The Folk Club

When we moved to the Central Coast many years ago, my wife, Linda dreamed of being a singer.

With Guitar in hand we went down to the local “Troubadour” Folk club run by Frank and Marilyn Russell, and Cec Bucello, owner of the “Peninsular News”.

In those days we all used to sit around in a circle and sing a song in turns. There were violins, squeeze boxes, banjos and all manner and level of performance.

This evolved into the current “Troubadour” which meets once a month and features some amazing artists. We have seen Fred Smith there, singing his folk songs from Afghanistan, including the well known “Dust of Uruzghan”. Along the way, Linda has performed at many Folk Festivals and other venues around the Central Coast and Beyond.

We are grateful for the assistance of Frank and Marilyn and their support over many years.

What Has This To Do With “The Voice”?

Good question, isn’t it! So here is the connection. Frank and Marilyn, being very kind people, have been partakers of the “Aunties and Uncles” program for many years. They have two “Nieces” they have looked after, Amy and Karise Eden. Over the years, we have seen these two young ladies develop, and noticed Karise started performing with their group, the “Usual Suspects”.

When I first heard Karise do a rendition of “Me And Bobby Magee”, I couldn’t help feeling she resembled the real Janis Joplin. This girl fully embraces her music and has that charisma we all look for in a performer.

So it was that we heard on the grapevine that Karise was auditioning for “The Voice” in Australia. As she commenced her song, “Its A Man’s World“, the judges immediately spun around and all wanted to work with her. It sent chills up my spine to see this young girl get her chance at fame and fortune.

Lessons From Karise

In watching “The Voice”, there are some interesting observations relating to our ability to experience success. First, those who “perform” on the show, don’t make it. It requires feeling the music in the body, and emanating the energy that produces.

It requires enjoying yourself in the moment and disregarding what is going on around you. Winners are able to ignore reality!

We have watched a young girl, encouraged by her mentors, develop into her own personality, and then take that unique quality to make an impression with some high powered celebrities. Like it or not, take your natural talents, develop them as far as you can, and go out there with confidence, and anything can happen! This is the way to fulfil dreams. Those who don’t believe in themselves are condemned to a life of mediocrity.

My hope is that this will inspire someone to believe in themselves and go beyond their self imposed limitations.

In the meantime, vote for Karise Eden and help her realise her dream as “The Voice” unfolds.

There was a controversial TV ad in Australia where Naomi Watts playing a young girl, receives a phone call telling her she won a dinner with Tom cruise. As it turns out the family was having Roast Lamb for dinner, so she turned down the offer! I am pretty sure Tom never gave permission to use his name in the ad, hence the controversy. What has this to do with me. After all I am no Tom Cruise. Read on and find out.

Click Here to see the ad.

Diamond And The Lamb Roast

We have a dog named Diamond. We got her from the animal shelter. She is a really lovely dog – except she runs away whenever I approach her. The good news is that she chases balls (a first for us). I asked for a dog that chases balls, but didn’t expect an obsession! She chases till she drops. She has been in the family over a year, and all that time, I could only give her affection was when she is on a lead. Other than that she runs away.

Now I know it probably means some man hit her or mistreated her, as she has no problems with females. I mean, she was really placid until she bit the electricity meter reader. That was a good thing as they had been here time after time messing with the meter. I now understand why power prices are so high given the time they spent here!

We Are Animal Lovers

You can imagine over the years having 3 mentally handicapped dogs, that we love animals. This extends to the meat we eat. Back to the Roast Lamb

My wife has long been a campaigner against live sheep exports. The way they are sandwiched into giant boats, with the lights on 24 hours and transported across the world to the Middle East is not good for animal welfare. As much as possible, we prefer free range meat. Mind you there is so much deceptive labelling it is no longer a joke. Check it out next time you buy meat and you will be amazed what goes on!

Anyway, the industry body took the time to phone my wife and tell her a big load of spin to try to stop her protests. Fancy that her voice caused so much trouble!

Linda’s Live Export Song

Linda is so passionate about all this that she recorded a song after a huge scandal last year about live cattle exports to Indonesia.

 

We Still Eat Meat

Our 6 year old is a bit of a carnivore! Last night we decided to eat a roast lamb for dinner (without Tom Cruise – he wouldn’t come)! Apparently sheep are left free to roam in paddocks unlike pigs, chickens and some cattle. That makes us feel better!

Anyway after dinner, I collected all of the left over vegetables including peas and broccoli, plus some meat and gravy and gave them to Diamond for dinner. She scraped every last pea from the bowl. Did I tell you she eats tons of vegetables! I think she liked it!

Today – A Miracle

This morning at breakfast, the impossible happened. Diamond came up to me and let me pat her, not once but several times. This is the breakthrough we have been looking for since we brought her home over a year ago. The Roast Lamb did the trick and now she is my friend.

The Moral Of The Story

To tell the truth, I would rather have Diamond be my friend than have Tom Cruise over for dinner! Personally, he doesn’t do anything for me anyway! Patience and perseverance win in the end. I think I read a post on that recently. As for the live exports, we will continue to campaign until this barbaric practice is stopped.

Please leave a comment with your favourite animal story, or what you think of live meat exports!

Last year Oprah Winfrey visited Australia and did some shows at the Sydney Opera House. At one of the shows actor Hugh Jackman flew in on a highwire and crashed into a camera stand. He was somewhat injured. Hugh presented Oprah with a vegemite sandwich! She was not totally impressed.

Origins Of Vegemite

Few foods stir the Australian soul more than Vegemite. Launched in Australia by the Fred Walker Cheese Company in 1922, this black paste didn’t take off until the 1930s. It was soon sold to Kraft, a giant American company and they have owned it ever since. Vegemite is a very closely guarded secret. While working in the Scientific Instrument industry, I had to visit the laboratory in Sydney. They were very careful to guide me only to safe places. The smell in the place was pungent, Vegemite being mainly made of Yeast, a discard of the beer manufacturing process! The factory in Sydney is located next to a former brewery. How Australian is that!

A Staple Food

I was weaned on Vegemite. Nearly every Aussie kid eats vegemite sandwiches, and it is used as a flavour enhancer in cooking. There are over 23 million jars sold each year in Australia, one for every person in the country! My 6 year old daughter loves it. Vegemite is one of the world’s richest known sources of B vitamins, specifically thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid.

One of the more unusual ways we used to eat vegemite was on Vitawheet biscuits. They had small holes and the vegemite used to squeeze out like worms. Alas, these biscuits no longer have the holes!

Who Eats Vegemite?

Basically Australians. The only other country I know of where people eat this is South Africa. This makes Vegemite a very unique Australian food. So much so that when an Aussie smells that yeast aroma in some distant corner of the planet, there is great excitement and anticipation.

My Vegemite Travels

I left Australia back in 1974 to see the world. I lived in South Africa for a while and Aussies there had vegemite shipped from home regularly. Then I went to South America. Now things were different back then. Only two years before the CIA had shot the president of Chile, Allende, in Argentina, people were disappearing daily following a military coup six weeks before our arrival, the whole continent was on edge with check points all over and soldiers patrolling many towns.

Lima, Peru

After 3 months of backpacking and travelling to strange places to photograph the remaining steam trains in the area, I wound up in the Europa hotel in Lima, opposite the famous catacombs. I had some strange experiences in this place. One day I was resting in my bed and fell asleep. I felt myself rise up above the bed, woke up and looked down at myself lying there! I quickly went back into my body! At the time I wasn’t into the occult, and it was a very real out of body experience, although I know sceptics will find some logical explanation.

Anyway, one day two young Aussie girls turned up and announced they had a jar of vegemite. Within about 10 minutes every Australian in the area, including me was in their room tasting small rations of vegemite and Saos, one of the biscuits every Aussie child eats. It was a real taste of home. Back then, their weren’t so many tourists, and facilities were modest. The most expensive hotel in Peru, the Lima Sheraton, cost $36 a night! Hard to imagine now.

Mexico

Well I moved north and two months later I couldn’t stand it anymore. I wrote to my mum and asked her to send a jar over. We were in Puerto Escondido in southern Mexico, now a famous surfing venue, then an almost isolated beach. We would get oysters from the sea and barbeque them in an open fire until they opened – yum! The Europeans were all bathing in the nude, it was a wild time.

The jar of vegemite turned up, and in an instant I was the most popular boy in town! Most of those staying in the caravan park were Aussie surfers, and this was something special for them. I think this time mum sent some Jatz, another biscuit over to have with the Vegemite.

New York City

Years later in 1987, I attended a Personal Development Course in New York. I was there for over 6 months. After some investigations, I discovered a chemist on 65th Street East Side that sold Vegemite. I was a regular shopper there. I was the only Aussie on the course and no one else wanted to try the stuff!

I believe Vegemite is now banned in the SU because it has folic acid in it! It is unbelievable how our governments are trying to steal our health these days!

Well, Vegemite is still owned by Craft, and really hasn’t taken on outside Australia. I don’t know why, because it is one of the most delicious foods there is – but then I was weaned on the stuff!

If you have tried Vegemite, leave a comment with your experiences, good or bad.

Yesterday was my 60^th birthday, a milestone I guess! I spent the day relaxing, watching the cricket on TV, doing high intensity aerobics in the gym and playing Tennis. Had dinner with the family, altogether a lovely day.

What I did spend some considerable time with was replying to all my friends on Skype and Facebook. There were 60 of you who sent me greetings, one for each year!. This includes long time friends I don’t communicate with that much, my cousins and other relatives, and some surprises!

Among them were many long time members of the TSA, a syndication group I belong too. It shows how a group working together can make things happen. I owe them the PR3 ranking on Google for johngaydon.com

Do You Live In A Virtual World?

I am not sure about everyone else, but I find myself living in a virtual world! Sure, there are real people in my circles, but many I have never met face to face. Of the people who contacted me yesterday, only my mother and mother in law were within a reasonable driving distance! To get to everyone else takes some serious travel.

Our little girl, Skye, is nearly 6, and it is when she was born that I went underground, preferring to make my money from my computer. I have done pretty well from that, but I now see the value of actually talking to people! It probably coincides with school starting. Regular free time during the day!

Time To Get Back To Business

My rant is that those of us who are in the on line world can easily get caught up in it to the exclusion of real people! I am now finding the concept of getting back out into the business community a little daunting, even though I know what I am doing and can do it better than most.

We can easily get caught up in that safe world where we write and send messages and look good, regardless of how life really is. Perhaps the internet is one big fantasy world, sort of like second life.

John’s New Business Direction

My new direction is using my skills to help small businesses in the real world. It is adding another income stream to my arsenal. I will post updates as I move forward. Writing this puts my intentions on paper as I push myself back into the business community.

I will be using a combination of syndication, article marketing, blogging, video marketing, citations, directory listings, keyword research, and a whole list of magical things that make it all work.

No selling here. I don’t want to say too much until I have the runs on the board. Please leave your comments. Do you feel isolated in your office on the net, and if so, do you have any plans to change it!

When considering universal principles, the idea of caring without thought of reward is a constant theme. How do you tap into this energy? The answer is through gratitude.

A simple process of expressing 10 things you are grateful about morning and night can change your attitude 100% from negative to positive. When we focus on what is good in our lives, we simply get more of it. This is Universal law.

What Has This To Do With The New Level?

Well, Theuns Serfontain, a South African, thought up this great idea of a board game that teaches Gratitude. His idea is that as people express their gratitude more, they will become better people, and this will lead to a better world. It is an idea of great merit.

Help Theuns With His Dream

Right now, Theuns and his partner Steve, have a unique opportunity to pitch their Gratitude Game to some of the big players including Bob Proctor and Jack Canfield. These are people who can make it happen if they really like what is being done. The catch is they need $19,000 by February 17 next. Yes, it is a tight deadline, but I have seen focus and intention move mountains before. By me writing this post, I am joining thousands who are spreading the word. The goal is to make the world a happier place.

You can help by syndicating this post to your networks, or donating towards the project yourself. You can do this at http://kickstarter.gratitude-thegame.com where you can learn more about the project too. Heck, just visiting the site will make it more popular! Get your friends there as well.

One more thing you can do is to write a post similar to this one, sharing your thoughts as to why becoming more grateful is of benefit to humanity, and supporting Theuns in his effort to teach this through a board game.

So what are you waiting for. The ball is in your court. I wish Theuns and Steve all the best in their quest. You know about it, so you are involved and about to see a miracle unfold!

If you live in the United States, some of you might be a little offended. My aim is to tell it like it is, and will probably upset everyone, including the Cubans. The Cuban “Mafia” in Florida, and the faithful on the island both have their challenges. You would have to say that Cuba’s struggle is a little like the mouse that roared. Despite having nationalised American interests in the country and being just 100 miles from the US mainland with a US base on the island, Cuba continues to be independent and in some areas is superior to its big brother neighbour!

The Republic

In 1959, Castro and his revolutionaries crossed from Mexico into Cuba aboard the grandma, a small boat, to start a popular revolution. There had been earlier attempts to dislodge Batista, supported by the US and hated by many Cubans. There have been pictures of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon powwowing with Batista, the Mafia was running Havana, and there was widespread corruption. Fidel was inspired by the teachings of Karl Marx and wanted to create a republic where every Cuban was equal.

The coup ended with a triumphant entrance to the Havana Hilton, where we stayed for 3 days. Here is where the dilemma starts. Would you believe that this hotel was openly being used for prostitution! Large groups of Mexican and South American men were travelling the country and we saw many liaising with young ladies in the hotel foyer (pictured). In fact the first night in Havana was quite an eye opener.

We picked up our car after an hour looking for the hire car representative, and headed for a hotel we booked at the airport. It was a long way through thilfy streets with ghetto like accommodation – whoops I forgot, everyone lives for free and in good conditions in Cuba! This is where we first saw the large groups of seedy men and wondered! The lift was broken so we walked up 11 flights of stairs to our room. There was a Cuban band in the restaurant which had limited food on the menu, later we found that that is the way it is in Cuba!

Happy People.

For the most part, the Cuban’s are a happy lot. They have world famous artists performing regularly in Havana and their Ballet and Baseball outfits are amongst the finest in the world. Housing, Health Services and Education are free, and there are food couples, so no one really should be starving. Fidel says he earns $30US a month and has no need of money. Maybe that is because he has absolute power in the country and doesn’t need it.

Steam trains are one of my loves, and I was lamenting not going earlier when hundreds of them worked the Sugar mills.

We headed out of Havana on our adventure. We were driving around the ring road when we crossed another old track, realizing that this was the freeway! It had pot holes everywhere, and was very wide.

Everyone in Cuba hitchhikes, and we did the right thing and picked up a local, mainly to have a chat. This lady’s family made cheese and she would bundle it up, hitchhike 200k to Havana, sell it and hitchhike back home!

We found the steam train working at the “Central Australia” Mill. I bit strange finding this on the other side of the planet! It was the only steam train I saw working. In the book Fidel tells how he shut down much of the sugar industry when he discovered that most mills were losing money.

The Cars

Cuba is famous for its 1950 car fleet. They are everywhere. Our hire car was much more modern – a shame really! At one point on the way to Playa Giron, or the Bay of Pigs where the US military were quickly defeated after the 1961 invasion, we had a flat tyre. We found a mechanic and they repaired it with a condom! This worked perfectly for the whole trip. These people are survivors and very inventive.

Foreign Policy

Fidel talks of liberating Angola from the South Africans. I was living in SA at the time this war was happening and no one said the SA Army was marching towards Luanda! Castro claimed credit for their defeat. He counts among those he admires, Saddam Hussein, Robert Mugabe, Nelson Mandela, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and just about anyone who opposes the US! I think you can see why I have mixed feelings about this man. Some of these people are indeed heroes, while others are, in my opinion, thugs!

Capitalism

Fidel believes that any sort of capitalism is corrupt and should be stamped out. In Cuba they did that by compulsory purchase of all foreign owned assets. This is why the US is very upset, they owned most of them! He says his media is used to educate people, rather than sell products. We found that the media was a propaganda machine for the government, with typical communist slogans about the revolution and its enemies. Yet another contradiction here.

In my opinion, Cuba is anything but a free country politically. You can vote for anyone, as long as they agree with Castro!

Fidel says that everyone is free to express themselves. In Havana I managed to have long conversations with a couple of people who were very guarded. They said that informers were everywhere, and if you did anything counter revolutionary, you were in trouble. Privileged businesses like home stays were for the faithful, who could make extra money letting people stay in their houses.

When rent is free, the government decides what type of house you will live in!

My Conclusion

I could go on for hours about Cuba, but I think I have presented enough. It is not Utopia, although everyone is relaxed and races mix very well together. Fidel is an amazing man. He has a strong vision and against all odds has kept the US at bay for over 50 years! That shows what can be done with an iron will. If you are that passionate about something you wish to achieve, it can be done, providing others are inspired to join you. Fidel will go down in history as probably the most successful Socialist leader, and has created a better life for many Cubans.

Despite his shortcomings, he is inspiring for those of us who wish to make a difference in the world regardless of the system!

In concentrative meditation the person focuses on a specific issue which is usually outside of oneself; including the sound of a specific instrument, the sound of birds singing or maybe more interestingly over a flame of a candle. On the other hand non-concentrative form of meditation involves a great expansive focus; for instance the sounds in the person’s surroundings or things going on within his or her internal body and at last an individual’s own breathing.

But, it really is worth remembering that occasionally these techniques could overlap, as one kind of meditation can have both the concentrative and the non-concentrative elements. Hundreds of thousands regarding specific meditation types are available, the majority of them have in one way or another developed into new ones over time. This work covers only a few of them.

Easy Meditation

This can be regarded as probably the most effective form of meditation in the first place especially if the personl is not accustomed to sitting for elongated durations focusing on a specific issue or even object. People practicing this sort of mediation should look for a relaxing and thoroughly clean place where they can spend 20-25 minutes alone. And with time as one gradually gains additional control then he or she might boost the time period.

Category Awareness

This kind of meditation helps one concentrate on particular things that are usually deemed helpful in meditation. The fact people find that it is hard to concentrate on 1 specific thing is the first step toward this meditation kind.

Others include transcendental meditation which is concerned with increasing intelligence as well as creativity, mindfulness meditation, walking meditation, breath observing meditation as well as empty brain meditation and others. Check out meditation for dummies, specifically if you are a newbie to meditation.

On the level associated with countries, abundance is typically calculated by the GDP. Most experts feel that this particular strategy has a lot of shortcomings because it ignores aspects like the costs associated with harming air and water, as well as the costs sustained by car accidents or caused by crime. Researchers happen to be actually trying to develop a well being index.

Presently there happen to be several complications with this particular undertaking. One is the problems concerned in identifying the costs of environmental destruction or expressing the disappearance of a species in terms of dollars and cents. These people don’t want to be accused of being arbitrary in their choice of which signals to utilize.

To put it differently, there is no lack of recommendations relating to the best way to specify well-being. That is specifically because the large range of conceivable solutions that the prominence connected with the classic growth concept is actually so tough to rest. Up to now, anyhow, virtually no different system has come out on top. Individuals encounter the exact dilemma.

Despite the fact that the dictionary can certainly clarify the premise of prosperity, only you’re able to establish it for yourself. While others may see massive homes and new cars as prosperity, you may possibly not look at it that way. It’s possible that success comes in the form of how long you can spend with family. Perhaps it is the number of children you have. The definition of wealth is just a flexible interpretation of what you consider total success to be.

Wealth does not mean settling for second best. Yes, you should be satisfied with where you are, but it doesn’t mean that you have to stay in the life you have got. You could strive to be wealthy, regardless of what it means to you personally. It may mean that you could have extra income. It may also mean that you could have far better well-being or possibly a completely different profession. Possibly it is creating a profession coming from anything you happen to be obsessed with or aiming to achieve total well being by working out a whole lot more in addition to eating far better.

Do not allow others establish the method that you assess prosperity. It is your life and so really should be lived to the best of your skills. Take the time to figure out what your own meaning of prosperity is and exactly what actions may well be essential so that you can attain that degree of achievement.

This was our 20^th Wedding Anniversary, and we were about to have dinner in the very room where we had our reception all those years ago. In fact, we spent our wedding night in this very cabin!

St Mounts is a wonderful old style guesthouse from the late 19^th century, with period furniture and an amazing atmosphere. It really hadn’t changed much in the 20 years since our wedding. I wish I could say the same for my looks!

The picture left is taken in the lounge where I was sitting when the tree fell.

Now, I am a student of metaphysics, and we had a very powerful bonding the day we connected on a rebirthing workshop all those years ago. We scoured the Blue Mountains looking for the perfect reception venue, and St Mount’s felt right. On the day, I went up there with my family and organised the reception to the last detail. I have done logistics for many events, and wanted to make sure we could just enjoy ourselves on the night.

When Linda came up from Sydney she went through an horrendous thunderstorm so bad that they could hardly see ahead. The wedding party duly arrived as the weather cleared to a magical sunset at Sublime Point (picture at left). It was pretty special.

Well, I believe everything happens for a reason, so the tree falling at that particular time can’t possibly be a coincidence. I am interested in whether you have had a similar experience, or can shed some light or insight on what this event means.

The place is operated by an ex detective and they hold murder mystery nights there, so its over to the super sleuths among you!

In any event it was an anniversary to remember!

Your comments are appreciated.

The ideas I present on this subject emanate from my “prosperity Plus” course, which taught many people how to get what they desired for their lives. They are sound metaphysical principles, and as I am about to demonstrate, they work.

Background

A few weeks ago, I was working on one of our cars. It was getting a bit long in the tooth, and experiencing some annoying problems. Like many of our cars, this one came for free, as my mother moved to Queensland and took pity on us because we had a child due soon after her move. We have been driving it for nearly 6 years. The story is that while working on the brakes, it rolled across the street, had some minor damage and insurance decided to pay us out rather than repair it.

Do We Need Two Cars?

For a minute, we thought about getting by with one vehicle. Unfortunately, we live out of the city and it takes 2 hours or more to get anywhere by public transport, if it is available. With a 5 year old, and one of us working, our desire for a second vehicle was strong. Coupled to that, our other car is quite small, and high mileage could greatly shorten its working life.

Hint: you need a strong desire to manifest things in life.

Clarity

Now we set about looking at what sort of car we would like. Something that was good on gas, less than 10 years old, with room for the family. We started looking on line and bit by bit started to visualize our new car.

The Rules

I didn’t want to spend a penny of our own money on this. When we started looking there were surprisingly few cars that fit our criteria within our budget, and the mileage on most was above our requirement. We waited. In the meantime, the insurance paid out on the old car and we were given a small sum towards a replacement. So now we had some cash in the bank.

As we kept looking, there was nothing that really stood out. A couple of cars that asked about were already sold when we called. One thing I know is that if it is not easy, it is usually not right! I trust myself to be guided to the right place without struggle.

Taking Action

After a few weeks, I was getting sick of only having one car. It was time to get serious, so I withdrew the budgeted amount form the bank. At the same time, would you believe I received an offer of a low interest loan from a credit card company. This actually helps reduce our interest bills and increase cash flow.

With cash in hand, we did another search and very quickly found a car that fitted the criteria. It was $500 over budget, but we had a good feel, so we went to look at it. We only looked at one car! This is about not struggling.

The Result

We saw the car, liked it and purchased it for exactly our budget! Insurance valued it at $2,000 more than we paid, and it is a great car for us. Under 10 years old, low mileage, plenty of room for the family, and a vehicle that will serve us for many years.

Be Grateful

Finally, we are very grateful to the Universe for supplying our needs. It has been this way for over 25 years now, and once this becomes a habit, all that you need will come to you effortlessly. We aren’t always in the zone, but life works out anyway. After driving the car for a while, we noticed it had cruise control, something I have longed for in a car! A real bonus.

You Can Do This

Desire is the starting point for this exercise. A strong desire can move mountains. It is not enough on its own, however. Be very clear and visualize exactly what you want, and take action. We put no pressure on ourselves. We just believed that a vehicle would appear that would fit the bill, and it did without impacting the family finances.

What do you want to manifest, and what is your plan? Share it, and others reading this post will help imagine you achieving your desires! Won’t you.

PS: Even our 5 year old loves the new car!