Sunrise IN The Mediterranean and My Friend Henri!

     Each morning when I am in Monaco, I wake at about 5AM, check my e mail and have my cup of Costadoro Expresso.  Before the sun rises, I wander down to the beach and sit at the waters edge and listen to the sounds of day breaking on The Cote d' Azure. I am usually the first person on the beach, followed closely by Henri.  Just before the sun rises, we enter the water and swim 1000 meters, rain or shine! It takes us about 40 minutes and by the time we are finished, the sun has risen and the same 6 people have shown up each morning for their swims.  We exit the water to the warmth of the rising sun and, again just sit and watch, sometimes talking, at times silently.

The tall building in this photo is Le Roccabella, 24 Ave Princesse Grace ~ my second home. Twenty three stories above the beach. The building has 27 floors.

 

The view from our balcony

 When the sun rises, this piece of equipment also shows up and simultaneously collects garbage left on the beach and washes the sand with a disinfectant!  I know, only in Monaco, where ALL the streets and sidewalks are literally washed every early morning, between  3 and 5AM. 

It is here that I met a man that has become a very good friend and teacher.  Henri swims every morning  he is in Monaco, sometimes thru December.  His other "space" is his flat in Paris.  In his professional life, Henri was an antique art buyer and seller. He jokes now that he still works, kinda...  He loves and can't seem to stop collecting it.  He just doesn't sell it anymore!  The walls in his apartments have a unique system that allow him to change the art regularly.  He has far too much to be viewed at the same time.  (and he still hasn't stopped collecting what he finds to be incredible pieces)  

     He claims to be a bit Voyeuristic by nature, enjoys watching the world from as many perspectives as possible.  For this reason, some days we travel around France and Italy for our morning expresso at some sidewalk cafe in a town, selected for that day. 

We then walk, around and explore until it is time for our lunch, accompanied by just a bit wine.  OK, some days it's a few bottles of wine.  It is for this reason that we follow One Rule.  We both know that, no matter how we feel~  The first time we miss two days in a row of swimming, it's over. In a typical summer, we miss one, maybe two days of our morning ritual, but never in succession! By 8AM, our day is well under way.

     Henri just turned 70. He has been swimming every morning for as long as he can remember~

When he is visiting, Jeff swims with us.

This is @ Hippocampe, a new favorite restaurant for me in Menton, France, home to Fellini, another favorite restaurant on the beach in Menton.

And here is what Kelly, my eldest does at 5AM ~ 

Genetic?  Perhaps ~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHu4t96zRco

Psychic Energy

 

The term energy has been widely used by writers and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality and alternative medicine^[1][2] to refer to a variety of phenomena, sometimes supposed to be directly perceptible to some observers, who have usually undergone some form of training or initiation. This 'energy' is sometimes conceived of as a universal life force running within and between all things, and in other cases it is seen as a more localized phenomenon, such as in vitalism, subtle bodies, or somatic energies such as qi, prana, or kundalini.^[3] Spiritual energy is often closely associated with the metaphor of life as breath - the words 'qi', 'prana', and 'spirit', for instance, are all related in their respective languages to the verb 'to breathe'. It is also often seen as a continuum that unites body and mind.

The experience of spiritual energy is described differently depending on the tradition or practice in question. Sometimes it is described as a physical sensation similar to the movement of breath in the body, sometimes as visible "auras", "rays", or "fields", sometimes as audible or tactile "vibrations".^[4] As a rule, these experiences are held to be available to anyone, but only after proper training or sensitization through practices which vary widely across different belief systems. Spiritual energy is also usually associated with feelings of bliss or contentment, as in the pleasurable sensations of kundalini, the ecstatic states of certain forms of meditation, and the 'oceanic feeling' discussed by western scholars such as Freud and Rolland. There is no scientific evidence of physical energies of this type.^[5]
     If one were to accept the principle that, universally, timelessly  speaking,  humans are really nothing more than their thoughts then the following can be believed.  Thoughts are electrical impulses,~ energy. 
     Since energy cannot be created or destroyed (only transformed) is it plausible to believe that our life force, is nothing more than the transformation of an energy that has always existed.  Is it also possible that this "free floating energy" is perceptible when it it's transformation process. 


     With this in mind, I offer the following e mail I sent to my Daughter Kelly, regarding an experience of a few months ago ~


  About three months ago, I wanted to play the game, after not playing the game for weeks or maybe months.  I have probably played this game over 1000 times over the years. Greg's best friend, Bill and I always used to compete for high scores. We prob played 300 games, competing.  The internet link below reports that previous high scores were 8 to 10 million. 


http://www.techimo.com/forum/general-gaming-discussion/146083-3d-pinball-windows-high-score.html

    On this particular day, I reached my all time high score of over 24,607,750.  Later that day Jeff called me and told me that it was Bill's birthday and that they had a party planned for him that evening.  Bill died five years ago ~

      

Astral Travel and Time

   Yesterday afternoon,  24 hours before the 8.9 Japan earthquake, I asked the painters if they just felt the earthquake. It was a very large jolt, impossible to miss.   They hadn't felt anything, even though we were in the same room, standing within 6 feet of each other.   I just checked and there were no quakes in Reno. 

 

     This is not the first time that I felt some "disturbance."  This is the first time the feeling was accompanied by a physical sensation. 

 

     A few of you know that I had a recurring nightmare that I was on a plane, flying thru the streets of NYC at an altitude that would certainly result in a crash. The sensation of terror was what I remembered most.  I had this dream probably 100 or more times. It began when I was in college.  It stopped happening after 9/11. 

 

     I am not a big believer in psychics, but am a huge believer that everything on the planet has a palpable connection.  Ann believed in Psychics and I actually went three times over 5 years to the psychic.  She told me things that unfolded, but they were not really extraordinary, given an understanding of self fulfilling prophecy.  Each session was recorded. She tested the tape and then gave it to me to take with me.  The second tape, I tried to listen to a year later and it was blank.  I called the Psychic and was told that I wasn't meant to hear it's contents again.  OK?

 

     On each of my visits, she told me that I had the strongest capability for Astral Travel she had ever encountered and that "when I wished, when I was ready" she would send me to someone in San Francisco that could train me to "harness" the ability. 

 

     I have experienced coincidences hundreds of times, such as calling one of my family members at the exact time they were calling me.  I sometimes sense when something negative has happened to a family member.  I dismiss all of this.  This "other" thing, with disasters is a bit more difficult to dismiss. 

.

 

PERCEPTION        THE SITUATION  In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.  After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.  He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.  About 4 minutes later:  The violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in the hat and,  without stopping, continued to walk.  At 6 minutes:  A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him,  then looked at his watch and started to walk again.  At 10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.   The kid stopped to look at the violinist again,  but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk,  turning his head the whole time.   This action was repeated by several other children,  but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly. At 45 minutes: The musician played continuously.   Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.   About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.   The man collected a total of $32. After 1 hour:  He finished playing and silence took over.   No one noticed and no one applauded.   There was no recognition at all.  No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell,  one of the greatest musicians in the world.   He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written,  with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.   Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston  where the seats averaged $200 each to sit and listen to him play the same music. This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station,  was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment  about perception, taste and people's priorities.  This experiment raised several questions:      * In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?      * If so, do we stop to appreciate it?      * Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context? One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:  If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .  How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?