Television programmes

Just watched a BBC documentary- The Secret Life of Uri Geller- highly recommend it.

For anyone who doesnt know Gellar is a famous psychic- spoon bender, mind reader- in other words a classic parlour trickster. And there it should end- but he is also ridiculously rich and he didnt get that from tv and stage- he got that from at least 3 of the worlds biggest secret services- the British, the CIA and Mossad, as well as being employed for decades by oil companies to douse for oil.
Now whilst I have always been very, very skeptical of psychics and especially of those in showbiz its harder to imagine the hard edged worlds of international espionage and oil recovery keep using him and keep paying him vast sums if he doesnt produce the results they want.
I can see the US using him in the 60's- height of the cold war- the Russians were pushing propaganda claiming they had psychics on their side- so America needed some too. But to still use him decades on if there is nothing to it?


edit add- there is a moment where the Head of the Cia at the time is discussing why he took Uri on- he got a phone call from an agent who said as well as electro magnetic phenomenon Uri also saw stuff at a distance (remote viewing)- so the CIA Head said fine and picked up a book he had and said ask him tell me whats on my desk- Uri saw and drew what he called 'scrambled eggs' and the word 'architecture', he couldnt make any sense of it but the drawing was set to the Head of the CIA anyway- the page in the book had been about viral infection in the human brain with an illustration, the 'scrambled eggs' bit, and the CIA guy, in his own hand writing had written on the page as a note- architecture of the human brain. So obviously he hired Uri on the spot.
Now whilst this is amazing and all that, the point I wanted to raise was does any one else find it worrying the head of the CIA happened to have in his office and was studying an illustrated book on the human nervous system?  Sort of light reading you could imagine the Inquisition going in for.

The CIA is not exactly known for being rational in their objectives or wise about where they spend their money (see also: Bay of Pigs, Contras, drug trafficking, and numerous other misadventures).

oh yeah they've done loads of madcap things- but most of those were phases- subsequent heads of CIA have continued to hire Geller- as have Mossad and the UK secret service, not to mention the commercial companies who continue to employ him.
Government do these things because they are spending someone elses money- but commercial private companies are wasting their own so less likely to keep him on the books if he doesnt make them money.

Its also interesting to hear the scientists from the late 60's and 70's talk abut him- the head physicist who studied his spoon bending type skills saw it as a scientist- there was an observable phenomenon so there must be a physics explanation, interestingly he went on to say from the perspective of the modern world that it tied into what they had been studying at the time but which didnt yet have a name, but is now known as quantum entanglement and did not seem to be in any way dismissing Geller even still.

Some thought provoking stuff in this docu - they interviewed John Alexander a now retired US Army Colonel. But he used to run the US army.
He was in charge of research and development of non lethal stuff- so everything form pepper spray, ruber bullets and tazers up to what he calls 'the high end strategic incapacitation, how do you eviscerate the infrastructure of a nation state'.
With regard to the use of telekinesis he says people used to joke to him 'what are you going to do? Bend a tanks gun barrel?" to which he always replied, "No, just a bit of their computer.'
'I dont have to take them down, just make then unreliable. Because everything we have is based on computer models. If you can get them to the point where they dont trust those models anymore, and basically now everything is computers, that would be significant.'

There are hints of a whole other secret world in this docu- physicist involved in the original research speaking out on weird things- Geller was 'reactivated' following 9/11and remote viewing conferences were held- one of the physcists involved in the original experiments was against this as he says "You dont want terrorist cells targeting your remote viewers'.

A hidden psychic war (whether the psychic part is real or not is not relevant really, just everyone thinking it is will do) with terrorists and government agencies taking out each others remote viewers.
You Americans just up until the late 70's had spent over 20billion dollars on these projects- everything after that is classified but the very fact people like Geller were reacvitvated for events as recent as 9/11 ad the Iraq war is telling that the programs have not stopped.

Where is Halfwise when I needed him- the conclusion by the physics guys in the docu as to whether the phenomenon is real is to say that 'scifi used to be way out in front of physics, now physics is beginning to outstrip scifi' with a smile on his face- and the other one who was Head of the CIA scientists said 'from a theoretical perspective, in terms of Neurophysiology, electro-physiology and neurology, I could explain that whole thing, it would take me an hour to do it, but I can explain to you how synchronicitly quantum entanglement in the brain works, and I believe that one can construct a very coherent theoretical explanation for these things.- Dr Kit Green

Dave? Halfy? Like to take a stab at disentangling that last statement.

I'd guess he's suggesting that normal brain function uses coupled quantum pairs to interact instantaneously in different parts of the brain at once.  He's then suggesting that if this can happen within one brain, it's not theoretically impossible for two or more brains to be quantum entangled so that in some way they function as if they were one, communicating thought over distance instantaneously.

I'd be surprised if he can really "explain to you how synchronicitly quantum entanglement in the brain works" in a rigorous way though.  As I understand it quantum entanglement is demonstrable in the laboratory with subatomic particles, but you're wandering into the  hypothetical realm when you start talking of macro effects such as brain function.  I think that's what he's implying when he says "from a theoretical perspective...."

But then exploring extreme hypotheses is exactly what top research scientists do.  It's not surprising that the government is betting on some long-shots. You can never tell when one will pay off.

That's my 2 cents. Let's see what Halfwise makes of it.

{{Edit: why are you asking a farmer these kinds of questions anyway?   Nothing to do with manure or vegetables that I can figure.  }}

Farmers are revered in Scotshobbitland Dave- farmers built the great stone circles because nobody more needed a reliable calendar, farmers worked out cross pollination, animal husbandry and breeding for traits, they understood about nutrients in soil and when to leave ground fallow, what would help soil recover and make it better for growing, they were first to learn of ecology and the consequences of things like over grazing, soil depletion and they are allowed to shout "Get off my land!" at strangers whilst pointing a shotgun.
Oh yes, a farmer is always a good person to ask.  

Farmer Maggot had some serious skillz  

talking of taking down bits of computer, I wonder if thats what happened to loony boys missile in North Korea? when it blew up on launch.

You never know- I am seriously starting to wonder- one of the things mentioned in the doc regarding Uri was Mossad using him during a major hijacking event in the late 70's- bunch of Jews taken hostage in aeroplane and held on a runway- the Israeli airforce managed to turn up without giving any warning by knocking out the radar stations in neighbouring countries (including Egypt) along the route- allegedly that was Uri's part in it.
Its very weird to hear military personal talk about such things not as possibilities, or as some other worldly thing, but merely as another part of an operation that happened.

Another thing to consider is the value of bluffing in Spy vs. Spy poker game.  If you can convince the other side that there's even a chance you've got a new move, they'll spend their resources on trying to counter it.

So if a line of new research doesn't seem to be panning out,  sometimes it could make sense to allow it to be leaked with a little misinformation added. If it confuses your opponent it can be just as effective as if it had succeeded. 

Think about alien technology and Area 51. It turned out to be a perfect smokescreen for the development of stealth aircraft.

I'm just pointing out that when you're trying to ferret out the truth from top secret government programs, you need to always consider that these people are grand masters of head-games and misinformation....

karl Sandburg said that

"kate"
"yes dear?"
"my robot friend Carl tried on 1 of ur flats n said its a perfect fit.. can he keep it?"
"sure dear"
*winks at Carl*
*hi5's Carl*

An episode of Press Gang that stuck with me a long time after it first aired.
Although the drama might be spoilt somewhat for Americans by Spikes 'accent'.

The Legend of Korra returns to TV in only two days, after 15 months off the air between seasons!



Newest trailer on Nick.com

The Legend of Korra is the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, an animated TV series that ran on Nickelodeon from 2005-2008. I know there is at least one other fan of the show who still posts here because Queen Tin tried to warn me about the disastrous live-action movie adaptation when it came out. However, the show itself is a fantastic piece of TV animation that manages to transcend its channel of origin (despite a some fairly kiddy moments early on) and tell a great fantasy adventure story. The show blends Eastern and Western styles of animation as well as drawing on East Asian history, spirituality, and martial arts to create a fantasy setting that is very unlike what you normally see from the genre. I had some reservations about the first season of Korra, which is a sequel set 70 years after Avatar, but I'm still really looking forward to the show's return.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Where is Halfwise when I needed him- the conclusion by the physics guys in the docu as to whether the phenomenon is real is to say that 'scifi used to be way out in front of physics, now physics is beginning to outstrip scifi' with a smile on his face- and the other one who was Head of the CIA scientists said 'from a theoretical perspective, in terms of Neurophysiology, electro-physiology and neurology, I could explain that whole thing, it would take me an hour to do it, but I can explain to you how synchronicitly quantum entanglement in the brain works, and I believe that one can construct a very coherent theoretical explanation for these things.- Dr Kit Green

Dave? Halfy? Like to take a stab at disentangling that last statement.

Halfwise is usually too busy in July to be on the forum.

As far as quantum entanglement and esp and stuff, I say it's largely bunk. Entanglement is a very fussy thing, easily disturbed and the signal lost. Our brains are too complicated and messy for this kind of thing IMHO. Almost as bad as saying squirrels must be nuclear powered because they never run out of energy - way ahead of the curve in physics, we could learn so much from them.  

halfwise wrote: squirrels must be nuclear powered because they never run out of energy - way ahead of the curve in physics, we could learn so much from them. 

Wow! That explains so much! 

Last night I was sitting at the computer, trying to ignore the scampery creature noises that have been in my house since my cat disappeared, when I felt something on my foot.

I looked down to see a squirrel standing on my sock with his hands on my shin, looking up at me expectantly as if to say, "Can I use the computer when you're done? I need to check email."

Cheeky little creatures!

thats so cute  

Does anyone here watch Breaking Bad? I just got caught up with last week's episode. What a cliffhanger!

And only three episodes left in the series now!

I've heard a ton about it and my brother got on the hype train about a year ago so I finally watched the first season last week. I gotta be honest, I wasn't actually that impressed. I mean, it was good and entertaining, but by no means mindblowing. I'm told the first season is atypical of the show, though, and I know it was cut short by the writer's strike so I'm going to give the second season a shot soon.

So I watched the season premiere for The Legend of Korra on Friday.  I had some problems with the first season, and there was some stuff that bugged me about the premiere of the new season too.  Particularly with character development, since the main character seems to have learned nothing from her experiences last season.  But there's still lots to like about the show and the world, and especially the art and the music.

Here's my description of the show from the last page.

Eldorion wrote:The Legend of Korra returns to TV in only two days, after 15 months off the air between seasons!



Newest trailer on Nick.com

The Legend of Korra is the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, an animated TV series that ran on Nickelodeon from 2005-2008.  I know there is at least one other fan of the show who still posts here because Queen Tin tried to warn me about the disastrous live-action movie adaptation when it came out. However, the show itself is a fantastic piece of TV animation that manages to transcend its channel of origin (despite a some fairly kiddy moments early on) and tell a great fantasy adventure story.  The show blends Eastern and Western styles of animation as well as drawing on East Asian history, spirituality, and martial arts to create a fantasy setting that is very unlike what you normally see from the genre.  I had some reservations about the first season of Korra, which is a sequel set 70 years after Avatar, but I'm still really looking forward to the show's return.

Two episodes of Breaking Bad left! This last episode was really sad. Really hard to watch at points. The last two episodes have really been an emotional roller coaster.

There's still time to get caught up before the final episode!  

Im half way through the US version of House of Cards with Kevin Spacey- usually I dont have very high exceptions at US conversions of UK hits- but this is one works and is good in its own right.
It also looked in style to me very like a modern BBC production, particularity Sherlock- I wonder if thats an influence of Spacey seeing as he has been running one of UKs theaters most reputable and historic venues for a good few years now and living here.

I had some reservations about House of Cards, but I very much enjoyed the show and am looking forward to the second season. I also watched a little bit of the UK version on Netflixl and enjoyed that as well. I was really impressed by how much better House of Cards was then most US TV productions. I suspect part of that was (aside from the budget) because all of the episode directors have helmed at least one feature films, including David Fincher who directed the first two episodes.

I didn't know that Kevin Spacey had worked as an artistic director in theatre, that's pretty cool. He was fantastic in this role.

He has been the Director of the Vic (Londons oldest and theatre since 2003, received several BAFTA awards, and starred in several productions including Shakespeare plays- he is very much a 'luvvie'  )
I thought there was quite a noticeable UK influence in this in terms of style. If someone told had me BBC4 had made it I would not have questioned it.