2011
Chris Thomas: Back To Basics
A Forum Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files
Change is upon us. The problem is that most of us are too busy fire-fighting our lives that we have difficulty sorting out just how we are changing. In order to understand ourselves and, our place within this change, we need to return to some of the basic truths of who and what we are. In this way, we will be better able to steer our way to the future. As humans, we are used to thinking of ourselves as physical bodies with some kind of extra bit we call a soul but, this is a false impression. What we really are is a soul that is 100 million years old and our soul has built for itself many physical bodies over the course of human history. As each of our many lifetimes has ended, we have merged with our higher soul aspect to review our successes and failures in the physical life we have just ended. With that process of review completed, we then plan our next physical life.
Everyone who is alive on Earth has undergone this process many times, with each successive lifetime planned to provide […] new experiences, as well as to re-live some of our past failures, in order that we complete the lesson our soul chose to learn. In this way, each new physical life is lived as a mixture of clearing out past failures, lessons we did not learn, as well as learning from the new experiences our next life will provide us with. Nobody directs the actions our souls take. Every action is chosen with full and free choice. It is how we, the physical body, react to our soul’s choices, as we encounter them in life, that determines how straight forwards our lives are. If we stray from our soul’s chosen path, we receive hints from our higher self in the guise of an illness. We return to our chosen path and the symptoms heal themselves.
All of the main choices we are faced with in life are chosen by our higher selves before we are re-born into our new bodies as babies. Babies and children are souls of the same age as we are, they just inhabit younger bodies until they become adults. Who our parents are, who our siblings are, the country we are born into, our way of life, our means of earning an income, who our lovers will be…all of the main aspects of our new lives are worked out before we are born.
lucas2012infos.wordpress.com
This is something that we really have forgotten about. Everything we do in life, our way of life, our nationality, is all pre-determined BEFORE we are born. It is very easy to become distracted by the plight of those who live in other countries as we often compare their way of life with ours. If we consider that they have less than we in the west do, we become concerned. In doing this, we are making a judgement on the lives those others are living and who are we to make judgements in this way? The old Native American saying is something we really need to pay attention to: “Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their moccasins.”
This is not to say that we should not be compassionate or that we should not care. What we should be doing is finding a balance. Having spent thirty years working with people’s health problems, there have been many times where it was very tempting to step over the line and try to take on the problems my clients were having in their lives but, I had to draw back. No matter how much I might have wanted to cross that line, the reality is that, the situations that had arisen in my client’s lives were as a result of their soul’s choices and all that I could ever do was to help them understand the choices that they were faced with whilst doing everything I could to heal their ailments.
As we undergo this process of change, we become more and more aware of the plight of others and it becomes increasingly tempting to try to step in and solve their problems for them or allow the compassion we feel to distract us from sorting out our own problems. What we need to do is to find the correct balance. To give an example: The farmers in India have been under huge pressures by the [GMO] companies to only grow [GMO] crops. The Indian government, and banks, increased that pressure by insisting that bank loans to buy seeds were only granted to farmers who agreed to plant [GMO] crops. Traditional seeds (non-GMO) are 10,000 times cheaper than [GMO] seeds but, faced with bank and government pressure, Indian farmers planted [GMO] instead of traditional crops. Consistently, the [GMO] crops failed or produced much lower yields whilst at the same time requiring 300 percent more water and, huge quantities of herbicides and insecticides. Many thousands of farmers became bankrupt and committed suicide by drinking pesticides. But, by people in Europe rejecting [GMO] products, the pressure has now come off the farmers and they are able to re-plant using their traditional seeds. This is where balance lies. [By] rejecting to buy [GMO] products, we in the west have helped to save the lives of Indian farmers and improve their lives, immeasurably. This is compassion in action. We are not physically able to step in and alter the lives of these farmers, no matter how much we might want to but, by forcing the [GMO] companies to cut back on their crops, lives have been saved and livelihoods saved.
We need to remember to think before we act.
© Chris Thomas 2011
The Forum (One Vibration Forum Blog April 20, 2011)
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Chris Thomas: Global Warming & Pole Shifts
A Forum Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files
We have all seen the increasing number of newspaper articles where the scientists and climatologists, who were the main protagonists of “man-made” global warming, withdrawing their research and claiming that governments misquoted them. The outcome being that there is now a great deal of doubt over whether the world is warming up, man-made, or not. Most of the arguments have been used to back up the Oscar winning film by Al Gore called An Inconvenient Truth. This film is now part of UK school curriculums for children over the age of eleven. In 2007, a concerned parent began a court case against the British Government claiming that this film, and its supporting material taught in schools, was full of false claims. The court case eventually ended up in the High Court and was adjudged to be tantamount to propaganda as the claims made could not be substantiated by government scientists. The judges ruled on a number of points and declared that, if the film was shown in schools without “balancing” material being taught alongside it, the teacher could also be breaking the law, as teaching propaganda is not legal (section 406 of the Education Act 1996).
So, what is the real truth about Global Warming?
The climate has always changed in accordance with the amount of energy we receive from the Sun. For example, in Roman times, Britain’s climate was an average of about three degrees warmer than currently and the Romans were able to grow grape vines along Hadrian’s Wall. Since then, the average temperature has risen and fallen several times, sometimes warmer than now, sometimes cooler than now. Between 1000 and 1350, the average global temperatures were about one degree warmer than currently and, is known as the Medieval Warm Period. However, in about 1400, the average temperature began to drop to about one and a half degrees below current levels and, a Mini Ice Age began. This was the reason why the Thames froze over in London and the fashion for winter fayres began. The last winter fayre took place in 1815 (PDF has typos) as the temperature began to rise and the Thames no longer froze. Average global temperatures have been rising ever since.
This date of 1815 has been used as the basis of the argument that global warming is man-made as this date also coincides with a growing use of fossil fuels. If the global temperatures are rising because of the carbon dioxide from fossil fuels then, it should continue to rise as we produced more and more carbon dioxide. However, in 1995 global temperatures stopped rising and have generally dropped ever since (official figures from the Meteorological Office). This period of cooling also coincides with a reduction of the Sun’s activities (called a Maunder Minimum) which is still continuing and hence, the slow drop in temperatures. This is why all of the scientists are back-tracking on their claims. [T]here is no evidence to support them.
So where did the claims for man-made global warming arise?
The first evidence of it being a deliberate attempt to mislead us was uncovered by researcher and presenter Ian R. Crane in a document written by the Club of Rome. This document is called The First Global Revolution and was written in 1991. This document outlined a plan where if humanity was made to believe that fossil fuels were responsible for global warming, a “carbon tax” could be levied which would be used to finance “The New World Order”. This is the same New World Order that every head of government, worldwide, has proclaimed for the last twenty years. In other words, carbon based man-made global warming is a deliberate hoax. This deliberate hoax is confirmed by the hundreds of emails released from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit.
I can hear you all whispering “conspiracy theory” behind the back of your hands and giggling about what I’ve said here. Except, the High Court ruling, together with the release of the emails, means that this is not a conspiracy “theory” but, a conspiracy “proof”.
Always “feel” for the truth of a claim before you believe it.
But, we are likely to see temperatures rising again in the near future as the Maunder Minimum comes to an end, estimated in 2011/2012 and the Sun increases its energy output. Other changes are also to come as the Earth’s axis continues to shift to vertical (see The Universal Soul). This shift of axis has recently been confirmed by the Inuit peoples of Canada by their long-term observations of celestial constellations. The Inuit noticed that the constellations are in a different position leading them to conclude that the Earth’s axis is moving towards the vertical.
This observation by the Inuit is also backed up by the observations of hundreds of amateur astronomers. The axis shift also accounts for the Magnetic Pole shift. The Magnetic Pole isn’t actually shifting. That is staying in the same place. It is the relationship between the Pole and land masses that is changing as the Earth’s axis changes. In other words, the Pole is staying put but, it is the Earth that is moving. This axis change will also bring about climate change but, it is more likely to bring about a stable climate than storms and floods.
However, this does not mean that we should abandon our obligations to the planet and to the environment. The strategies adopted by many people, who took their responsibility for responsible use of fossil fuels seriously, needs to continue. Don’t forget that every tree cut down is a tree lost and, all coal, gas and oil used depletes the Earth’s resources, as well as adding to pollution. [S]o, we all need to continue to be aware of the impact of our actions.
Make your footprints as small as possible…carbon or otherwise
© 2011 Chris Thomas
The Forum (One Vibration Forum/Blog February 16, 2011)
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Shutterbug Saturday: Beach Shots
We are fifteen days out from the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. It’s already cold and dark before the six o’clock news comes on. For some warmth, here are some shots from a beach trip I took back in 2011. ~Vic
Pine Knoll Shores
History
10-28-2011
Click for a larger view.
Click for a larger view.
10-29-2011
Click for a larger view.
Visit NC
Click for a larger view.
Chris Thomas: Confusion?
A Magazine Article From: The Chris Thomas Files
“Firstly, we are not a slave race.” ~ Chris Thomas
Those of us who have a more alternative view of world events are receiving increasingly confusing stories of who we are and, just what is the purpose of life on this wonderful planet of ours…all of this confusion being centred [around] the dates of 2011 and 2012. Over the past few years, I have taken delivery of a growing number of letters and emails and, had conversations with people who are becoming progressively more confused over information they have received, from numerous sources, about a race who call themselves Annunaki. All of this information claims that we are somehow [ascending], somewhere unspecified, where we will magically transport ourselves to a Fifth Dimension.
How do we make the leap?
Deep down, we all know we are here on Earth for a reason but, at our current level of consciousness, can’t quite grasp the details of our story. We know that we are changing, we also know that, as a race, we are set to make a huge leap in consciousness awareness…but, how? This is where the confusion arises. [H]ow do we achieve what we know we should be achieving as there does not appear to be any guidelines? This lack of known direction is creating a void, a lack of certainty, which is proving to be very unsettling.
The problem is that all of this discussion about Ascension has its attractions but, with that sense of attraction, also comes confusion. This has arisen because, while we know we should be on our amazing Earth, at the same time, this offer of ‘Ascension’ suggests that we might be able to achieve a raised consciousness by leaving the planet but, without solving any of the problems we have generated. Into this void has arisen a story which, on the face of it, has many attractions. Here we have an alien race that claim to be our makers and who have returned to Earth, at this time, to help us through our transition to a ‘fifth dimension.’ These claims centre [around] a Galactic Committee, of varying names and descriptions, who control a large fleet of space-ships, under the control of Ashtar Command, that are arriving in our solar system with the intention of transporting us off the planet.
Leaving our troubles behind…
This Annunaki Plan is seductive, offering to take care of all our troubles for us…we (humans) are taken off the planet and, so, we no longer need to worry about global warming, nuclear weapons, pollution, overpopulation and food shortages… We wouldn’t have to deal with those kinds of problems as these kind aliens will sort all of that out for us. But…having read a great deal of the information these aliens are channelling, nowhere do they state where they are meant to be taking us. Somehow or other, ascending to a fifth dimension is meant to solve all of our problems, cure all of our ills and, lead us into a future where all will be beyond our wildest dreams. However, wherever these aliens take us to, it will not be on Earth. These aliens also state that they created humans to be a race enslaved to the Annunaki. This enslavement should also be taken into account when we consider this ‘Annunaki Plan’.
The Alternative
My own viewpoint is that, having researched and written about human history, as recorded in the Akashic, for the past thirty years or so, there is an alternative to this alien ‘Annunaki Plan.’ Firstly, we are not a slave race. When we were first created, we freely chose to come to Earth to explore a request made by the Creator…is human life possible? This is our purpose on Earth. There is no other. Secondly, we are close to answering the Creator’s question. This is what the dates of 2011 and 2012 are about…the completion of The Human Plan, the completion of the Creator’s quest for an answer. Given we are so close to answering the Creator’s question, why would we want to leave the Earth? The answer[?] [We] don’t. If we leave the Earth, we fail in our chosen task and the repercussions of abandoning our Earth will send shock-waves through the whole Universe.
This is my purpose for writing The Annunaki Plan? or The Human Plan?, to try and clarify what our choices are […]. [It] is our choice to make. Do we abandon the Earth and travel to an unknown destination and, [an] unknown future with an alien race who claim to have created humans as their slaves? Or, do we stay on Earth and complete the task we set ourselves on, [for] the Creator’s behalf and create for ourselves a human future without limits?
Answering the Creator’s question…
Once we have answered the Creator’s question, we bring ourselves all of the answers that we need to resolve all of the problems here on Earth. [We] can save ourselves and the planet with this one act of completion. Abandoning the Earth means that we leave the Creator’s question unanswered.
[We need] to try and clarify this confusion over the ‘fifth dimension.’ As someone who has worked with the energies of the human body for over thirty years (as a psychic surgeon), my experience has taught me that the body contains a surprising amount of energy (around 12 dimensions). [Try] applying Einstein’s E=mc2 equation to the body and you will see what I mean. The ‘fifth dimension’ actually relates to the third chakra…about navel level. I am sure we would all agree that ascending to your navel is not a major step forwards in human evolution!
© Chris Thomas 2010
Cygnus Review Magazine (Issue 10, Page 9, October 2010/Download & Share)
The Blog Post (Cygnus Review Blog…with the wrong author credited)
Town Tuesday: The Colonial Inn
1867
Image Credit: Rootsweb
The structure known today as the Colonial Inn was built on Lot 15 in 1838 as a hotel and was locally called Spencer’s Tavern […] but, was advertised as the Orange Hotel (a name which lasted into the 1880s). The structure was built for Isaac (Isaiah) Spencer (from Hyde County) who had purchased the property in late 1837. In 1841, Richardson Nichols purchased the property from Spencer and expanded the main structure. In 1856, Nichols sold the structure to the “Hillsborough Improvement Company” which consisted of Alfred, Henry and Cave Stroud.
Stroud family history has it that Henry’s wife (Sarah) saved the Inn from looting by Union troops by displaying her husband’s Masonic apron. Upon seeing the apron, a sympathetic Union officer, [whom] was a fellow Mason, protected the site from destruction.
1870
Image Credit: Rootsweb
William F. Strayhorn may have purchased or, at least, managed the business beginning in 1868 and, the property was purchased by local businessmen Henry N. Brown and Charles M. Latimer (who was also the county treasurer) in 1870. Brown and Latimer apparently lost the property through bankruptcy in 1872, with Strayhorn managing or operating the hotel until at least then. Perhaps related is that Strayhorn had been living in Twin Chimneys across the street from the hotel but, lost it due to financial problems in January 1869. [It] was purchased by David C. Parks in December 1872. In 1885, Parks sold the property to neighboring property owner Emily Pogue, who sold it back to Parks in 1888. [At] this time, it became known as the Occoneechee Hotel.
1890s
Image Credit: Rootsweb
In 1908, Thomas A. Corbin purchased the property and renamed the complex the Corbinton Inn. In 1921, W. L. Foushee […] purchased the property from a H. L. Akers and by 1924, renamed the hotel the Colonial Inn. In 1946, Paul Henderson purchased the property from Foushee […].
1915
Image Credit: Open Orange
During Henderson’s ownership, a “fine-dining” restaurant was added within the hotel structure. In December 1952, Charles and Ann Crawford purchased the property and business and, expanded the structure. They operated the business successfully until they, in turn, sold it to James and Maxine Freeland in 1969. The Freelands also expanded the structure and, continued the hotel and restaurant business at the location.
1960s
Photo Credit: Open Orange
It fell into disrepair for many years. When I moved to this town in 2011, it looked bad.
The good news is, new owners are re-building. ~Vic
Additional Information:
The Colonial Inn Hillsborough (Facebook)
Old Town Cemetery (Hillsborough Government Site PDF)
Colonial Inn (Open Orange)
The Colonial Inn 1838-1969 (Rootsweb)
The Colonial Inn: It’s History & Significance (World Now PDF)
Flashback Friday: Joplin Tornado 2011
Nine years ago, today, an EF5, multi-vortex tornado slammed into Joplin, Missouri. It formed at 5:34 pm CDT and dissipated at 6:12pm CDT. I remember this one, vividly. I had just moved back to North Carolina from Texas and was, literally, still unpacking. I was shocked at the devastation. ~Vic
[This] was part of a larger, late May tornado outbreak and reached a maximum width of nearly one mile […] during its path through the southern part of the city. This particular tornado was unusual in that it intensified in strength and grew larger in size at a very fast rate. The tornado tracked eastward across the city and, then, continued eastward across Interstate 44 into rural portions of Jasper County and Newton County. It was the third tornado to strike Joplin since May 1971.
[The] tornado killed 158 people (with an additional eight indirect deaths), injured some 1,150 others and caused damages amounting to a total of $2.8 billion. It was the deadliest tornado to strike the United States since the 1947 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes, and the seventh-deadliest overall. Along with the Tri-State Tornado and the 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado, it ranks as one of Missouri’s and America’s deadliest tornadoes […]. It was the first F5/EF5 tornado in Missouri since May 20, 1957 [and] was only the second F5/EF5 tornado in Missouri history dating back to 1950.
It also ranks as the costliest single tornado in U.S. history.
Additional Reading & Sources:
May Tornadoes Struck Joplin Twice in the 1970s (Joplin Globe)
Joplin Tornado (National Weather Service)
F5 & EF5 Tornadoes of the US (NOAA)
Tornado Damaged Joplin From Above (The Atlantic)
Joplin Tornado (Tornado Facts Site)
2011 Joplin Tornado (Wikipedia)
Mike Bettes Has A Hard Time
Snapshots Sunday: Pooh Bear
Stumpy-tailed Manx
05-14-2008
Pooh was not originally my cat. When the Marine and I moved to Texas, Pooh (the owners called him Oliver) lived three doors away. He was very friendly and walked the sidewalks like a person. The story we got from the owner was, he was purchased as a kitten for her son. Her son developed allergies to the cat so, she put him outside. He could get in and out of the garage and, had a sleeping pad on a bench on the front porch.
01-01-2008
He didn’t visit our house too much because we had Buddy. When we lost Buddy, he got closer and closer to the front door, unsure because he wasn’t allowed in his own home. One day, we opened the door and he walked in. We fed him some tuna and…he stayed. We taught him how to use the cat doors we already had and he returned to us every day. His previous owner, at this point, had re-married, had two more kids (plus the husband’s kid) and three dogs. I’m not sure they ever noticed.
01-24-2011
He didn’t look like an Oliver to us. My Marine made the remark that he looked like a little bear walking up the sidewalk. I immediately went to my childhood days and thought “Pooh!” He got a new name with his new home.
Pooh liked to watch TV.
02-25-2009
Poor Pooh had spine problems related to his stumpy tail. The entire time he was with us, he had spells…twice a day. Something in his spine would move or catch and he would howl in pain. Then, he would chase the pain…until he was dizzy. It was something bizarre to watch and you couldn’t miss the sound. Think Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil. When he regained his faculties, he would begin to groom as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately for me, some of those spells occurred in my lap. I still have scars…bless his heart.
He was our baby for three and a half years. He developed pancreatic cancer and had to be put down February 17, 2011. He was a character. When he wanted your attention and you weren’t fast enough, he made this sound of frustration that always reminded me of Number 5/Johnny Five from Short Circuit.
06-20-2009
Chris Thomas: No More Papering Over The Cracks
A Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files
Have you ever been faced with the job of re-decorating a room? You know what it’s like…you strip off the old wallpaper only to find that the plaster is full of cracks. This means either filling in the cracks or re-plastering with all the mess that entails. Well, this is what has been happening for the past months (or years) to everybody, either on a personal level, a government level or nationally.
These are the real symptoms of change. In order to become new, to find out who we truly are, we first have to demolish the old. This process of change we are undergoing requires that everything of the past is cleared out so that we can see the cracks that have been underlying our lives for some time. We cannot become what our potential demands as long as the world, and ourselves, are still layered over with the old paper, old ways of being, which covered up everything.
Through 2007, and particularly 2008, we have seen the removal of many layers of old paper, which have served to blinker our view of reality. As we entered 2009, the blinkers really began to come off and we started to realise that we, as individuals, have to take responsibility for our own lives. We can no longer rely on anyone or any institution to save us. Those who have turned to the ‘quick fix’ for their problems realised, at long last, that there cannot be a quick solution. We cannot just add another layer of wallpaper. We have to face the consequences of re-building from the foundations up.
Taking Positive Action
You know the kinds of conversations we have all had, where you come up with the answer:
“I know I should be doing (whatever it is) but,…”
Well, the result of all of this self-work is that the answer needs to be changed to:
“I know I should be doing (whatever it is) so, I am going to start doing it now.”
This is what the last couple of years have been about…removing the wallpaper and seeing the cracks underneath, to help us to realise that we can no longer paper over these cracks. We have to take positive action and positive action, now. We cannot wait until 2011 or even 2012. If we wait beyond 2009 to take action, we will not be able to make it as far as the end of 2011. This is what the energies for change truly mean. We need to put our own house in order, clear out old emotions, and ways of dealing with the people with whom we share our lives, before we can reach our higher levels of being. And, nobody is going to do it for us.
It’s a nice thought that there are legions of ‘angels’, ET’s or even well meaning ‘orbs’ out there who are going to step in and do all of the work for us. But, the reality is that, while they may be happy to show us what we need to do, it is we, ourselves, who need to do it. [In] that sense, we are on our own. This is our planet and it is our mess we need to clear up. There are those beings ‘out there’ who would love to come and help but, they cannot come and help until we have shown that we are capable of resolving our own problems by making our leap into full consciousness. Until we have made that leap, we are on our own. The two featured books (visible in the blog post as The Universal Soul and The Human Soul) can help you understand where you are in this process of change and how to move forwards.
Consciousness Reintegration
This full consciousness state is that which many have come to call ‘Ascension’ but, we need to remember that we are not actually ‘ascending’ anywhere. We are staying firmly rooted on the planet. What we are supposed to be doing is bringing the ‘Higher Self’ into the physical body. In so doing, we ‘ascend’ to higher levels of consciousness and understanding. Once we have achieved that, we will be greeted by every ‘angel, and ET in the Universe to congratulate us on a job well done. According to the Akashic, there are currently about two million people who have already achieved this full consciousness reintegration world-wide. The majority of these people live in tribal cultures in remote regions of the planet. They have achieved what we all set out to achieve on this amazing Earth. So, during 2009, the rest of us, in the ‘western world’, need to be taking the necessary steps to catch up with them. This can only be achieved by each individual taking responsibility for themselves and not putting off, ’til tomorrow, what they can do today.
© Chris Thomas 2009
[We are LONG overdue to clean up our own houses and evolve. ~Vic]
The Blog Post (Cygnus Review Blog…with the wrong author credited)
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Patrick Timpone: Chris Thomas Interview
This was Patrick Timpone‘s phone interview with Chris for the One Radio Network in Central Texas.
October 17, 2011
(Length: 00:59:59)
Ian Jones: Chris Thomas Interview #1
This was Ian Jones first phone interview with Chris for The Spirit Guides UK Radio Network.
September 1, 2011
(Length: 00:59:07)
Mark Chatterton: Chris Thomas Interview #2
This was Mark Chatterton‘s second phone interview with Chris for The Spirit Guides UK Radio Network. The first interview was posted last week.
May 14, 2011
(Length: 00:52:27)
Tune Tuesday: Let’s Hear It For The Boy 1984
Thirty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R & B charts (plus Cash Box) was Let’s Hear It For The Boy by Deniece Williams from the soundtrack of the movie Footloose. This was Williams second number one hit on the Billboard 100.
Composed by Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford, country singer Jana Kramer performed the song for the 2011 Footloose remake.
From Songfacts [no citations]:
This was the second single from the Footloose soundtrack, following the “title track,” which was recorded by Kenny Loggins. In the film, the song was used in a scene where Kevin Bacon tries to teach Christopher Penn how to dance and Penn is having a hard time.
Once the song was written, Pitchford asked Deniece Williams and her producer George Duke to record the song. Kenny Loggins was onboard for the title track, which gave the project credibility and, Williams loved the song and the story idea for the film. She grew up in a small Indiana town with a religious environment similar to the one described in Footloose. When she saw the film, she thought the scene where they used her song was incredible. “If I had come to the film without the music in and they asked me what segment I wanted my song to be in, I would have chosen that segment.” said Williams.
♡ Best Original Song Academy Award Nomination
♥ Best Pop Vocal Performance (Single) Grammy Nomination
♥ Best R & B Vocal Performance (Album) Grammy Nomination
Tune Tuesday: The Bellamy Brothers 1979
Forty years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot Country chart was If I Said You Have A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me by The Bellamy Brothers from Pasco County Florida. Written by David Bellamy, the song’s title is a reference to the Groucho Marx line from You Bet Your Life. Bellamy was fond of the show and Marx’s comment stuck with him.
Released in March, it was the second single from the album The Two and Only and their first #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, with Let Your Love Flow reaching #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in May of 1976. The title […] shown on the original single was “If I Said You Have a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me” but, on the album and subsequent releases, the title is shown as “… Had …”.
Lyrics
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I swore you were an angel, would you treat me like the devil tonight?
If I was dying of thirst, would your flowing love come quench me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
Now we could talk all night about the weather
Could tell you about my friends out on the coast
I could ask a lot of crazy questions
Or ask you what I really wanna know
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I swore you were an angel, would you treat me like the devil tonight?
If I was dying of thirst, would your flowing love come quench me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
Now rain can fall so soft against the window
Sun can shine so bright up in the sky
But Daddy always told me, “Don’t make small talk”
He said, “Come on out and say what’s on your mind”
So if I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I swore you were an angel, would you treat me like the devil tonight?
If I was dying of thirst, would your flowing love come quench me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I swore you were an angel, would you treat me like the devil tonight?
If I were dying of thirst, would your flowing love come quench me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
Tune Tuesday: Blondie 1979
Photo Credit: recort.nl
Forty years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was Heart of Glass by Blondie. Written by Harry and Stein in 1974-75, its working title was Once I Had A Love. The inspiration for its writing came from The Hues Corporation‘s song Rock the Boat.
From The Guardian:
Heart of Glass was one of the first songs Blondie wrote but, it was years before we recorded it properly. We’d tried it as a ballad, as reggae but, it never quite worked. At that point, it had no title. We just called it “the disco song”. Back then, it was very unusual for a guitar band to be using computerised sound. People got nervous and angry about us bringing different influences into rock. Although we’d covered Lady Marmalade and I Feel Love at gigs, lots of people were mad at us for “going disco” with Heart of Glass. There was the Disco Sucks! movement, and there had even been a riot in Chicago, with people burning disco records. Clem Burke, our drummer, refused to play the song live at first. When it became a hit, he said: “I guess I’ll have to.” The lyrics weren’t about anyone. They were just a plaintive moan about lost love. At first, the song kept saying: “Once I had a love, it was a gas. Soon turned out, it was a pain in the ass.” We couldn’t keep saying that, so we came up with: “Soon turned out, had a heart of glass.” We kept one “pain in the ass” in – and the BBC bleeped it out for radio. ~Debbie Harry
*************
As far as I was concerned, disco was part of R&B, which I’d always liked. The Ramones went on about us “going disco” but, it was tongue-in-cheek. They were our friends. In the video, there’s a shot of the legendary Studio 54, so everyone thought we shot the video there but, it was actually in a short-lived club called the Copa or something. I came up with the phrase “heart of glass” without knowing anything about Werner Herzog or his movie of the same name, which is a great, weird film. It’s nice people now use the song to identify the period in films and documentaries. I never had an inkling it would be such a big hit, or become the song we’d be most remembered for. It’s very gratifying. ~Chris Stein
An Oral History of Blondie
From CityBeat:
In season one, DJ Johnny Fever not only plays Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” on his broadcast but, home audiences actually hear him announce the band’s, and the song’s, names. It was fantastic promotion for the up-and-coming Blondie, whose huge breakthrough album, Parallel Lines (with other seminal singles like Hanging on the Telephone and One Way or Another), came out the same month WKRP in Cincinnati debuted. The band reportedly gave the show a Gold record plaque celebrating the album’s major sales numbers as a “Thank You” card. It can be seen in the background as set design on several episodes in later seasons.
From NPR:
Unlike many DJs from that era, Fever played punk as well as rock and soul. The range of music on the show gave this fictional radio station a better playlist than most of the era’s real ones. […] although the show helped break Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” big, the exception, in Fever’s case, was disco. “I asked him to play one disco record and he threatened to throw himself in front of Donna Summer‘s tour bus,” Travis complains in “Baby, If You’ve Ever Wondered,” from season two.
As of April 20, 2011, Heart of Glass is #259 of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Awards & Nominations
♦ Best Selling International Single (Juno 1980)
♦ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2006)
♦ Grammy Hall of Fame (2016)
Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
Once I had a love and it was divine
Soon found out I was losing my mind
It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
[Chorus]
In between
What I find is pleasing and I’m feeling fine
Love is so confusing, there’s no peace of mind
If I fear I’m losing you, it’s just no good
You teasing like you do
[Verse 2]
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
[Chorus]
Lost inside
Adorable illusion and I cannot hide
I’m the one you’re using, please don’t push me aside
We could’ve made it cruising, yeah
[Bridge]
Yeah, riding high
On love’s true bluish light
[Verse 3]
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass
Seemed like the real thing only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
[Chorus]
In between
What I find is pleasing and I’m feeling fine
Love is so confusing, there’s no peace of mind
If I fear I’m losing you, it’s just no good
You teasing like you do
Chris Thomas: 21st of December 2012
A Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files
Introduction
First of all, I have to say that I am not an expert on the Mayan Calendar. I am aware of the “epochs” and “rounds” of the Calendar but, not the workings of the “tuns” and “bactuns” that make the Calendar work. Having said that, the only date within the Mayan Calendar that seems to have captured everyone’s imagination, and concern, is that of the 21st of December 2012 (21/12/12 or 12/21/12 depending on which country you live in).
The Mayan Calendar is not the only ancient calendar that exists on the planet. The ancient Egyptians had their own calendar form but, this is largely lost to us as academics and “pyramidiots”, sorry Egyptologists, have kept it from non-specialist eyes. However, the Egyptian Calendar also notes a major shift in our existence towards the end of 2012. The Chinese also have their own calendar system going back at least 5,000 years. Their calendar is known in the west but, has been reduced to a fortune-telling tool – the I Ching. The I Ching also foretells of major changes at the end of 2012. There are a number of other ancient calendar systems from around the world but, most have been lost or have been deliberately destroyed to hide their contents away from the westernised world.
As far as the Akashic is concerned, the most important date occurred at the end of 2011. This was the completion of The Human Plan, which has been in operation for 7,000 years.
Background
Our solar system is unique in that it is the only place within our Universe where life exists at a level of energy compaction we call “physical”. In all other parts of our Universe, life exists at energy levels that are considered “non-physical” or “semi-physical”. I am not going to describe those states of being here as they are fully covered by my books and previous essays. Virtually all of the souls that exist in human form have originated from the non-physical or semi-physical regions of our Universe. In other words, their “soul origins” are not of this solar system but, have chosen to come to Earth to experience what it is to be physical.
There are souls whose soul origin is Earth but, they are outside of the scope of this essay.
Originally, every planet in our solar system supported physical life as well as a version of the life-forms we call human. 3.6 million years ago, this situation changed and the only planet within our solar system that continued to support life since then has been our Earth.
Life has continued on one of Jupiter’s moons but, that is outside of the scope of this essay.
The primary purpose of our solar system is to explore the possibility of developing and sustaining a form of life that is capable of containing the whole of a soul within it. On Earth, this life-form we know [is] Human Beings. Please note the capitol [sic] letters. Again, I am not going into the complexities of Human existence in this essay as that history is detailed in my books and previous essays.
The full state of being Human we achieved on Atlantis but, for various reasons, we destroyed that continent 65,000 years ago. Following the destruction, we returned to Earth 25,000 years ago and started again. At that time we were also a full Human, the whole of the soul within the physical body but, we began to lose our “higher” faculties. […] so, we developed a strategy for how we could explore the possibilities and potential that Earth presented and, also to find a way to achieve full Human status again. Essentially, the loss of our higher faculties amounted to a loss of some elements of the soul from the body. The strategy we developed was designed to help us find a way of re-merging the whole of the soul back into the physical.
This strategy we named “The Human Plan” and we began working with it 7,000 years ago.
The Human Plan
The definition of a Human Being is a “physical” being that contains the whole of the soul. By the time we put The Human Plan into operation, our souls were divided into two: the “physical self” and the “higher self”. This divided soul state meant that the Earth considered us to be “sub-human”. That is human with a small “h”. The Human Plan was very simple:
We would live a series of lifetimes experiencing all that there is to experience by being in a physical body living on a physical planet and, collectively, we would pool our gained knowledge until we found a way of returning the whole of the soul back into the body…become Human again. In order to achieve this, the Earth’s consciousness gave us a time limit of 7,000 years. That 7,000 year period finished on the 29th of October 2011.
At the same time as we set The Human Plan into action, all of the ancient calendar systems were begun. Given that most of these ancient calendars have been lost to us, in one way or another, the only one that remains is the Mayan Calendar.
The Mayan Calendar
The Mayan Calendar was actually begun 7,000 years ago but, it spans a time-frame of roughly 26,000 years. The basis of Mayan traditions is connected with the phases of development that our solar system underwent. Each stage required differing energy potentials and these potentials were supplied by our sun. Therefore, the Mayan Calendar records sun cycles and, according to Mayan traditions, we are approaching the end of the “5th Sun”. This means that we are leaving the current phase of energy requirements, supplied by our sun and, are about to enter into a new phase of development which requires a different combination of energy frequencies…a “6th Sun”.
In comparison with The Human Plan, the Mayan Calendar appears to be out of sync. The Human Plan came to its completion at the end of 2011 (according to the Akashic), whilst the Calendar comes to its completion on the 21st of December 2012. To understand this, we need to look at the Calendar as a whole. Again, I must state that I am no expert on the intricacies of the Calendar with only a basic understanding of its cycles. I am sure that there are many people reading this essay who have greater knowledge of the full workings of the Calendar, so, I apologise in advance if I have some of the detail wrong. My intention is to show some of the basic workings and put it into context within The Human Plan in relation to the 21st December.
We are used to using calendars in our daily lives as a means of counting off the days from the start of the year or of counting the days until an event is due to occur. The Mayan Calendar is different. It does count off the number of days but, it also contains predictive elements, in that it predicts cycles and major events known as “Epochs”. When the Calendar is worked backwards, it can be used to go backwards for many thousands, if not millions, of years and it has been shown to predict some events, in that those events occur at the end of the cycles built into the Calendar. These ends of cycles, or the markers of major events, are even more pronounced when the cycle marks the end of an Epoch.
To continue reading (it’s 4 pages), download the PDF version HERE.
[Note: This PDF was originally posted on the One-Vibration Forum Blog on December 11, 2012.]
