Heavy
Honey’s Las Vegas Gigs, Sign Up for OnlineVerdict.com, The 4th
International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: Magic, Myths and Miracles,
Morocco’s Roman Ruins at Volubilis, Free PK Party-All Invited!, The
Unauthorized Biography of Tom Cruise by Andrew Morton, Movies This Week,
Hell Money, and more...
My
favorite local band, Heavy Honey, appeared on the Matt McClure Internet
Show last Thursday. Heavy Honey’s line-up includes lead
singer/keyboardist London Mace and Vladimir Lacas on vocals and lead
guitar (pictured). Here is the link to their appearance:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3359508228044118530
Heavy
Honey’s independent debut CD, ‘God Bless The Fearless Lover’ was
released in January 2007. Heavy Honey’s new CD, ‘Maiden America’ is
dropping this month.
Heavy Honey’s scheduled upcoming shows are: January
26th at 2:00 PM at Borders Summerlin (10950 W. Charleston Blvd.,
Las Vegas, NV 89135); January 30th at 8:00 PM at The Cheyenne Saloon
(3103 N Rancho Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89130); and February 1st at 9:30 PM at
The Freakin’ Frog (4700 S Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV 89119).
Join Heavy Honey’s myspace at
http://www.myspace.com/heavyhoney2.
Are you wondering if you will be called for the O.J. trial set for April
in Las Vegas, or just want to play juror from the comfort of your home,
sign up for OnlineVerdict.com. If you watch TruTV (formerly CourtTV)
like I do, then you can earn extra money by becoming an
OnlineVerdict.com juror. You will review interesting legal cases from
home, provide feedback through an online questionnaire, and be paid for
your time. OnlineVerdict.com provides online case review and juror
feedback services to attorneys. Case information is summarized and
presented to qualified jurors in the venue where the case was filed.
Las Vegas residents need to sign up to provide a
strong pool of “jurors” for OnlineVerdict.com.
Juror feedback is then used by the attorneys to
discover the strengths and weaknesses of their case, the possible
settlement value, and general attitudes and opinions about their case
facts. This information allows attorneys and legal professionals to make
better decisions about trying, mediating and settling their legal
disputes.
OnlineVerdict.com says there are no right or wrong
answers. They are only looking for your honest reaction to the
information presented. OnlineVerdict.com suggests that the time
commitment for each case will vary from 20 minutes to 1 hour depending
on the details of the case. You always have the option to choose which
cases you want to review.
After you complete a case you will be paid for your
time. Payment amounts vary depending on the complexity and length of the
case reviewed, but payments start at $20 per case and can go up to $60
per case. The number of cases you may be asked to review will also vary
depending on the number of attorneys in your area who are using this
service
http://onlineverdict.com/
The 4th IASC, organized by Alan Shoemaker, will be held
again in the shamanic center of the Upper Amazon in Iquitos, Peru from
July 19 to 27, 2008. The Conference website is:
www.soga-del-alma.org. Soga Del Alma is Spanish for Vine of the
Soul. Much information is already up on the site and daily the webmaster
is adding more details. Many attendees come early and stay late when the
Conference is over.
Soga Del Alma has Extension Tours following the
Conference to the Sacred Valley, Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Alan’s wife,
Mariella Noriega de Shoemaker, helps with travel and hotel reservations
and looks forward to assisting interested people in any way she can. You
can contact Alan directly at
alanshoemaker@hotmail.com.
On our Moroccan adventure, we visited the spectacular Roman ruins at
Volubilis. Volubilis was a Roman settlement constructed on what was
probably a Carthaginian city, dating from 3rd century BC. Volubilis was
a central administrative city for this part of Roman Africa, responsible
for the grain producing in this fertile region, and exports to Rome.
Volubilis was also administering contacts with the Berber tribes which
the Romans never managed to suppress, but who only came as far as to
cooperate with the Romans for mutual benefits.
Volubilis was first abandoned in the 18th century,
when it was demolished in order to provide for building materials for
the construction of the palaces of Moulay Ismail in nearby Meknes. If
that demolishing had not arrived, Volubilis could have become one of the
best preserved Roman sites anywhere.
The
Romans evacuated most of Morocco at the end of the 3rd century but,
unlike some other Roman cities, Volubilis was not abandoned. However, it
appears to have been destroyed by an earthquake in the late fourth
century A.D.
The ruins of the town were further damaged by the
1755 Lisbon earthquake. Geologists today estimate the Lisbon earthquake
approached magnitude 9 on the Richter scale, with an epicenter in the
Atlantic Ocean. Estimates place the death toll between 60,000 to 100,000
people, making it one of the most destructive earthquakes in history.
Our friend Jack Houck (with his lovely
wife Jean accompanying him) is giving a PK party as part of the ABH
Convention 2008 on January 24, 2008 (from 7:00 to 9:30 PM) at the Alexis
Park Resort, Las Vegas. Sponsored by American Board of Hypnotherapy, the
PK Party is free. Just show up and bring 5 stainless flatware forks or
spoons. There is no need to register for the PK Party and children over
age 5 are welcome. Additional information is on the ABH website:
www.reachingwithin.org Attendance at Conference is not required to
attend PK Party.
I’ve
attended several of Jack’s PK Parties. As a researcher of paranormal
phenomena, Jack is the originator of Psychokinesis (PK) Parties, and is
recognized as one of the foremost authorities in the world on the
subject. He has given more than 360 of these workshops to over 17,000
people during the last 23 years, and maintained meticulous records on
them. If someone does bend a fork or spoon, Jack documents it with a
photograph and a detailed questionnaire. Jack is now concentrating on
technologies for alternative healing. (http://www.jackhouck.com/pk.shtml)
Photo of Vladimir Lacas with his bent spoon and
famous psychic and spoon-bender Uri Geller. Taken in California in 1996.
I’ve read
all the pre-publication news about the explosive theories offered in
Morton’s new book; mainly, that the Cruise baby might have been
conceived using L. Ron Hubbard’s frozen sperm! However, regarding that
prominent rumor that has dogged Cruise for years, Morton lays it to rest
in the first sentences of his unauthorized tell-all:
“If truth be told, Tom Cruise Mapother IV has always
been something of a ladies’ man. Sweethearts, girlfriends, lovers, and
wives; it has been a rare day in his life when he has not been wooing,
wowing, or wedded to a young woman.”
Tom Cruise: The Unauthorized Biography by Andrew Morton
I recently asked
a friend if his deceased wife needed anything “on the other side.” I
frequently burn fake money for my father (pictured) so he can have some
“walking around” money and he can take his buddies out for a few drinks
at Archangel Michael’s Pub. (I’m told they have a terrific house band.)
As silly as it sounds, the practice of Spirit Money has a long
tradition. In fact, the Chinese (I adopted the custom from them) have
now taken it much further. Chinese cemeteries are selling paper replicas
of Viagra pills to be burned for dead relatives wishing to have
satisfying sex in the afterlife.
Customers were snapping up the paper Viagra, as well
as images of condoms and heavily made-up bar girls. Chinese have
traditionally burned fake money in honor of dead relatives believing the
wealth will accrue to their ancestors in the afterlife.
But China's move toward a more consumer-oriented
society saw new offerings including paper televisions, mobile phones,
laptop computers, cars and other luxury items, like prostitutes. There
are even Hell Money Credit Cards. There was an attempt to crackdown on
the sex-related "vice" offerings, to no avail. Finally, in apparent
frustration, China banned its citizens from burning paper models of
condoms, luxury villas and karaoke hostesses when paying respect at the
graves of their ancestors.
The authorities have issued new funeral and
internment regulations that include fining citizens who burn "vulgar"
offerings. "The burning of luxury villas, sedan cars, mistresses and
other messy sacrificial items ... will be investigated and punished,"
said Dou Yupei, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
So-called Hell Bank Notes are Afterlife
Monetary Offerings or Spirit Money. When people die, their spirits or
ghosts go to an afterlife where they continue to live on, doing the same
sort of things why did while alive, eating, drinking, wearing clothes,
playing with their children, and so forth. In order to ensure that they
have lots of good things in the afterlife, their relatives send them
presents, and one of the best things to send them is Hell Bank Notes --
money to spend in the afterworld. Like earthly notes, Hell Money bears
serial numbers, and the denominations vary, as do their sizes. They are
sold in packs of 30 to 50 bills, wrapped in cellophane.
There are several ways the Chinese send Spirit Money
to their departed relatives: it can be thrown to the winds during the
funeral procession, left on a grave at any time, or burned in ceremonial
fires during the yearly Hungry Ghost Festival.
I
saw “Mad Money” (NO), “Cloverfield” (YES”) and “There Will Be Blood”
again (YES). Here is a brief summary of my review of “Mad Money”.
Could
“Mad Money” kill Katie Holmes career? Only Queen Latifah walks off
unscathed. After regal cleaning lady Bridget (Diane Keaton), ghetto mom
Nina (Queen Latifah), and 70’s flower child Jackie (Katie Holmes) rob
the Federal Reserve Bank of a billion dollars in ones, they go off and
capture Osama bin Laden.
Hey, it doesn’t take a genius to rob the Federal
Reserve Bank. All you need is a Masters lock and a toilet plunger.
Why do these three women put their freedom on the
line committing a federal crime? Well, Bridget’s house-bound,
eunuch-husband lost his job and is depressed. They have to sell their
mansion and actually give up throwing garden parties. The shame pushes
Bridget to the thug life.
Forced by huge bills to get a job, Bridget lands a
job cleaning toilets at the Federal Reserve. Looking around, Bridget’s
criminal mind immediately assesses the glaring possibilities presented
to her. It would be easy to stuff those old bills down her girdle. The
old money is being burned anyhow. Who will miss it?
Bridget, whose previous work experience was as a
member of Kansas’s Einsatzgruppen, enlists Nina and Jackie into her
devious scheme. Nina’s job is to shred the old money. Jackie dances down
the halls listening to her iPod. All it takes is a few winks and these
ladies are robbing with careless impunity.
This dim-witted heist is further damaged by director
Callie Khouri (she wrote “Thelma and Louise”), who directs as if her
stars were Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
