another of topic this is interesting

That is absolutely phenomenal (and bizarre). Just goes to show how little we know about the brain. Thanks for sharing this! al

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

I was a paramecium in a former life.

It was a happy life. There were lots of other little parameciumses to play with. I was just getting the hand of distinguishing between light and dark when ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.

^some would say you still are, Cr1, lol! ;) Algae and all ;)

From Yahoo answers:

What is the diet of Paramecium?

I really need to know what there diet is! Can you please tell me?

Best Answer – Chosen by Voters

Small diatoms, algae, etc.

I’m lol’g how that guy “really needs to know”;)

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

The earliest form of all life is seemingly PROKARYOTIC see Miller & Urey experiment which could not be repeated in a jar the tried to recreate life from the preverbial soup of the early world. I wonder quite abit about former incarnations I can see how that might make sense. Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

I tried once to think about all that stuff, Alistair, but it made my head hurt. I read Frank Tipler’s The Physics of Immortality when I was up on my physics. Trying to grasp those concepts (just like String Theory) was simply too difficult for my brain. I’m resigned to be blissfully unaware;)

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

Al I used to be a seven day a week christian I believed whole heartedly in god and the church then I was dealt a very dirty blow by the church and never went back I have since found many whio have been in the church for 35 years and more eventually be driven out by Man or other churchgoers who like to talk the talk but thats it.I have and my wife has had strange experiences not frightening but very starnge and could only be put down to an afterlife .I thoroughly believe in the creator and an afterlife I don’t believe for a second that we die and that’s that.I have been wondering about reincarnation though not really christian it makes sense at least to me I have had several visions ,not dreams, buit real visions which cannot be explained which came scarily true.I have had numerous cases of relatives dieing and seeing relatives at the bottom of their beds not only has this happened to me but my whole family past and also to many friends.I have read up on this and found it not to be at all uncommon.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

You guys are getting into what I really spend my free time learning about!
I have so much I would love to say, that I have decided not to comment at all. I know myself well enough to know that none of you would want to read the entire post I would write :P
I will sum it up by saying this –
Life is an amazing thing, and beyond that the human brain is no accident! There is so much more that we are capable of because of our brains, that stories like these are just the very tip of the iceberg. The saying “you can do ANYTHING if you put your mind to it” is so much more literal than probably anyone has ever realized!
This is part of the reason I know I can make a living with woodworking, even having little to no experience at it!
(i guess in the end I couldn’t help but comment, but believe me, it is as succinct as possible :) )

@scottsman – religion and churches are a large part of the problem with the world today. It is Faith that people have, not some person or church that tells us who and what we are. Faith is extremely important, and while many don’t realize this, even atheists have a form of faith, just not in a creator. All men live by faith, religion kills people, sad truth

Not to offend any life-long church goers, This is my own personal belief, not trying to step on any toes here :)

-- Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. -Mark Twain

In the uk sky tv there is a wonderful multi part American programme really great showing the history of the church in the USA called God and America have anyone seen it it is really well made and holds your interest? Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

I haven’t seen it, but will look it up! Thanks for the suggestion

found it, for anyone else interested, you can watch it free online here –
http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/view/
it is a PBS website, so no virus or legality issues to worry about :)

-- Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. -Mark Twain

It’s actually called God In America and is one of the best documentories I have seen made so professionally for a long time. The complete history of the Americans and the church .Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

I am very fortunate to have a son who is a yoga instructor in manhattan who once insisted I work my way through a pair of books for beginning artists called “drawing on the right hand side of the brain” I believe.(John is also an artist of some renown in NYC ) Knowing a wee bit about brain halves and shifts and co-mingling patterns and control, I was intrigued, so I began. Before working my way through the book and practicing, I couldn’t draw worth a bucket of warm spit ! Now I can hold my own and draw my own patterns and diagrams for large relief carving projects. I have not followed up with patience and practice required to raise the skills gained to the next level, but what I did gain has served me well.

As far as the unnatural natural, naturally I am a sceptic of the 1st order. that is until….one night I sat straight up in bed awakened from a sound sleep by a voice that sounded very strangely familiar. I very clearly heard this voice say “Yes Don It is ME !” . I was taken by the experience and it took me some time to get back to sleep. It was 3 AM . Several days later I spoke on the phone to an old friend in Ohio who mentioned in passing that an old girl friend of mine from just after high school days , had died early one morning in an accident. I later found it to be the same morning I heard the nearly recognized voice wake me up ! There are a lot of things I don’t understand about this life that make it as interesting as it is ! Religion ? nah , although raised a good catholic choir and altar boy, I remember an old mentor telling me once that as a young man it is easy to walk the “boardwalk” of Religion that helps us over life’s tough stretches, but the older we get, the space between those boards gets wider and wider, revealing more of what Religion has to that point helped us ignore. That is, the realities of human existence. At some point the strength of our experience and understanding shores up the weakening foundation of the “boardwalk” (Religion) until we get to the point of embracing those experiences and life lessons enough that they no longer reinforce the “boardwalk”, (Religion) they become the “boardwalk”. They are there for all of us as our true foundation and guide, IF we look at them and understand, REALLY understand. At that point we are truly alive, and responsible humans ready to lead others who need to follow ! My old Mentor was a Rabbi and a true friend !

Oh and without this great post Alistair, My Scotsman friend, I would not have known how close in thinking Neight and I are on these ideas. We may have even more in common ! So I Salute you Alistair Mr. Scotsman for getting us all busy thinking and sharing ideas and I Salute Lumberjocks for keeping open the lines of communication on ideas other than just woodworking ! We are all much more than just woodworkers ! We are friends.

-- some men see things that are and wonder why, I dream of things that never were and ask why not .... rfk

The Rabbi’s are usually greatly wise people non Jewish myself I have great respect for the Jewish faith my best friend Irving is Jewish has been like a Brother to me for most of my life and I mean brother.
I will tell you of an experience one of several I had about two years ago or so, I was awakened in the middle of the night I had a vision of three soldiers it was like they were in the room I could see them clearly and they did not dissapear even though I wanted them too I was nervous about what I was seeing.The image remained long enough for me to see that they all wore modern uniforms and were young at least young to me like one of my sons I also saw a yellow transluscent set of gun type crosshairs in a cockpit and then they dissapeared in took about I suppose twenty seconds altogether.I was definitely not asleep and got up imediately and sat on the edge of the bed and let out a good god what was that thenn Bronwen my wife woke up I was slightly frightened as I had never seen anything like this before and it felt so real.I explained it all to my wife and she took note of what I said.Next day on the television there they were on a news flash the same three men John Jim and Robert and then the yellow crosshairs they died that day earlier in the day in a heliicopter crash.I repeat I have never had a thing like this before now I get similar but not so prolonged flashes all the time .My wife has seen and heard amazing things which I wont delve into now, Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Porchfish your a great guy brotherly love and peace throughout your days. Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Porchfish, it indeed sounds like we might have much in common :) It’s nice how keeping an open mind can lead you to people and places everywhere who are quite like-minded.
Funny story on how I settled on woodworking as my occupation…
In general, I am long on information and short on practice. I have spent my lifetime independently studying for a test that isn’t coming… I have always had questions, BIG one’s, and have always looked for answers. I know all about meditation and it’s possibilities and benefits. I also have never really meditated, I can’t seem to make the brain noise stop long enough to hear my own thoughts, let alone one of them.
I was having a lot of trouble sleeping about two months ago, lots on my mind, no work or income, just moved into a rental house, wife doesn’t make much and our three year old daughter isn’t going to stop needing food just because the economy is bad. I was laying in bed awake one morning just about daybreak. I knew I wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon, but it was raining softly and I decided to just go sit outside on the back porch and listen to it rain. As I sat there, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to close my eyes and attempt to meditate. I don’t know that I achieved zen or anything like it, though I was able to calm my mind down quite a bit. Not totally quiet, but quiet enough for me to realize I had a phrase repeating in my head over and over. I don’t know how long it had been there, but it was clear I was supposed to hear it! It was simple and it changed my life. All it said was “do something!”
seems simple enough, right? But just what the hell did it mean to me? Do what exactly? So I mulled this thought around in my head for nearly two weeks. I have so many varied interests, I literally had no idea what to do first. Then I happened to run into a contractor buddy of mine, who worked with my dad for years. He needed some help, and was willing to pay me for my time, so I jumped at the opportunity to make some cash. While working with him that day, we got to talking about my current situation, and he told me about how he had made it through his life. The short message he got to at the end of his story was “do everything!” That is when it hit me… I honestly didn’t matter what I did, I just had to do SOMETHING and do it earnestly, and with everything I have, and I will find what it is that I can do for a living, and support my family.
So I started doing everything. anything that someone needed and was willing to pay me for, I took the job. When there was no jobs to do, I found something around the house I could do to earn some money, or find work for the next day. That is when I started playing with the idea of making and selling things. There is a facebook page in our area that is basically a county wide online garage sale, and another one that is a county wide auction. People are on there day and night buying other people’s things, and also things that people make. I quickly realized I could take an old hobby of mine, that I hadn’t even done in years and turn it into cash, and fairly quick using free postings in very a very active internet site.
Every thing is falling into place, as soon as I decided what “something” was to me (and I honestly believe it didn’t matter what that something was, it was just up to me to choose) I suddenly started finding what I needed for free. In a matter of a month I went from having no lumber or tools, to having a shelf full of old scrap leftover from dad’s old refinishing business. I now have a borrowed TS, mitre saw, bandsaw, small drill press, two routers and a router table, not to mention a small portable surface planer! I have all of it for as long as I need it, and it all works well enough for small projects. I am learning a lot, and very quickly! I have actually made a small amount of money at this already, and there is a lot of opportunity for more.
I fully believe success or failure is 100% mindset, and I know that faith is the perfect guide. I am using both to my advantage, and honestly feel I am on my way to a successful business. It is altogether possible that woodworking is not that business, but will lead me to what will carry me into the next day. At the very least, I have re-discovered something that I love to do, and it just so happens to be a way to make some money on the days when there is no work!
Sorry for the length of my post, I know I can be wordy, but I am not a good writer, and I can’t seem to find shorter ways of making a sentence….

-- Work consists of whatever a body is OBLIGED to do, and Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. -Mark Twain

I personally understand your situation and I wish you well your a born entrepreneur even though you might not think so and I have a good feeling about your future.Things are desperate here in the uk in the jobs market law and chemistry graduates are working for minimum wage just to eat 300 graduates turn up for telesales jobs and get treated badly no wage if your sick etc etc.There are too many to complain someone will work for less than minimum wage if the come over from Poland to take your job.They offer themselves for less and work hard it stinks but I have faith it will get better eventually the experts say it will get worse first and say in ten years.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease