Gaia Community: Ladybear's Blog

The Independence Day Picnic Begins!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:50:36 -0000

~ We're ready to party so come on along ~ Share your best food & sing a song! ~

Ringo's Birthday Wish

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:59:55 -0000

Ringo plays a nifty little video on his website with his request...

Ringo's Birthday Wish List – "Peace & Love"

Ringo was recently asked by Access Hollywood what he hoped to receive for his upcoming birthday (July 7th).
Ringo's answer was unconventional, he said, "just more Peace & Love."

Then he expanded his wish further, "it would be really cool if everyone, everywhere, wherever they are, at noon on July 7 make the peace sign and say "Peace & Love."

Wherever you are in the world, join him in making the peace sign and saying, singing, shouting, whispering, signing, writing or quietly thinking one simply beautiful and universal message: "Peace & Love."

While some will do this on their own other folks may be gathering at Abbey Road in London; Capitol Records in LA; Strawberry Fields in NYC.

Peace & Love :-)

Compassion Is the Best Protection - Thich Nhat Hanh

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:54:54 -0000

"To understand both sides in a conflict, and to see what to do and what not to do, we must have confidence in our own view, in our own experiences and understanding of the difference between truth and wrong perceptions. We must be able to withstand the influence of public opinion and propaganda.

This strength comes from looking deeply with compassion and from solid practice. Those who make the news and those who make political strategies have a strong effect on us. Political parties and politicians are always trying to persuade us. They try to change the way we think and feel, so we must be rooted in ourselves and our practice, looking deeply so that we will not be mislead.

If we do not maintain our own stability and insight, we can be easily swayed. Please remember that Right Action comes only from Right Understanding and that we must practice deep listening in order to understand. With this in mind you become a bodhisattva of peace and reconciliation."

Rainbow Family Gathering

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:51:36 -0000

It's July 1 and people are traveling all over the US in Rainbow buses, car pools, hitchhiking, Rainbow ride share, or whatever it takes to get to The National Rainbow Gathering.

This event happens every year from July 1 peaking on July 4 with a huge peace circle involving all of 30,000+ people involved in the gathering.

This year "The Gathering" as it is now known is being held in Wyoming.
Reports are that driving is difficult because the police are stopping people for any slight reason, and demanding court appearances.

I went to the first seed gathering in 1970 in Eugene, Oregon.
This was the first year of the "Gathering of the Tribes" to come together to plan the annual Rainbow Family of Living Light Gatherings.
The official First Rainbow Gathering happened in 1972 at Strawberry Lake, Colorado.

I remember going in a VW bug with the seats taken out of it for easy sleeping on the road.
I was traveling with a friend name Dennis who had picked me up hitchhiking in Oxnard, California in April of 1972.
When I got into his bug, I said I was going to Mt Shasta, about 600 miles north.

Dennis said "if you fill my car up with gas, i'll take you all the way!"
I did and we stayed together for about 5 months.
Dennis still comes by to visit every month or so, but he's now on a Moto Guzzi motorcycle instead of in that old VW bug.

We got to the site and had to park the car at one of the parking lots.
No cars are allowed into the site, we hiked UP the side of a big mountain carrying all kinds of crates of food with us.
Did that a few times, just because I loved stopping to rest and eating the raisins out of the large crate!

I think there were about 15,000 people at this first gathering. "The Family" fed them all.

We each had seperate camps, but came together at night for campfires in varied pod circles of common likes.
Music pod circles, drumming circles, healing pods, you name it, there were group circles for it.
EVERYONE ate together in a circle after working at the kitchens during the day preparing meals.

I met people from all over the country there.
A professor from George Washington University, in Washington, DC,
ended up coming back to California with us.

There were sweat lodges, healing circles, no money exchanged - it's barter only,
lots of dope and a lot of music & fun.
I still have a blue ceramic bead I traded some pink leather for.

I've been to a few Rainbow gatherings since the original one.
The Rainbow Family usually comes through Mt. Shasta at some point in August
to extend The Gathering in Northern California.

But now my days of this type thing are pretty much over, my body can't take it anymore!
Ram Dass is interviewed in this video when he attended The Gathering following his stroke.
They carried him in his wheelchair up the mountain to the event!

Legal Papers

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:37:23 -0000

Jerry and I have been stalling on doing a Living Trust.
We both have Living Wills, which is a different document stating if you want to
be on life support or basically have the plug pulled.

But a Living Trust is a document for your will & trust.
This includes property and bank assets.

Every adult that owns anything of value should have these documents in place.
Having a will or living trust will avoid a probate on your estate and endless lawyer hassles.

We'd been procrastinating to do this because we didn't want to deal with a lawyer,
and we didn't want to give a lawyer the quoted $2500. to do the paper work.

The other day Jerry was asleep in the lazyboy chair.
I went to wake him and he was slow wake up.

After a good shake he awoke, but it woke me up too.

What if he was there in the chair and had checked out of his body?!
That put me into action.
Ironically, that same day, I saw the famous attorney Robert Shapiro on TV doing an ad
for his LEGALZOOM.COM company.

LegalZoom was developed by expert attorneys with experience at the most prestigious law firms in the country. RobertShapiro, co-founder

WOW! I cannot rave about this company enough.

When I filled out the easy form online, I called the 800 # a few different times with questions.
Each question was responded to very professionally.
At the end of the questionnaire, when I was about to enter my cc# for payment of $219.
it asked for a discount coupon code.

So I figured there is one out there and I googled it and BINGO, I saved 5% and it came down to $208.
I did standard mail, free.

Within a week, I got a Priority mail box, Delivery confirmation, and shockingly,
a leatherette binder with an engraved name plaque on the front!
I expected a manila envelope!

All you do is take it to be notarized in front of 3 witnesses, and you are finished.
The woman at our Bank of America did it for free.

She did alert me that we needed a deed of trust or something they call it,
for the house to be added to the trust.
So I called Legal Zoom again. They would do it for $210. total.
I called the local Title company we used when we bought the house,
and they are doing it for filing fees only. Less then $50.

The woman at the BofA said she had never seen such a nice presentation of a
Living Trust before and she is going to use them.
She said she gets papers in her office from local lawyers all the time and
they are never in leatherette binders with engraved name plaques!

I wanted to encourage any of you that have been putting off a will or trust,
and especially a living will to DO IT NOW!
It will save your loved ones headaches beyond belief, and probate court.

And for such a minimal fee, Legal Zoom is GREAT!
They do all kinds of legal papers, not just wills & trusts. Copyrights, Patents,
Divorce, Trademarks, Power of Attorney included.

Gay Pride Weekend in SF!

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:58:49 -0000

It's Gay Pride weekend in San Francisco.

This year will be alittle different with the recent legality of marriage.

Aejaie Sellers carries part of a rainbow flag during San Francisco's gay pride parade in this June 24, 2007 file photo. Given San Francisco's sizable role in initiating the lawsuits that led California's highest court to strike down the state's bans on same-sex marriage, the city's 38th annual gay pride festival and parade is likely to draw huge crowds this weekend, tourism officials say.

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Move over Dykes on Bikes. Here come the brides - and grooms. Given San Francisco's sizable role in initiating the lawsuits that led California's highest court to strike down the state's bans on same-sex marriage, the city's 38th annual gay pride festival and parade is likely to draw huge crowds this weekend, tourism officials say.

"It's really going to be a Pride like none other," said Joe D'Alessandro, president of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. "I have never seen so many rainbow flags in this city, along Market Street, on shops, on homes. It's really a situation where the people are celebrating and the city is in a very festive mood."

Read On....

Rolling Stones Summer in the City

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:02:49 -0000

I came upon this song today by one of my favorite guys, John Sebastian and
The Lovin Spoonful.
It was 1966 and whenever I hear this song I think of what I was doing that summer in
New York City. I was living the life of a wild one in Manhattan.

I had a 1963 green Corvette convertible, lots of Mod clothes,
wearing 4 pairs of false eyelashes like Twiggy,

Retro 60's makeup, with dark eyeliner and mascara, artificial eyelashes, and pale pink lipstick. Fab. Simply fab.

A Vidal Sassoon haircut,

Hanging at the clubs in New York City.
The Scene, The Electric Circus on St. Marks Place, The Cheetah,
The Go Go, The Riveria & Peppermint Lounge. There were alot of clubs every night!

One night in particular I was at a place, that summer it was "THE PLACE", called
Ondines.

I was all decked out and in my best “it's ok, i'm with the band”, going with Steve Curry,
the lead singer of the house band named The Denims.
A couple of years later Steve was playing Woof in the original
production of HAIR on Broadway!

Steve Curry is in the middle with my buddy Steve Gamet on top of the pyramid.
Because I was with the band, I got to stay after hours in Ondines.

<Ondines was owned by the guy that produced HAIR, Michael Butler.>

One night there was a big buzz. We had to clear the front bar room and put up a
long table covered with tapestry cloth and a big hooka pipe in the middle.

Remember, it's the summer of 1966, days of the song
"Mother's Little Helper" and the band was on tour.
about 4 AM in come The Rolling Stones.

ALL IN DRAG!

Mick was with the Queen of New York at the time named Terry Noel . Both in full drag.
Brian Jones was still alive.
We all sat at the long table and smoked opium and did poppers (amyl nitrate)

I don't remember much else of it all, except I kept saying to myself,
I can't believe I'm getting loaded with the Rolling Stones!!!

Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end....

Four wise monkeys

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:31:50 -0000

Las Vegas!

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:41:51 -0000

The trip to Vegas was FUN & exhausting!
The heat was really intense & all the walking is getting harder to do every time
we go there! It all looks close, but it's a desert & distance is all a mirage!

My San Diegan girlfriend met us at the airport & we proceed to The Palazzo Hotel.

We booked by a United Airlines Vacation for 2, I called a week before we left, requested
2 Queen beds & early check in.
The vacation pack had a King bed. We arrived at 11 AM and told them my friend decided to come along and asked if there would be an extra charge for her to share the room.
NO charge. GREAT!

The room wasn't ready yet, so they let us store our luggage, took my cell # and called me an hour later to let me know the double queen suite was ready. GREAT!

The room was nice, view of the WYNN next door, and we were happy.
The Spa in the Palazzo was NOT open yet, when I called to confirm they said it would be by the time we arrived. Not True.
We had to use Venetian's Spa. We were very disappointed with that because
we were looking so forward to the new spa experience.

The gold topper to this hotel was Sky's son, who lives in Vegas came to eat with us, and we had a doggie bag.
Eric took his mother's key to put the bag in the refrigerator.
we were in room 32-919.

Eric having not been there, thought his mother said 35-919 and went to that room,
opened the door, used the toilet and realized it was not his mother's stuff in the room,
our stuff was not there and he had gone INTO THE WRONG ROOM WITH OUR KEY!!!

He had access to a room 3 floors above ours!!!
He could of stolen the guys laptop and everything in the wet bar and nobody would of known he was ever there.

I immediately went to the front desk to inform them and the SUPERVISOR told me
"it sometimes happens because if you don't pull the door closed all the way, it will stay a jar". Like that is acceptable in a 5 star hotel!
I told her at the MGM we had left our door ajar for 2 minutes to get ice, and security was there immediately. She couldn't care less.

First night we saw LOVE again. It's such a fun show & you have to get tears in your eyes at the end. I won't give it away in case anyone reading plans on going,
but if you love the Beatles, THIS IS THE SHOW FOR YOU.

We got out of there at about 9 PM and walking back decided to see if we could get tickets for the late show of Phantom of the Opera at The Venetian!

This was my 15th time to see my all time favorite Broadway show.
But this production was very different.
They condensed some of the libretto & changed some of the set, but they made up for it with BIG SURPRISES in the Chandelier & creating a full lit up Paris Opera House on stage.

Those effects are not done in any other production, and after knowing every word in the
entire play, it was fun for me to see this new version.

So first night was 2 great shows!

Yesterday we did the Canyon Ranch Spa at Venetian & I had a BLIND Masseur!
Richard was wonderful.
I had asked not to have a male massage therapist, but when they couldn't change it,
I was so happy he was the man!
Great healing hands.
We hung out by the pool for awhile, and then went shopping!

We saw Barbara Walters signing her book, Audition, at Caesar's Palace. The View is filming there this week.

She is quite petite and surrounded by very large security guards!

Dinner at Bellagio, the best buffet in town.
Then on to Bette Midler at Caesar's Palace!
The show was fun, the beginning a movie played of a twister storm blowing in to the desert.
Burrow's were running for their lives,
Elvis impersonators were spinning by ala Wizard of Oz,
and in lands bawdy boisterous Bette laughing up a storm.

Personally for the money <$156> I wouldn't recommend it, and I say that with great disappointment.
It was our least favorite of all 3 shows. One Review

My favorite part of the show was her endless hilarity of Dolores Delago the wheelchair bound mermaid.

Besides the 3 Harlettes, she has a chorus line like the Rockettes, called
The Caesar's Salad Girls, because they have a lot of dressing!

and the very end she says "this is my Titanic song" and went into
The Wind Beneath My Wings.
The row of gay guys in front of us, and me, were all wiping away tears!
All in all, ya gotta love Bette, she is one of a kind!

We flew out this morning at 6 AM & after only sleeping a couple of hours each night,
we are exhausted.
But I LOVE LAS VEGAS! Hope to go back sooner then later.

Psyched for Las Vegas!

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:57:14 -0000

Getting ready for our 6 AM flight to Las Vegas.
We'll be meeting my girlfriend, Sky, from San Diego & sharing a suite at the brand new
Palazzo Hotel.

We usually prefer to stay at Mandalay Bay, they have the best wave & surf pool and we love their spa, but we got a great package deal from United Air for the new hotel,
so figured we'd try it.

We're spa nuts,
My girlfriend Sky & I discovered spa-ing on a quick trip to Mandalay Bay in 2001.
For $25. you get to spend the day (go in & out at your leisure) being pampered,
drink all the juices, bottled water, & herb tea you like, & for some extra cash, you pick your treatments. I love facials!
Palazzo Spa is the famous Canyon Ranch & will probably be a little more expensive then Mandalay Bay, but it's worth the money, esp when you leave and it's back to the slot machines ringing everywhere!

Monday night we're seeing the Cirque Du Soleil Beatles show again, called LOVE!
Tuesday night it's Bette Midler at Caesar's Palace in The Showgirl Must Go On!
I can't wait! I love Las Vegas & always have FUN there!

Here's a preview of the Bette Midler show.

BEACH PARTY!

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:32:56 -0000

I've Got The Cake!

When have you felt most in balance?

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:49:39 -0000

This'll do it.
8500' high on Mt. Shasta at Upper Squaw Meadows.
Jerry & a watermelon!

Roshi Joan Halifax

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:44:42 -0000

One of Gaia's most beloved members, Roshi Joan Halifax has suffered a very serious injury.

You may be updated on her website at The Upaya Institute.

Thanks to Tripletreasure for alerting me to her situation.

Prayer is requested.
With Love & Respect to Roshi Joan.

The 60's Bee Hive

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:16:24 -0000

This is me, at Bruce Hoppe's Senior Prom 1964. I was a junior, age 16.

and this is how my my wonderfully silly friend Satya-Seer sees me then!
He made me really sparkle!
Thanks for the gift, Beautiful Brother John!

UFO's on Mt. Shasta

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:33:22 -0000

I was telling a friend some stories today and I shared some about seeing UFO's when I was living up on Mt. Shasta. Thought I might as well share them here too.

I use to live out on Mt Shasta all summer, every summer.
In April or May i'd come back from Maui, Guatemala, New York, or wherever I'd been that winter and head up the mountain.
Mt. Shasta is a spiritual mountain. It's said to be one of the 7 chakras of the world.

I'd camp at the lower elevations and move up as the snow melted. By summer's end i'd be at 8500' in the high meadows called Squaw Valley.

Most often I'd stay at 7600' called Panther Meadow. (It was closer to the road to hitch down to town.) There are alot of mystical stories about ascended master, St. Germain appearing to people at Panther Meadow.

One UFO story is when I was at Panther Meadow. My camp was always right on the left of this photo, just in the trees where it looks black on the left there.

There was a group of us that camped all summer, we each had our own camp, but we shared a kitchen, food, and campfire at night.
We were sitting around the campfire one night telling stories and saw lights hovering on top of Grey Butte Ridge. The lights moved like a helicopter would, but it was dead silent.
They were colored lights, and moving slowly.

The top of this ridge was about 1/4 mile from where we all were sitting.
it was about 10 PM.
We really did think it was a helicopter at first, but that wouldn't be silent.
This just HOVERED slowly. Then it disappeared. There were about 8-9 of us sitting there and we all saw it very clearly.

The more personal story was when I was back in Squaw Valley camping.

That is a higher elevation, much more clear energy and only a couple of other people in the area, But not with me at the time.

You have to know that there are endless stories of UFO encounters on Shasta.
Shasta is known for being a refueling center for them.

Anyway, back to Squaw. I was gathering wood for the evening campfire.
I was naked, walking around my camp, it was about 5 PM in the early evening.
Still very light, not dark.
I happened to look up and about 100 feet from me, on the side of the ridge was a shimmering small circular ship.

I felt no fear.

I knew it was watching me and I bowed, hands folded (pranam) to it.
and it PULSATED LIGHT back to me a couple of times.
Then I watched it go INTO the side of the ridge of the mountain!

I am NOT lying, this really did happen up on Mt. Shasta! :-)

Shasta gets Lenticular clouds that look like ships and it's believed that ships hide inside of them when they are going into the mountain for refueling.

I LOVE Mt. Shasta! It's HOME.

Top larger photo by Mt. Shasta artist Kevin Lahey

I did it FF3.0

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:27:34 -0000

Firefox 3.0 Download Day

~C4Chaos

Hello Everyone,

Firefox 3.0 is now available for download. As you know, we at Gaia recommend using Firefox. So give Firefox 3.0 a try and help set the Guinness World Record :)

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/?p=downloadday

Once you've downloaded and installed Firefox 3.0, start using it on Gaia and use this thread to let us know of any issues with the latest version.

Thanks!
~C

Do Your Job * Funny Springsteen spoof

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:19:25 -0000

Can't go deep without it

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:22:28 -0000

Patti LuPone Tony's Performance 6/15/08

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:29:02 -0000

If you love Broadway musicals as much as I do, you had to get chills watching
Patti LuPone's performance last night at the Tony Awards.

Radio City Music Hall holds 6000 seats, and EVERYONE was standing & cheering
when Mama Rose finished singing!

BRAVA, Patti! Congratulations on your well deserved TONY AWARD!

What do you find mysterious?

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:43:53 -0000