Tripping into Yom Kippur

Preparing to do penitence for my sins of the year 5770, I spent the weekend preparing for Yom Kippur where the Pagan/Ju-Bu in me has to face off with long bearded one, the guy with all the gelt who gives the guilt. and oye, do I need more ...I DON'T THINK SO...in preparation for repenting for everything awful I've done, mostly to moi-meme, I attended the psychedlic conference for healing held at Judson Memorial Church.. Ok,so you went to an apple picking orchard or had sweaty sex, chacun son gout... I can you imagine a synogogue allowing a conference on psychedelics? well i can't but who knows what will happen after 2012? Synogogues may even start selling things again, like before Jesus tore down the market.. the gold old days, “Hey honey, I'm going to make a blessing for my uncle Zooley, he's sick...need anything? Oh, yea, pick up a carton of milk while you're there, 2 percent.”.

This conference on psychedelicsand healing,, helmed by Neal Goldsmith, had an emphasis on cancer patients.. It was so excited to know there were healers around who were more interested in compassionate work than their golf swing...oops dating myself... still... docs from Johns Hopkins, (why is there an s on John?) William Richards, and NYU, Stephen Ross, gathered to talk about studies being done with cancer patients --- they are monitored during a psychedelic treatment and face their fears and anxieties, ego and other deaths and come out happier and stronger and much better able to deal with their healing.

It is amazing that this is happening in this backwards country...hooray, sorry drug companies, but I hear Walmart's hiring...This a small, growing vibrant community of people who have as Jim Morrison sang "gone to the other side", and appreciate reality on both sides of now. Sorry for the hyperbole, but this was not a room filled with burned out wanna-be bitter hippies, but exceedingly curious, compassionate people who are part of a growing mass who want to see controls lessened on drugs as well as clear information offered.

One of the highlights of the conference was Bob Wold, creator of Clusterbusters, an organization formed to help sufferers of cluster headaches take the gun from their forehead and live life. Psilosybin, sorry spelling, but it's late, heals cluster headaches...people who have suffered 5 cluster headaches a day for 20 years, suddenly have eliminated them from their lives by following a psychedelic protocol. It's a bloody miracle, and I know. I suffered headaches for years, not cluster, perhaps duster, but one lasted a whole week. It wasn't until my predominant shaman teacher at the time, John Harris, called and talked me "out of it" after five hours -- it went away. It was a shamanic healing experience and I believe that psychedelics perform an equally shamanistic role in our lives.

Andy Letcher, an urchin from the UK, charmed with the historical verite on shrooms and of course, the question of what is a religious experience came up.

Check out his music Telling Bees on my space with absolutely enchanting artwork by his art partner Ms. Staines.

Now after such stimulation, how exciting could synagogue look? Well, they cleaned up the old gal on Clinton Street, so I hiked up to the balcony where the girls are sequestered and sang a few tunes for my dad. I was saddened to learn that goats are the most sacrificed animal in the bible, esp as that was my family name in zee old country. As if Lambstar isn't enough.

5770 comes to a one... let's hope this is a new beginning of kindness, compassionate, peace, meaning all aspects of one's life, and a recognition that the old guard is over, patriarchy collapses, duality goes with it, and love is all there is -- almost, because, a little gelt doesn’tt hurt either

Barnes and Nobles, not so noble

a friend who shall remain nameless sent me this following email today explaining a horrendous work situation that pervades all of the B&N stores. I feel it is my duty to share this with you fine book readers, cafe drinkers and magazine perusers. With so much unemployment in this country, it is sad to think that a business, especially a BOOK business, is harassing its help. Please read below:

The Assistant Manager and the Supervisor both told me that they were actively looking for another job and they advised me to do the same. This new Manager is being really difficult and she's actively promoting the head honcho's (one of whom is her cousin) agenda, which is basically to run people into the ground so that they will eventually quit and the store can have a revolving door of "new" employees every year or so. She let it slip at a manager's meeting that the company is looking for young, strong "shelving machines" who are available at any hour to do any task, and they are to be written up for the smallest infraction so that there will always be adequate ammunition to fire them, especially if they start making too much money. Literacy, sales ability, book knowledge, all of that is pretty much irrelevant. The important thing is youth, bodily strength and the willingness to do conform to any situation/treatment for the least amount of money. Her typical MO is to stride out of her office, complain about something, issue some last-minute, unreasonable sort of directives ("oh, before you leave could you manage to set up the new gift display for me", a job that takes about 40 minutes to do properly but the person has to leave in 15 -then she can complain that they did a sloppy job or didn't finish or whatever) criticize a few things or people and then stroll back into her office and make personal phone calls. I wish I knew someone with some real power, not against her, she's just a pawn, but against this sort of "company policy". It's outrageous. And the kicker is that no one can easily go anywhere else because there are no decent jobs out there for them to go to....ugh.


more to follow

picked to serve

Today I was picked as an alternate for jury duty. I'm not happy being an alternate. That's like being a stand-in... all the work and none of the glory. Still... I can study human behavior without worrying about making a judgment.. I could have gotten out of the whole mess with a plea of "only God can judge us", but I have no working a/c and 40 bucks a day is 40 bucks.

If my friend hadn't said "step up to the plate", I might have given my usual excuse of being too stressed out to be a jurist, but citizen guilt took hold and I'm ready to bat.

While being screened as a potential jurist, I thought back to last nite's fun, seeing Bruno, the movie... Bruno, in hopes of transferring his Austrian tv host fame to LA, gets an extra spot playing a jury member on a tv show. His job is to sit quietly, but of course, Bruno plays to the camera, showing a myriad of bizarre over reactions to anything the actor- D/A. says. He even lights up and smokes.

Courts are by their nature very theatrical and I felt like cracking up any number of times while sitting up there... We had to tell the court what our profession was ... no surprise that no one admitted to being a housewife... unemployed, but not a housewife. Anyway, the guy behind me said he's a dj. When the lawyer asks him again if that's his work, he says yes, then mumbles under his breath, "I do it to stay out of trouble."

Surreal!

The DA asked me what kind of films I make..I should have said porn, but told the truth( after all I had had my right hand up in the air), documentaries... I didn't mention that one of my subjects, Abbie Hoffman, said he couldn't be tried by a jury of his peers as he had no peers...or something like that.

Can't say anymore as lips sealed... no speaky about the case.. good opportunity though to eat Vietnamese food on the lunch break. And ofcourse, step up to the plate.

Obama's comparison to Felix shows good judgment

After reading about the Krugman/Ferguson fight, and the Scot's derisive comparison of President Obama to Felix the Cat, I decided to check out Felix for myself to see if Ferguson was being mean. I tuned into my cartoon collection and caught Felix starring in The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg. In this wonderful vision of economic excellence, Felix's little goose Goldie lays lovely eggs that Felix turns into shiny coins for his community at the Relief Bureau. Friends and neighbors line up and peacefully receive their share of the wealth, without quibble, all for one, one for all, and enough to live well. It's a scene that any true social democrat would be pleased to be part of...but sadly for Felix, Captain Hook wants Goldie for himself and steals the goose away. Of course, the goose refuses to lay for such a greedy individualist and is almost cut open until Felix arrives to save the day and save Goldie!

Hooray... Felix returns the Pirate's stash to the people and now Goldie is dropping those egg/coins directly without Felix having to make them. The villagers easily collect coins, filling up their pockets, hats and shoes. no more struggle, peace of mind for all.

If Mr. Obama were as lucky as Mr. Ferguson says he is , and could pull off a Felix move with health care, jobs and economic parity, then it would indeed be acompliment Ferguson offered. Perhaps Krugman, Ferguson and Mr. Obama should sit down with a beer, and find their inspiration while watching the cartoon.

almost went postal

Sad times ahead for a country that once so loved its post office. no more dog biting postmens' ankle scenes in movies... no more "honey, should we give the postman something for Christmas".. no, at least in NYC, the postal system is working hard to make itself quickly extinct.

take today, where the newly pristinized 14th st post office had 7 empty windows and only two filled by less than happy workers... not their fault, but still... it just burns to know that someone in the back is having an extended coffee break while the line snakes around the joint the rhumba party... not to mention the benefits these workers get..

and then the delivery folk.. for some reason they can not ring a doorbell for a UPS package... it would require them having to wait an extra 3 minutes for the tenant to descend and sign the slip... instead they just shove the pink paper into the box, write 3rd delivery attempt and saunter out without looking backwards..

This puts me and you in the unhappy position of returning to the post office to wait in line while some really slow moving object takes their good old time to find it...AND as witnessed only last week, the object has often been sent back because it wasn't picked up because most people have more to do than kill 45 min a day at the post office...

Now if the post office sold beer or coffee and had a checker board set up ..that would be one thing..but even with the info ambassadors strolling through the lines in hopes of calming the enraged, it still lacks the charm of the old general store...


Will I miss Saturday deliveries.. well, shit yes. Who will my dog bite on the weekend?

http://www.lambstar.com/