Stop! Hey, What's That Sound?

(Continued from FunAmeda.com )

But what about the sounds we’ve learned to tune out - the hum of your refrigerator, your partner’s snoring, a ticking clock? Did you know these types of ongoing, often subtle noises could be making you sick? And, if you’re constantly subjected to more than one of these types of noises at a time, you may just be shaving years off your life!  Yikes!

According to a 2011 report from the World Health Organization, environmental noise is not merely a nuisance but also a concern for public and environmental health. The report is a startling look at the unhealthy effects of noise pollution - and the report was done nine years ago. Imagine what the results would be today! The report goes on to say powerful epidemiological studies have found cardiovascular diseases, memory loss, insomnia, tittinitus and even, in some cases, psychiatric disorders can be associated with repeated exposure to what is usually considered bothersome environmental noise, i.e. road and air traffic, television, bars and restaurants, neighbors, electrical devises, loud music, crying babies, etc.

Advertisers have been using sound to manipulate us for years.  Ever notice the rockin’ songs played at the end of your favorite show? That song was carefully chosen to make you feel hip for watching that specific show.  Do you hear that low-level buzz of your overhead kitchen light?  It’s possible that, although you think you don’t even register it, it could be the cause of your chronic fatigue or overall irritation. 

Not only has it been proven noise pollution has direct effect on our health, researchers now know it is not just the volume, pattern and frequency of the sound that is the issue, but the pitch of the sound as well.  In the 2019 film, The Sound of Silence, Peter Sarsgaard plays a “house tuner” who calibrates the sounds in people’s homes in order to adjust their moods.  That concept really struck a chord with me!

Because the definition of noise is subjective as it varies from one individual to another, sharing a home, an office, or even public transportation with other sound-making humanoids can pose a varying degree of stress and discomfort.

We give so much consideration to our other four senses. Why not give your ears a little TLC with an opportunity to kick back and relax? Maybe take this quiet, at-home time to treat your ears to a break from the din.  Make a commitment to yourself (and your housemates, neighbors, etc!) to a stretch of quiet hours each day. Take an audio break.  Listen to some silence. 

Your ears, mind and body will thank you!

Teachers need our help

Maybe, since our teachers are actually working two jobs, they should actually get two paychecks – one from the Alameda Unified School District and one from the Department of Health and Human Services.

For a substantial number of educators, there’s no amount of increase in pay to compensate for the extreme and constant pressure of having to keep up with a highly competitive curriculum AND provide daily social services to an increasing number of students.  Leaving it to our teachers to guide and counsel young people (and often other members of their family as well) through the very real issues of bullying, divorce, abusive relationships, depression, mental illness, drug addiction, anger management, malnutrition, suicide, gender identity and sexuality issues – all on top off an unprecedented array of learning disabilities - is an extremely unfair and untenable situation. The school day can quickly devolve into a quagmire of additional disciplinary actions and reporting, parent/teacher communications, and even legal considerations.  If you think teachers in good, ol’ Alameda don’t grapple with all these serious issues, you are mistaken.

Like any profession, yes, some teachers will leave because their pay does not reflect all they are expected to do. We must face the fact that teachers also leave because they are exhausted and out of fear for their safety and wellbeing. 

Our reliance on teachers as social workers has to stop.  It is not their sole responsibility to cure what ails society and secure a better future for our youth.  Rather than decisively argue about the benefits of Measure A and who should pay for it, it’s time for everyone to do the right thing, take personal responsibility and come together as a community.  If you are genuinely worried about educators leaving Alameda and the schools and city falling apart, let’s be proactive and alleviate this unsustainable burden on our teachers.  Volunteer. Mentor a child. Start an after school program. Establish a scholarship. Take a kid to lunch. Let’s figure out a way to help teachers do their job – teach.

P. Cary, Alameda

Whatever it was...it was cool

Well, this happened. I’ve been mulling it over for the last six days and wasn’t sure how to or if I should write about it – but here goes….

As a former Mutual UFO Network Field Investigator, I’ve heard/read hundreds of “lights in the sky” stories. Hundreds. As a trained investigator, my first responsibility was to listen carefully to reports and record the information without ego or judgment. I confess, this wasn’t always easy.

My second responsibility was to, through a process of elimination, go down the list of usual suspects and cross them off (if possible) the obvious list. Was it Venus? No, the object was moving across the sky on an east to northwest trajectory. Was it the International Space Station? Check the website. No, it was somewhere over Australia at the time. Was it a sky lantern launched from an evening wedding somewhere over Marin County way? No, the green object made sudden turns at right angles before shooting straight up at an accelerated speed. You get the point.

Still, I was caught unprepared and quite amazed by whatever Mark and I saw at around 10pm on Saturday, June 4 in the high desert of Joshua Tree, CA.

I’m not expecting you to believe in electric flying jellyfish, balls of plasma or (and I can’t believe I’m writing this) fairies, but those are all pretty accurate descriptions of what we, along with about 60 other people, witnessed with our own, unaided, skeptical eyes.  

I’m just here to say, as Mark put it, “I’m not sure what I saw, but I know I saw it.” 

As I was watching the event unfold, I thought maybe we were seeing some kind of a very sophisticated drone art installation/prank. Perhaps, but in my experience commercial drones make noise. These objects were ghostly silent. Yes, I know this particular area has a major military presence and an airport. Mass hysteria?. Believe me, I've gone through all those scenarios and possibilities. Still...

All I know is whatever we witnessed, it was the most beautiful, moving thing I’ve ever seen. I’m not writing to convince you…just report what happened.

In fact, rather than include my report, I’m going include another eyewitness’ account of the event. I don’t know this person. I got this off the MUFON database where there are four other reports of what the crowd saw that night. You can look up the event at mufon.com, if you so desire, or Gloogle it by including the date. Again, the written account below is not mine - but my account of the event would vary only slightly. Enjoy!!

Report taken from MUFON database: 

My boyfriend and I were attending "Contact in the Desert" at Joshua Tree National Park. We are both highly educated, professional people with an interest in UFOs. He is a Management Consultant and I am an attorney and previous R.N. I am also a Private Pilot. 

We had signed up for the "Night Vision Experience" on Saturday evening. It involved looking at the Night Sky with Military Grade Night Vision Goggles. We got in line at approximately 9:15 pm at the outer edges of the retreat center. Our wait in line was approx. 45 minutes to an hour. While waiting, we could hear the Group Facilitator making comments as to what to look for and what not to look for: satellites, airplanes, helicopters etc. We could hear as people commented they saw "something" but they always turned out to be satellites or aircraft. 

As such, were NOT expecting to see any actual UFOs at all. 

When it was our turn, we put the Night Vision goggles on as instructed and started scanning. I saw a few satellites, discernible because of their smooth movement from horizon to horizon at a high altitude. I saw some aircraft, discernible by their blinking position lights: red on the left and green on the right. Being a pilot, I am aware what aircraft lights look like at night. 

Suddenly, one of the group yelled out that they had seen something. We swung our goggles to look in the northerly direction. I focused on a white, glowing object which looked like a ball of light with fuzzy edges coming over the horizon rather fast, traveling west to east and then slowly disappearing. Process of elimination set in: NOT a plane, helicopter bc no blinking lights. Fuzzy edges, ball shaped. NOT a satellite because too low on the horizon and moving too fast. These objects were large enough and bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. 

As we were watching this white object, the second object, this time blue in color, came out of the west and traveled rapidly to the east. Ball shaped, glowing, fuzzy edges. This one slowed down. 

The third object then came from the west, this time Green in color. Same shape, characteristics as above. This one slowed down also. 

The fourth, object, I'm uncertain about the color as people were now very excited and many thoughts were racing through my mind. Is this real? I looked at them with my naked eye and the goggles and yes, they were there. 

Now, the second, third and fourth object had slowed to a triangle formation. With the apex of the triangle facing 'up." They did not stop but kept moving to the east. 

At his point, the group facilitator said that we needed to give the people in line a chance to see because they "were dying to see." So we handed over the goggles and started walking back to the Center. We lost sight only because we were instructed to leave. By my guess, there were about 30 people with goggles who saw this take place and perhaps a few who saw with the naked eye. 

Ever since that evening, my boyfriend and I have been processing this event. Yes, we are interested in UFOs and the nature of reality, consciousness etc.. We asked, did this predispose us to experiencing this? My answer is No. Remember, we were NOT expecting to see ANYTHING but satellites or airplanes. It was just a fun experience to sign up for. Since then, we have not stopped thinking about what we saw. We are both logical, sane people. 

Neither one of us has ever experienced anything like it in our lives. 

We cannot stop thinking about what we saw at Joshua Tree. 

-END-

Contact: Coming Soon to Joshua Tree

The planets will shine and the stars will soon align at the beautiful Joshua Tree Retreat Center in Joshua Tree, California.  Not all the star sightings, though, will be celestial in nature.  Many familiar faces from popular cable TV shows including the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens and Hangar One: The UFO Files will be coming together for the 4th annual UFO conference, Contact in the Desert.

Out of all the hundreds of meetings and conferences held in the United States each year to discuss the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects and their likely impact on history and society, Contact in the Desert is the largest, most comprehensive gathering of enthusiasts, researchers, experiencers and experts in the field.  The exciting 2016 CITD line up of speakers and events is no exception. 

Any important discussion of ufology and extraterrestrial visitation would be incomplete without including researcher and author, Erich von Däniken.  His mind-bending, groundbreaking 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods, is said to be a catalyst for the current study of what is known as the ancient alien or ancient astronaut theory – the idea that extraterrestrials have visited and continue to visit earth, playing a key role inthe development of human culture.

Sometimes referred to as the father of ancient alien theory, von Däniken has dedicated his life to the exploration of sacred sites such as theNazca Lines in southern Peru and Pumapunku in Bolivia.  His many years of research and analysis provide compelling evidence in support of the ancient alien theory and make for fascinating, informative and inspirational lectures.

If statistics are more your thing, renown nuclear physicist and author, Stanton Friedman will be on hand to discuss his research and involvement with UFO experiencers, advanced technology and the case for government secrecy. Unlike many of his ufologist colleagues, though, Friedman is not a cover-up conspiracy theorist.

“I’ve never considered that working under security and keeping your mouth shut is part of a conspiracy.  It goes with the job,” says Friedman.

At 81, it’s clear Friedman maintains a passion for the truth and the strength of his convictions.  His mantra, “facts in hand before putting mouth in gear” is a reflection of his tireless determination to replace bad data with good data and “get it right.” His Contact in the Desertworkshop entitled, Debunking the Debunkers, asserts that none of the major objections to the reality of alien visitation stand up to serious investigation and if there’s anyone equipped to handle the constant onslaught of skeptics regarding UFOs, it’s Stanton Friedman. 

The much-anticipated lecture by British author and journalist, Graham Hancock, will include findings highlighted in his recent controversial book, Magicians of the Gods.  In his Sunday workshop, The Consciousness Connection: Psychedelics, Entities, ‘Dark Matter’ and Parallel Dimensions, Hancock will share lessons from his own multiple experiences with smoked DMT and Ayahuasca.

Other notable speakers at CITD include adventurer, producer and star of Ancient Aliens, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos; Emmy award-winning TV producer and reporter, Linda Moulton Howe; host of the very popular, nationally syndicated nightly radio program, Coast to Coast AM, George Noory; and making his first appearance at Contact in the Desert, the “real life Indiana Jones”, David Childress. 

If a more hands-on experience is what you’re after, the conference also offers evening Skywatch Parties and Night Vision UFO Sighting Tours under the dark, unfiltered, gorgeous desert sky.  Never actually seen the Milky Way?  Contact in the Desert is the perfect opportunity.

In addition to the incredible list of speakers and events, one of the most fulfilling aspects of Contact in the Desert is the diverse, engaged, and enlightened conference attendees who come from all over the world and from all walks of life.  The Cosmic Café will offer participants a chance to meet and greet and exchange stories and ideas in a friendly, casual setting.  Evening outdoor movies will also be shown encouraging folks to sit back and unwind after an intense day of lectures and workshops. 

All this open exploration, stimulating discussion and fun is set against the backdrop of the enchanting and mystical, Joshua Tree National Park, where two distinct desert ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado, come together.  No stranger to visitors from all parts of thegalaxy, this breathtaking desert land offers some of the best stargazing and surreal geological features on the planet. 

Whether you’re new to the study of ufology, a seasoned watcher of the night skies, interested in opening your mind and learning more about our past, present and future role in the universe (or just curious to see what all the fuss is about), Contact in the Desert is sure to deliver a unique and rare glimpse of the stars…and beyond.

Contact in the Desert 2016 will be held June 3 – 6 at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center in Joshua Tree, California. Advance full-weekend passes are available online until June 2 – $240 (single) and $450 (couple).  For hotel and ticket information and full list of speakers and events go to:www.contactinthedesert.com

Photo by Jarek Tuszynski courtesy of Wiki Commons

Returning to the scene of the crime: Mary, Patti and a parade of Presidents

Dang. I had every intention of writing every day while we were here but there just aren’t enough hours in the day when you’re in New Orleans.

We didn’t catch any of the Presidents’ speeches. We didn’t go by the Convention Center and relive our time there. We didn’t get angry. We rarely got sad. We basically decided to just talk to people and hear what they had to say.

Rather than try to write about all the wonderful folks we’ve met - folks who’ve shared their stories, shared tears and laughs, danced with us and gave us hugs – I’m just going to pass on their wild words of wisdom. I can't even remember them all, and these are just a small sampling, but these snippets capture a small slice of NOLA life:

“I’ve paid my ticket now I’m livin’ my life,” nice older man at Oakland airport struggling to put his shoes back on.

Rory (wearing a NASA t-shirt), bar back at 13 on Frenchman St. Rory came to New Orleans from Boston three months ago after attending his sister’s graduation from Tulane and just stayed: “People are stupid….and then, there’s space!” “BillCosbywhy?” One word.

The friendly fellow at Hunter’s Park who lost his four dogs in the flood,
“Get me a Budweiser.”

Mr. St. Claire, Vietnam vet, "I'm trawlin' for a bite." His zipper was down.

Beaming father at anniversary gathering in Congo Square telling the crowd that he is always proud of his daughter (the star of her high school basketball team) but he was particularly proud earlier in the day when she politely refused to have her picture taken with George W. Bush. Right on, little lady!!

“We made it out of the water,” Mardi Gras Indian at Tipitina's.

Jonathan, our vampire tour guide, “I have thousands of years of experience to share with you.”

Car full of rowdy frat boys driving down Royal St., “Y’all are lesbians!”

“Mary, what IS it?” said I when the hugest bug I’ve ever heard landed in my hair in the bayou at Jean Lafitte National Park.

“It’s hard work, but it’s honest work,” young man tap dancing on Decatur St.

Joseph at Checkpoint Charlies, "Y'all wanna meet my friends?'

Elderly gent (80+) on Bourbon St., “The night I peed my pants was the best night of my life!”

“Let’s have dinner next time you’re in town,” said Jenna who gave us her mini gold glittered cowboy hat. Jenna was a law student in New Orleans in 2005 and rode out Katrina at Charity hospital comforting the sick and elderly. Jenna now practices – maritime law!!! Crazy!

And to the sweet server at Café du Monde who rushed and got us our iced coffees ahead of several other people when Mary looked like she might pass out and to the wonderful server at Irene’s Cuisine who graciously showed us around the place even though they were about to close. ALL these folks are the true spirit of this town and what keeps me coming back for more.

To my wonderful husband, Mark, who understands. To Kate Kate Millosovich Ruggierowho wasn't able to join us…and last, but no way least, to Mary Millosovich…cuz we always make it out of the water!

Until next time...