2010.08.05 07:00 - Real life on a wide screen

The Guardian for this meeting was Storm Nordwind. The comments are by Storm Nordwind.

Sartre Placebo: hi storm
Storm Nordwind: Good afternoon Sartre
Sartre Placebo: hey arch
Storm Nordwind: Good morning Arch
Archmage Atlantis: Hello Sartre......Morning Storm
Sartre Placebo: welcome eden
Storm Nordwind: Good morning Eden. It always makes me smile to see your little dot walking across the minimap on its way here! :)
Eden Haiku: Hello everyone!
Archmage Atlantis: Good Morning, Eden :)
Eden Haiku: You must see how much I sway from a straight path Storm ;) It seems I can't walk in a straight line :)
Storm Nordwind chuckles
Storm Nordwind: Perhaps you need more coffee this morning? ;)
Eden Haiku: And I walked through a bench. I RL also but it is less painful in here :)
Storm Nordwind: The bruises heal faster
Eden Haiku: Drinking my second cup of decaf now :)
Storm Nordwind is horrified!
Eden Haiku: Very good decaf we have here. With a Melitta drip, excellent!
Storm Nordwind: Hmm... I would rather suspect that drinking decaf cofffee is like sniffing a flower without a scent
Archmage Atlantis: At the decaf, Storm?.......I had to switch to decaf Iced Tea to get some approximation of normal sleeping times>
Archmage Atlantis: Still drink regular coffee in the AM, tho
Eden Haiku: I can drink tea but coffee makes my heart go crazy...
Storm Nordwind: Are normal sleep times important for you Arch?
Archmage Atlantis: 1 or 2 cups max......everyone is different in their physical reaction
Archmage Atlantis: Up to a point, yes Storm........but being home all the time does allow some flexibility
Sartre Placebo: hi adams

Adams joins us, and her attire becomes the topic of conversation.

Storm Nordwind: Ah - Ms. Rubble - good to see you
Archmage Atlantis: Greetings, Adams
Adams Rubble: Hello everyone :)
Eden Haiku: Read you in the logs at early sessions (like 4 am in Florida). Insomnia Arch?
Storm Nordwind nods to Arch - I understand that as it's my situation too
Eden Haiku: Good morning Adams!
Archmage Atlantis: Insomnia is enough of a summary...... :)
Eden Haiku: Shinto Architecture says your T shirt Adams, nice red color by the way!
--BELL--
Storm Nordwind: I had to look carefully to see the "at the" on Adams's T shirt. I thought at first that the torii and sun were perhaps trying to form an '@' sign.
Adams Rubble: My shirt is one of a new line of shirts available at the Museum of Sacred Art cafe shop
Adams Rubble: There are seven in all
Adams Rubble: they are free
Archmage Atlantis: That sounds like an interesting shop, Adams
Archmage Atlantis: Sacred to whom, might I ask?

Adams hands out free T shirts!

Archmage Atlantis: -ty
Storm Nordwind: Thank you Adams!
Sartre Placebo: thx, i already had one from ur message, still thx :)
Eden Haiku: Have been wanting to go to the Museum for the new exhibit...Thanks Adams!
Adams Rubble: there is a shirt for each of the exhibitions too
Storm Nordwind: Interesting choice of colors. Do you associate Shinto and Buddhism with red and pale blue?
Eden Haiku: Oh, nice! The colors are very good!
Adams Rubble: hehe. just the way it turned out
Storm Nordwind smiles
Adams Rubble: Hello Aprhrodite :)
Archmage Atlantis: Hi, Aphrodite
Eden Haiku: waves to Aphrodite
Sartre Placebo: Hey!
Storm Nordwind smiles to see Aphrodite arrive :)
Sartre Placebo: aph
Aphrodite Macbain: Hey all!
Eden Haiku: Good morning dear :)
Adams Rubble: Hello Bruce :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Storm - I joined Kira cafe
Sartre Placebo: hi bruce
Eden Haiku: Ah! Adams is turning yellow!
Aphrodite Macbain: Morning Bruce
Storm Nordwind: Wonderful Aphrodite. You'll get regular notices now :)
Bruce Mowbray: Good morning, afternoon, evening, everyone.
Storm Nordwind: Good morning Bruce
Archmage Atlantis: Morning, Bruce
Eden Haiku: Good morning Bruce!
Sartre Placebo: do you have a total black shirt with color writings@adams ?
Adams Rubble: hmmm. I don't remember
Sartre Placebo: so you could through one over to yaku :)
Adams Rubble: hehe
Aphrodite Macbain: Hee heee
Sartre Placebo: i wear the pab shirt for pretty long
Eden Haiku: Adams is a sandwich-woman this morning, I like Chinese red one too!
Adams Rubble is a walking billboard
Eden Haiku: And I feel compelled to go to the Museum for the architecture exhibit!!!
Adams Rubble: hehe. it is working
Storm Nordwind: You are being influenced by the not-quite-sublimal advertising :)
Eden Haiku: It is!
Eden Haiku: Good marketing Ms Adams! And the t-shirts are a nice gift to get!

Arch wonders whether a more flexible greeting is possible. In the true and now familiar spirit of Play as Being, we experiment - at length.

Archmage Atlantis: Has anyone invented a greeting for a group of indivuals who are in different time zones, yet meeting in the virtual world..........good day, good afternoon, and good evening seem to fail to acknowlege the differences.
Adams Rubble: nice idea, generic grteetings
Adams Rubble: like "Hi"
Storm Nordwind: How about "Greetings!"?
Eden Haiku: What a great idea Arch? Have a good Ü is in Übber World?
Eden Haiku: Übber-Time like über-Twitter,
Adams Rubble: Good Timelessness to you
Aphrodite Macbain: I can't do those umlauts
Archmage Atlantis: That is good, Adams, Eden.......
Eden Haiku: Good Timelessness to you too Adams. And we can keep repeating as we are in timelessness. The whole session can be spent in bowings and greetings :))
Archmage Atlantis: Another thought, maybe Good Earth Time?
Bruce Mowbray: How about, "Greetings, fellow travelers in the omni-present Now"?
Adams Rubble: :)
Bertram Jacobus: hi everybody ... :-)
Storm Nordwind: Hi Bertram
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Bertram
Adams Rubble: Good mornaftevenight
Storm Nordwind chuckles
Bertram Jacobus: afternoon here ;o)
--BELL--
Archmage Atlantis: Good Timelessness to you, Bertram.
Bruce Mowbray: Hi Bert - "Greetings, fellow traveler in the omni-present Now!
Archmage Atlantis: Welcome to the omnipresent now :)
Archmage Atlantis: Hmmm, still needs some work.
Storm Nordwind notices Bruce uses a distinctly non-omnipresent spelling in his greeting! ;)
Eden Haiku: I see you Bertram would be a good one too:)
Bertram Jacobus: i see you is nice *agree* :-)
Bruce Mowbray: How about pan-present Now?
Aphrodite Macbain: Abigail I'm fascinated by yr T shirt. Where did you find Islamic architecture?

The topic drifts a little to movies.

Eden Haiku: Avatar (the movie) seems so long ago...Are you still coming in SL as a Navi sometimes Bert?
Bruce Mowbray agrees: 'I see you' is navi-good.
Adams Rubble: In the Museum of Sacred Art Aphrodite :)
Bertram Jacobus: seldom eden ... you´re right (!) ...
Archmage Atlantis: Yes, though somehow the name feels like it shoud be first, ......Greetings Bruce, I see you.....perhaps
Aphrodite Macbain: Hmm I don't see you though - except for your head
Aphrodite Macbain: And where is that?
Eden Haiku: Bertram is very elegant this morning!
Aphrodite Macbain: this amazing encyclopaedic museum
Bertram Jacobus: yes - "sry" - still the suit from a wedding i "had to" visit ... ;o)
Storm Nordwind scarcely knows where to look to see himself, let alone see other people :)
Bruce Mowbray: Oh yes -- the wedding! Did you find wedding gifts at the lst moment, Bert?
Aphrodite Macbain: Very handsome
Bruce Mowbray: last.
Eden Haiku: Ah ah, you haven't seen Avatar yet Storm,I suppose...
Bertram Jacobus: ah. no. was okay to come without bruce ... :-)
Eden Haiku: Oh I thought it was a RL wedding you were going to.
Bruce Mowbray: cool. That's my favorite sort of wedding.
Bertram Jacobus: ah, no - it was the answer to - "very elegant" (here) ;-)
Storm Nordwind: It's waiting in the closet for me to see, Eden, currently behind 200 more important things on the prioirty list
Eden Haiku: Now it's 'Inception' that's in...Riddle intrigued me, he seemed to think it is really good.
Archmage Atlantis: And I though I was the last person in line to see it *g*......
Adams Rubble: I have not seen Avatar
Storm Nordwind: I hear Inception has been mandatory viewing at the PaB retreat this week
Eden Haiku: Oh!
Archmage Atlantis: Avatar is a parable of the possible future......once I watched it 1x, I had to watch it 3 more times in a row
Aphrodite Macbain: Must see it
Eden Haiku: See Arch, you are a trendsetter in fact!
Eden Haiku: I loved Avatar too. Saw it in ImMAX 3D. Just once though.
Storm Nordwind: I usually wait 3 or 4 years before seeing these popular movies, when buying the DVD is cheaper than buying a beer ;) I see them all... in 'time'!
Archmage Atlantis: Well, like Avatar.......I'll have to wait for Inception to be on DVD.....I can't physically sit in a movie theater for the duration required.
Adams Rubble: hehe. You are much faster than I am Storm
Eden Haiku: 'Inception' is playing in a movie house not too far from here up in the hills. But I don't know if it is on my priority list yet. Just tempted....
Bertram Jacobus: avatar on dvd in germany was as a special offer for around only 10 Us $ ! - (6,99 €) ... :-)
Eden Haiku: Is is very long Aph?

Aphrodite's next comment sparks a response from me.

Aphrodite Macbain: There are some movies that should be seen on the wide screen
Aphrodite Macbain: Is what very long? What was I saying?
Eden Haiku: Inception?
Bertram Jacobus: inception i saw also already ... i would say "it´s okay" ;-)
Adams Rubble: In 10 years we all may have wide screens in out houses
Aphrodite Macbain: I don't know, I haven't seen it yest Eden
Bertram Jacobus: and it´s around bit more then two hours ? if i don´t err ...
Adams Rubble: our
Storm Nordwind: I think REAL LIFE should be seen on a Wide Screen. So often, it seems, it isn't - for many people
Adams Rubble: hehe
Eden Haiku: Or we will watch movies on tiny iPOds...As I often do..Or IPAds
Bruce Mowbray: Yup. I saw AVATAR in I-MAX 3D -- then bought a DVD of it to watch on my 19-inch screen. . . (not quite the same).
Aphrodite Macbain: I enjoyed it more for the animation technology than the old tired plot line (Avatar)
Archmage Atlantis: I hope we don't have to go back to using out houses *g*
Bruce Mowbray: Good point, Storm. But PaB is a good way to widen our RL screens, I think,.
Aphrodite Macbain: huh?
Adams Rubble: Not so bad if they have wide screen TV Arch.
Storm Nordwind: Agreed Bruce
Eden Haiku: Watching real life on a wide screen is a great idea Storm! A great metaphor...
Sartre Placebo: yeah, our mental screen bruce :)

Outhouses.

Bruce Mowbray: I used an out-house here at the farm for seven years.
Bruce Mowbray: and have friends who still use ONLY their outhouses.
Aphrodite Macbain: For what?
Adams Rubble made a funny typo some lines back
Bruce Mowbray wonders: Do you have to ask, Aph?
Bruce Mowbray answers: If so, then you probably would not understand my answer.
Eden Haiku: chuckling at the turn of this conversation
Aphrodite Macbain: Sorry, I thought outhouses were referenced symbolically
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Adams Rubble: interesting metaphor about life Storm
Eden Haiku: it's all Arch's fault!
Aphrodite Macbain: somewhere beyond the safe and comfortable home
Bruce Mowbray: My neighbors are quite literal about their out-houses.
Archmage Atlantis: guilty
Bruce Mowbray: But back to wide-screen RL.
Eden Haiku: Secret outhouses Aphrodite? LOL
Aphrodite Macbain: /laughs hilariously at the conversation
--BELL--
Aphrodite Macbain: me/laughs
Eden Haiku: Me too...
Storm Nordwind: Every secret garden should have a secret outhouse
Aphrodite Macbain laughs
Aphrodite Macbain: whew
Eden Haiku: Arch are you laughing along?
Aphrodite Macbain: hilariously
Adams Rubble: with a widescreen TV
Storm Nordwind laughs
Aphrodite Macbain: Good laugh stormwind.
Archmage Atlantis: Chucking, actually

The butterfly of chaos.

Aphrodite Macbain: I wonder if it affects a butterfly in Tokyo
Archmage Atlantis: And fighing the urge to make more mischief :)
Eden Haiku: Picturing the Aphrodite's secret garden outhouse with a widescreen :) Would like one too!
Aphrodite Macbain wonders whether she's being a bit too abstract
Eden Haiku: Please surrender Arch...Give us more mischief! It feels good.
Archmage Atlantis: :)
Eden Haiku: No, the butterfly in Tokyo question is clever Aph.
Bruce Mowbray says, Yes! More pan-now mischief from Arch, please.
Aphrodite Macbain: First thing Thinking of Storm's name and Buce's storm. Wonder where they come from
Eden Haiku: Having a good laugh here this morning will certainly affect my day. And yours too I would think.
Aphrodite Macbain: already has
Bruce Mowbray: @ Eden -- to say nothing of the Tokyo butterflies' day.
Storm Nordwind chuckles
Eden Haiku: You have a most wonderful SL first name Aphrodite...
Bertram Jacobus: i´ll leave again - ty for the talk and have a good time plz *wave* ... :-)
Bruce Mowbray: Be well, Bert!
Storm Nordwind: Bye Bertram!
Adams Rubble: bye Bert
Bertram Jacobus: tyty :-)
Archmage Atlantis: Hasta la vista, Bert :)
Eden Haiku: Thinking about a Tokyo butterfly laughing is wings out, flapping..Bye Bert. I see you!

Visions of Aphrodite's possible future arrivals.

Aphrodite Macbain: RL is calling but you've set me up for a peasant TY some people call me Venus, others Mac while others Aph. Bye bert
Aphrodite Macbain: That was a mouthful
Eden Haiku: Venus, yes, that is nice too and shorter :)
Storm Nordwind: Perhaps you should arrive on a half-shell sometime? :)
Eden Haiku: yes!
Bruce Mowbray: Have an excellent pan-now day, Aph!
Eden Haiku: She would be lovely ina Boticelli un-dress!
Aphrodite Macbain: Hmmm Interesting idea, but I would have to be naked
Aphrodite Macbain: and I'd have to grow my hair very long and dye it blode
Storm Nordwind: All in the interest of art, of course :)
Archmage Atlantis: Sees image in mind......
Eden Haiku: Have a timeless day Venus!
Aphrodite Macbain: of course
Archmage Atlantis: Finding the animation would be difficult.......I doubt one exists already
Aphrodite Macbain: Sandro would have to approve
Adams Rubble: I think I saw the animation somewhere
Aphrodite Macbain: Well I'm off to a rather busy day in RL Thanks for beginning it well
Adams Rubble: bye Aphrodite :)
Storm Nordwind waves
Bruce Mowbray: Be well and happy, Aph.
Archmage Atlantis: Have a good day, Aph
Eden Haiku: Bye, enjoy your day!
Sartre Placebo: bye
Archmage Atlantis: I need to take off also.....thank you all for shareing this time :)
Adams Rubble: bye Arch :)
Bruce Mowbray: Be well and happy, Arch.
Eden Haiku: Bye Arch, have a great day!
Eden Haiku: I also need to go, have a good Über day Sartre, Storm, Adams and Bruce :))
Storm Nordwind waves
Bruce Mowbray: All pan-now happiness to you, Eden.
Adams Rubble: bye Eden :)

Some thoughts about Time.

Bruce Mowbray: My project for this day will be trying to write a report for the Time Sessions group tomorrow morning.
Storm Nordwind: A laudable endeavour
Bruce Mowbray: I am finding it almost impossible to "do an exploration of time," as Pema has suggested.
Storm Nordwind: That is a worthwhile observation in itself, I expect
Bruce Mowbray: perhaps so. I'd not thought of that, Storm.
Bruce Mowbray: Getting out of the mental habit of "change" and "duration" is what I'm aiming for.
Bruce Mowbray: NOTHING in my experience seems as elusive as time.
--BELL--
Storm Nordwind: It seems to be that it's about losing the edges we put around things. I suspect edges round time are just as seductive as edges around space and matter.
Bruce Mowbray agrees entirely -- but to "cut away" those edges. . .
Adams Rubble: or maybe going a bit further, a way to rise out of our "self"
Adams Rubble: step out of (not rise)
Bruce Mowbray agrees again -- I'm looking for a new "meta-form" (rising out of seems good).
Storm Nordwind found the Being Seeing exercises from 2 years ago very helpful with that
Adams Rubble nods

Being without Authority.

Bruce Mowbray: But remember -- Pema has instructed us not to appeal to any "authorities" -- even our own PaB history (?)
Storm Nordwind: Is he an authority on that? ;)
Adams Rubble chuckles
Sartre Placebo: bye everyone
Adams Rubble: It IS his exercise :)
Adams Rubble: bye Sartre :)
Bruce Mowbray: bye, Sartre. Pan-omnia happiness!
Storm Nordwind: I suspect he would prefer it if the ownership were not so localized!

Koan soup.

Bruce Mowbray: Isuspect that if we follow "his" instructions, we will discover that we ALL "own" it.
Storm Nordwind: Try it and see :)
Bruce Mowbray: Oh, beleive me -- I have been "trying it" all week. . . It's a like trying to solve a Koan.
Bruce Mowbray: In fact, it IS a Koan...
Adams Rubble is not good at following instructions (giggles)
Bruce Mowbray: well, these instructions are even more difficult -- Indeed, I'm feeling that they are self-contradictory.
Storm Nordwind: Seen through one Koan, seen through them all ;)
Adams Rubble raises an eyebrow
Bruce Mowbray: agrees with Storm.
Bruce Mowbray: but different flavors in the pan-now.
Storm Nordwind: Differing herbs and spices to flavor the dish before offering it to friends
Adams Rubble: I knd of feel that as we come back to a koan, we see another level
Bruce Mowbray likes the "herb" part. . . Thinks the assignment might be easier if he had some good "herb."
Adams Rubble: I must go. Have a good day Storm and Bruce :)
Storm Nordwind: Bye Adams!
Adams Rubble: bye for now\
Bruce Mowbray: Good day and pan-nowe, Adams.
Bruce Mowbray: now.
Storm Nordwind: But the dish is essentially the same at each serving

Imputed time.

Bruce Mowbray: Yes -- and that very sameness seems to contradict my intuited "now" or even my entire "sense" of time itself.
Bruce Mowbray: If I fall back on the old habits --
Bruce Mowbray: thinking of time as "duration" or "change of material things through a sequence" --
Bruce Mowbray: a series of now now now now now ev ents...
Bruce Mowbray: the the "sameness" explodes my habitual thinking...
Bruce Mowbray: and I'm coming to see that my habitual thinkong about time is merely symbolic.
Storm Nordwind: I once woke up early - almost exactly a year ago ;) - and proved to myself, without a shadow of a doubt, that time is just an imputation of mind, in the same way that all physical appearances seem to be.
Bruce Mowbray: The same way that "Monday" or "hour" or "August" are symbolic.
Bruce Mowbray: yes, an "imputation of mind."
Bruce Mowbray: That is quite clear -- and nothing else but that.
--BELL--
Bruce Mowbray: that's what I meant by "symbolic." ---

The names we use for the days of the week.

Storm Nordwind: Well - symbolically - today is Old Thunderer's day :)
Storm Nordwind: Many of the days of the week still carry the names of the old north European deities
Bruce Mowbray: would that be "Thor"?
Storm Nordwind: Indeed
Bruce Mowbray: Thor's Day.
Bruce Mowbray: cool.
Storm Nordwind: Or Thunor's Day. But the personage is the same
Bruce Mowbray: When it was first named through the symbol of a god, it must have been a stormy day -- such as we have had here in Ohio today.
Storm Nordwind chuckles
Storm Nordwind: In northern Europe, there is no shortage of stormy days!
Bruce Mowbray: Yep -- I love the mid-summer storms.
Bruce Mowbray: When I first started in PaB -- I discovered that I could share Being with a thunderstorm -- and have been doing so ever since.
Bruce Mowbray: it grows and grows - - and I now share Being with all sorts of meteorological events.
Storm Nordwind: Old Red Beard would be happy to hear you say that. Pour out a beer for him next time you do so :)
Bruce Mowbray: . . . . Old Red Beard? Does he have a day named after him?
Storm Nordwind: It's a popular poetic metaphor in ancient literature called a 'kenning' - like a metaphor. Old Red Beard is none other than Thor.
Bruce Mowbray: cool.
Bruce Mowbray: It is especially good to share Being with a lightning bolt.
Storm Nordwind: Another kenning - for example - would be to substitute "Freya's tears" instead of using the word "gold" in a sentence
Bruce Mowbray: Oh I see -- so we have metaphors, symbolic language, and personification. . . I love it!
Storm Nordwind: But I like the image of old Thor knocking some enlightened sense into people with his hammer! :))
Bruce Mowbray: Some of us need to be SHOCKED in order to wake up.
Storm Nordwind: Historically, there are many ways used to do that, to knock one out of one's complacency

"Powder" and other movies.

Bruce Mowbray: Do you know of the movie "Powder"?
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114168/
Storm Nordwind: Can't say I do
Bruce Mowbray: It is the story of a young man whose mother was hit by lightning when she was pregnant with him -- and how that affected his life.
Bruce Mowbray: It's a wonderful movie -- and I think I will rent it again.
Bruce Mowbray: If you look at the cover for the disk (or DVD), you can see him being hit by lightning.
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1741921536/tt0114168
Storm Nordwind: Interesting how he got the nickname Powder because of his "luminous white skin". I immediately thought instead of gunpowder - rather black and much more akin to lightning
Bruce Mowbray: but for him -- it is an entirely different thing that being struck by lightning would be for others.
Bruce Mowbray: than being.
Bruce Mowbray: Yes -- "Powder" is the pejorative nickname that the high school bullies gave him.
Storm Nordwind: Not perhaps thinking of the explosive repercussions? ;)
Bruce Mowbray: Oh yes!
Bruce Mowbray: It was really a powerful movie -- The more I recall it, the more I want to see it again.
Bruce Mowbray: It is very much of the same genre as AVATAR.
Storm Nordwind: Oh no - not another one!
--BELL--
Bruce Mowbray: inter-species communication, and all that.
Bruce Mowbray: really really good.
Storm Nordwind recalls that one of his all-time favorite films was a 40 year precursor to Avatar
Bruce Mowbray: which movie was that?
Storm Nordwind: Ah well... since you won't guess... I guess I'll have to tell you :)
Storm Nordwind chuckles
Storm Nordwind: Little Big Man
Bruce Mowbray: Oh, of course! With Dustin Hoffman.
Storm Nordwind: One of his very best. All much forgotten. And probably (IMHO) the best of the genre.
Bruce Mowbray: I shall put that one in my Netflix queue also.
Bruce Mowbray: Well, Storm, our rains have passed and it is time for my to go for a hike with my dog.
Storm Nordwind smiles happily at passing on a little inspiration :)
Bruce Mowbray: Thanks for our conversation today.
Storm Nordwind: you too
Storm Nordwind: bye for now!
Bruce Mowbray: Hoping to see you later. Enjoy your day!