7/10/07: The last week has been filled with bright lights. From the blue jets of the newly posted Inner Ionosphere Report, to the shining faces at the Worcester Academy Alumni Office, to the incendiary inspiration of Boston's extraordinary 4th of July fireworks celebration, accompanied by the brilliance of the Boston Pops (w/ special guest John Mellencamp). I haven't been blown away by a fireworks display in a very long time. Boston's twenty-five minute extravaganza included fireworks that created numbers, cubes, and smiley faces when the Sesame Street theme was being played. I never knew this could be done with fireworks. Those of you who have been following along know from pictures posted in the previous Trail Tale that I am staying with a high school friend, Lee, whose rooftop deck overlooks the Hatshell (where the Boston Pops play on the 4th) and the Charles River (with an unobstructed view of the fireworks barge).
A friend from this area, Wayne, joined us. Wayne and I share a long history of social activism going back to when we both were working for the MASSPIRG canvass (a door-to-door fundraising and educational project addressing environmental and social policy issues). Wayne was gracious enough to give the new UBtheNEWS pamphlet a thorough reading and critique. She came up with a number of great suggestions that will soon be incorporated into a reworking of that instrument for outreach. (Yes, Wayne is a woman's name in this case. Really, no stranger than having the name Halbert. No wonder we've remained friends for so long.) I'm going to say that by the end of the month, and probably within the next ten days, her suggestions will definitely be incorporated. (Pardon for me using the Trail Tale section to light a fire under my butt. I'm a sucker for inspirational/motivational tools.)
So while I'm at it. . .
This month will also include the completion of a new report on human sensitivity to the earth's magnetic force. The summary for this topic has already been posted.
UBtheNEWS will also have a new section added to the home page within the next week or so. This section will provide updates on the Adamson Project. As some of you may know from reading The Adamson Project: A Case Study in "Get a clue; then FOLLOW IT!", this project was the original inspiration for the creation of UBtheNEWS. Because the introduction of that section will include the wonderful unfolding of events from the last week that relate this project, I will not go into those details here.
I spoke with Polly Friedman from Newport, Rhode Island this last week about attending a study group at her place on July 15th. If anyone from the area is interested in attending, get in touch.
Polly mentioned that Pato Banton is playing at the Ocean State Reggae Festival in Charleston, RI on July 21st. Pato is a longtime Urantia Book reader. When I checked out Pato's website, I saw that he was playing the night before in Cambridge, MA. When I was in college during the early eighties, I saw more music at this venue than anywhere else. On the 22nd he's playing in Wellfleet. This is the town on Cape Cod where I visited a college friend's summer home when I first came to New England in June.
It is interesting to note that Pato was in town about ten days after I first conceived of coming out to New England to get in touch with former Iranian classmates from high school about the Adamson Project. Attending the worship service led by Pato led to a conversation with Shoshone that led to getting introduced to a whole community of Iranians in the Colorado area. So now here I am ten months late actually doing it and guess who shows up to play the celebratory music in this swirling vortex of positive vibrations!
If anyone in the area is interested in attending any of these shows and wants to get in touch, please feel free to do so. Tell your friends. Let's see how many people we can get to these shows!
Rock on!
Halbert
7/21/07: I attended Polly Friedman's study group in Newport, Rhode Island last Sunday. She forwarded me the announcement that she sent out to "her people" afterwards. Here is the UBtheNEWS-related section of that email, including the graphic. (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of that event.): "A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO HALBERT Katzen from Boulder ,CO. FOR SHOWING US HOW THE URANTIA COMMUNITY CAN JOIN HANDS TO SPREAD THE UB MESSAGE! Our unique Newport "study group" meeting Sunday was very successful with 13 Attendees if we include Peter who was kind enough to drop in with his camcorder. Even if he could have stayed , there was standing room only in Polly's small apartment. A big thank you to those guests who came from long distances- Halbert K. and Paul Anderson from Boston, Al Aldo & Lou B. from New Hampshire and Paul and Jorgey Krupa from Assonet, Mass. After Halbert's excellent presentation demonstrating the purpose and use of his web site, everyone enjoyed a delicious buffet supper and had a chance to socialize. Other attendees were our regular ladies: Anne, Karen, Helene, Susan and Polly and our own Bill Rosenberg from Hope! (Yes, he really comes from that city!)"
Twenty-five years ago, when I was attending college in the Boston area, my favorite band was called Right Time. (I actually ended up helping them produce their second recording project.) Right Time used to play regularly at a club called the Western Front. So naturally, that was my most frequented and favored nightclub. From going to Right Time shows I met another big fan of the band, Laurie Goldsmith. Laurie and I became good friends during that time period, but over the years we lost touch.
At the end of last summer, about ten days after having conceived of the UBtheNEWS project as a way to support my desire to contact Iranian classmates from high school about looking for Adamson's civilization, Pato Banton
showed up in Boulder, Colorado to play a show at the Fox Theater. His attendance at a Urantia worship service led to an early and very nice start on my efforts to contact Iranians in support of the Adamson Project. (You can read more about that at the
Adamson Project Journal.)
So here I am in New England ten months later and Pato is playing at the Western Front about ten days after I made my first visit to the Worcester Academy alumni office to look up my Iranian high school classmates.
What does all this have to do with Laurie Goldsmith?
Well, as you probably already guessed, I met Laurie at the show. Hadn't seen or talked to her in about fifteen years or so. But I didn't meet her in the audience. No. Laurie is now the guitar player in the band that Pato is currently touring with! Mere coincidence? I don't think so.
Laurie pointed out to me that Right Time's first album is still hanging in the display case at the Western Front after all these years, as you can see from the picture! What you cannot see from the picture is that the Western Front does have some memorabilia up on the walls in display cases, but not that much considering how long they have been in business and all the acts that have come through there over the last three plus decades.
It really makes you wonder, doesn't it? Just how big is God's plan? How does Spirit orchestrate all this wonderful synergy over such long periods of time (long, at least, from a mere mortal's perspective)? I don't know. But they are rich experiences and I am very grateful for them!
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Jonathan, Pato, Halbert, and Paul
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Paul Anderson, who was on the boat when Robert Sarmast did his first expedition, showed up at the show. His friend, John, also came along with his girlfriend, Susan (who is standing behind the camera). My friends Lee, Wayne and Al and Wayne's friend, John stopped by the club. But they managed to get away before any pictures were taken. So we ended up having quite a nice collection of friends together for the evening.
Speaking of music, I also had the extreme pleasure of seeing one of my favorite musicians from Boulder play out here a couple nights before Pato's performance. Jerry Joseph was in a band called Little Women when I first moved to Boulder in 1987. He's now playing as Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons. I've been listening to him and playing his music ever since. I had a chance to give him a copy of the UBtheNEWS pamphlet. I met several other people there who also, of course, ended up learning about the UB and UBtheNEWS.
Rock on!
Halbert
7/31/07: Well. . . let's start with the good news. You already have a pretty good idea of what the bad news is (actually, you have no idea, but we'll get to that later).
The month of July ended with my first trip to the Urantia Foundation headquarters! I arrived after the 900+ mile drive with forty-five minutes to spare. As you can imagine from the picture on the home page, I got a bit dirty on the way out. So it was really satisfying to park across the street from 533 Diversey Parkway, close up the drapes, and take a shower. Sometimes having a home on wheels comes in really handy!
I wanted to get there by 5 o'clock because I heard that some people meet then to have dinner before the study group. Bill Martin and I ended up going out for dinner with his son. (Thanks again for dinner, Bill!) Bill lives in the carriage house behind 533 and takes care of the maintenance issues. He's been around 533 since the early days and it was wonderful to get his perspective on things. (One of these days I am going to remember to take a camera with me to study groups.) But at least I remembered to take a shot of the outside of the building, or should I say of the tree in front of the building. Nice tree. Normally I like trees just fine. I'm sure this one provides excellent shade and privacy when people want to sit out on the deck. Nonetheless, I wish it wasn't there.
The study group was attended by eight of us. There was a couple there from Florida who dropped in and a few of the locals. I saw Ken there (sorry I don't know his last name, but he used have really long hair back when I had really long hair). I hadn't seen him since the conference in Maine back in 1987. I think he handles some of the computer logistics?
So that's how the last ten days ended. This portion started with a trip down to Warwick, RI to see an old friend and then to Vermont for five days of camping with some of my oldest friends from college. Or at least everyone else was camping. I brought my home with me.
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Marius and Susan Sznajderman
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Matomifest, as the event is called, is held yearly on 65 acres of undeveloped land in southern Vermont that was bought by Marius and Sue Sznajderman (don't hurt yourself; it's pronounced like "Schneiderman") about 45 years ago for their children, Marco, Tobi and Michael. Hence the name Matomi for the land and fest for the occasion. When Tobi transferred colleges back in 1982, she decided to have a party up on the land after the spring semester ended as a nice way to say a long good-bye. We had so much fun that we thought it would be nice to get together at the end of the summer before the fall semester.
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That started a tradition that lasted for about six years. By then most everyone was out of college and it evolved to a once-a-summer event. The banner behind Marius and Susan says: "Thanks for 25 years of great times!" and "Let the wild rumpus begin!" Everyone pitched in to get Tobi and her hubby, Joel, a travel voucher for a trip to Hawaii (or wherever) as a little way of saying thanks for 25 great years of wild rumpuses (rumpusing?, whatever). To be sure, a good time was had by all. Being in Boulder for the last twenty years, I hadn't been to Matomifest in about five years, so it was great to get back. Being on a mission from God seems to have some nice extras built into the plan.
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From Matomifest I headed to Phil Taylor's home for a little mini study group. He actually lives about fifteen miles from where Matomifest is held. It was a wonderful way to cap off the weekend and the farmland that Phil lives on is extraordinarily beautiful as you would be able to tell from the pictures had I taken any.
After spending Sunday night in Springfield, MA, I headed out in the morning to New York to pick up my cousin who lives in the Bronx. His brother lives in Chicago and his father lives in Wichita, which is his ultimate destination for his travels with me. Do to various blah blah blah type stuff, we didn't get on the road until late afternoon. I took the first evening shift of driving while David got some rest. Then at about 1am, just as I was starting to get some sleep, BOOM! the back right tire blows completely out.
Changing a tire on a motor home at 1am on the side of the interstate goes a lot better with two people. And that's all I have to say about that.
By the time we got it changed and got a little further down the road, it was time for both of us to get some sleep. In the morning I started driving. After about an hour BOOM! the back right tire blows out again! As you can well imagine, putting on the spare tire was not an option at that point. Fortunately, it blew about 200 yards from a rest stop that had gas and food and such like that, but no repair services. Fortunately, both of the rims survived the ordeals. Fortunately, it didn't take even an hour for a service truck to show up with two new tires. Unfortunately, the cost ended up being $460. Any angels out there want to make that cost disappear?
Happy trails,
Halbert
8/10/07: August 1st will go down in UBtheNEWS history as one of the truly great days. Since setting out on this adventure, I've been telling people that one of the main reasons for my travels around the country was to meet in person with researchers whose work has corroborated The Urantia Book and who are on the cutting edge of future corroborations. In fact, I've been very busy with getting an initial body of work done so that I could make a reasonably good first impression when I arrived at Worcester Academy to begin the process of looking up Iranian classmates from high school regarding the Adamson Project. So after seven months of saying that I was going to be meeting with researchers, but not meeting with any, I was getting a little uncomfortable with my assertions about what I was doing.
I'm happy to report that those days are behind us now.
Those of you who have been following along with the Trail Tales know that the last installment covered my departure from New England to head back across the country with my cousin from the Bronx and that our first stop, after two flat tires, was Chicago, where I went to the Urantia Foundation for the first time and attended a study group. If you have been following along really, really closely and have an extraordinary ability to keep track of details, then you know that one the very best corroborations of The Urantia Book relates to genetics research paralleling the Adam and Eve story that was done out of the University of Chicago. My cousin and I planned for a two-night stay in Chicago, which meant that I had a day free to go to the university to look up these researchers (totally unannounced, of course).
Before I get into the details let me start out by saying that this day went extremely well!
Bruce Lahn, who works in the genetics department, was the senior researcher for that study. Patrick Evans and Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov worked with him while they were in the process of getting their PhD's (my understanding is that both of them have now completed their degrees). Richard Hudson, who works in the zoology department, was another one of the lead researchers. Bruce Lahn and Richard Hudson were out of their offices when I arrived in the morning. So I left notes for them about why I had stopped by, along with the pamphlet introducing UBtheNEWS and a business card. Naturally, I was not going to just assume that they would not be in later, so I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon doing additional research at the library, hoping that they would show up later.
When I returned to the zoology department I found Richard at his office and he had just finished reviewing the material that I had left for him. Apparently, this literature made a good enough first impression because he seemed very inclined to take the time to hear more about what I was up to. We ended up talking for about forty-five minutes. He was very gracious in helping me get a better understanding of their research and how to use it more effectively for my own applications. I got so wrapped up in the talking to him about the research he had done that corroborates the Adam and Eve report that I don't think I even mentioned that I had just finished up the Magnetic Sensitivity report. He would probably find this to be very intriguing because it relates not only to human sensitivity to the earth's magnetic field, but also the sensitivity of other animals. The good news is that this provides me an excellent reason to get in touch with him.
After speaking with Richard, I went back to the genetics department to see if I could find Bruce Lahn. Bruce was not there, but there was someone in his office suite who informed me that he had been in earlier and was expected to return. Richard told me that Patrick Evans and Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov were both PhD candidates at the time they did the research. So when I saw their names on the mail boxes inside the office, I asked if I could leave notes for them. It didn't take long before I came to realize that the person who let me into the office was Nitzan Mekel-Bobrov, who had just recently completed his PhD. He was on his way out, so I left a note for Patrick and then gave Nitzan the scoop as I walked with him to where he needed to go on campus.
When I got back to Bruce Lahn's office he had already returned. Having reviewed the information I left, he was happy to talk with me about how I had made use of his work. Bruce and I hit it off quite well. He was especially interested in what I had to say about humanely dealing with the genetics issues that we face as a planet. He was shocked to hear me suggest the type of measures he was planning on writing about in an upcoming article. After we spoke for about forty-five minutes, he had to end our visit because of a 4:30 appointment. But he said he otherwise would have been very interested in continuing our conversation and encouraged me to stay in touch.
There is no way to describe the satisfaction I felt by the end of the day, especially considering that I arrived unannounced! I am delighted to report that my first foray into meeting with scholars who have corroborated information in the UB went so well and I very much look forward to continuing those relationships and building new ones.
From Chicago my cousin, David, and I made our way down to Wichita to drop him off at his father's house. I spent two evenings at my Uncle Al's. I had not seen him and his wife, Dixie, in quite a long time and it was an absolutely wonderful reunion. Al and Dixie, who have a motor home, passed along a 12 volt fan that has already been making summer travel in a small motor home much more comfortable.
I'm normally not one to talk much about food, but I have to say the meal they took me out for at place called The Bonefish Grill was fantastic! And the brisket I was sent off with on my way down to Oklahoma City was a real treat, too. Thanks Al and Dixie! And thanks again to David for being an awesome travel companion for 1500 miles and making two flat tires a much easier experience to deal with!
I also want to say a special "Thank You!" to Chris. I needed some work done on the van while I was in Wichita and Chris came through like an angel from heaven, saving me a lot of time and money. He was extremely interested in the UB and I left him a copy. Having taken some college courses in geology, the Pangaea to Plate Tectonics issue was especially intriguing to him. I must say, when I heard the word pangaea coming out of the mouth of 19 year old care mechanic, I was floored!
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April, Halbert, and Robert
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Oklahoma City was a wonderful experience. I spent two nights at the home of April and her husband, Robert. (I also want to say "Hi" to Chad, who is standing behind the camera. He's a friend of April's and was at her yoga studio when I first arrived and right as I was leaving. He's a wonderfully talented artisan.)
April's yoga studio is draws an awesome clientele from the OKC area. It's in a very hip little section of the city. She also does massage and I was smart enoungh/lucky enough to be able to work out a little trade with her. (She took a case of my first book, The Logic of Love, to use promotionally in her store!) April does her own special blend of Thai massage along with other bodywork wisdom she's learned along the way. No kidding, she has a serious talent for what she does. Absolutely, the best overall bodywork I've ever had done and after about 10,000 miles of traveling in a small motor home, this body needed it. She tends to be very booked up with massage appointments, so if you're planning to be in the area and want to schedule a massage, get on it early or you won't have a chance. Her reputation is well established and for very good reason!
I led a study group at the home of Tom and Karen Allen. We've been seeing each other for decades at conferences, so it was especially satisfying to do a study group of this nature in their home. Unfortunately, I didn't make plans early enough to schedule leading a study group at Charlene's, but I hope to do so when I travel back through OKC later this winter.
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Some youthfully spirited folks at Tom Presson's study group.
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From OKC I headed back to Boulder where I got in town just in time to attend Tom Presson's study group. There were about twenty people there and it was great to see the Boulder crowd right away upon my return from New England. (Seeing the Boulder folk actually started as soon as I got into town. I stopped at a store to replace the earpiece for my cell phone and bumped into Kay Nuissl.) A bunch of the UBYouth crowd showed up at Tom's study group because they were in town visiting Shane up in Nederland.
More on that in the next Trail Tale. . .
Happy trails,
Halbert
8/20/07: Returning to Boulder has set in motion my busiest month of presentations so far. During the period from August 14 to September 13 I will lead nine study groups and do two non Urantian presentations in three states!
When I first arrived in Boulder, I looked up a gentleman who tried to recruit me out of law school, Sina Simantob.Sina is Iranian and seems to be one those people I was led to in relationship to the Adamason Project. He is an extraordinarily wonderful person who has created quite a cultural hub in a beautiful historic school building that he renovated. From this location he hosts the Highland City Club, an organization of business professionals. Sina was gracious enough to invite me to do a presentation for his group and offer me a place to park my motor home while I was in town.
Interestingly, the only reason I did not want to take a job with Sina was because I had started writing my first book, The Logic of Love, and I knew I would be too distracted by that project to give him the time and attention that the job would require. My impression of him was so good that I couldn't stand the thought of not being able to give him my best. The choice to stay focused on the book has a peculiar relationship to the UBtheNEWS project. The Adamson Project: A Case Study in "Get a clue; then FOLLOW IT!" will tell you more about that. (If you haven't read this story, trust me, it's much more interesting than the Trail Tales.)
Mid August in Boulder was absolutely beautiful and started off with a wonderful outing with some of the UBYouth folks who were in town. (They are so kind to let me hang out with them in spite of my advancing years. God bless you one and all!) After congregating at Shane's place up in the mountains outside of Nederland, we embarked on a great hike to a gorgeous mountain stream, complete with waterfalls and swimming holes. I headed up from Boulder with January; it was great to see her right after seeing her sister, April, in Oklahoma City. January has shared the UBtheNEWS vision with me since the beginning so it's always especially nice to spend time with her whenever I get back to Boulder.
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I managed to play a couple open mike nights while I was in town. They both went well. At the second one I played all original material. I think it was the first time I had ever done that. The musician who played ahead of me, who also played a Yamaha guitar, was particularly inspiring as far as playing originals goes. Before long I should get a final mix done on a song I recorded before hitting the road, Please Pass the Love. I'll post it once it's finally mixed down.
Jesus's birthday celebration was held on the 18th at Batasso Park, a short way up Boulder Canyon.
I headed up there with Lynn Goodwin and Shoshone. I also drove to Jesus's birthday celebration with them last year, right when UBtheNEWS was in its earliest stage of visionary development. This was before I started selling everything off, buying the motor home, etc. Again, as with January, it was a wonderful way to mark time and appreciate how far this project has come in twelve months. As you can see from the picture, we were graced with a beautiful, low in the sky rainbow.
Thanks Michael!
Namaste,
Halbert
8/31/07: The last eleven days of August were quite extraordinary. I did four study groups in three states. This included my first presentation for a group that was not associated with The Urantia Book. I'm also very happy to report that $140 in contributions was donated, bringing the total to $195 for the month; this is more than was contributed in the first six months of the project. I hope it's a sign of the times!
Much thanks also goes to all the people who fed me! Defraying expenses is just as important as cash contributions.
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Historic Highland Bldg and Exquisite Renovation
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The presentation I did to a non Urantia group was at the Highland City Club, an organization of business professionals in Boulder, CO. This event was organized as soon as I got to Boulder and was open to the public. Unfortunately, I originally thought it was just for members and so I didn't invite people until the day before it was scheduled. I was not in Boulder very long so people in that organization only had about two weeks notice. And not surprisingly, late August is not a great time to get people's attention.
However, of the five guests two were from the City Club and did not previously know about The Urantia Book.
The organizer of the event, Douglas, was very impressed with what he learned and wants to organize another event the next time I am in Boulder. That should be around late October and with the advance notice I'll be able to give him, hopefully we'll have much better attendance next time. Because it was a small group, Douglas broke out a delicious bottle of organic wine, some very tasty cheeses, and other treats.
Alexia Parks, the woman from Highland City Club who attended ended up coming to the study group that Friday where Chris Halvorson leads. I understand she has also shown up a second time. She is an author and an especially interesting person who, among other things, promotes improvements in the democratic process. More can be learned about Alexia and her work at rapidevolution.org/.
The next night I did a study group in south Denver and the folks there ended up contributing $100! They had a projector and wireless service so that I could project the website up on the wall and use it as an education tool during the presentation. This was the first time I was able to do that and I am most definitely hooked on the value that is created by the use of this technology. So I've been looking for a projector. I was able to buy a screen yesterday for $5 through craigslist.com, a free online bulletin board. But projectors are very pricey (minimum of $600 new for the lowest, and probably inadequate, quality) and a little hard to find used, so that has not come together just yet. The idea of getting one has also inspired me to put together a Powerpoint presentation for when internet service is not available. I haven't started that yet, but will very soon. When it is done, I'll post it so that everyone can put it to use.
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After the very inspiring study group, I went directly to a Pato Banton concert that was also right down there in south Denver. This means that Pato and I have crossed paths right after I conceived of this whole project (which was inspired by reconnecting with Iranian classmates Worcester Academy, where I went to high school, who might be able to help locate Adamson's civilization), right after I visited Worcester Academy in New England I saw Pato playing at my favourite night club from when I was a college student in that area, and then again right after I returned to Colorado from New England.
Let the music play!
At the concert Pato learned for the first time that the guitar player in the band that he used in New England was a friend of mine from twenty years ago who I had been out of touch with since 1987 (see the 7/21 Trail Tale for the all the incredible details related to that encounter).
The following Saturday was Chris Riggio's 50th birthday party! Happy birthday, Chris! As some of you may know, Chris acts as ground support for my UBtheNEWS adventure and also graciously stores all the personal belongs that I couldn't (or didn't want to) sell off before I hit the road. Unfortunately, I had a study group planned in Salt Lake City the next day at 2pm, which is about a nine-hour drive.
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Revelation revelers at Chris' party
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Fortunately, I did get this great picture of Chris before I took off in the early part of that evening. It was definitely one of those trips where having a comfortable vehicle to pull over at any time and sleep in was absolutely necessary for getting there safely.
The study group at Rita Gumm's in Salt Lake City went very well. Richard Keeler, a trustee of the Urantia Foundation, was in attendance. It's always good when Urantian leadership gets a first hand look at what I'm doing. This group was also very generous with their financial and food support. Much thanks to everyone in attendance that day!
From Salt Lake City I headed up the next day to Pocatello, Idaho. About twenty miles south of Pocatello, and just about ten miles off the highway, is a wonderful hot springs that is run by the state. Just five dollars for a whole day of soaking in water that has a most excellent reputation for its mineral content and therapeutic purposes! After the long night of driving to Salt Lake City, this came at the right time.
Bob Divine, who I had met at the ALL conference at Unity Village on my way out to New England, allowed me to park at his place while I was in the area for several days. I was able to get a lot of work done in the nice, cool second living room of this basement with the help of his wonderfully wireless internet connection.
The first night I spent there we went to see Peaceful Warrior. He's part of a group that helps bring in inspirational films and meets for potlucks before the movie. It's a fantastic movie, highly recommended. There were about eight people at the potluck, who all got a brief explanation of my work and took business cards so that they could check it out in more detail later. One gentleman was so impressed by what he heard that he showed up at the study group a couple days later!
His presence brought the attendance at the Pocatello study group up to an even dozen. Much thanks goes to Virginia Kelly for getting the word out effectively, making this one of the best-attended presentations so far! She was also very kind to buy me dinner when a half dozen of us met at Sizzler's prior to the study group. Thanks Virginia!
Can you believe all this happened in just the last third of the month! Welcome to my world. Oh, and there's more. . .
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Apparently, all that was happening was so exciting that the Halbertcicles couldn't resist getting in on the deal with the first full-fledged expression of two Halbertcicles growing in one ice cube! This occurred at the home where I was living three and a half years ago when they started growing with great and spectacular regularity. Much thanks goes to Kem Stralka for letting me stay there while he and his housemate were out of town. Kem had requested that I leave some Halbertcicles for him in the freezer. Obviously, the Halbertcicles wanted to grant his request in the extreme. This is not too surprising because Kem is not only a big fan of the Halbertcicles, he also has a great love for The Urantia Book and has offered me more musical support and encouragement than anyone else in my life. He will soon finish up mixing down the first song I ever recorded with full band instrumentation (Kem plays drums). It's called: Please Pass the Love. As soon as he's finished, I'll post it on the site.
Rock on,
Halbert
9/10/07:
While in Boulder last month I bought the new Mac version of Powerpoint; it’s called Keynote. What a joy! The new slide presentation that I started on at the beginning of September has come along very well, very quickly. Most importantly, education about the UBtheNEWS project just got a major upgrade! People can now SEE what I’m saying and are able to absorb the information on a whole new level.
Through a craigslist.com ad I got what seems to be an excellent deal on a projector. Still expensive proposition; I had to drop $600 on it. On eBay the same one was going for $800 to a $1,000. So I think I did okay. At least I managed to pick up a screen for $5 in Boise, also through craigslist.
I bought the projector in Liberty Lake, WA, right after meeting up with Kelly Brown (who hosted a study group on 9/12, but that wonderful story will have to wait until the next Trail Tale). On 9/9 I was at his home because we were trying to determine if the Keynote presentation could be projected through his television. Hooking up to the TV didn’t work, but just after figuring that out, I got a call about the projector and made arrangements to go check it out. They people selling it were only about three miles from where Kelly lives in Liberty Lake. Liberty Lake is midway between Spokane, WA and Coeur D’Alene, ID. Getting the projector, of course, was a nice opportunity to let the people I was buying it from know what it was going to be used for. They seemed to appreciate the introduction very much and also had a healthy fascination with the Halbertcicles.
Buying the projector that evening meant that I had it with me for the presentation the next night at Thomas Orjala’s Cosmic Café event. This is held at Unity Church in Coeur D’Alene. The church pretty much lets Tom schedule whatever he thinks is best. A very nice collection of about seven people were in attendance. Some had heard about The Urantia Book before, some had not, but none of them were very familiar with it except for Thomas. The initial plan was to use the projector at Unity Church, but using their equipment would have created some unresolvable technical issues, so it was very timely to have achieved self-reliance in this regard.
For a first run through with new technology, it went very well. I was sweating it out there at the beginning, fumbling around in unfamiliar territory until I got the computer program to interface properly with the projector. It was a good lesson in how early I need to start showing up so that I can make sure to get everything hooked up and working well. It was a very interactive group and we all had a good time of it. Tom was nice enough to pass on the contributions given that evening. Thanks Tom!
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Before getting up to Coeur D’Alene I spent a couple nights at Randy and Nancy Moser’s place. They live at about the midpoint between Coeur D’Alene and Boise, which is about two hundred miles from those cities and just about everything else, except for some of the most beautiful country in the world. Randy took me on a four-mile hike into the backcountry at around 9,000 feet. We hiked down to a couple small mountain lakes. Randy has been hard at work creating a concordance for The Urantia Book and he’s just about done with it now. The hike was a marvellous opportunity to get to know him. Plenty of vertical height got traversed in that expedition and I am so very sorry I forgot to take my camera. Really sorry. Did I mention how sorry I am about leaving the camera? Because I’m not going to even try to put this one into words. Don’t let the one picture I did include fool you. That was taken from Route 95, which connects Boise to Coeur D’Alene. What you see there is nothing like what I’m (not) talking about.
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Golf course at Twin Falls
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It turns out that Randy had a 35 page report published in 1991 called The Science Content of The Urantia Book. The editors of this report were Richard Bain, Ken Glasziou, Matt Neibaur and Frank Wright. The report summarized many topics that will eventually become UBtheNEWS reports. It is going to make my work a much more efficient process. Randy was very kind to let me keep the report for which I am eternally grateful.
Continuing to backtrack through the first ten days of September, I did two presentations in Boise. One was at the home of Judy Van Cleef and the other one was at Terry Webb’s. The Van Cleef’s put together a fantastic meal and it was wonderful to get to meet the whole family. Terry, as I came to find out, is an extraordinary artist who does all kinds of spiritually oriented paintings. His home, naturally, had a most incredible display of these works.
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Halbert, Tamara, and Handsome Smoke
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Before getting up to Boise I spent a couple wonderful days at Bert Cobb’s property, which is in Jerome, just outside of Twin Falls. Tamara, who I had met at the Chicago study group that meets at the Urantia Foundation, came out to go on a backcountry, horseback riding, camping trip with Bert and Connie. Connie is Judy Van Cleef’s sister. It was a great opportunity to get to know Tamara. We didn’t get a chance to talk much at the study group earlier this summer. Crossing paths again at Bert’s was a pleasant surprise.
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Bert had a party the night before they left to go camping. He made us all elk tacos and fresh guacamole that just couldn’t be beat. Bert really knows what he’s doing in the kitchen. The cowboy poetry he read for us after dinner had everyone in stiches. I also had the opportunity to meet some of his friends from that area and take a nice hike down into the Snake River canyon. As you can see from the picture, this place provides one of the best reasons in the world to take up golfing. I had heard how Bert was someone not to be missed on my way through Idaho. This was very good advice. He is an incredible person and entertainer. And he was very nice to let me a stay a couple days when he had so much other stuff going on. Thanks Bert!
Happy trails,
Halbert
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Kelly Brown's study group
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9/20/07: Kelly Brown’s study group at Liberty Lake, Washington was the first one to experience the new UBtheNEWS multimedia presentation. It was also the most well attended study group to date. And this event also produced the largest financial contribution to date! So I guess it’s fair to say that Kelly Brown’s study group was a landmark event in the development of the UBtheNEWS project.
Robyn, Kelly’s wife, did a beautiful job with the baking of brownies and other such niceties for the evening. Albert Einstein Lassiter is in the habit of putting aside a dollar-a-day to periodically donate to causes, as the spirit moves. He came up to me after the presentation with a fat wad of singles that had been accumulating for a couple months. Many thanks to Albert and all of the other people who so generously made contributions that evening. Rick Giles was there and as the conversation after the presentation unfolded into how I got introduced to The Urantia Book, we came to the stunning realization that he went to high school with Russell Coppel, who introduced me to the book over 25 years ago. Russell has never been one to participate in UB social activities, so to meet someone who knows him and from that far back was a special treat.
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The next morning I headed up to Will Venard’s place in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho. This is way up in the panhandle almost to the Canadian border. Will built his own house and is an incredible artisan. All the doors are exquisite, uniquely designed, handmade creations. The pictured example used real leaves (from the many types of trees he has planted on his property) as the outlines. This was the door to the room I slept in while staying there.
Will’s girlfriend, Barbara, was especially tickled after the study group with an extended presentation of Halbertcicle photos. This study group was also very generous with contributions. (Thank you!) I met an extraordinary individual there, Paul, who invited me to stay at his place for a couple nights before heading out of the area. This was one of those meant to be meetings. I learned a lot. Thanks to everyone who made the Bonner’s Ferry stay such a wonderful experience!
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From Idaho I headed to Richland, Washington for a 9am study group. When I got into Richland the night before, while I was putting some oil in my engine, I noticed that one of the belts on the motor was almost completely deteriorated. Not good. However, I did have my high school (boarding school) alumni directory with me which indexes all alumni by city and state. I found one that lives in the area and he turned me onto an excellent repair shop that was about a half mile away and on the same street as the study group. I was there when they opened at 7:30 and they were able to start working on it immediately. They finished before the study group ended. Jim, one of the study group attendees, came to get me and dropped me off again. Thanks Jim.
Nine people showed up at Hazel Ziege’s in Richland, which I thought was very impressive for a mid week, 9am group. This group, bless their hearts, was also very generous with contributions. All totalled, the last three study groups have contributed about $425! The $600 I spent on the projector seems to be well worth it. I think people are now getting a much better appreciation for the UBtheNEWS project. Not only does the slide presentation help people understand the material better because often a picture really is worth a thousand words, it also makes the presentations much easier for me. It’s like the difference between playing a solo performance and having a backup band.
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Speaking of music, I was surprised to learn upon reaching Seattle that John Kim, a drummer friend of mine from high school, had moved back to Seattle from Panama, where he and his family had been for the last several years. As it turns out, I showed up at his place on his 45th birthday! We played several sets of music that day and evening. His daughters danced vigorously while we rocked out. There’s nothing like having people dance when one is playing music, especially when the dancers are 5 and 7 years old. I also did some juggling for them, which naturally goes over very well with kids that age.
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John played drums when I returned to Phillips Exeter Academy to give a talk and play music for a school assembly program that was held on the Friday of our 20-year reunion weekend. You cannot fully appreciate who John Kim is in my life until you read the "Get a clue; then FOLLOW IT!" article. Perhaps you should do that now. It will tell you some things about UBtheNEWS that are crucial for understanding why I am doing this project.
Namaste,
Halbert
9/30/07: The last Trail Tale of September marks the end of the third quarter for UBtheNEWS. I'm delighted to report that this quarter ended most magnificently! In the last ten days I did four study group, which makes eleven for the month. Two of them tied for the highest attendance (15 people), and nearly half of the all the funding that has been donated to this project has come in the last ten days (nearly $700). Look for the Third Quarter Report to be published soon.
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| Hoggatt's Study Group
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One of the study groups that tied for the largest was held at Janiece and Douglas Hoggatt's home. This was an especially satisfying event for several reasons. Aside from being the largest one up to that point, it also was the first one to combine a couple study groups from one area. People affiliated with both the Foundation and the Fellowship, who had not seen each other for quite a while, were in attendance. For a UBtheNEWS presentation to function in this way was very heart-warming. Additionally, a dear friend of mine from high school who lives in the area, John Kim, attended along with a friend of his from the United Church of Christ. You can read more about John in the previous Trail Tale.
Interestingly enough, John led the sermon on the same Sunday that I did the presentation. He was asked to do so because the minister was out of town. Naturally, I attended. After the service there was a social gathering where I met some of his friends. Naturally, they found out why I was in town. (Now here comes the most important “naturally” of the paragraph.) And naturally, one of his friends came to attend the UBtheNEWS presentation that evening. I can't emphasis enough just how natural it these days for someone who just learns about the UBtheNEWS project to want to take advantage of an opportunity to learn more. Not because I'm such a smooth talker, but because the news of how science is catching up to The Urantia Book really is that intriguing. It's not the first time something like this has happened. The same thing occurred in Idaho when I went to met some of Bob Divine friends at a potluck held before a showing on their college campus of The Peaceful Warrior.
Hint: If you know I'm doing a study group in your area, tell people about the unique quality of credibility exhibited by The Urantia Book, that the creator of UBtheNEWS is going to be in town present, and then invite them! Not everyone will say yes, but some will, and in any case you'll at least get the satisfaction of having tried. People respect credibility. There's far too little credibility in the world these days. Most folks are starving for sources of information that are demonstrably credible and love to spoon-fed.
Janiece and Douglas were very gracious hosts, allowing me to stay at their place for several days while I was in town. They are wonderful people and it was an honour to get to know them, an excellent opportunity to do some laundry, and a comfortable place to get some work done while they were out getting their work done.
The next day Tom Choquette treated me to a magnificent sushi lunch (my favourite food, that's another hint ;-) and I got to see what Whirly Ball is all about. It's kind of like lacrosse played in bumper cars. Tom has a business that offers this unique form of entertainment in the Seattle area. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to play. But very fortunately, Tom hooked me up with his mechanic because I needed to get something checked out that didn't sound right in my motor home. Just a lack of power steering fluid. This was supposed to have been checked when the belts were replaced the previous week, which is why I thought it couldn't be something that simple. My lunch with Tom provided me a great opportunity to explain further the nature of the UBtheNEWS project and he has now become a great supporter of the mission.
I had been having trouble getting things scheduled in Portland, Oregon, probably because Tom was supposed to hook me up with Tomas Cardoso, which he did at lunch and which made all the difference. As it turned out, Barbara Hester was in the area visiting with Bruce Porter from Eugene and the two of them were up in Portland when I arrived at Tomas'. I know Barbara from I don't know how far back or when, but I do know it is always a great pleasure to see her. She and Bruce couldn't stay for the presentation that evening. No big deal. They got to see it a few days later in Eugene at the Kindred Spirit Retreat Centre where Bruce lives.
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Speaking of kindred spirits, the presentation at Tomas' gave me the opportunity to meet Allison Zopel for the first time in memory. (I probably saw her at the Vancouver conference.) Allison is a wonderfully gifted, spirit-led musician who recently came out of a coma following a bad car accident that occurred not long after the Vancouver conference. You can check out her music at http://www.musicfromwithin.com/. She just stopped a year of touring to write a book about her experience of coming out of the coma so very slowly. The first CD she produced after coming out of the coma was for the most part conceived as while she was still in the coma.
As she and I talked after the study group at Tomas' it became apparent that she, Pato Banton, and I all went through various forms of personal hell starting around the time of the Vancouver conference, and then we all ended up getting on the road in the last year to do our various forms of artistry/service that promotes The Urantia Book in various ways. Very peculiar. She and I have both been crossing paths with Pato over the last year and she has plans to do some recording with him. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the term “kindred spirit” and then the next thing I knew I was staying at a place by that name.
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| Astral Circus by Robert Venosa
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Meeting Tomas and staying at his place was a tremendously positive experience. He was a wonderful host who has a beautiful place in Portland. It was a time for the Tom's, I guess, because not only did I get introduced to him by Tom Choquette, but also both of these brothers have become wonderfully appreciative and supportive of the UBtheNEWS project.
The study group at Tomas' set off an incredible four-presentations-in-five-days experience in the fine state of Oregon. David Meade was the first person to attend two of them in a row, Corvallis and Eugene. This was immediately bested by Bernie Belarski. He attended the Eugene and Grants Pass presentations and then listened in by telephone to the next one, which was held at Arcata, CA. Meeting Brother Bernie was a real highlight of my travels through Oregon. He drove me down to the presentation at Grants Pass, which saved me a lot on gas and made it possible to see one of my favourite musicians who was playing in Eugene a couple nights after the Grants Pass presentation. Curiously enough, this musician,
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| Jerry Joseph
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Jerry Joseph, was not playing at a nightclub as per usual. He was playing at an art gallery that had a huge collection of Robert Venosa art hanging on the walls. For those of you who do not know
Robert Venosa, he is an extraordinary artist and long time Urantia Book reader. (The lettering done for Santana's recordings is a Venosa creation. Check out the site!)
God was really working overtime for me on this one because the last Oregon presentation was originally scheduled for Wednesday in Medford. But then the folks down there changed it to Monday in Grants Pass, which is closer to Eugene, and set up the whole opportunity to travel down with Bernie, who had work in that area anyway, but which, of course, never materialized so that we got to spend the whole day hanging out. Bernie ended up going to the Jerry Joseph show with me, recorded the whole thing, and based upon the big smile plastered all over his face, and other indicators, seemed to have had himself a happy time. Seeing Jerry, who I have been listening to since moving to Boulder twenty years ago, was one the best presents God could give me after doing eighteen presentations in the last eight weeks!
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| Kindred Spirit Retreat Centre
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I stayed several nights at the Kindred Spirit Retreat Centre where Bruce Porter lives. Bruce was an amazing host and I ate very well while I was there. The wild blackberries were a special treat from heaven above. Bruce and Bernie are great cooks and made up some wonderful meals. Staying in round structures that are beautifully decorated, like the retreat centre, is a very soul satisfying experience. Bruce and I had some wonderful conversations that I will help prepare me to give better presentations at IC08. And naturally, getting to see Barbara there made it all the better. It seems she is also a big fan of wild blackberries. Many thanks to Bruce for his hospitality and support!
So I guess, when all is said and done, and now it is all said and done, the last ten days of the third quarter of the UBtheNEWS project were a real God blessed experience of extraordinary proportion!
Praise God,
Halbert
Archived Trail Tales:
2007: 2nd Quarter
2007: 1st Quarter
