Interesting Rock Concert Moments

Anticipation fills the air as the band everybody came to see takes the stage. Catching a glimpse of their rock heroes, the crowd roars in approval. And then, the lead singer grabs the microphone and asks, "Are you ready to rock?"

Really? What a silly question. "No, " said one man in the audience. "I just came here to stand with a bunch of people I don't know and stare at the stage."

"I'm not ready yet, " said another guy. "My girlfriend had to go use the restroom, Could you wait for her, please?"

During the show, the band is loving the energy the crowd is giving them, So they say, "You guys are the best crowd we've ever played for."

Somebody in the audience remembers the last time they saw the band, and he's hurt. He realizes that this is just something the singer tells everybody. What a liar.

Somebody wants to go get a drink, but the band is playing all of her favorite songs. Then, she hears the lead singer say, "We'd like to play something from our latest album." Who is he kidding? The band is supposed to be a live greatest hits jukebox. At least she can go get that drink now.

The show is over now, or is it? The band walks off the stage without playing their biggest hit ever. How could they do that? No, wait, they just want to stroke their egos by making the fans beg for more. It's the stereotypical encore.

Encores used to mean something back in the day. If you really rocked the house, fans would chant for more at the end. You could give it to them, or not, but you never held anything back for the mandatory encore. Encores were spur of the moment, and you never knew what would be played.

The silliest thing of all about these concerts is the ticket prices. They may be a great band, but it's hard to be able to afford to see them play. Some of these bands really increase those ticket prices, and it's just a greedy move. They figure they can get away with it. If they don't tour a lot, they can.

If you can't afford it, you can always play that CD of their hits. That's really what you want to hear anyway, and they'll never sound any better than they do on that CD. Then again, this is their farewell tour. They really mean it this time. Better buy those tickets, just in case.

The Alternate You From Alternate Time Lines

The Mandela Effect has brought the alternate time line theory back into discussion.  In the Mandela Effect, what you have is the idea that people are remembering events differently than the physical proof shows.  We've seen it manifest in the entertainment industry via lines in movies and songs.  We also have people remembering that somebody died when they did not.  And, brand names and corporate logos are remembered differently than the way they appear now.  Some say that in another time line they are as we remember, but somehow we have shifted into a time line where we are supposedly misremembering.

Chris Curtis has been covering this relatively new phenomenon on his YouTube channel and offers a spiritual take.  He's looking at ideas that make people uncomfortable, such as the Flat Earth theory.  I don't believe that belongs in the Mandela Effect debate, but there are people who do.  To me, that is an off shoot of the belief some people have that we never went to the moon.  I think the reason people think that is because we stopped trying over 40 years ago and, at least officially, have never tried to take manned missions further into space.  Therefore, you see lots of theories as to how we never went anywhere.

Curtis has two theories that I don't entirely dismiss.  He has said that God has warned mankind, via The Bible, that we won't know what to believe in this world when the time comes, and that the very nature of reality itself will come into question.  We should trust our faith in The Creator in times like these, when it seems like something evil is in control of the world.  Chris says, or he believes, that God is always in control.  I'm not trying to force religious beliefs on anybody.  This just struck me, and I admit it blew my mind.  It made me think of "Render unto Caesar" in a whole different way.  They can take your money, your possessions and tell you what is real, but what you believe is entirely yours to control.  Sometimes, that comes from a strong faith in something greater than yourself, something of The Creator, whatever you believe that means.

The other thing Chris spoke of is the alternate time line theory, and he made a very good point.  It has to do with the lines we remember.  "Life is like a box of chocolates" as opposed to the "Life was like a box of chocolates" line that is in the movie we see now.  When you delve into some of these things, there's enough evidence for you to have at least a little bit of an open mind into the possibility that this could be happening.  Chris says that maybe the line we remember was filmed, originally in the script and changed or was considered.

Here's where it gets interesting.  The alternate time line theory is one that proposes that once an idea is conceived, even if it was not acted upon, a time line is created in which it happens.  So, in one or more of these time lines, the line in the movie is as we remember.  A lot of this is just subtle stuff, and some skeptics will ask why these little things are changing.  Who is doing it?  That's a subject for another debate.  This also leaves open the possibility of time lines in which the south won the Civil War, Britain won the Revolutionary War or even Germany won World War 2.  There is a new Mandela Effect that is starting to make the rounds regarding a German attack on Tom Island that damaged the Statue of Liberty's torch.  I don't remember hearing of this.  Alternate history or just something some of us never learned?  If it was kept secret, how did is remain such a secret?  This is an attack on U.S. Soil.

I want to talk about the other thing regarding alternate time lines.  If you have all of these time lines, that means there are other versions of you.  You made a better decision, something changed in that reality that forced a quick decision, your parents were rich or poor.  Many possibilities.  You may have been born the opposite gender in one or more time line.  There could be an infinite number of versions of you, all excising at the same time.  Some may have passed away in those time lines.  Some people are starting to theorize that you can go back through deep meditation and change your reality by taking your consciousness into that preferred time line.  It's a concept anyway, but it seems unlikely.  Then again, who knows what is truly possible?

The big question then becomes, do those other versions of you have a soul if the consciousness you are experiencing now can't sense them?  I believe that if this alternate time line theory is true, then all of these versions of you do have souls.  They are all experiencing the wonders of life on this planet differently.  It's all part of the process.  You have people who believe in past lives, so why is this so strange?  Maybe they have it wrong.  We aren't all living lives repeatedly on this planet through time.  Maybe it happens all at once through multiple time lines to create a total experience that only our greater soul can understand.  Maybe we won't truly understand that until we leave our current body and rejoin the source?

Album Review: Kansas - Leftoverture

In 1976, Kansas headed into the studio for their fourth album. Their three previous records had failed to produce a hit. Some of their best progressive rock songs were on those three albums. They had hopes that something would crack the charts off of the previous album, Masque, but it failed to produce.

Singer Steve Walsh's songs, It Takes A Woman's Love To Make A Man and It's You failed to chart, and he was in a bit of a writer's drought on Leftoverture. Questions Of My Childhood was the only Walsh penned song on the album.

It fell to Kerry Livgren to write the hit, and the song that became the hit was one he brought in at the last minute. It was Carry On Wayward Son, which is the first song on the album. It is said that it was meant to be a sequel to two other songs he wrote on the Masque album, Mysteries And Mayhem and The Pinnacle.

There is a guitar riff on the song that goes back to a Journey song, I'm Gonna Leave You. Journey even mentions on their box set that the riff came from them. Kansas toured with them briefly around that time. Kerry later said that he never consciously borrowed that riff from them. What's interesting was the success that Kansas and other bands were having at the time had an impact on Journey bringing in lead singer Steve Perry to change that band's sound.

The song was actually brought in a couple days before they were to record the album, and they already has the songs picked out for it. The band added the a Capella beginning to the song in the studio. The single went gold and was the band's first hit. In fact, it still makes the top ten on some all time rock anthem lists.

The album has some amazing moments on it, such as Miracles Out Of Nowhere and Cheyenne Anthem. Both songs feature Walsh and violinist Robby Steinhardt trading vocals. The latter song speaks to the plight of the native Americans as they had their land taken away from them.

What's On My Mind was another single off of the album. The rocking tune speaks of Livgren finally meeting the woman of his dreams and marrying her. They are still married some 40 years later. It's a good song that didn't chart.

Not to be confused with the Pink Flord song, The Wall was Livgren's struggle to overcome a spiritual barrier. This was before he became a Christian. Part of the music comes from a Walsh song called Love Is A Dream that was never recorded, so he gets a writing credit on this song. The band has continued to play this song live in many of their tours since the Leftoverture tour.

The last song on the first side was originally called Leftoverture as it was leftover parts of a few different songs that were thrown together. The song is called Magnum Opus, and all five band members are listed in the credits. Other than a few lyrics at the beginning, it's a musical jam that showcases the talents of all of the band members.

The album peaked at #5 and and went multi platinum, launching the band into super star status. For a few years, they were as big as any rock band out there. They still featured the classic lineup of Walsh (Keyboards/Vocals) Steinhardt (Violin/Vocals), Livgren (Guitar/Keyboards), Rich Williams (Guitars), Dave Hope (Bass) and Phil Ehart (drums).

Lucid Dreaming And How To Do It

Knowing you are dreaming when you are dreaming is Lucid Dreaming. I aspire to have Lucid Dreams every night and to make them last as long as I can. I want to do this as a way to learn more about myself and grow spiritually. I want to do this as a way to explore fantasies I have.

I have a long way to go to get where I want to be, but we all must work hard at anything we want to achieve in this world. The great thing is if I fail to have that Lucid Dream, I still had a good night's sleep.

I think I first became aware of these types of dreams after watching Dreamscape or Nightmare On Elm Street 3. I didn't really pursue it at that time though. Too busy being stupid  and trying to create these feelings artificially, I suppose.

Actually, the first weird memory I have of this type of stuff was the feeling of myself flying around in a circle over my bed looking down at my body when I was a child. I had that experience a few times. One time I awoke and told my mom and dad about it. It was just a nightmare, they said. Actually, I believe it was an out of body experience, which relates to LD's.

I believe if children are taught about this at a young age, they can learn to induce them at will. There's the whole debate about getting too caught up in fantasy vs reality and that sort of stuff, but there are spiritual benefits that ancient cultures knew. I think mankind misses out by not tapping into this. Maybe this is due to fear, or religion or culture, I don't know.

Imagine you are a concert pianist preparing a new song for your show the next day. In a Lucid Dream, you can practice that song or even fine tune it and adjust it. The next morning, you will remember what you rehearsed in that dream. A doctor can prepare for a big surgery, a lover can work on technique to please the one they love. You can fly in a Lucid Dream, visit places you've never been. The possibilities are limitless. You can even induce an out of body experience from a Lucid Dream.

What is most important is recalling your dreams. If you don't recall your dreams, it won't matter if you are lucid in them. The first thing you need to know is not to move when you first wake up. Lay still and try to remember a scene, a person, an action or something from your dreams. If you move, that can effect what you remember. Once you remember some aspect of that dream, you will usually recall more from it.

Once you have gathered a few thoughts, write them down in your dream journal. Keep that journal next to your bed, because the quicker you write it down, the more you recall. This is important for several reasons. If you are just wanting to analyze your dream, you can go over all the notes. Your dreams may be trying to tell you something about what is going on in your life or a change you need to make, so pay attention.

For Lucid Dreaming, it's important to keep that journal to look for dream signs. Dream signs are things that will let you know you are in a dream, and if you know you are dreaming in a dream, you are lucid. Dream signs can be places like a school you went to as a kid or an old home. They can be an old friend from childhood, objects that are out of place, a digital clock that has messed up numbers, blurry or scrambled text or a light switch that doesn't work.

Once you write down your dreams, you can begin to detect a pattern to your dream signs. Remind yourself before you go to bed, "If I'm at my old school, I will realize I am dreaming, " or whatever.

One early Lucid Dream I had happened after I had seen the movie Pleasantville. The scene where she went to the ladies room and there were no toilets is what helped trigger it. In my dream, I was in a bathroom with no toilet. I knew I was dreaming. I was pretty excited about that (A good tip is not to get too excited when you realize you are dreaming, because you can wake up too soon).

I washed my hands in the sink. It was a weird feeling, because the light in the room was dim. The mirror was foggy. I was thinking, "what do I want to do?" I had no plan (Always have a plan for when you become lucid or you will lose lucidity. Go to bed stating your plan to yourself a few times). I decided to just go with the dream and see where it took me. I walked out of the bathroom and lost lucidity. The dream continued and had an XXX rating to it but that's for another time...

It's a good idea to ask yourself if you are dreaming throughout the day. When you ask yourself that question, don't just say no and move on. Really take a good look around you and observe for a minute. If you can get used to asking that question of yourself when you are awake, you will ask yourself in a dream. If you look around and test reality, you will do it in a dream.

A few reality tests I use are:

1-Look at text or street signs, look away and look back - In dreams, text will change when you look away.

2-Look at a digital watch - In dreams, digital watches never stay consistent.

3-Cover your nose and try to breathe - In a dream, you can still breathe out of a covered nose (Had a Lucid Dream recently from this method).

4-Look at your hands - In dreams, your hands will look unusual (I've had a few Lucid Dreams from this method).

5-Flip on a light switch - In dreams, electronics will malfunction.

There are several checks you can do, but these are examples of what you can do to test reality.

Getting there is just part of the effort. Once you are lucid, you can lose it very easily. I've had many that fade away as quickly as they come. Remember to stay calm when you get lucid and have a plan. Maybe you want to fly the first time. I've done that, and it is pretty cool.

If a dream scene is starting to fade, try to ground yourself in the dream to stabilize it. Rub your hands together. Saying things like "increase clarity" or "increase lucidity" while you rub your hands will help. I did all of these in a recent Lucid Dream, and it made it last longer. Panic set in and ended it before it got really good.

Now, I am no expert on this, but I've had enough success to know it's real and how good you feel when you wake up knowing you were lucid in a dream. I recommend books by Stephen LaBerge and Robert Moss if you want to read more about it. Waking Life is a good movie that talks about this, among other subjects. It's a very philosophical movie that will make you think.

Did Elmer Really Have To Shoot Him Now?

Elmer Fudd was a sick man. He was a millionaire, but I think his money went to his head or something. He is way too obsessed with Bugs Bunny. Honestly, I can't blame him. Bugs is a bit of annoying twit. Don't get me wrong, he's funny, but I can't blame Elmer or Yosemite Sam or anybody for wanting to get him.

Even Daffy Duck wanted to get him. I like Daffy. He's more like most of us than Bugs. Oh sure, we all want to be the winner all the time like Bugs, but we're more like Daffy. We win some and we lose some, and that guy who seems like he wins all the time can be annoying.

On occasion, Bugs and Daffy crossed paths when it was hunting season. That meant that twisted little man, Mr. Fudd, would be back with his gun, and he was looking for a rabbit. He never seemed to realize that Bugs was much smarter than him.

Daffy saw him coming, but he wasn't smart enough to leave and let Elmer hunt the "Squiwey Wabbit" instead. No, Daffy thought he could help Elmer get that rabbit and save his own behind. He could never match wits with Bugs.

Bugs would do whatever it took to fool Elmer, and it always made me wonder about that rabbit. I mean, Mr. Bunny had women's clothes at home, and it turns out he was pretty good at makeup application too. He even had a feminine voice. Is there something you wanted to tell us Bugs? It's okay. We love you either way.

Bugs' feminine charms would work on Elmer, but of course the rabbit played hard to get. Then the rabbit and the duck argued over what season it was. Elmer was so stupid he couldn't even remember what season it was without seeing the poster on the tree in the forest. Yeah, not too bright.

Then, it came down to the final argument. Bugs and Daffey would argue over when Elmer had to shoot them. That argument always confused the duck for some reason. We never really heard what Elmer wanted to do. I always assumed he wanted to shoot them there, but did he?

I think a movie about Elmer would be interesting. I'd call it Fudd. Just one word, Fudd. We'd get a glimpse into the life of the eccentric millionaire. What must his life be like at home and running his company? Why did he let that rabbit and that duck torment him so much? I think I may be putting too much thought into this.