Can't Argue With Wikipedia or TED

The photographs in this post were taken this year without any enlargement lenses or any kind of modification inside or outside of the camera, of what was visible to the ordinary human eye at the time.

Supermoon - evening in New York

But if you go to the Wikipedia entries about the apparent size of the Moon to human vision, you will wade through long passages of turgid pseudo-science and jargon that basically contradict what people's actual experiences are. Namely, that they do not in fact (according to Wikipedia) 'see' the Moon as being larger at the horizon and smaller when higher in the sky, and that this is just an illusion inside their heads (rather than actually an optical illusion in the sky) although of what exact nature no one is agreed upon 100%.

And as far as the Supermoon is concerned it is more or less the same thing - on the one hand the Moon is physically closer, but that doesn't alter the original human mind trickery that makes it only seem as if it is visually - that is, optically - incredibly large at the horizon.

San Fancisco, 2016

Good luck to you if believe that.

The wonder of today's world is that no sooner had the human race harnessed the power of computers and computer memory, than they altogether gave up thinking through anything, being able to rely on mechanical iterations and re-iterations of processes and 'things' they need or consume without having to really be so concerned that they actually knew how these things happened...

So then we also have Chris Anderson, the founder of TED Talks, who claims to be a Christian or something akin at least, and to appear on the surface, to be racially or ethnically English, and to own and run this 'not-for-profit'/'NONPARTISAN' organisation that promotes interesting, usually academic, talks. He calls them 'powerful' rather than my word - 'interesting.'

Indians - a lot of them - call him a Bangla, though. And what they mean is laden with political import not readily understood by outsiders. When Bengal was ceded by the declining British Empire, part of it became part of India (West Bengal) and another part of it became what is now called Bangladesh, and another part of it went to Pakistan.

And she's not Chinese, either! But she is a spy,
at least in a Bond flick anyway

Under the processes of 'partition' people who could establish they owned land in Bengal, and were moving to the new Islamic nation of Pakistan, would receive money and land both from the British and in Pakistan itself from the new government of Pakistan. The way they 'established' they had previously owned land in Bengal was the exact same way Barack Obama established that he was born a US citizen: they went basically to expert Indian forgers who forged amazing documents 'proving' whatever it was they could afford to 'prove.'

Chris Anderson in my view is more or less the same thing as a Janissary - he is a Muslim who was 'captured' by means of money or force originally as a white person and a Christian, and then converted to engage in Fifth-Column activities and spying and sabotage in the West.

You don't need to believe me though. But if you go and trust TED Talks or Chris Anderson and wonder why you had ended up with a knife in your back (figuratively, of course...!) then on your own head be it, which it probably will be.

Wolf Blass, Joondalup Resort, and Trent Jones Jr

I have before me at the present moment, a glass of Wolf Blass Red Label Chardonnay Pinot Noir.

When you look to buying wines, just don't waste your time consulting these commercial reviews - they are sheer utter rubbish.

On the whole, what they do is go by the price and tell you in purple prose why expensive wines are great and then in two-dollar words why less expensive wines are not.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise - this is
essentially white Burgundy, the greatest wine in the world.

It's frankly, mostly all rubbish.

The big, well-founded manufacturers have tried-and-tested systems and unless something goes wrong with natural conditions in a given year, there is a consistency to what they do that is completely reliable.

Of course if big-headed and otherwise idiotic Texan investment banks get their hands on the wine companies, then for a short while things are liable to go off the rails until they lose their money and piss off taking their brain-dead 'money-saving' ideas with them.

As with everything there are the odd few exceptions where large owners do the right thing by the wineries.

If you consult a common popular wine reviewer on the Wolf Blass Red Label Chardonnay Pinot Noir it says: 'tank fermented; a pleasant sparkling wine with good balance and length; not complex of course.'

Idiots.

There are others around though who speak with a touch more grace as they slowly cotton on to what this wine is.

Often, large manufacturers get their hands on smaller supplies of exceptional grapes that they cannot utilize in their main labels because of volume or even style - and then they either produce a short run of 'unknown' labels or use their entry-level brands; and these wines are nevertheless outstanding.

At ridiculously inexpensive prices.

The Wolf Blass Red Label is supposedly one of these 'entry-level' brands.

As you know, Chardonnay Pinot Noir is THE white wine - it has been referred to as the 'crack cocaine of white wine...'

My wife paid less than ten dollars for this bottle at a major retailer.

The first words I would use to describe this wine would be: 'authentic and a wine of complete integrity.' Which is not something you can say about many huge name brands these days. There is nothing but grape here and the best fruit at that. How do you get 'long and balanced' without complexity - you can't. 

This thing is complex - it runs all the way in your mouth till the end of the glass and then you get the often mythical 'frankincense in the stained glass windowed church' hit that tells you you have been drinking the unicorn.

The opening fruit notes are streamlined, seamless, subtle: mango, peach, definitely melon, some citrus. Soft, crisp, fresh, somewhat creamy. This is wa-a-a-a-y more than just long and balanced - this is LONG and SUPERBLY BALANCED! 

Frankly, it's as good as it gets with this style of wine. Gasp. Yep. It's that good. And why do I say that? Because there's nothing even slightly contrived about it; this is the real thing.

Joondalup Golf Course

I had a big week. I attended a two-day conference at the Joondalup Gold Course Resort (again!) and, again, experienced the best possible service and food and general environment. I observed, this time, that the rich people's cars were all silver or gunmetal grey... All the Ferraris, Mercedes, M-Series BMW's, even the 5 liter Mustangs - all grey or gunmetal.

There were two green cars and one of them was mine.

The golf course, as you know because I've mentioned it previously - was designed by the world's greatest golf course architect of all time, Robert Trent Jones Jr.

There he is, Robert Trent Jones Jr, on the right,
at last year's Ryder Cup

Wolf Blass, Joondalup Resort, and Trent Jones Jr

I have before me at the present moment, a glass of Wolf Blass Red Label Chardonnay Pinot Noir.

When you look to buying wines, just don't waste your time consulting these commercial reviews - they are sheer utter rubbish.

On the whole, what they do is go by the price and tell you in purple prose why expensive wines are great and then in two-dollar words why less expensive wines are not.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise - this is
essentially white Burgundy, the greatest wine in the world.

It's frankly, mostly all rubbish.

The big, well-founded manufacturers have tried-and- tested systems and unless something goes wrong with natural conditions in a given year, there is a consistency to what they do that is completely reliable.

Of course if big-headed and otherwise idiotic Texan investment banks get their hands on the wine companies, then for a short while things are liable to go off the rails until they lose their money and piss off taking their brain-dead 'money-saving' ideas with them.

As with everything there are the odd few exceptions where large owners did the right thing by the wineries.

If you consult a common popular wine reviewer on the Wolf Blass Red Label Chardonnay Pinot Noir it says: 'tank fermented; a pleasant sparkling wine with good balance and length; not complex of course.'

Idiots.

There are others speaking with a touch more grace as they slowly cotton on to what this wine is.

Often, large manufacturers get their hands on smaller supplies of exceptional grapes that they cannot utilize in their main labels because of volume or even style - and then they either produce a short run of 'unknown' labels or use their entry-level brands; and these wines are nevertheless outstanding.

At ridiculously inexpensive prices.

The Wolf Blass Red Label is supposedly one of these 'entry-level' brands.

As you know, Chardonnay Pinot Noir is THE white wine - it has been referred to as the 'crack cocaine of white wine...'

My wife paid less than ten dollars for this bottle at a major retailer.

The first words I would use to describe this wine would be: 'authentic and a wine of complete integrity.' Which is not something you can say about many huge name brands these days. There is nothing but grape here and the best fruit at that. How do you get 'long and balanced' without complexity - you can't. 

This thing is complex - it runs all the way in your mouth till the end of the glass and then you get the often mythical 'frankincense in the stained glass windowed church' hit that tells you you have been drinking the unicorn.

The opening fruit notes are streamlined, seamless, subtle: mango, peach, definitely melon, some citrus. Soft, crisp, fresh, somewhat creamy. This is wa-a-a-a-y more than just long and balanced - this is LONG and SUPERBLY BALANCED! 

Frankly, it's as good as it gets with this style of wine. Gasp. Yep. It's that good. And why do I say that? Because there's nothing even slightly contrived about it; this is the real thing.

Joondalup Golf Course

I had a big week. I attended a two-day conference at the Joondalup Gold Course Resort (again!) and, again, experienced the best possible service and food and general environment. I observed, this time, that the rich people's cars were all silver or gunmetal grey... All the Ferraris, Mercedes, M-Series BMW's, even the 5 liter Mustangs - all grey or gunmetal.

There were two green cars and one of them was mine.

The golf course, as you know because I've mentioned it previously - was designed by the world's greatest golf course architect of all time, Robert Trent Jones Jr.

There he is, Robert Trent Jones Jr, on the right,
at last year's Ryder Cup

Deliberate Misleading Spirituality Ideas

I assume that most of you will not be fans of the huge swathes of New Age-y video clips all over YouTube these days that go into ideas about 'attracting wealth' and holding mind-sets that 'harmonize' with the millionaire or even billionaire mind-set (whatever those are).

Now ordinarily I have no view either way on these kinds of things. 

Wouldn't it be great though, if you could just 'think' in harmonic resonance (New Age-speak) with money and wealth and power, and all of a sudden it all comes to you like magic, following some 'attractive force...'

And that's what the proposition generally is, with these kinds of videos and programs and books.

But you know, the side banks of a river don't ordinary come together just because they are in simple harmony... There is a huge expanse of water flowing right in the middle there between the two of them, and it's called 'the river!'

You need a bridge to be able to have the two sides 'meet' in a sense, although they won't physically actually meet unless Moses steps in and dries up the waters again. And then it becomes a miracle or a miraculous event or at least so rare as to be certainly not something you can 'expect' to happen, or rely on ever, just 'happening.'

A quantum bridge...
Even if you have a real (ordinary) physical bridge,
across a real physical river, and you send vibrations through
it - sometimes, you can crack the bridge! 

In the physical realm, when two strings of different, separate, musical instruments vibrate in harmonic resonance, they do so because of the medium of air, which can carry the sound vibrations. The air, in this case, becomes 'the bridge' across which the vibrations can travel.

So what makes it so different in the 'spiritual' world? Why don't geometry and physics rules still apply? Well but I think they do.

And if people expect something other than that then they will end up pretty soon being disappointed by or disillusioned by these 'New Age-y' ideas and claims and assertions about harmonic resonance and 'the Law of Attraction.' 

I think it might be possible to have this 'law of attraction' thing be a kind of a reality... It might be possible to have 'harmonic frequencies' have an effect on what ideas one holds in one's mind, and it might from thence be possible to have a mind en-trained in certain ways - but whether one can actually magically create outcomes with seemingly no physical cause/effect structure going on, well that is really asking something there!

One would need to be an architect of the spiritual world, or an engineer of the spiritual world, to be able to attain such substantial results.

Midival Punditz - 'Khayaal'

In today's world, there are avid proponents of these New Age ideas, and there are strident critics who are very aggressive in their opposing viewpoints. I find both sides often equally lazy. 

Deliberate Misleading Spirituality Ideas

I assume that most of you will not be fans of the huge swathes of New Age-y video clips all over YouTube these days that go into ideas about 'attracting wealth' and holding mind-sets that 'harmonize' with the millionaire or even billionaire mind-set (whatever those are).

Now ordinarily I have no view either way on these kinds of things. 

Wouldn't it be great though, if you could just 'think' in harmonic resonance (New Age-speak) with money and wealth and power, and all of a sudden it all comes to you like magic, following some 'attractive force...'

And that's what the proposition generally is, with these kinds of videos and programs and books.

But you know, the side banks of a river don't ordinary come together just because they are in simple harmony... There is a huge expanse of water flowing right in the middle there between the two of them, and it's called 'the river!'

You need a bridge to be able to have the two sides 'meet' in a sense, although they won't physically actually meet unless Moses steps in and dries up the waters again. And then it becomes a miracle or a miraculous event or at least so rare as to be certainly not something you can 'expect' to happen, or rely on ever, just 'happening.'

A quantum bridge...
Even if you have a real (ordinary) physical bridge,
across a real physical river, and you send vibrations through
it - sometimes, you can crack the bridge! 

In the physical realm, when two strings of different, separate, musical instruments vibrate in harmonic resonance, they do so because of the medium of air, which can carry the sound vibrations. The air, in this case, becomes 'the bridge' across which the vibrations can travel.

So what makes it so different in the 'spiritual' world? Why don't geometry and physics rules still apply? Well but I think they do.

And if people expect something other than that then they will end up pretty soon being disappointed by or disillusioned by these 'New Age-y' ideas and claims and assertions about harmonic resonance and 'the Law of Attraction.' 

I think it might be possible to have this 'law of attraction' thing be a kind of a reality... It might be possible to have 'harmonic frequencies' have an effect on what ideas one holds in one's mind, and it might from thence be possible to have a mind en-trained in certain ways - but whether one can actually magically create outcomes with seemingly no physical cause/effect structure going on, well that is really asking something there!

One would need to be an architect of the spiritual world, or an engineer of the spiritual world, to be able to attain such substantial results.

Midival Punditz - 'Khalyaal'

In today's world, there are avid proponents of these New Age ideas, and there are strident critics who are very aggressive in their opposing viewpoints. I find both sides often equally lazy.