every day.
Using a styrofoam back roller.
Using trigger point therapy and moist heat to relax my muscles.
Reading and studying the books listed above on yoga, repetitive stress injuries and body alignment
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
06 Apr 2009 -- End of Swiss Hibernation
-
Switzerland has woken up from a long period of hibernation. Spring is
here in full force and the Earth and its creatures are rejoicing
renewed life. The air is filled with loveliness of presence after a
long period of absence of warmth.
-
Nice walk in the hills with an angel. Godly pear bread -- the walnuts
in it were soft from the moisture of raisins, pears, and other
goodies.
-
Obama's talk in Prague is on http://www.youtube.com/user/wejt007
-- Bush was a pain to listen to because he was so ugly cunning
and stupid. This guy is much more interesting. At least he talks about
issues that matter, such as Global Warming.
- "Arctic sea ice
thinnest ever going into spring... Sea ice is important because it
reflects sunlight away from Earth. The more it melts, the more heat is
absorbed by the ocean, heating up the planet even more. That warming
also can change weather patterns worldwide." (Source: AP)
-
"NEW YORK – An all-star concert on meditation brought Paul McCartney
and Ringo Starr together for their first performance together in seven
years." What a waste! Meditation is not control. I know people who
practice Transcendental Meditation (TM) whose rooms and lives are a
mess!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
05 Apr 2009 -- Smoking Our of Control in Switzerland
- Went to the musik-flohmarkt.ch
at a boondock village called Roggwil-Wynau. It sucked. In the last one
we got a cool bass amp for a 100 fcs. What sucked about it most was the
bloody cigarette smoke. It was supposed to be a non smoking event
but there was zero enforcement or even notice to the vendors not to
smoke. And the prices were all normal shop prices. Waste of time...but
! We did a lot of good voice exercises waiting 40 minutes for the
train, and also went through 52 songs and decided who does backup
vocals...
- Decided not to play Rebel Yell as it is too vulgar for our style.
- It was nice to get help from friend to go through boring job of sorting and totaling receipts for 2008 taxes.
- Jaw sound depressing.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
04 Apr 2009 -- Gift of Health
-
Health is absolutely the mostRoggwil-Wynau precious asset.
-
The promised 18 degree day didn't come. Slight rain instead. Cancelled
gig. Enjoyable practiced with Rosa - she's a very capable musician -
showed her the new songs and went over last ones. Once the school she
hates is over she'll have a lot more time. I want her to play freely -
do more fills than average drummer when she hears musical ideas. Good
talk w/ her mom who's a fine person. Worst thing for youngsters is
pressure. Met her and Andrea again in Baden with Angie. This
region is getting increasingly busy.
- Late night the streets
are like a race track with young frustrated alcoholed Aargauische kids
showing off their cheap cars by going zillion km / hour. I've never
seen so many bad drivers in my life. So many reckless grandmas going
way too fast with no consideration for pedestrian crossing.
-
There is always the question of whether It will receive the glass of
water It asked for in the peak summer. But hey, for years I turned a
blind eye to beautiful women who opened the door offering water. I have
no guilt in that regards. The eyes are still turned towards eternity.
- We added new songs to our repertoire today. Angie has good ears and is very talented.
-
Finally has time to cook. During the week it's so busy, it becomes
almost impossible these days.Cooked curry mashed potatoes with rice
milk, parsley, oils, herb salt, etc. - and giant raw salad - and steam
broccolis.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
03 Apr 2009 -- Emotional Proximity of Southern Italians & Persians
-
My friends in Torre de Greco have no problem understanding Persian
expressions such as "Your step is on my eyes" as a guesture of
welcoming guests. We receive a guest's steps on the softness of our
eyes. And then in Switzerland a youngster busting her behind
working in a smoky restaurant pays her parents who have good job and
money, money because she lives and eats there. In most Persians' books,
a parent's home is the kid's home, forever and unless the parents are
needy, which some are all over the world, the idea of getting rent and
food money from the kid is absolutely ludicrous. But
here in cold parts of mid-to-northern Europe , a sister that goes in a
clinik gets a visit from her father twice a year, and her brother
doesn't visit her even once, and first time a psychiatrist who
sees a youngster who's discontent at home and at school, sends her to
an institution where they drug her up.
- Tenors have a harder time keeping their high notes as they age than those in lower registers. Could be a muscular issue..
- A laptop has many uses. It's perfect for doing exercises while waiting for the bus.
-
Suggested to singer friend who sometimes has trouble expressing to
travel to Spain -- would have, to Iran, but to get a visa and all can
be a lot of work -- even alone -- to absorb the warm culture which will
help in singing... to go to Andalucia ...
- Friday night bus
means decadamce -- these people stinking of alcohol and tobacco and pot
-- trying to let loose of their self-built walls which constitute the
self itself. I am only on it to help a friend with a air mattress.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
02 Apr 2009 -- On Analysts
-
Some psycho-analysts can really mess people up psychologically.
Some stock analysts are in the pocket of hedge funds and put out
research reports that their masters desire and have no reservations
stepping on truth. But a good business analyst can save a company lots
and lots of money. I've seen far too often that a company doesn't
employ a good business analyst and instead relies on long boring
meetings to sort out issues that a good BA could do much more
efficiently.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
02 Apr 2009 -- Hooligans in the UK
-
Hooligans destroyed walls of banks in the UK. They don't know it's the walls of
their minds which need destruction. They blame the bank for the
economic meltdown while they should be blaming fanaticism and
selfishness and stupidity of George W Bush and some of his team, e.g
Cheney, who ruined the world. Of course all fanatics are to blame
including the anyone who resorts to destruction, acts of incivility,
and terror, specially to serve an ideology, however noble-sounding, and
primitive motives such as tribalism.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 Apr 2009 -- New Tobacco Tax in the US: Bravo Obama
Single
Largest Cigarette Tax Hike Goes Into Effect Wednesday. President Obama
signed a law early in his administration to raise taxes from 39 cents
to $1.01 per pack of cigarettes and from 19.5 cents to 50 cents per
pound for chewing tobacco. "With the tax it is going to be around $6
and some change. And I don't want to pay that… so I'd rather just quit,
and this is a great excuse to go cold turkey and quit completely." ...
"The tax increase is just the first step in a newly energised
anti-smoking campaign in the now Democrat-controlled Congress.
They are considering a law that would allow the Food and Drug
Administration to regulate tobacco - something the industry has
successfully fought for years." Wasn't the Bush administration was
pro-tobacco?!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01 Apr 2009 -- Cyberstalking Blog
-
Somebody who was too scared to state his name and even went out of his way
to anonymize himself or herself, created a new page: http://digitalcyberstalker.blogspot.com/
referring to the lawsuit I filed and calling some of the
defendants I sued as criminals -- well, they were not convicted of a
crime by the court of law so they should not be called criminals --
they all settled the case before the case goes to trial. I tried to
contact the owner or administrator to report
it as inappropriate but could not with ordinary means.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
31 Mar 2009 -- Internet is another TV
-
I am developing the same alarming disdain that I had for TV for
years which resulted in never having owned a TV during my adult life,
for internet. Watch out internet. Can we live without it?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
31 Mar 2009 -- The Red Rose That Lasted 23 days.
-
It's symbolic that it lasted exactly 23 days. I gave it a lot of love and kisses. And it came from love.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
31 Mar 2009 -- Tight & Torn Jeans: Product of Society's Decadence
-
A study showed women who are ovulating wear sexy clothes to a club on
Saturday night hoping to find a partner, consciously or unconsciously.
The most common case of body exposing clothing in society have been
those of prostitutes who want to market their bodies. In a less extreme
case, of those who want to attract stranger males. It's a way of
marketing. I am not saying women who wear tight jeans want to market
their bodies but that is how tight jeans came into being -- it was part
of the 50's, 60's and post 60's social and sexual revolution -- the 1970's the decadence of the
60's found a new flavor -- watch some French movies from that era and
see the ultimate case of decadence of morality.
The
60's gave
rise to wearing torn up clothing. Hippies wore torn up clothes as an
outward symbol of social rebellion. Today, some youngsters wear torn
clothes to be cool. But torn clothes are ugly and disrespectful. I
believe a little bit of tear for taste is ok but too much of it is
vulgar and distasteful and ugly to look at. I think as members of a
society we have a
responsibility to look decent -- if not beautifully dressed, at least
not uglily dressed.
The point is, when a person wears very
tight torn up pants with flying pockets and broken zipper and legs that
are ready to pop out and all the curves show, the person should
understand the social significance of it: How one is promoting
ugliness, how one is subtly trying to attract other guys, etc. -- and
the funny or sad part is that many women (or men -- but I speak from
the perspective of a man) don't know this. They are subtly giving hints
to other guys, they are subtly trying to attract other men, co-workers,
or co-students, or co-shoppers, flat-mates, or whomever, and seducing
and stimulating them, and arousing their emotions, and attracting
them. If they want to do that, that's a different story, but if they
don't, then they need to at least realize what they're doing.
I
find torn up clothing of a person who clearly has enough means to buy
decent clothes, an insult, and ugly. I feel aggravated. It's
fashion here by some youngsters to wear gothic clothing. Ok, if
done in good taste, ok, but some of these outfits, and some punk
outfits, employing torn up ugly means of dressing surely adds to the
ugliness of society. We are here for something else. At least if not to
add beauty, let's not add ugliness.
On
the other hand, a touch of elegance goes a long way..., and surely,
simplicity. I love jeans. They're comfortable, modest, simple, stylish,
but when it gets too tight and torn up in a vulgar way, no thanks.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30 Mar 2009 -- Feng Shui Worked; Thought At Its Right Place; (Feng Shui of Thought).
- Slept good last night, completely outside the influence of the polluted neighbor.
-
Its so easy for people of this and other thought-dominated cultures to
go into a frozen mode. Thought creates division. Every bad mood, every
form of isolation, has a cause. Only love has no cause. And as such
every instance of isolation can be understood and
released. It either has physiological/biochemical/pathological cause
and/or psychological with thought entering where it does not belong, or
thought, as "me" isolating itself because its very nature is limited
and therefore divisive. When thought enters relationship which it so
often does in minds which have not learned the virtue of "thought at
its right place" (which is for practical and technical matters only),
it dithers relationship. Meditation is the key -- not necessarily to
sit quietly, which is a very good and very important thing to do -- but
also to see those hidden inner motions even during daily motions.
Meditation is an act of emptying, it can be done through writing,
talking to a good friend, or just observing. Observation is emptying.
My favorite is writing. Emptying allows one to see the root of
problems. And of course, the magic question is: "what is wrong". That
very asking opens doors of understanding of what's wrong which often
transmutes what-is.
-
How can one warm up after being in the proximity of an ice berg? Ice
berg moves away and the coldness stays. How and where? In body, mind
and heart. Only through depth of insight the brutal chill can be shed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
29 Mar 2009 -- Sick of Suisse
- This
is one of those days when you feel like leaving this place -- as much as I like this country and its good people -- and never
looking back. Flipping smokers everywhere. The disgusting German guy
next door, a chain smoker, and beer worshipper reeks. It's so bad I can
feel it from the wall of the flipping house. He coughs like a dog
at night but still finds his pleasure in cancer sticks. Nice guy, a IT
professional, but a stupid victim of the tobacco mafia.
One friend cancelled an
appointment minutes before it, and another is as cold as Swiss
icebergs. The other friend who checked herself in a mental institution
was perfectly sane and has no reason to be there but in this society
mental imbalance is perfectly normal. As Lennon says in "Nobody Told Me"...
Gotto live my own life and walk my own walk enveloped in the arms of the otherness.
Swiss
are among the kindest and most generous people I've known, but also
among the least grateful of all people, which makes sense given the
affluence and ultimate socialism where everyone is taken care of by the
society. When there is that level of material security, where
everything is provided, you have very low tolerance for the
uncomfortable, and do not appreciate what you have. So, good, basic
things of life are often taken for granted. Basic happiness is taken
for granted. The proof is that such a rich society has one of the
highest suicide rates in the world.
-
Remodeled room for Feng Shui purposes. Nice gentle guitar before
sleep brought warmth and sweetness despite having touched an ice berg.
- Body loved raw food.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 Mar 2009 -- Another One Bites The Dust
- In
affluent, less structured, less specialized, poorer but happier
cultures flipping psychologists don't play such a big role -- a
youngster has problems and s/he deals with it, talks with parents or
teachers or friends about it, writes about it, is a light to oneself.
Here in Switzerland the youngster goes to a psychologists who's almost
guaranteed to screw her up. She's been seeing one for one year. Why?
pressures of school and relationship. She's like a flower. As friend
said, one who looks like she could be leading a joyful life. Instead,
she booked herself into a mental clinic full of depressed people, and
according to friend who visited her they just give them tranquilizers
and anti-depressants so the people just get quiet, dead, dumb, and not
bother the therapists. Big Pharma does really well in all this. One
dose of drugs is enough to screw up anyone's nerves.
-
The threat for the youngster who has not found what she loves to do is
that if she fails this gymnasium (college), she has to join the work
force as a apprentice (slave) for three years and she's dreading that.
So instead of solving the core of the problem, which is, how does a
youngster find what they love to do, and addressing the stresses and
demands of the society which leads to so many suicides, the youngster
is put on tranquilizers and anti-depressants which further make the
youngster unhappy. This cheerful joyful person has turned into a
self-hating unhappy person. I was shocked to hear this. We never had a
chance to talk much but we should. I sms'd her and she said I can visit
her.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27 Mar 2009 -- Sharing music & love
-
lots of coins came from busking. Large 5 fc coins and small ones by old
people for whom those small coins are still a lot of money. The point
was not money but the love they reciprocated with the music and the
musician and his heart.
-
Marriage seems to be such a bad deal for so many men. It's scary when
you see so many men who get divorced and have to pay the wife for years
even when she's perfectly able to support herself. I know one exception
where the woman is paying the guy and the guy is working and makes good
money anyway.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 Mar 2009 -- Ojai
- Good talk with an old friend. I can't believe MK is giving
talks about Krishnamurti. He's one of the people who was very close to
him -- those whom Lutynes said, burned by being too close...
and I say this not because he was too close but because of what I
have seen. He's attitude has been like treating K as a god along the
lines of "god said it, i believe it and that's all there is to it".
That, I understood to be contrary to K's own wishes. But looking at the program, it doesn't look bad.
-
One of the guys, having worked for a foundation and lived there for
almost 2 decades was laid off with 2 weeks notice to leave the place.
It was later extended to 4 weeks, and he was upset at how it was
handled. I don't know if this is true but would not be surprised.
Layoffs are never easy. A is gone too. I didn't like her. Nothing
against her but she was one heck of a complex woman. Friend said
there were complaints about how the place was run but everytime I was
there I perceived it to be well run. In Thailand I caught her and
another guy gossiping relentlessly. And then there were the woods and
that other strange woman.
- Pity KFA lost Michael Lommel. He's a great guy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 Mar 2009 -- Old Relationships
-
Dad's at coast of Caspian with Khosro & Hooshang -- 2 friends they
went to elementary school and later highschool, and law
university together. After all these decades, their team of
friendship is still strong, and at the core of it is love.
-
New doctor friend called. "I listened to your CD all night. It's
wonderful. You have great feeling, sensitivity, ability, You play
better than Daniel Burkhard [whose CD he loves]."
-
She doesn't like to talk on the phone, doesn't like sms, and doesn't
like email :) -- I wonder if she likes messenger pigeons!
-
He said he's fed up with Switzerland because everything is so
structured and it goes in people's psyches too and suicide rate is up.
Another one I met recently said same thing -- that even the garbage bag
color is specified and that in US life is more comfortable and here
ultimately everyone is treated as a foreigner. I love this place but
can agree that the great structure is taken too far. Anyway, I
was too, fedup and ready to go until the answer came wrapped in a bus.
-
Good to talk to CW. Old friend, who brought back old feelings of old
days of peace to touch these new moments of peace. My old camera that
the friend had had just broke.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
25 Mar 2009 -- Thank Goodness
Thank
God, thank the healing power of the universe, thanks the all oneness
that is the source and essence of all, the jaw is better.
Thanks Sarina -- her healing hands helped the leg/hip.
Thanks love for the rose is still alive after 18 days of just drinking water. Today I gave it a kelp pill.
Thanks
to Obama for finally putting some sensible people in positions of
decision to rein in on short sellers for example. I am still highly
skeptical as large hedge fund bosses still have Wall Street by the
balls.
Thank God Linda
Thomsen is leaving. Under her direction the SEC failed to prosecute
even a single case of naked shorting which paralyzed the economy. Her
being there, together with Chairman Cox, were right in line with the
disaster of their boss, George W Bush.
"Much of the blame for missing Bernard Madoff's alleged $50bn "Ponzi"
scheme has been attached to the US Securities and Exchange Commission's
enforcement division - and, in particular, to Linda Thomsen, its
director, who announced her departure this week."
The workaholic doctor works from 5:30 am till after 10:30 pm some days and leaves her phone on at night. What a freak!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 Mar 2009 -- Attention drug?
friend wrote about a designer supplement: "IQ-Energy Direct"
> it's not about IQ
> it's for being more efficient, more concentrated, better attentiveness, better memory, better compliance.....
"it doesn't work
drugs give you that too but have side effects
attention comes from interest.
memory comes from practice
compliance? you don't want to comply, you want to be a rebel. rebel against disfuctional tradition that's made this brutal world
efficiency
comes with attention and learning to not make unnecessary moves. in
bass playing if you're not efficient you get problems. Same with
everything else in life.
of course if a person is lacking necessary nutrients they get problems with those areas.. . .
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 Mar 2009 -- Perfumes & Colognes
I did research on this a while ago. Bottom line is this. Synthetic perfumes and colognes and eau de cologne
and aftershaves and eau de toilettes and anything else that has
synthetic perfume, like air fresheners, and cleaning products is very
likely toxic or indirectly toxic. So best not to use synthetic
perfumes. Can use natural oils instead.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 Mar 2009 -- Pain of smokers
was riding the bus with a friend. A strong scent of marijuana was
coming from the 2 guys sitting with their backs to our backs. I sat and
felt a pole go through my body. It was not a physical pole but their
pain and confusion.
I immediately moved to a different spot with
less harmful radiation. friend stayed. of course I don't want to tell
friend what to do but maybe next time we can follow each others'
antennas :) -- when we walked out of the bus the friend had already
built up a polluted aura that just intensified a long day and stress of
being in a society with people of ugly habits ambitions and brutalities
to their bodies at least.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 Mar 2009 -- Post Concert Notes
-
was riding the bus with a friend. A strong scent of marijuana was
coming from the 2 guys sitting with their backs to our backs. I sat and
felt a pole go through my body. It was not a physical pole but their
pain and confusion.
I immediately moved to a different spot with
less harmful radiation. friend stayed. of course I don't want to tell
friend what to do but maybe next time we can follow each others'
antennas :) -- when we walked out of the bus the friend had already
built up a polluted aura that just intensified a long day and stress of
being in a society with people of ugly habits ambitions and brutalities
to their bodies at least.
Fat girl who came on train stinks from cigarettes. Asked her to please move. She didn't. So I did.
-
The night before the concert dreamed the monitor was defective. Last
night after they set up the sound system they couldn't get the monitor
to work. We tried to help. Called the guy. He came. He said the monitor
is defective. And replaced it.
- Every once in a while Yousef
would come: "please play some Azari". They enjoyed the other stuff too.
It was a low pressure, easy gig. Good experience for the angels.
- We decided to keep the money in the band and buy a PA with it.
- The gig was at a big children playground. Not that many people (around 100).
- Casatschok was a big hit.
-
The organizer said the dancer canceled last minute b/c their dresses
were locked at the dress maker's house who's gotten ill in Germany...
and the dancers didn't even show up - so we were the main act for the
whole evening.
- I played drums on a song with Yusef singing.
We played a ton of 6/8 songs and also repeated stuff and changed tempos
and keys. Ross & Angela did really well keeping up with my
spontaneous changes. The mistakes we made were minimal - nothing
anybody notices. Not bad for first paid gig of this class.
-
The program was so fine tuned - Yusef and I had made it at my place a
few nights before - It was very Swiss - - down to minute -- like at
7:22 this act goes on. I knew it wouldn't hold and warned the girls
beforehand not to get frustrated at last minutes changes. With the
dancer cancelling and the delay in setup start time (misunderstanding
b/w the organizer and the owner) it started 1 hour late.
-
They kept asking for Azari. We were supposed to play other things at
the end. So last time they asked for Azari I started Pinball Wizard
(took some guts :) and the girls were ready to do the explosive B note
on bass slide and drums that we stopped :)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
21 Mar 2009 -- Wall Street Crooks Getting Hit Themselves
[also logged in: One of my letters to SEC
]
When
crooks get hit themselves then you her shouts. Take UBS for example.
They published a faulty report about Dendreon while Dendreon’s short
numbers were huge. Brean Murray admitted themselves they have clients
who are short Dendreon. And attack after attack. Was Lehman Brothers
not doing this? Were they not catering to large hedge funds who short
to kill? Then they got killed themselves. It’s a jungle out there:
(from: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aB1jlqmFOTCA)
“As
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. struggled to survive last year, as many
as 32.8 million shares in the company were sold and not delivered to
buyers on time as of Sept. 11, according to data compiled by the
Securities and Exchange Commission and Bloomberg. That was a more than
57-fold increase over the prior year’s peak of 567,518 failed trades on
July 30.”
“When traders spread false rumors and then take
advantage of those rumors by short selling, there’s no question that
it’s fraud,” Pollack said in an interview. “It doesn’t matter whether
the short sales are legal.”
And where was the policeman? In bed with the crooks?
“While
the commission’s Enforcement Complaint Center received about 5,000
complaints about naked short-selling from January 2007 to June 2008,
none led to enforcement actions, according to a report filed yesterday
by David Kotz, the agency’s inspector general. The way the SEC
processes complaints hinders its ability to respond, the report said.”
I
am not at all sure if it was the process. A faulty process could have
handled at least 1 exception. None. Zero. SEC did not prosecute a
single flipping naked short case despite thousands of report.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 Mar 2009 -- Jealousy
One
can and has died to stupid jealousies rooted in
possessiveness. But there are limits to tolerances. Jealousy is a
dark evil force that cripples the mind and relationships. In a caring
relationship the tolerances should not be crossed. There are also
cultural aspects. I am very far away from the middle-eastern male
chauvinist mentality which is disgusting and wants to own women as
possessions. I don't want to own anybody. People are not property. Only
in freedom love can flower.
It is true that here is
Switzerland the temperatures can be quiet cooler than my average
temperature. I've known more ice-bergs here than anywhere -- close to
Alps, no wonder. But I also known loving heart loving people, and in
fact, most Swiss people are very nice and good simple people. I adore
their simplicity, unlike in the UK where you never know if what you're
seeing is just an attempt at superficial politeness or is genuine.
But
even among the cold, there is plenty of crippling jealousy. I know this
because my friends tell me about their relationships etc.. I blame the
jealous person in most cases, but consideration has a role in it too.
The woman who spends nights in Salsa clubs with other men, leg to leg,
can not expect her husband to not feel uneasy, come on, everything has
a limit except love. Tolerance has a limit. And those who point out men
who don't care, may not see that those men who don't care, and their
relationships, are in a different situation, different stage. How many
times have their shown their affection? How much volcanic love
eruptions, intensity and warmth of expression, goes on? If a person is
very warm and the partner enjoy that warmth, then the tolerance for
another man in the picture may also be different than one who is cooler
but has more tolerance.
In "She's a Woman" Beatles sing: she will never make me jealous, give me all the time as well as, loving, ..."
It
never occured to her signing up for the dance class with another
man that it may be an issue. "The husband should just
tolerate it". "We're just friends". "There is nothing between us". This
is not an issue of trust. The guy trusts her fully, well, there is no
such thing as full trust, but believes her when she says there is
nothing, but he has every right to not like it, and if for her
this class is not so important, to reduce the pain between them she has
several options, and all require communication, like explaining to the
dance partner -- he may opt out, and also getting them to meet if she
really doesn't want to stop the class or take the husband instead. It's
a shit situation anyway which every couple should avoid, or for God's
sake, before signing up to a flipping dance class with another person,
ask your partner how he or she feels.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 Mar 2009 -- Laughter
Being
such a pacifist, you can imagine it took a lot of pain to get to this
stage. I have considered throwing an egg at the bitch who wakes me up
at 5 and 5:10 and 5:20 -- of course I would not want to do anything
illegal or violent - so wondered, if the egg hits the ground instead of
her head, is that legal? Well, it may be considered "attempted egg
attack" so, not ok -- or, oops, I was making omlette at 5 a.m. and the
egg flew out the window instead of into the pan :)
"in 1 2 3 4 5 weeks" -- 6 7 8 9 ...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 Mar 2009 -- Natural Cough Remedy
The
recipe is from Herbally Yours by Penny C. Royal, 3rd Edition, June
1982. [IT DOESN'T WORK ! ]
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons water
Mix and take by the teaspoon.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 Mar 2009 -- TMJ
Talked with Dr. Komeyli - the originally Iranian oral surgeon neighbor
of the hand surgeon. What an absolutely brilliant guy! He studied in
Switzerland and has been here for over 40 years.
Some key remarks:
-
Many people have occlusion problem and live with it without a problem.
It only becomes a problem when a stressful or other special situation
occurs.
- Jaw noise should not be treated unless it's uncomfortable and painful. Old thinking was it should always be treated.
-
Some cases are, e.g. being in cold/air-current, stress of exam, pain of
being heart broken, and other emotional trauma, fear, and often yawning
or leaving a warm relaxed muscle area to a cold areas,.that lead to
more Para-function.
- 22 minutes of jaw's function is necessary.
Rest of the time the lower jaw hangs freely. Train yourself that unless
you're chewing or swallowing (functions), your teeth should not have
contact (for para-functions).
- Self-chiropractic I did was damaging ( I knew it ) . It should heal itself.
- Reduce stress, get Michigan mouthguard that also does not allow parafunction.
- Minimize para function - don't chew gum, minimize yawning.
- He will give me exercises.
- Tense shoulder muscles can lead to it. Then get physiotherapy.
-
The joint has ghozroof - like a plate with "lip" - when one of the
muscles is weaker than another it gives in and it clicks. It's not a
disease.
- There are doctors who specialize: Jaw Dysfunction Specialist.
----------------
-
tried www.cureforbruxism.com -- I do not like it. The guy charges about
$40 for almost 30 pages which for me was pretty worthless. I should
have known -- anyone who offers a free "book" on interpreting dreams as
part of the deal..... -- anyway, I got a refund quickly. Anyway I don't
think I have bruxism (teeth grinding problem).
-------------
Teeth should never touch during the day except when drinking.
Jaw mechanism is a amazing marvel of nature.
Para functional moves include tensing jaw during playing music. Tense neck from the accident probably caused the jaw problem.
The jaw should work about 20 minutes a day in actual useful movement. The rest of the time it should recover.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 Mar 2009 -- Balgrist
- Her tears turned into a smile after the first song. She has a new face.
- Jaw was acting up.
-
Dr. Fucentese is very nice and very competent. He advised that now I
can work the elbow and arm again without forcing it. And arms over head
is ok despite the click.
-
Hand surgeon in Balgrist was really good. He said "a lot of
intelligent people come from Iran". His neighbor, a doctor, comes
from Iran too and he recommended I go to him for the TMJ issue which is
depressing. Hen did a most thorough hand exam and said there is
nothing pathologically wrong. It may be the hurt nerves due to
contusion and recommended a neurological test.
-
I do believe that jinxing has an effect. I am not superstitious
about it. I don't do it unto others but some others do it -- it's
rooted in jealousy.
- Music gave us a lot of energy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
17 Mar 2009 -- Morning Glory
-
The approaching Spring air filled the heart with joy. The entire way to
bus, in the bus, off to train, one was singing. Saw both Angie and Rosa
by chance and shared the song of the morning -- an old Graham Nash
songs which Rezangela will play.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 Mar 2009 -- On Old People
-
She said the old people in Europe who are sent in retirement homes get
all depressed seeing only old people around and due to that life style.
In Eastern countries where old people stay with families they do much
better.
- If you ignore an initial sign of a cold it can becomes like an avalanche.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 Mar 2009 -- Letter to new SEC Chairwoman
Letter to Chairwoman regarding protection against toxic financiers
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 Mar 2009 -- Rezangela
very interesting fine tuning of Rezangela’s playing.
Showed drums fills for example etc etc
We have such a rich repertoire – Across The Universe is The Beatles best song.
Asked Angie to play drums to classical tunes and Rosa Djembe.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 Mar 2009 -- Best
- Cool website that give protein quality, etc. http://www.nutritiondata.com/
-
Some people sign their emails or letters as "Best" which I guess it
means Best wishes or best regards to you. However, I've seen some who
sign it to have a double meaning: like referring to themselves as
"best". I don't like that signature.
- Buckwheat is a great source of protein and nutrients. See protein_source.html
-
Good news is it has brakes. Bike market. Long line of buyers. Tried
bike of seller before he submits it. How much? 20. I said it should be
free it was so bad. I left. Back. He: free, ok? Ok. Hey, it works and I
don't have to use a lock or worry about it getting stolen! (my 2 bikes
were stolen right here in heart of Switzerland).
-
Very touching few emails came recently from Jay -- a very dear friend.
Many lines followed: Hey Reza, Hope all is well.I wanted to share some
recent
personal news with you, not only because it involves someone in my
family but because you had a peripheral influence on the situation in
more ways then one."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 Mar 2009 -- Loveliness in the air
-
With a bit of warmth, the earth is enchanting the coming spring and the
heart, being part of Earth, shares than enchantment. Such loveliness in
the air. You can smell music.
- So good to play music with a good friend.
- Why are some women so arrogant? It's just to fulfill some psychological shortcoming.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 Mar 2009 -- Markets
-
Dendreon (DNDN) has doubled in recent days. Nice to see the criminal
short sellers with their analysts and journalists and UBS and Brean
Murray and their weasel analyst Jonathan Aschoff who was caught
misrepresenting himself as a doctor in trying to get insider
information suffer a blow from seeing Dendreon rally. Dendreon is
trying to help cancer patients while these lousy creatures hope for
Dendreon to fail. Some hedge funds would prosper from Dendreon failing
while more cancer patients will die as a result of Wall Street
corruption.
- Beacon also had a nice day (BCON). Looks like Ny ISO approval of tariff changes is in the bag.
-
Citi (C) has rallied from 1 to 1.70. I told Tom not to sell at 1 :) I
woke up one day wanting to buy but had no money. Same day it rallied.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 Mar 2009 -- Too Busy To Write
- I'll fill in the blanks later
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11 Mar 2009 -- Disgusting Smell of Goulash
- The entire house was filled with smell of deal animal getting cooked. The guy said it was goulash. I begged him to stop.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 Mar 2009 -- Soaking Wet
- Had to walk. Rain didn't matter. Hands needed a break. Cap. No umbrella. 40 min to friend's.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 Mar 2009 -- Psychiatrists & Psychologists Who Destroy People
- X and Y both saw therapists and doctors of all sort.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 Mar 2009 -- Psychiatrists & Psychologists Who Destroy People
- Older
people, like dad, for example, who've managed to be integral and happy,
are great reminders and inspiration. Life can be hard and they
must have had their share, but emerged victorious.
-
Wikipedia is such a piece of junk. Everybody and their mother can add
false info to it. I corrected this page tonight which falsely referred
to rice protein as complete protein.
-
Good article in support of fermented soy (tempeh for example). Great
stuff : http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_256/ai_n6258846
- Majestic sunflower seeds are now breathtaking snow fields.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 Mar 2009 - Yasmine Tamara's website
I
hate Flash. It's a very user-unfriendly technology. Yasmine's site was
pumped by Swiss Style magazine but it's more like pulling teeth.
Listening to Annabel Lee. I don't like her voice but she's
clearly got talent. She has some videos on Youtube but all her images
are scary because she uses filters to change her face to a chemical
metallic look which makes it scary as hell.
It
feels cold... there is a lot of coldness in Geneva - I have spent a lot
of time there and found it to be the coldest of Switzerland.
- Good talk w/ Elio-e-bia -- maybe Rezangela will play at FlowerPower.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 Mar 2009 - Another Sad Swiss Customer Support Story
I helped a friend take a laptop in for warranty repair. Oh my God!
I've had my laptops repaired for years by Dell -- no questions asked -- excellent service.
Friend's
Acer laptop was bought from Swiss retailer InterDiscount including
extended warranty for 2 years for 99 Francs. Still under warranty we
took the machine in because DVD drive is faulty and other issues. They
wanted to have us sign a statement that if there is software error we
will accept their offer to fix it or pay min 89 fcs for the estimate.
Say what? We declined to sign and talked to their tech dept. - stone
age customer service to say the least. Typical answers: it's normal.
Normal that customer is made to sign a detailed tiny-font faulty
agreement to receive warranty support? And she could not answer the
question : what if there is a combo of software and hardware problems.
And she refused to let us talk to her boss. Typical.
At the end we conditionally signed with an attached statement.
It was like pulling teeth.\
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 Mar 2009 - Writing, Birthday
Every job is increasingly rewarding.
Good writing is amazingly powerful. It turns no's to yes's, it opens doors; it is one of the most important skills in life.
I
don't think of birthday as a reason to celebrate any more than every
day is a perfect day for celebrating life's richness and love's
abundance. [logged]
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 Mar 2009 - Master's in Beatles
LONDON
– The city of Liverpool already has a Beatles museum and its airport is
named after John Lennon. Now a local university says it rolling out a
graduate program entirely devoted to the Fab Four.
--------
Great :
Obama
would impose fees on greenhouse gas producers, including power plants
that burn fossil fuels, by auctioning off carbon pollution permits. The
goal is to reduce the emissions blamed for global warming while raising
a projected $646 billion over 10 years.
---------
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 Mar 2009 - Stupid Idiot Bush's War
Quoted from a very interesting documentary: http://www.leadingtowar.com
Bush's claims before going to war all turned out wrong:
• No weapons of mass destruction of any kind were found in Iraq.
• No mobile biological weapons labs were found in Iraq.
• Iraq did not seek to acquire yellowcake uranium from Africa.
• The aluminum tubes were not suitable for nuclear weapons development.
• Mohamed Atta, the lead 9/11 hijacker, did not meet with Iraqi intelligence in Prague.
• Iraq did not provide chemical weapons training to al-Qaeda.
• There was no collaborative relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda.
• The implication that Iraq was involved in the attacks of 9/11 was untrue.
-----------
•
After four years, the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has
brought with it more than 100,000 civilian and military deaths.
• Millions of Iraqis have been displaced from their homes. Nearly 2,000,000 have fled the country.
• Untold numbers of people have been mentally and physically wounded.
• War expenditures have exceeded $500 billion.
---------------------------------------
Ten Assurances by the Bush Administration
1) The Iraq War won’t cost a lot of money
2) We are prepared for every contingency
3) We won’t need a lot of troops
4) We will bring peace and freedom to Iraq
5) We will find WMDs
6) We will be welcomed as liberators
7) We have the best plan available for victory
8) The Iraq War will transform the Middle East
9) It will be easy
10) It won’t take long
Details on how wrong was Bush:
http://www.leadingtowar.com/war_rosecolored.php
-----------------------------------------
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3 Mar 2009 - Balkan Music
-
Spent an hour speaking to two Serbian musicians and record producers
informing them on how to publish records in Switzerland. It was a
pleasure -- from one musician to another.
- Goran's dad
checked out teeth and said everything is ok -- his jaw also makes sound
-- he gave a tongue exercise for the jaw: close mouth and take tongue
up 10 times - few times a day. He said get a new crown in Iran. Here it
costs 1300 fcs. In Iran it'd cost 130.
-
A ticket controller entered the bus at Langenstein. He was a real
asshole. I had a ticket but the way he asked for it was like people are
criminals.
These jackass surprise ticket controllers are so rude and so nasty.
This system of ticket control really sucks. They don't control
sometimes, and when they do, they're such assholes about it. Tonight, a
jerk blocked the bus door as I was getting out demanding a ticket. No
problem, I had a valid ticket and showed it and everything was cool but
the way that asshole demanded the ticket was so rude that it made the
experience of riding a bus, a pain in the back. Do something about it
bus company. Teach your ticket controllers to be more polite and not
such jackasses. Thank you.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 Mar 2009 - More Signs Of Bush's Screwing Up The World
-
American International Group Inc., once the world's largest insurer,
said Monday it lost $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter, the biggest
quarterly loss in U.S. corporate history, amid continued financial
market turmoil.
- I wonder if that woman who had a pro-Bush bumper sticker "say your prayer and vote" has a job still.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 Mar 2009 - Film About Stupid Bush's Rush To War
- A free film about how that stupid idiot Bush and his gang of snakes
(e.g., Rumsfeld, Cheney) rushed to war: http://www.leadingtowar.com
- Cheney is one hell of an ugly dick.
- Some jaw and face stretches: http://www.ergocise.com/face.html
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 Mar 2009 - Amaranth & Quinoa
"Amaranth
grains grow very rapidly and their large seedheads can weigh up to 1
kilogram and contain a half-million seeds.[9] Amaranthus species are
reported to have a 30% higher protein value than other cereals, such as
rice, wheat flour, oats, and rye.[10]
Amaranth and quinoa are
called pseudograins because of their flavor and cooking similarities to
grains. These are dicot plant seeds, and both contain exceptionally
complete protein for plant sources. Besides protein, amaranth grain
provides a good source of dietary fiber and dietary minerals such as
iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and especially manganese.
Quinoa's
protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthful choice
for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in
lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for
humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.[3] It is a good
source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and
iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. "
[logged]
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 Mar 2009 - Water & Toxic Plastic
- Added new file to website: toxic_plastic_water_bottle_etc.html
From "7 Compelling Reasons to Stop Drinking Bottled Water
http://yourwatermatters.com/news/bottled-water-isnt-cool/
#1 It’s Making Us Sick - Plastics Are Toxic
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET #1 plastic) is used for single serve plastic water bottles.
This
type of water bottle has been approved for one-time use only. It has
become common practice for many people to unknowingly re-use these
plastic bottles. Studies show that bacteria easily breeds in PET
plastic bottles when re-used and that re-use may cause DEHA, a
carcinogen, to migrate from the plastic into water contained in the
bottle. A new 2006 study revealed that significant levels of antimony,
a toxic chemical, leaches into water sold in PET plastic bottles. Learn
more
Bisphenal-A is a toxic compound found in polycarbonate (#7
plastic), the rigid, translucent, hard plastic used in Nalgene water
bottles and many baby bottles. It is a hormone disruptor that mimics
estrogen and is linked to early-onset puberty, declining sperm counts,
obesity and the huge increase in breast and prostate cancer. Due to the
alarming toxicity of this chemical, in March 2007 a billion-dollar
class action suit was filed in Los Angeles against five leading
manufacturers of baby bottles containing Bisphenal-A. Learn more"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 Mar 2009 - New Month
-
Nice set of yoga with Angel.
7 Compelling Reasons to Stop Drinking Bottled Water
#1 It’s Making Us Sick - Plastics Are Toxic
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET #1 plastic) is used for single serve plastic water bottles.
This
type of water bottle has been approved for one-time use only. It has
become common practice for many people to unknowingly re-use these
plastic bottles. Studies show that bacteria easily breeds in PET
plastic bottles when re-used and that re-use may cause DEHA, a
carcinogen, to migrate from the plastic into water contained in the
bottle. A new 2006 study revealed that significant levels of antimony,
a toxic chemical, leaches into water sold in PET plastic bottles. Learn
more
Bisphenal-A is a toxic compound found in polycarbonate (#7
plastic), the rigid, translucent, hard plastic used in Nalgene water
bottles and many baby bottles. It is a hormone disruptor that mimics
estrogen and is linked to early-onset puberty, declining sperm counts,
obesity and the huge increase in breast and prostate cancer. Due to the
alarming toxicity of this chemical, in March 2007 a billion-dollar
class action suit was filed in Los Angeles against five leading
manufacturers of baby bottles containing Bisphenal-A. Learn more
- Long sleep this weekend was very refreshing and healing.
- Because the file was getting very big, moved Rezajournal's last period to: Reza_Ganjavi_Journal.html
- Rosa & I went over her songs with the score book.
- Health is the most important thing in life.
-
Told somebody : Bulimia is like a dark hole - a deep dry well - you
take one step towards it you fall in habit - be grateful for your
freedom - cherish it.
- Most (musician) injuries happen because of
lack of awareness -- the hand is shouting and we ignore it - or we put
too much pressure where not necessary.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 Feb 2009 - Last Day of Chestnuts
-
The Marouni man's last batch of Marouni's for the season was nearly
ending. He gave me a special deal after we greeted each other with warm
wishes for the next season. He will return first of October if he's
still alive, he said.
- Worked many hours but finished the report. Heads on.
-
An enchanting teaser Spring day which will again give way to winter to
complete its tiresome journey. The lady told the singer: at least
there's one happy person. Reza was singing Lennon's Starting Over.
- We're lucky to be near these healing waters.
-
She went to ask about the smelly product she recently bought. Typical
Swiss lousy customer support, the guy got angry at her for asking and
said she's the first one with this problem. Not true, but the others
would never even ask -- she's been hanging around me for long time. In
every single situation like this when a customer service agent treats
the customer lousily, upon escalation, some level of management turns
around and apologizes but by that time... it's like pulling teeth --
it's just not part of the culture to return things, etc. --suppliers
still rule and customer is wrong by default. Global competition is
forcing this to change.
- I'm so happy Angie's hands are better.
- Many people who need to simply don't go to dentists here because they can't afford it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27 Feb 2009 - Run
-
The message to her has been consistent over the years: Find harmony and
balance between body mind hear, food rest exercise, otherwise
activities, parties, doing good, etc. etc., all become escapes to run
away from the disharmony of the organism.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 Feb 2009 - TJM?
- I
like to believe I don't have TJM. Although my occlusion has not been
good since the root canal, I think it was the cold medicine that shot
the nerves. We'll find out. I don't have any other sympton of TJM.
- Called ML to just touch base following last night's dream, "Good to hear your voice." You too, I said.
- Saw Gabi in train yesterday. She said for jaw put hot oil at night. Hey, better than hot pack!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 Feb 2009 - Slumdog sucks
Slumdog millionaire won many Oscars but it was not life enriching. It
was absorbing and interesting but I hated it and could have lived
without it - there's enough ugliness around - why see more? Why are
Westerners so fascinated with such poverty and violence etc? Same with
Kite Runner -- many loved it but I abhored it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 Feb 2009 - Jaws
-
Jaw blues - dentist: due to the cold or stress of grinding at night or
maybe poor alignment. Serbian dentist - Goran's dad's co-worker - very
good - she specialized in this. She said more people in Zurich have TMJ
problems than small villages (more stress in big city). Don't provoke
it (by testing it). It was hurt by closure now it needs to open. Night
guard type of device - but it's plastic and toxic, and I don't have
headache etc., so not sure if that's the problem or mal-alignment due
to not having crown on root canal maybe? Maybe it was the
anti-histamines that shot my nerves (and made me sleepy) -- my jaw have
been unusually tense (like I drank coffee but I don't). She gave me
comfort that it's not due to any infection (i still am not sure). She:
jaw tension is involuntary muscle but of course I think I can
voluntarily release it...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 Feb 2009 - Grandma
-
Got woken up by grandma 8:30 on Sunday to go for a walk. She was eager
to go since 6 a.m., you know, grandmas who go shopping at 7 a.m. on
Saturdays :) - mine does too. Then she came pounding the window
with snowballs till I got my ass out of the bed and went for a walk. It
was snowing heavily -- what a winter wonder land.
-
Green peas seem to have same property as garbanzo beans -- you feel
great comfort in leg muscles -- plus the new anti-histamin for cold it
knocked us out.
- Changed 3 guitar's strings. Wrote in response
to John Rimmer's contradictory remarks calling the matter a parody then
saying it's not. Added it to
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/litigation.html
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
21 Feb 2009 - Trustees; Cyberlaw; Soy or No Soy
- Suggested the following as trustees: Michael
Mendizza, Dr. Hillary Rodriguez, Karen Hesli, Dr. Amir Huda, Rafael
Gonzalez, Rik Ganju. I already suggested Michael and Karen a few years
ago.
-------------
- I was alerted of a discussion on the pathetic classical
guitar usenet group which I do not subscribe to nor read as it is
generally a waste of time and adds very little value. There are some
good decent intelligent people there but also a bunch of lunatics as is
the case with any unmoderated internet group. Over the years when I
read and participated in it, I learned very few things from it, main
one being, as a victim, how to fight a legal battle against stalkers
and those who use your identity to attack others and so on and on as
documented in numerous filings including:
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/3rd_amended_complaint_IL.htm
http://home.datacomm.ch/rezamusic/litigation.html
The
case is now closed. Next step is to tell the story in a proper way for
the sake of other victims of abuses in cyberspace, as I was encouraged
to do by the foremost scholar in the field.
Anyway, last night
I saw that this guy, John Rimmer of Texas, took it upon himself to post
some garbage which as much as I wanted to ignore, I could not avoid
making a posting to correct his misrepresentation.
------------
Got
fedup on reading lopsided articles about soy or no soy. Fact is I've
been eating tofu for the last umpteen years and I feel good. There is
no ample evidence that it causes testosterone to drop. There are plenty
of other phytoestrogens in nature anyway, it can't be bad. I will fire
plastic from my life though -- I don't need environmental estrogen. And
I will continue to eat soy products -- maybe 2 or 3 times a week.
Tempeh is better than tofu.
"There was a significant difference
between the two groups in terms of changes in serum estrone
concentrations, which tended to decrease in the soy-supplemented group
and increase in the control group over time. None of the other hormones
measured (estradiol, total and free-testosterone, or sex
hormone-binding globulin) showed any statistical difference between the
two groups in terms of patterns of change."
The
argument is definitely not settled. There is much research on both
sides. Who's right? I don't know. I like soy so much that I don't want
to give it up for a month. Change of plans. But in the process I
discovered value of wheat protein and always good to eat amaranth,
quinoa, and lovely beans anyway. My body loves beans.
Here's
one impartial article by Linus Pauling institute on Soy Isoflavones:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/soyiso/
It even says feeding kids soy milk is no riskier than cow milk.
Another cool article: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=40265
-------------
3 hour guitar playing today -- wonderful!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 Feb 2009 - Dream 9
- Had a strong dream of Alison Gugliotta. Recorded
it. I wish her well. An old friend who just disappeared. Alison, if you
read this, please drop me a line. Actually, I think it's Sarina, the
physiotherapist. Their faces are quiet similar -- thin and nice.
Michael Mendizza
Dr. Hillary Rodriguez
Karen Hesli
Dr. Amir Huda
Rafael Gonzalez
Rik Ganju
I already suggested Michael and Karen a few years ago.
- The guitar lesson consisted of only giving student stretches to do and teaching her about RSI. Playing with pain is wrong.
-
Basically the message is: Fire Plastics From Your Life -- "everything
about plastics is toxic — both the additives and the base plastics. And
both migrate in quantities that are problematic at extremely low
concentrations. " There are a ton of articles about the matter.
-
A walk to check out the carnival did the body hands legs nose mind etc.
good. I feel so out of place here sometimes. A country that was torn by
a political revolution and people spread all over the world, is the
paradigm. On top of that, I'm a loner in some ways -- social indeed and
very much so, but also one who does not believe that caravans can get
to truth -- one has to stand alone. Tradition does us little good aside
from providing means of physical survival, and its ways of
psychological survival are corrupt as they lead to isolation. So it
feels strange -- it was once strange, maybe not so much, being suddenly
in America -- a 15 year old -- assimilating the culture easily -- and
now in Switzerland, a lonesome culture yet gentle and humane and
artistically appreciative, away from friends of old days who have kids
now and lead boring social lives with others with kids and boring
parties and travail of raising children and its thousand miseries that
a woman blinded by desire for a baby does not see -- here with a young
angel who is more learned about life than people 10 years older than
her, pure, clean, sincere, intelligent, loyal, musical, etc., -- and I
should look at the bright side of life -- shoulder chest hip and elbow
are getting better, jaw will get better, am playing guitar these days
which is cool, got a good contract working with good people, got a gig
lined up, got a cool band with Angela and Rosa, so what that the room
is too hot in a cold winter or house makes noise or that criminal
manipulators effect the stock... Beacon Power locked in up to $18 MM
today -- not bad.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 Feb 2009 - Some News Headlines
- Music is geometry -- such joy!
- Experimenting not eating soy for 1 month.
-
Some people just drag things out with no motivation to complete things.
It's always a management issue. Good old subject of MBO is very
important specially regarding people whose motivation is to have things
drag on. I am not like that -- I like to finish things asap. If there
are outstanding questions I try to find answers now. Of course,
ideally, people should be self-managing, optimized for completion as
fast as possible with highest quality. I know many who are not like
that.
- It's about time: "UBS has agreed to pay $780 million and turn over once-secret
Swiss banking records to settle allegations it conspired to defraud the
U.S. government of taxes owed by big clients". -
"For Switzerland, (the settlement) is a true catastrophe for the
country's first industry, that is to say the banking sector," Geneva
lawyer Charles Poncet, a former member of the Swiss parliament, told
Radio Suisse Romande.
-
It' about time: "A Florida court has ordered US tobacco giant Philip
Morris to pay eight million dollars to the widow of a lung cancer
victim, in a case that could set a precedent for 8,000 similar trials
in the southern state."
- Brit calls bottleneck, pinchpoint.
- "Iraqi says he threw shoes at Bush to restore pride."
-
"Eric Holder, the nation's first black attorney general, said Wednesday
the United States was "a nation of cowards" on matters of race."
- The Beatles played their first U.S. stadium concert in 1965 at Shea Stadium. It just got demolished.
-
"Key hawk endorses Netanyahu for Israeli premier... all but
guaranteeing that Netanyahu will be the country's next leader." This is
bad news for the world as Netanyahu is a fanatic bigot. He is a man of
war not peace.
- Mad doctor works from before roosters sing till late night - she just came at 10:30 pm.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 Feb 2009 - Fast Runner, Great Bass Player; Beatles Last Official Concert
- In 3rd grade she was a faster runner than her teacher.
- She started running to the bus for 400 meters every morning in first
grade so she got used to it. (I also think she's wired differently --
she's an angel!).
- Girls would complain competing against her so she ran against boys and beat them too.
-
She was younger than her class but her class didn't want her in sports
and so she had to join one class older -- she became champion there too!
-------
-
The Beatles Candlestick Park concert (their last), must be their best
performance. And people went absolutely nuts, e.g. during Baby's In
Black. John did his best vocal ever on Rock'n'Roll Music.
- At night, played guitar for long time and watched Titanic. What a great movie!
- Feeling good today - 2 days had warm water and lemon+water before eating - liver likes it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 Feb 2009 - French Decadence
The movie, Emmanuelle
(1974) is the epidemy of moral decadence. Artists have social
responsibility and that is not to spread decadence like this film does.
It pollutes minds. The movie has a great song and that's why I bought
it but was disappointed by the promotion of promiscuity for example
which is simply moral decay. It speaks about the sign if times, post
60's sickness of the world, trying to find freedom in sex and drugs,
which is impossible. Freedom is a state of body-mind-heart, and it can
not be induced. It can only exist when that which denies it is removed.
The French influence on the world society by making a film like that is
a pity. I was very young then but not too young to see, and I saw how
this kind of attitude effected and corrupted the Iranian society as
well -- a dead-end road that led to only misery.
This kind of crap is directly responsible for making sex so important.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
17 Feb 2009 - Vegetarian Glucosamine; Journalists in Pocket of Hedge Fund; Switzerland at the mercy of Tobacco mafia; ...
-
Dr. Vogel scientist confirmed Glucosamine Plus is 100% vegetarian and
said given my weight and condition to take 3 a day and swore by Rose
Hips as being fantastic. She said because you're young the tendons and cartilage regenerate...
A
double-blind study done on 178 Chinese patients suffering from
osteoarthritis of the knee found that 1,500 mg per day of glucosamine
for four weeks was more effective and much better tolerated than the
conventional drug ibuprofen. Several recent review articles have also
concluded that there is promising evidence that glucosamine can both
control pain and slow down or reverse the progression of degenerative
joint disease.
-
Took another day off from guitar because to give middle finger a break.
Inflammation of joint due to overuse must be taken seriously and best
remedy is rest. So it was a last minute change that came from dialogue
-- instead of watching file & playing guitar at night, going for
an epsom-salt bath at friend's - shops closed to buy salt but realized
i have bittersalt as Germans put it at home.
- The physiotherapist, Sarina did magic with tendons.
- Awareness, even if unspoken, can bring change. X stopped drinking "pepsi stuff". Y just attended to it.
-
Another sad story of a smoker enslaved to the Tobacco mafia. Every bit
of the story is sad, boring and pathetic. I am tired of talking with
smokers, specially older ones. But I tried -- the main theme being:
attention. It's a sad vicious circle of cig making the body feel
miserable and then smoking to combat the misery which is disgusting and
hopeless. And this government, oldest democracy in the world, is not
doing anything fundamental about it -- they must love the cigarette
tax. Yesterday, walking into Balgrist in Zurich, world class
hospital, it stunk from cigarette smoke. Go shopping in Coop in
Tagipark, huge supermarket, and you have no choice, whether you're
young or old, sick or healthy, child or adult, to inhale poison gas
upon entering the store, and the pathetic explanation of the company
has been: when it's mandated by law, we will make our restaurant
non-smoking. Hello!? Migro's, another chain, already made their
restaurants non-smoking. Why can't Coop? Fear of losing the
revenue of coffee or whatever that the slaves of the Tobacco mafia
consume? Even the Green party bats for smokers. What could you expect
from the Conservatives then? [copied to smoking file,
smoking-swiss file, Green party members, the fine gentleman CEO of
Coop, and a few other members of Coop].
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 Feb 2009 - Thoroughbreds
- Examined by a excellent Italian doctor (Swiss born) at Balgrist. He said good news for you is the AC joint is not damaged.
- "khoda paaye kasiro be bimarestan va daadgostari nakeshooneh :)"
-
It's important to ask impossible questions. Can't do is never good
enough. She said it can't be done. A few minutes later she did it just
because I asked (to change autopay date without a fax).
-
Swiss apprenticeship system seems like slavery -- a very talented young
person works for 5 fcs/hour or so for 3 years. Apprentices are put on
real jobs with virtually no training delivering poor quality service --
e.g. in Schlieren station -- the guy couldn't even sell a ticket to
Zurich.
- Got mesage in dream re injured shoulder that it's
alright -- after throwing the 3 year old in the air forgetting the hurt
shoulder yesterday.
- M left hand finger inflamed from repetition yesterday. It needs quietude. So, played guitar w/ 3 fingers.
- Finished figuring our fast melody to I Will Survive. Easy. Slowing down the tempo helped.
- Grown skeptical to soy. Looking into it. I miss other beans.
-
Yesterday she said they have 2 horses - brown - work horses. They're
being mixed with thoroughbreds to add elegance to them. What happens
when thoroughbred people mix with not-so-elegant ones? It's important
not to lose sight. And interesting how in some regions there are more
thoroughbreds.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 Feb 2009 - English is a Swiss National Language
I've
worked for several large organizations in Switz -- they all speak
English as the language of business. I guess more people speak English
in Switzerland than any other language. At lunch met 2 x over 90 year
olds who spoke fluent English. They were so cute - just as the 3 year
old.
----------
Band rehearsal was great -- the girls are singing and it's powerful. Did a voice training session before the rehearsal. And good
status meeting w/ the girls -- told Rosa we like her a lot and she's an
important part of the band and adds so much -- so it won't be like we
can get another drummer -- we don't want the band to be stress for her
in this last 4 months of school. We pay attention to details and it's magic. We sound really really good.
A's new position of the bass looks much more ergonomic. She plays great. She had a good teacher :) but did the work herself.
--------
Came
across this by chance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY8rQWSROCE
-- it highlights some of the works of of this talented composer, Hassan Shamaizadeh.
I am only familiar with his work from pre-revolution. Here's one great
song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkL_iXHV_jE&feature=related
--------
Dad saved Jahan's $4,000,000 garden from the hands of the crooks.
----------
“Air pollution in Tehran has reached a crisis situation and the number of days that fit with the standards are very few, ....
Tehran
Air Control Quality Company has estimated that automobiles in Tehran
produce at least 4,400 tons of pollutants a day, and 1.6 million tons a
year, according to Fars
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 Feb 2009 - Who Cares About Valentine's Day?; Kissing Helps Stress
-
It's just another day. If you're in love, if your love is fresh, new,
not burdened by thoughts, the past, memories, then every day is
Valentine's Day.
- Snow has colored the world with peace and mystery.
--------------------
-
People in the shops congratulate each other on valentine's day -
like christmas - it's silly - but it's good - why not? goodwill is
good.
-
science of kissing — philematology : new research indicated "Both men
and women had a decline in cortisol after smooching, an indication
their stress levels declined."
-
My mid-life crisis was witnessing 8 years of Bush presidency and
dealing with all the idiots he got the license to act in shadow of
Bush's stupidity.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 Feb 2009 - Work At Home
-
It's amazing how more productive I am working at home than to sit in a
huge busy office with conversations, often loud, going on in multiple
directions. Worked a long day (and night till 1 a.m.) and got a lot done.
-
Hedge funds have journalists in their pockets and that's why I don't
trust any journalist who writes negative articles about a company
that's heavily shorts, and oh, the article happens to be poorly
researched and has false information. A formal legal notice made them
clean up their act and post a correction. Still not as well as I
expected but the company was too weak in taking a hard stance and
demanding a proper retraction/correction.
- Many consultants
want to drag things on to continue their engagement, to make them
appear indispensable. I never do that. My customer's interest is first
priority and I am there to get their job done, at highest quality,
shortest duration and lowest price as possible.
-
"Baccara sold more than 16 million copies of "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie"
and featured in the 1977 edition of the Guinness Book of Records as the
highest-selling female musical group to date. "Yes sir ..." was an
enormous pan-European hit and was a prime example of the phenomenon
that is known as the "summer hit". The song was heard everywhere over
the summer of 1977 and it is still evocative of that moment in time. It
is also one of the best known examples of the Eurodisco genre."
(source: Wiki). German, Rolf Soja was the mastermind behind the
Spanish duo Baccara.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 Feb 2009 - Mad Doctor; DOE Loan Guarantee
-
Mad Doctor's friggin alarm went on at 5:25, 5:35, 5:45 and she was still sleeping. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
-
It's important to never act out of fear. Fear, however minute &
minor needs to be understood
and ended and action without fear is one of dignity. Action out of fear
is slavery. God is in the detail. Understanding brings its own action
which might be a surprise as true action is born out of the new, the
unknown, true understanding of the known.
-
Beacon Power mentioned in min 76:
http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=3e5bbb28-ae11-75e6-3270-3112e03faaca
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11 Feb 2009 - Gentle
-
Doctor said: "you're a gentle person, Swiss people ... [not so]"
- First day physiotherapy, jaw making noise, related to general misalignment?
- Good intense long meetings. It's all about relationships, and eagerness to cut through the unessential to get things done.
---------------
- It stinked in the mini-bus. They said they all smoke - even the dog.
-
She said she has stress at her job and in her mind so she started
smoking again. "Stress in the mind needs to be resolved; It's often
related to stress in the body -- good eating, exercise, rest will set
the right foundation. Cigs don't help stress of body mind or job and
just make life more complicated.
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10 Feb 2009 - Mission Accomplished
-
A young family have been referred to live there and take care of dad
too. Still undetermined but mom said God sets everything up right...
God puts the way in front of one's foot. She's by no means a fanatic
but highly connected -- a true "karma yogi" -- one who is connected
through selfless work, through being honest, through being correct,
loving, intelligent, etc. She is such a delight.
-
Rusteen called Liverpool "Kife-pool" : "maman, kife-pool gol zad" --
Tara said Liverpool scored but it was Manchester playing against another
team :)
- Tara: come eat. He: not hungry. Later he wanted food.
She: you said you didn't want it. He: "tagire agideh dadam". (as in
taghiire (change) aghideh (idea)) -- not bad for a 2.5 year old.
- Woke up with mad doctor's stumping her high-heels at 6 a.m. - it beats 5 a.m. .
- Something is helping with the pain and recovery - maybe thermal water and yoga.
-
A very talented fast learner fast acting apprentice in Switzerland
earns around 5 fcs an hour -- that's less than you earn flipping
burgers. It's slavery if you ask me. So the apprentice doesn't have to
have so much initiative -- and take the time to educate herself. And meditation in action.
- Mission accomplished. Got the signature that removed the major risk of a scope creep.
- Talked with Maria-Christina - lawyer and singer, after years.
-
Physiotherapist wanted to learn from the patient not the other way
around: about alex tech, protein, etc.- she was surprised that
the patient knows so much about anatomy, nutrition, etc. -- why not ? why should I
just be a specialist in one area? Go back to Renaissance and see what
some people were like.
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9 Feb 2009 - Energy
-
Back to back meetings - worked on weekend too.
- Woke up with pain at night.
-
Now there's sense of dignity. It's important to not expose the brain to
pity fears when one has quashed big fears of life that come e.g. from
eating meat or being victim of psychological time.
- Boston Monday Blues
------------
To: US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Dear Respected committee members,
Beacon
Power Corp. has been a finalist awaiting for DOE's loan guarantee for a
very long time. It has met all the qualifications but DOE has been
dragging its feet for months. In this age of tight credit, Beacon
relies heavily on this loan guarantee which could make a difference of
night and day. Beacon's clean-energy solutions are shovel-ready,
approved by NY, CA, and other major grid operators and will reside at
the heart of a new intelligent grid, and it's more efficient, faster,
cheaper, and cleaner than coal burning plants, and has zero emissions.
Please encourage the DOE to expedite the loan guarantee to Beacon
power.
Kindly note that in October 2007, of 143
pre-application submissions, Beacon's project was one of just 16
invited to submit an application for loan guarantee consideration. Of
these 16 projects, Beacon's is the only one selected in the
"Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability" category. They've been
waiting 16 months. Please. Let's get things moving.
Kind regards
Reza Ganjavi
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Feb 2009 - Trump on Bush
-
Donald Trump called Bush the worst president in history.
-
Re: Iraq war, he said: I don’t think we did it for oil. I think
we did it because Bush was embarrassed about what happened to his
father.
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Feb 2009 - Bush's Useless SEC (some great videos)
-
Markopolos: I gift wrapped and delivered the largest Ponzi scheme in
history to the SEC -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw_Tgu0txS0
-- and the SEC ignored it. What a bunch of morons the Bush era
SEC was.
- Congressman Spencer Bachus questions at Madoff Ponzi Fraud Hearing -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5nNXi0jbZw
- Rep. Speier on Madoff Fraud -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmAAY64Yrl4
- Rep. Ackerman on Madoff Fraud -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOKSkaQoF_I
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7, 8 Feb 2009 - Fox News: Arrogance of Stupidity; More Bush Screwups Surfacing; Day in Life in Baden; Rezangela;
-
Fox News is sickening. It touts stupidity. It targets the stupid
elements in people and caters to it. And it's arrogant in its ignorance
and stupidity which makes sense. Fanatics are arrogant about their
stupidity.
- Marouni Maestro is from Ticino.
- Listened to Martin Schenkel, a great Swiss rock artist - lots of good songs - he died at age 34.
-
Anoter stroll in town, we met Bob G., great singer -- he is funny --
and laughs at himself on how he always sings sad slow ballads -- but we
got him singing some fast songs - and I played too - and we sang
together and it was fun. Met Roman again -- my God he's
grown -- knew him since he was 3 or so - now he' tall as a tree at age
15. His mom remembers the photo I sent them from him playing the drums
as the king of the church courtyard. He's still mad about football
which we used to play together. Also mete Michael who used to live
here, and also Manuel who used to live here -- funny that I thought of
him recently and he thought of me listening to the CD just recently. We
may perform at his birthday. He's getting married soon, at 33. That's
the magic of small town living -- you go out and meet so many
people you know. Oh, we also met Thalma and her two kids - her daughter
has grown so much. A "nuclear blast" nearby clouded the conversation.
-
We missed the snake feeding session. Marcel's friends brought a dead
rat heated on their heater for 5 hours and the snake checked it out and
once it's determined it's food, it went for it in a sudden move. The
poor thing had not been fed for 6 months due to its irresponsible drunk
smoker owner who finally got kicked out of their apartment.
-
R. is very musical, is a sweet loving person, likes performance,
likes the prospects we offer, enjoys the songs - and if there's
something she doesn't like we don't play it, and I believe she's a
perfect fit for our band. She's beautiful too - I'd rather have her in
the band than a better drummer but fat ugly guy. She's under extreme
stress at school and we don't want to pressure her. Next term she's
here too - got a local job - so everything looks promising for our
relationship to continue. There is no dependence which is nice, but
she's an integral , strong part of the band, a good friend, a good
person... what else could we ask for. We like her so much that we will
wait for her , even 6 months, to have more time. Meanwhile our
repertoire is growing. A. is playing great bass. We may start on
regular classical guitar lessons. Cherishable relationships.
-
"The Bush administration overpaid tens of billions of dollars for
stocks and other assets in its massive bailout last year of Wall Street
banks and financial institutions, a new study by a government watchdog
says."
- There's a bed in my heart -- and it's so comfortable for one who lays on it.
-
Watched "An Inconvenient Truth" - great movie - and a slap in the face
of the idiot George Bush and his stupid policies that have ruined the
country, the world, and the planet.
- Nominated Angie to be the
band's manager. Her sale of the cat tree proved her marketing flair --
more things we have in common. Two good sales people -- watch out world!
- Lovely to get sms came from x. I believed it but she didn't. So she now owes me for losing the bet.
- There is love.
- Worked on harmonies for a long time.
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5, 6 Feb 2009 - Kids; Amaranth; Chiropractor
-
Anklin said while 5% of chiropractors are good, only 1% of osthepaths
are good. He's an excellent chiropractor. Got him to sit down (and slow
down), and he did a good treatment.
- Eduard, moved from warm dominican republic to new jersey which today is 14 degrees Fahrenheit!
-
Work is fun. Suddenly something that was taking weeks and lots of emails
and can't do's, got done immediately after one escalation. I work with
a very competent team - wonderful people. It's also fun to bring the
best out of people, even the most stressed ones, by use of right
phrases, rooted in kindness.
- Friend helped remodel room back to warmer configuration. I really love
kids and I really don't want to have my own. Befriended baby on bus
from distance waving with finger and it waved back and smiled. On the
way back also saw it and it recognized me (under 1 year old). Another
kid at coop was so enthusiastic about the food varieties on the
shelves and approached them with such freshness. Something communicates
itself - love, appreciation, of that spirit of freshness, non-burdened
mind, delight, and spirit of joy and exploration. His mom and grandma
also noticed our "friendship" and appreciate it. They knew someone else
adoring their kid like they do is perfectly natural. Kids are adorable.
But to have one's own is a different story. Not for me.
- On way home met old friend after years. She: how many kids have you produced? I said: many songs!
- Amaranth was heavenly. What a gift this grain is. Made it with curry and miso.
- Some gentle yoga brought new life. 3rd eye explosive.
- Sweet love rules.
-
Linda Thomsen of the SEC should be fired if for nothing
else for failure to catch Madoff's 50 billion dollar fraud after
repeatedly being warned. Shame!
-
Dr. Chu's nomination hearing, very interesting:. So good to have sense
and sanity and intelligence and science is back to Washington replacing
dogma stupidity.
http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=a71a3a1f-a497-7c36-a9f4-b4b37844f1fb
- The 4th result returned from googling "philosophy teachings" is rezamusic.com
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5 Feb 2009 - Medication; Mediation
- I hate taking medications.
- Friend agreed that I mediate between them. Wrote this letter:
I
am a friend of < > and just trying to mediate this unfortunate
situation. He has authorized me to talk with you. I am not a lawyer but have had plenty of legal education and
experience that includes training police detectives, working for
courts, and prosecuting litigation in two federal courts, and my dad
had a stellar legal career. I am just trying to help out both sides to
end this conflict. Nothing in this email should be considered legal advice but just my non-professional opinion.
I've seen the contract and accordingly you
owe < > some $....... . He can sue you for this amount. It will
cost you a lot of headache, time, and money. Money can't buy time. At
the very least he may be a thorn in your back until you pay him what
you promised to pay him. Why not get rid of him -- pay him and finish
this chapter? Do you like conflict? You know how much energy is wasted
in conflict?
Your threats to him
about defamation being a federal crime and your overture to the AG are
all baseless -- this is a civil matter -- even if it was criminal,
you'll have a hard time convincing FBI. The guy who called you an
idiot had a legal right to do so under the first amendment -- you can
threaten < > but can't sue him for defamation for being
called an idiot by a subscriber. These are just my opinions based on my
experience.
He will release the domain name < > to you as soon as
the payment is made.
Why not stop this whole saga? What is it going to
take? Do you expect to never pay him? Forget it. Or do you want to
close this chapter and move on peacefully. I guarantee a litigation
will be regrettable. As my dad used to say, even winners in a
litigation are losers. < > is a man of principles. He will
fight this to the end. Please be wise and let's work at bringing this
chapter to a close.
If
you accept to talk to me, what phone number can I reach you on? Let's
find a solution together. I am not going to charge you for my
time. This is a friendly, free service.
Best Regards,
Reza Ganjavi
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4 Feb 2009 - Natural Adjustment