Phil's Place: Playing Music

All Over The World

Bob Marley song performed by players around the world.

Here is another heart warming music/video from, "Playing For Change".

WATCH VID EO

Booster Rocket Cam

The other booster rocket falling to earth.

This is a really different video of the space shuttle flight to the Hubble. It is, (mostly), footage from the booster rocket. It takes you up into space and back to an ocean splash down. The video is very clear and, if your computer is capable, the high definition images are terrific. I could smell the sea while watching the parachute collapsing on the rolling waves. Watch HERE.

After They've Gone

Passenger pigeon. Killed to extinction for it's feathers.

Experts are beginning to track data regarding the life forms that coexisted with extinct species. Is there a co-extinction, or do some parasites jump species?

"What we know about coextinctions presents a kind of paradox. The models suggest thousands of coextinctions have already occurred and that hundreds of thousands may be on the horizon. Yet we have observed few such events."

The regions where new human diseases, such as bird flu, are emerging coincide with the regions where the most mammal and bird species are endangered. "We have long talked about the negative consequences of the endangerment of the species we love," Robert R. Dunn writes, "but getting left with their parasites is a consequence no one bargained for."

More information: "The sixth mass coextinction: are most endangered species parasites and mutualists?" Robert R. Dunn and Nyeema C. Harris, North Carolina State University; Robert K. Colwell, University of Connecticut; Lian Pin Koh, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zurich; Navjot S. Sodhi, University of Singapore and Harvard University; Published: May 27, 2009, in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Forgiveness

Pond by Sundial Bridge

There are times, even now, as enlightened as I may be, that I may have a fleeting resentment about someone or something that was involved in a circumstance that didn't turn out the way I wanted. If I think about my education, I sometimes feel that my life would have been different, (richer, poorer, more fulfilling, less frustrating, etc.), if the first public school teacher I encountered had been someone other than Mrs. Peacock, (real name). Even better, what if my parents had continued to keep me enrolled at the private academy, where I was flourishing as a child genius?

The important question is, does it really matter 60 years later?

Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

What if the person I’m forgiving doesn’t change?

Getting the other person to change their actions, behavior or words isn’t the point of forgiveness. In fact, the other person may never change or apologize for the offense. Think of forgiveness more about how it can change your life — by bringing you more peace, happiness, and emotional and spiritual healing. Forgiveness takes away the power the other person continues to wield in your life. Through forgiveness, you choose to no longer define yourself as a victim. Forgiveness is done primarily for yourself, and less so for the person who wronged you. -Katherine M. Piderman, Ph.D.

Cathedral Mountain

My brother Jerry and I climbed up and slept on top of this.

I was reading a Zane Grey western the other day, and much of it took place in the Big Bend country. When the story took me near Cathedral Mountain, I was reminded of an adventure there, with my brother Jerry. We were living in Alpine, Texas and took a little camping trip to the top of Cathedral Mountain.

We climbed the face, first, but took another way to top.

I don't remember if we climbed wearing sneakers, or cowboy boots. Times were different then. Our safety equipment was a length of parachute cord and a pocket knife. We scaled the face without the fancy equipment used by climbers today, and were probably lucky we didn't get killed. When I reached the top of the face, I saw that the slope from there to the top was just loose rocks and gravel. There was nothing to grab hold of that wouldn't just slide off the edge, taking me along for the fall.

I called down to Jerry and said we needed to go back down and try another way. This was easier said than done. One of the rules we were taught for climbing up a shear mountain face was, "don't look down". Climbing up, I stuck to the rule so well, that I had no idea where the hand and footholds were that I used to get to where I was. The climb down was harrowing and we helped each other through some scary clinging to the rock face before we got to the easier places. We even used the parachute cord to help negotiate a tricky spot or two.

We did finally make it to the top and ate the sandwiches we had packed for our survival. It got very cold that night at 6,122 feet and we discussed ways to avoid frostbitten feet. The view was inspiring from this mountain top, 20 miles south of Alpine, Texas. Sunrise was spectacular. It never occurred to us to bring a camera.

Middle of nowhere, south of Alpine, Texas.

6/3/09 - More On Cathedral Mountain;

“The hike to the top of Cathedral Mountain Phil refers to happened almost 50 years ago. Phil was in high school and I was in college at Sul Ross College in Alpine. Cathedral Mountain is located on the highway between Alpine and Big Bend National Park. It has an elevation of 6,000 feet. Phil and I spent the night on top of the mountain and returned the next day. Two weeks later we read in the local newspaper that a cougar had been killed on the mountain.

BTW we were in tennis shoes.

Jerry Seymour”

Here In Redding

Another inspiring sunset from my apartment, 6/2/09.

The band had a rehearsal this evening, down in Anderson. It went well. We play this Saturday for a Shasta Blues Society event, and thought it would be nice to add a few new tunes to the playlist. I recorded the rehearsal to test the method I will use to record our performance, Saturday. It should work just fine. You can hear a sample, below.

Snack