Sanur Village Festival

The Sanur Village Festival 2016 just concluded. It is the biggest festival in Bali, drawing thousands of people for four nights - and it happens in the fields and soccer field across the street from where we live. We can hear the music from inside our place but there's no entrance fee and we enjoy going over to eat from one of the good stalls run by local restaurants and catch some shows. We keep going back to Gateway to India and Queens which also serves food from India..Great music and cultural events. There's tons on this year's festival on Youtube already. Go check it out - just write "Sanur Village Festival 2016" or just "Sanur Village Festival" to see past years' video as well.

On Sitting in General

Here's an article on the dangers of prolonged sitting in a chair.  As is usual in this discussion, there's no consideration of sitting on the floor or with legs up which I find works better for me. I sit that way most the time but have it set up so can put my legs down for a break. Took a while but found an article on sitting on the floor here. The author is most pro doing that.
Still I try to get up every now and then to move around - there's always plenty to do like dishes, yoga, swim, walking meditation or just taking a brief walk which I tend to turn into meditation. That first article made such a point of the benefits of getting up every thirty minutes that I've started using the timer on my iPhone (which I don't use as a phone except for Skype and What's Ap). Got it set for thirty minutes. It just went off going boing! boing! boing! It seems to me like it's just been a few minutes but I'll do it. I like this new practice. - dc

Good Doomsday Article

The Looming Extinction of Humankind, Explained - thanks John Steiner


Sent them this comment: I think the article undervalued the threat of accidental nuclear war between the US and Russia. Though of course the chance of that is hightened by bad relations, there have been some close calls even when relations were much better. The roles of computers and submarines and communications make the current situation truly insane and highly risky. To me, dealing with this and reducing the amount of nukes to below species threatening levels and beyond should be our number one priority.

No one I know of in the meteorite deflecting field is considering using nukes which would not change the earth directed orbit of the parts that remain. They want far better observation to give time to nudge them a little to put them on a harmless orbit. No new technology needed and rather minor costs considering military budgets.

cuke species threats page

Back from the NW Bali

Just spent a week up north and west. A lot dryer, quieter overall, much smaller population and less traffic than the south where we live. A national forest. More birds. Famous snorkeling off Menjangang island. That image is one of two places where we snorkeled.


Was there 24 years ago. Just five of us - Elin and her sister Diana, my eldest son Kelly and one year old Clay and me.
A driver (who cost $20 a day) was slowly driving us around the island.
He drove up to a little shack on the beach where we got some rice and soda then took a little boat over to snorkel by Menjangang. It was just us. Fantastic colorful fish galore. I watched a poisonous turkey fish dance in front of me. Kelly had a large fish ram right into him. We survived and we remembered. That was May and was off season and this time was high season August, but I heard that even in August back then there wouldn't have been anything like the crowds that go there now. This time there were maybe a dozen boats with a dozen people each. We weren't all at the same place at the same time and it was still great but I can't help but look wistfully back on that first time. Our guide said that the water is much warmer this year and that there is now bleaching in the coral which means it's dying. It can come back of course but that's not the general direction things seem to be going these days. We'll see.

Menjangan is a local word for deer. Little deer with big antlers. We didn't see any. Mainly we were looking down into the water and swimming along with the current. We went in two times for an hour each and covered a few hundred yards. The best snorkels these days are one-way - don't take in water - and my mask has a large wide window. So many tropical fish have bright colors. We saw a sea turtle.

Thanks to

A few of those who've stopped us from having an accidental nuclear war, something that's odds on to happen if we don't do something about the present intolerable situation that people just basically aren't aware of. I don't think our leaders can even keep it in mind.

Stanislav Petrov

Vasili Arkhipov
Captian Heather E. Cole - top US Commander Under Arrest

for refusing to fire nukes against Russia. This last one is a bit hard to believe. Here's another post on it. I assume that these reports are exaggerated. There's a lot more on it on the net. Even if it's just a fiction it's not at all impossible. - dc

cuke nuke war threat page

A Song for Castro

Written in high school about Fidel Castro to make fun of the prevalent knee-jerk anti-commie sentiment - in case one is inclined to take it literally - called Let's Castro Castro. Recorded in honor of his 90th birthday which was August 13th, 2016. - dc

A true story from Jo (Jenny) Wunderly

How does the Universe Work?

Jo's cuke page

The World Is Too Much With Us

Sometimes I think of this poem, the name echoes new meaning always. - dc

Related Poem Content Details

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

The world is too much with us; late and soon, 

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— 

Little we see in Nature that is ours; 

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! 

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; 

The winds that will be howling at all hours, 

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; 

For this, for everything, we are out of tune; 

It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be 

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; 

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, 

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; 

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; 

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

A TALE OF TWO KEEPERS

One of them my bud danu - from the homeless world cup website

He had a great time in Scotland representing Indonesia and says they came in #7 out 52 countries. Danu and his teammate Eman got best goal keepers. Selemat atas kemenangan! Congratulations Danu and Eman!


Danu is the backup goal keeper. Eman is pretty amazing. He was born without feet. Read about him at the same link.

Danu's mate of a couple of years is our American friend Alice and due to that relationship he said he was the only member of the team who was used to eating anything but standard Indonesian grub. Indonesians eat rice at almost every meal. He said they'd point at the food and say, "What's that?" and "Where's the rice?"

ACCIDENTAL NUCLEAR WAR:

A Timeline of Close Calls - from the Future of Life Institute

cuke Species Threat - Nuclear War

Ben Gustin

Dharma Folk Songs - know Ben from the SFZC

If we have them, why can't we use them?

Trump on nuclear weapons - Vox

Eyes

When you believe in your way, there is enlightenment. But when you cannot believe in the meaning of the practice which you take in this moment, you cannot do anything. You are just wandering about -- around the goal -- with monkey mind. You are looking for something always, and without knowing what you are doing. If you want to see something you should open your eyes. Instead of opening your eyes you are trying to look at something with your eyes closed.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 67-01-05. Edited by DC - Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts on cuke.com - from there links to much more. - Go to cuke.com Wha at's New [now at blogger] to see more daily posts.]

Something not important enough for US candidates to discuss except in passing

Scientists warn world will miss key climate target - note to skeptics: I agree with you completely. I'm being forced to post this by... ARRRG!!!!!

David Suzuki

Economics is Brain Damage - thanks Katrinka

Inspiring

Listen to this former CIA agent