How Scissor-Fingers Won WWII?

I bought a carton of beer a few days ago made by the XXXX brewery and noticed that under the caps was a hand sign from the children's game 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'.

When I got the bottle cap with the scissors I couldn't help thinking of the sign Churchill was famous for.
Which made me think of the sign Hitler was famous for (paper?).
And then I couldn't help laughing as I realized that scissors beats paper.

I looked on the net to see if anyone else had thought of Hitler and Churchill playing 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' to win the war, and of course they had.
Which is how I found the You Tube at the top of this post. 

Have a Gratitude Ritual?

I've been reading Sarah Wilson's new book 'First, We make the Beast Beautiful' and I'm up to the section of her book where she writes about gratitude rituals.

I thought this was kind of synchy (sinky?-) in more ways than one having already written a post about just that -
Washing Up is Good for You?

Sarah writes in 'First, We make the Beast Beautiful'  -
"I do have a gratitude ritual inspired by the time I shared a glass of tap water with personal developmental/self-help guru Dr. John Demartini, he of 'The Secret' fame.
I share it here because, like meditation, it's a daily practice that has had exponential impact on my anxiety.
To be honest, it is a form of meditation."
Sarah goes on to write in the book as to just what her gratitude ritual is, and it's not washing the dishes by the way.
And then she writes -
"Alex Korb writes in 'The Grateful Brain', 'Gratitude can have such a powerful impact on your life because it engages your brain in a virtuous cycle.
Your brain only has so much power to focus its attention.
It cannot easily focus on both positive and negative stimuli.'    
Literally, you can't be grateful and anxious at the same time.
Once again, the threat system in our amygdala is overridden.
On top of this research shows gratitude stimulates the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that regulates anxiety.
Korb adds that the brain loves to fall for the confirmation bias - it looks for things that prove what it already believes to be true.
'So, once you start seeing things to be grateful for, your brain starts looking for more things to be grateful for.'    
And thusly we build all kinds of right muscles." ... mussels, 

No, this is not me, I'm way muscler:-)

Mussels?

... octopuses/pi or whatever;-)

I bought that 'no fishing' octopus above from the pet food isle in my local supermarket years ago and now it rests above my kitchen sink along with a shark that came with a Steve Irwin scuba doll (the Steve doll I gave away) and a 'Finding Nemo' figure set (to help me to remember to forget:-).

Sarah's book doesn't stay by the sink though.

And Sarah did tell me that the octopus on the cover of her book will become apparent as I read on.
I have a few guesses as to what it may represent, but I haven't read far enough yet to know.
I really only bought the book because of the octopus on the front cover reminded me of the one I have near my kitchen sink ... and of me having read all of Lovecraft's stories in the book pictured further up in this post.  
I'm intrigued as to what the octopus in Sarah's book represents, so I'll just have to keep swimming I guess ... I mean reading;-)

From Matt Haig's book 'Notes on a Nervous Planet'

Who needs a bigger boat?-)

And mind those sharks.

The Big Ideas: 'Anxiety- is it Just Me?'
talk at the BWF

Big Ideas: Anxiety- is it Just Me?

Feeling in Contact with Nature on a Nervous Planet?

I like to read in the corner of my own universe:-)

The doors of perception?

The windows of perception?

I think that's enough reading in my backyard for one day, as the weather is making me a bit nervous.
Time for some TV instead.

Notes on a Nervous Planet?

A Sign from a 'Working Class Man'?

The books I bought on the Thursday in Byron Bay

Sometimes I can't help but think this world I live in is run by a cosmic joker.
I've never been a big 'Cold Chisel' or Jimmy Barnes fan, probably because screaming musicians unsettle my nerves having grown up with a brother who was born brain damaged and who would throw tantrums and scream at the top of his lungs almost every day (and night) of his life throughout our childhood until I left home.
The sound of anything that sounded like aggressive screaming would automatically set my nerves on edge, so I liked soothing music and would avoid bands like 'AC/DC', 'Cold Chisel' and anything like heavy metal bands.
It's not like I didn't like some 'Cold Chisel' and 'AC/DC' songs, but I would hear them all the time on the radio.
So, I never did buy their albums, with the only songs I have being on soundtracks like 'Molly' and compilation albums.
Although, I probably bought the single of 'Working Class Man' when I collected 45s, as I liked that song and would sing it a bit in the late 80s.

Last year when I was down at the Byron Writers Festival I bought Jimmy's books after hearing him do a talk, and then going to the signing tent to meet him and ask him to sign those books - 
Sometimes Life Feels Like Nothing But a Sinking S#it Pit

I have only been to a live Jimmy Barnes gig once, and that was only because I went to see 'The Living End' really -
A Day on the Green under the White?

Jimmy Barnes on stage at the Sirromet winery in 2014

I read 'Working Class Boy' around the middle of this year and wrote a post about how impressed I was about all of the paranormal events Jimmy recalled in his life and put in the book, especially his sister Linda and her run in with a Ouija board and a nasty spirit -
Should I Use a Ouija Board: Yes or No?

Natasha de Tracie: AKA Lillian Lovecraft

I enjoyed reading 'Working Class Boy' and was thinking if I should buy Jimmy's follow up book 'Working Class Man' and thought that I had enough books to read at the moment, but that if he ever signed a copy of his latest book I would by it then, and that was a promise.

On the Thursday that I arrived in Byron Bay, which was the day before the 2018 Byron Writers Festival was to start, I walked into 'The Book Room' bookshop and there on the shelf was a signed copy (probably from the year before), so I felt that technically Jimmy had signed the book for me in a roundabout way and I kept my promise and bought it.

The weird thing was I also wrote about buying a book with an ibis on the front cover on the same day I bought Jimmy's book -
What Are We Going to Do About the Ibis?

After the Byron Writers Festival and in that same month 'The Avid Reader' bookstore had booked the author to give a talk about 'The Hunter' on Thursday the 23rd of August, which just happened to be the day the movie version of 'Working Class Boy' was released at the cinema, so I went to both.

'Working Class Boy' the movie was right up there with the best movies I have seen this year, and boy was I glad I had a beer and some gum to chew throughout that movie to keep washing that lump down that kept forming in my throat.
I'll bet when the DVD is released it will be a big seller for Christmas and or Father's Day.   
And David Cohen's book 'The Hunter' would make a great Father's Day or Christmas present, too.

And I'm not on a commission or being paid to write that, because it is true.
Trust me.

A photo from the book 'Working Class Man'

I also saw this picture above from 'Working Class Man' when I was flicking through Jimmy's book last night and saw that even he and his kids were topping MJ's 'Dangerous' album in 1991.
And last night would have been Michael's 60th birthday, too.
The Eagles Have Landed ... on Top in 2018?

Don't Let Anything Dull Your Sparkle: How to Break Free of Negativity and Drama?

The 'Sparkle Motion' dancers from the
excellent movie 'Donnie Darko'

At end of last year I bought a book that I saw on a supermarket shelf written by a lady named Doreen Virtue who I had seen speak live in my hometown years ago in a Hay House tour.
I didn't go to listen to Doreen speak, I went to listen to Wayne Dyer mainly and was curious to hear what Deepak Chopra had to say.

I think Louise Hay was the other speaker on the program that day.
I never would have paid the $320 for a ticket out of my pocket to see these speakers.
I saw a competition in the local Brisbane paper for two tickets to this day long presentation and there was only one winner in that newspaper competition ... me.
I just went with the flow and mailed in an envelope to the paper thinking if I'm meant to go this gig "the universe" will let my envelope be the winner.
I've got to say that I was glad that I didn't fork out any of my own money to go to this day out.
I have never read any of the books by these authors since that day I saw them speak, but I do have a Wayne Dyer book I bought just before he passed away three years ago to this day, which sits on my bookshelf still unread.

I think I did borrow a copy of Louise Hay's book about healing yourself years before I saw her speak that day, but it didn't have much of an impression on me when I read it.
Louise Hay passed away a year ago from tomorrow (August 30th, although by the time I post this it probably will be August 30th).
The only thing I had bought of Doreen's, apart from the book I bought last year, was a deck of "Angel Cards", which I wrote about in this post -
Whatever Happened to Doreen Virtue?

I notice one of Doreen's videos I used in that post has been pulled since, which doesn't really surprise me.

Yesterday I started to read Doreen's book 'The Courage to be Creative', not really knowing just how much of the book Doreen stands by now that she is a Christian ... whatever that means.
I just see Doreen as a lady who has lost her courage and now lives in fear of a devil that doesn't exist and is scared of going to a place that really only exists in her fears and not in any reality ... hell.
I'm not saying that there aren't negative forces in the world and universe, or that there aren't hellish realms you could find yourself in.
But an eternal hell for sinners and anyone who doesn't believe in another possibly mythical figure?
Please. 

Follow me or go to hell?

I must say that when it comes to religions I agree with Paul Cox.

Any "God" who would condemn a soul to eternal hell is no "God" that I can believe in.
Sorry Doreen.

I will finish reading this book though, as I've learned that the "book angel" always seems to put the right book in front of me at the right time.

And unlike most Christians I have read the "Good Book" from cover to cover, so you can cherry pick it all you want, but to me it doesn't add up as a whole.
You can't dull my sparkle with your newfound fears Doreen, I'm afraid ... not.
I have faith in the universe and my own feelings to guide me. 
That's my "God" and you may not realize it, but it's your "God", too.
No matter what man written made up fears you want to believe in.

Not that I'm into the "New Age" any more than I am into "Christianity", but my reaction to this news about DV was similar to the young lady in the above and below video.

I'll be keeping the cards by the way, as I think they are creative and courageous works of art;-)

Just watching the wheels go round?

UPDATE: August 31st, 2018

So, would the real Jesus please stand up?

From page 66 of 'The Courage to be Creative' 

My question is that if "Jesus" has been guiding Doreen all these years that she asked for His guidance, why did Jesus come to her in the church recently and rebuke her work that according to Doreen Jesus encouraged? 

I find this all a bit confusing to tell the truth.

UPDATE: September 8th, 2021

For the record I did end up giving those cards away to a secondhand bookstore on Bribe Island, as they were only gathering dust on my bookshelf, and I thought that I should let someone else benefit from Doreen's past work:-)