The possibilities are infinite

The possibilities are infinite

People get depressed about the future and I think, "Sure, things look bleak and it is difficult to imagine there won't be a great deal of discomfort in the future, BUT look at the opportunities:

When else in Human history will people be able to witness Economic devastation, Global Environmental Collapse, Massive Species extinction, AND Nuclear War, ALL in a SINGLE LIFETIME.   Not to mention the possibilities of total social collapse, Global Epidemics, Mass starvation and hunger.

What other generations of mankind will ever have this unparalleled opportunity to witness the unbelievable horror firsthand and possibly even survive?  There is no movie or fantasy story ever made that will remotely compare to the real terror that these calamities present.   And -- to have to confront them all at the same time, in the same lifetime, is so much more frightening, that it can hardly be imagined.  There is no movie ever made that can equal the thrill of THAT."

So --- if you get depressed about downsizing, or losing some favorite possessions, look on the bright side: "YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET!"  This is "child's play."  

Your present pains and misfortunes will seem like welcome friends once you survive just a few more years.    You will look back through the smoke and clouds and mud and dirt and horror and think, "What was I ever unhappy with?  I had it made.  I wish I knew then what I know now."

And you might also say, "I sure wish we could breath the air again," or, "I really would like to go outside in the sun today."

In the meantime, just relax...

There is nothing that you can do anyway.   You could try and go camping in the woods or building a bomb shelter, or stockpiling food, but that won't REALLY work.   Your persona won't survive, even IF your body DOES avoid injury and death.   You need a society for your persona to survive.  You need a social network of faith and love and trust and hope.  Without that network, you are just an intelligent ape with a small jaw.  And THAT Network has already been destroyed for all practical purposes.  With 60% divorce rate, and the increasing rate of incarceration, insanity, depression, homelessness, suicide, and disease.  We are already seeing it fall apart.  Just ask yourself, "Who would help  ME if  I was homeless???"    If you are like many people alive today, the answer would be NOBODY

So, all we can do is wait for the infrastructure to finish destroying itself, so we can rebuild the social network again; hopefully with more love than the last time around.  In the meantime -- there is nothing practical that is worth doing.  All you can do is enjoy the moment, and wait.   Wait for the future to arrive and be thankful for the nice times you already had.

Good luck.  Hope you like mushrooms.

copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer

Ragtime is funny

"Ragtime is funny.  Ragtime music is filled with jokes and puns and musical riddles. That is its clever appeal." - Mr. Atwater

"Boogie Woogie music is straightforward and honest.   There is nothing funny about Boogie Woogie music.  It is deadly serious."  - Mr. Atwater

copyright (c) 2015

William Schaeffer

Got to keep moving

"Got to keep moving.   It is harder to hit a moving target." - Mr. Atwater

One way to avoid bad luck is to keep moving.  Aside from the obvious truism that you make less of a target for misfortune both intended and accidental, you just might discover something useful or profitable in your movements.   If you stay busy, you might discover a way to make money, exercise, meet new people, or find new opportunities.  If you don't know what else to do, then clean your home, do the dishes, straighten out your files and records, take a walk, write a letter, practice learning a new skill.

copyright(c) 2015

William Schaeffer

Ten billion people

Out of the 10 billion people you will have shared this planet with while you were alive --

Which 150 are the most important?

What are the odds?

150/10,000,000,000 =

15 / 1,000,000,000 =

1/666,666,666

Curious...

copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer

Never be photographed with a drink in your hand

"Never be photographed with a drink in your hand" - Anon

This is an old Hollywood adage.  I am not sure why, but it makes sense.   If the camera happens to catch an odd expression and you are holding a drink, it will look like you are a drunk.  If you are not holding a drink, then you will just look idiotic.  It is more preferable to look like an imbecile than to look like an alcoholic, because you could always control your drinking, but you really cannot help being congenitally stupid.

Of course it is always most preferable to just take a good picture...

copyright (c) 2015

William Schaeffer

No short cuts

"There are no short cuts - only long cuts" - Mr Atwater

copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer

Found Object - the letter "D"

I found this letter "D" on the sidewalk last week; or the week before.  It is perfectly cut out of sturdy manila paper cardboard like Bristol Board and decorated with a green stamp and some type of orange crayon.  It is about three inches high and two and a half inches wide.

copyright (c) 2015

William Schaeffer

Cybernetic Haiku

Coffee Filter

Thank You Card

Silly Cup and Ball

copyright (c) 2015

William Schaeffer

Relaxation Music Theory

Relaxation Music Theory

By William Schaeffer

June 19, 2015

I was recovering from Bronchitis in early 2014.  After a week of lying on my floor in front of a heater, I slowly returned to life.  As I was recuperating, I wanted to listen to some relaxing sounds, but all the music I could find on the internet was too busy and overly captivating with lush melodies and subtle rhythms.

I found it distracting and overly stimulating to listen to.  Then I had an idea. Why don’t I record something myself?  What I really wanted was just a collection of background sounds that would “liven” up the sonic environment without being intrusive.  Not really sound effects, but similar; very sparsely arranged musical tones.  

With this concept in mind, I created the first relaxation music recording that I posted on youtube.

~

Some of the features of this musical effort:

1. The effort was to create a soundtrack to put on in the background that was noticeable, but not intrusive or stimulating at all; something slightly musical to listen to in addition to the sounds already present in the background environment.

2. There is a noticeable absence of melody or rhythm.  This is the most important part.  There is nothing for your mind to “lock onto” and synchronize with.  The recognizable repetitive cycle is stimulating and energizing.  This effort is to diminish the “musical thought energy” so occasional musical events are sparsely arranged to minimize melodic and rhythmic thought.  Let the active analytical mind relax and go to sleep.  Let the intuitive mind take over and experience the moment.

3. Decreasing tempo and descending sequence of pitch.   We cannot help looking for rhythmic cycles to synchronize our own personal rhythms with.   If the events are slowing down then we will follow them and relax.  Descending pitch lines give a feeling of moving downward toward the ground or couch and relaxing.

4. Large space of silence between events.  These spaces let our mind float and drift and slowly wait for the next event.  Much music is designed to surprise and stimulate and energize with constant unexpected sound events.   The intent here is the opposite.  Just let a simple, pleasant event occur and then float away and eventually something else will happen.  Meanwhile, you can just relax.

5. Consonant intervals and minimal use of dissonant harmonies.  Consonant intervals are soothing in part because they require much less mental processing to resolve.  Dissonant intervals have complicated harmonies that require much thought to interpret and they jar and tense the mind. 

6. No fast moving melodies or short flourishes of notes; just occasional sounds that let you relax.

7. Thoughtful clean performance in a thoughtful meditative mindset.  I cannot play music this slowly unless I am fully prepared and inspired to spend the time and thought to make it happen.  It requires a tremendous amount of concentration and attention, despite the minimal results.  If I am in an ordinary mindset, the notes are played too quickly and impatiently and the intended effect is lost.   Each time I record, I am convinced that the recording is the last one of this type; for this very reason.

~

I created these recordings for myself and I actually listen to them quite a bit.  Frequently, I prefer to listen to one of these relaxation songs at the computer instead of popular music.  If you are a musician, you might try to create a recording like this yourself.

I continue to explore this medium with new ideas.  Some are more successful than others, but I feel like I discovered a new way of thinking about and listening to musical events, and that is fun (and relaxing).  This type of music could not happen in the previous recorded music economy, because it would be too expensive and too inconvenient to record and distribute such comparatively small musical content.   This is another advantage of the internet in our lives today.

Put this music on in the background and go do something else.  Write an email, wash the dishes, put a few things away, clean up your desk, read the a book, or just day dream for a moment.  Try it and see what you think.

Relax.   Enjoy.

copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer

One gram of fiber for every one hundred calories.

Fifteen years ago, I had a large pre-cancerous polyp removed from my colon during a colonoscopy.  There were ulcers at each end of my stomach.  I knew that a dietary change was necessary, or I would die.  There needed to be more fiber in the diet.  After much thought, I developed a rule for eating:

"One gram of fiber for every one hundred calories."

Water, tea, and black coffee were the only drinks allowed, except drinks with natural fiber.

Within three months the ulcers were cured.  I am still alive.  Over time, almost 45 pounds was lost.   My weight has been the same for the past thirteen years.

Since then, I have researched nutrition and developed other rules of eating.   I have a better understanding of the mechanisms of health and am still learning to live an optimally healthy lifestyle.

However, if you are just starting to monitor your diet because you want to lose weight, or increase your health, this rule is a good place to start:


"One gram of fiber for every one hundred calories."

copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer

Atwaterpub

You are Here.

copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer

Keep Smiling

In the winter of 2000, I was working on the movie Driven in a building on The Lot in Hollywood that no longer exists.  The small bungalo we worked in has been replaced with a three story office building.

At that time, six artists were crammed into a single office; sitting at their desks in office chairs with wheels.  We worked long hour 12 hour days and frequently snacked at our desk while waiting on renders.

One day, while working on my shot, I found a wrapper, or piece of paper to dispose of.  Instead of standing up and walking two steps to the garbage can by Paul's desk, I just scooted over on my chair and deposited the scrap paper in the wastebasket without leaving my seat.

At that exact moment, Paul leaped out of his chair in startled amazement.  Landing in his chair again he just gasp and said to me in disbelief, "Woah.   Woah.   For a moment there, I thought you were a dwarf."


And, he seemed seriously distressed for a while.  But we laughed about it, then went back to work.

True Story.

Copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer

The problem with intelligence

The problem with intelligent people is that they do not realize HOW intelligent they are.  This causes no end of confusion and lack of real communication.

If you consider intelligence to be: “depth to which a person can navigate a decision tree and speed with which this happens.”  Note: a decision tree is a technique from game theory to graphically organize all possible results of actions taken at different times and states.  It is basically a “flow chart” or a “graph of connections.”   In other words, intelligence is a measure of ability to process information represented by “volume of data” over “duration of time.” 

Smart people can search deeper in the decision tree faster and more accurately than their less intelligent associates.

Now, let’s consider the depth of search in a decision tree to be analogous to depth of vision in a fog.  Smarter people can see farther in the fog, while less intelligent people can’t see as far.  If you have relatively “limited vision” you can’t possible know what is beyond the scope of your vision.  If you have more restricted vision, you cannot understand what someone else with more robust vision can actually see.

If a person with deep vision sees a great anomaly beyond the range of vision of his compatriots, he would be considered “off”, or “wrong”, or “incorrect”’ or “silly.”   Only the future will prove the accuracy of his vision; but by that time it no longer matters.

This is one reason why the intelligent will always be misunderstood by the less intelligent.   There is no possible way they could be understood.  The “well crafted” and “thoughtful” arguments of average people tend to seem simplistic and obviously flawed to the most intelligent.  In fact, it is difficult to hold any deeply meaningful conversation at all between the two groups.  This is similar to high school seniors hanging out with fifth graders.  What similar understanding could they possibly have?  The conversation of the fifth graders seems repetitive and trivial.  The conversation of the high school seniors seems haughty, obscure, and irrelevant.  What commonality exists; other than the most mundane?

~

An objection:  It appears that much intelligent activity in the brain is accomplished with methods other than searching a decision tree.  In fact, high speed pattern matching seems to be a component of many intelligent activities like chess playing.  Is the foregoing argument still valid if the primary methodology of intelligent activity is not “traversing a decision tree to find the best results?”

~

Copyright©2015

William Schaeffer

Got Love?

Found stenciled on the sidewalk on Hillhurst Ave. in Los Feliz, CA, May 2015

copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer

The Devil's Blues

The Devil's Blues

How to play the Devil's Blues:

1. Take any twelve bar blues chord progression that you like to play and repeat the twelfth bar for a thirteenth bar.  This is the Devil's Blues.  Repeat the twelfth bar one more time.

2. It doesn't really matter what you sing.  Just play the regular blues for one extra measure.   If you like: howling, barking and Grunting like a Pig are appropriate vocalizations; but using real words is always nice touch.

3. Repeat the jam with gusto and have an enthusiastic time, especially on the thirteenth bar.  Spread chaos and uncertainty.  Savor the moment.

4. Don't try jam this with musicians that are amateurs or easily manipulated. Seasoned Jazz or Blues musicians are the best candidates.  Don't play this type of jam too frequently, or too many times in a single evening.   Wait till late at night when everyone else is tired and run out of songs.   3:00 AM is when our hearing is most acute if we are still awake.

copyright(c)2015

William Schaeffer