A few mornings ago I received a phone call from a friend on the opposite side of the country. Alay'nya started out as a hard-driving scientific researcher. We met at a psychic fair in San Diego where she came and received a Tarot reading from me. Although we've rarely seen each other in person, we have kept in touch. Alay'nya has gone through enormous changes. Today she is a professional belly dancer, teacher, and more. You can learn about who she is and what she's teaching and doing by going to her website. We talked about a new book she's completing. We also talked about how she's setting up classes combing spirituality with dance in a highly structured format. Although there are

I saw a blog by Jerry Coyne which referenced an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In particular there is a chart that shows a surprising percentage of adults who have false beliefs about science: 33% of adults don't think the Earth goes around the Sun once per year. 49% think that "ordinary" tomatoes don't have genes but genetically modified tomatoes do. 14% think that sound travels faster than light. And this one is a bit more challenging, 45% think that antibiotics kill viruses (they don't; they kill bacteria). The point of the article is that there are several reasons for scientific illiteracy. For one thing, we need to improve science education in order to help adults have a

The year was 1987. For over 15 years, an unusual astrological alignment had been predicted to begin on August 16–17: The Sun, Moon, Mars and Venus were in alignment, what astrologers call a conjunction, at the first degree of Virgo Mercury was at the fourth degree of Virgo, within the "orb of influence" of the four-planet conjunction Jupiter was in Aries, about 180 degrees from the massive conjunction. Saturn and Uranus were in Sagittarius, about 90 degrees between both the massive conjunction and Jupiter. This made what astrologers call a "Grand Trine," one of the most amazing such formations in history, involving eight of astrology's eleven planets (the famous nine plus the

When I went to high school the only good musicians were in the school's jazz band. I didn't want to play jazz, I wanted to rock out! I ended up in a variety of bands playing all over. Here is an early picture of me playing on my highly customized Hammond B3 organ. The small box on top of it was a theremin I had built from a kit. Rock on, dude! The photo was taken at a huge rock concert on Venice beach in southern California. I was also in bands that opened for groups such as Great White and Elton John. So when it comes to rock and roll, I know it. For a time, I lived in a small apartment right next to the famous Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood. If you want to see where I lived, get a