Hangover Cures

the sacred

believe it or not i don't drink much at all. but certain situations "force' me into taking action. one was when i was bumped up to first class on a flight from L.A. to NY and even the stewardess (yeah i still call them that) was blown away by how much i drank. then last nite was another: open bar. just seeing those bottles of Jameson and Johnny walker were irresistible. 


so since i'm not used to it and my stomach was pretty empty (there was food there, but believe it or not i didn't touch it: lots of friends, chicks, had much to do--people come first believe it or not). so this a.m i woke up feeling rough. but as usual i've done my research, and know some good cures. 


first 2 aspirin for the siren piercing my head. i don't like pills much but this pain was rough. aspirin's usually as hard as i go. at least over the counter (wink). 


next lots of water of course. have to re hydrate. 


next: lots of B complex and protein. a good multi vitamin is great: and i mean a good one, with at least 100 percent rda of  B1, 2, 6, 12. Trader Joe's has good ones, and believe it or not K mart, and they're not really expensive. 


then go with protein for food: eggs, yogurt, cheese etc. plenty of them.  the dairy usually has B or brings it out, like yogurt. and it's like the protein and Bs build you back up again. to be a man of men like me haha. 


again as you know i wouldn't tell you this if i didn't try it out, several times, myself. 

Half way Between Solstice and Equinox

great light and heat

is around this time now. so holidays have popped up thru human history, starting with Pagan ones of course like Imbolc, a time of the Sun returning more and purification. again we're half way between the Solstice, longest night oaf the year, and Equinox, equal light and dark. 


of course the Christians had to have a holiday to "replace"  the Pagan one, hence Candlemass. don't know where Groundhog day came from, don't care really. 


but obviously it's a time of strengthening of the SUn and light, coming back, warming, lightening the world etc. Northern hemisphere of course.

What Happens During Eclipses

I was at Columbia university the other night, one of the best places to see the eclipse in NY City.  i discovered that the AAA (not the car stuff, Amateur Astronomy association) gathered there that night to see it.

now i don't care how smarty pants ivy league Columbia is, you know how many of them there didn't know what the hell goes on during an eclipse? a lot. didn't know anything.

basically: an eclipse is like a shadow cast from Sun to other body. you ever hang in the shade? well that building, tree etc is eclipsing the Sun. by the way, notice that the shade isn't pitch black? similar principal to why the Moon isn't pitch black during the eclipse: there's still Sun shine around, just not as direct. same deal in space (you ever see a photo of a total solar eclipse? even though it's total, you still have to wear special glasses because of the overwhelming sunlight).

anyway in a lunar eclipse the Earth appears to cover the Sun and cast a shadow over the Moon. we see that shadow over the Moon. since the Earth is much bigger than the Moon, it's more likely to see a lunar eclipse than a solar, and over a greater area (like the whole moon)

in a solar eclipse, since the Moon is smaller, it casts a much smaller shadow over the earth, hence a smaller area gets a solar eclipse, and for a much shorter time, and there are more likely to be partial ones etc. from Earth, the Moon covers the Sun. during a lunar eclipse, from the Moon, the Earth covers the Sun.

so again that's what happens: a body covers another body in front of the Sun, and casts shadows.

Seasons of GIving and THanks

still in love 

im not sure about Thanksgiving being in late NOv, after so many harvest festivals that are in most of the Northern hemisphere,  Aug (Lughnassad), Harvest Moon, etc.

however it's perfect timing with gift giving of the Solstice (Xmas): at Thanksgiving, i begin to think about the year past, who has been nice not naughty, who i should maybe give a token (gift of appreciation) to, and you have a whole month to get it and give it. so good timing.

the Solstice makes sense in biological terms: times of darkness and cold, so  time to get together with folks, joy, gift giving etc. So looking backwards, Thanksgiving in late Nov makes sense.

is that how Lincoln et al decided upon it? don't know. also not sure if there is any history in it being at that time (Pilgrims etc). have a feeling  they did it nearer to more astronomical harvest times mentioned above.

Steve Hawking, "God," Paganism

great god

Hawking backed up  why i follow science so fervently, and why that has led me to Paganism. i think his viewpoint  is that physics, creation, the cosmos, matter, life, energy,  death, etc has occurred greatly and vastly  in the Universe, probably always has, always will, and for those events, entities, evolutions etc, "God';, the "invisible man in the sky" master, doesn't have to exist. physics, science, evolution etc can happen without his "invisible hand". 


i realized the above at least in part  in my agnosticism, then my Paganism. that the world, Universe, Earth, Sun, were miraculous enough to worship without a ghost, a supernatural figure to guide them all. we realize that more and more now as more worlds, planets, stars etc are discovered. in my Paganism, the  deities are  the scientific  bodies that as a matter of fact create life: Sun, Earth (and probably more bodies). life is our greatest gift, and again we  do not see a need to worship the supernatural, invisible, theoretical, mythical, folkloric,  faith based. 


i have never claimed that science and/or paganism can explain everything, especially phenomenon like the  big bang, "in the beginning", is there an afterlife etc. but as the Pagan deities have given us so much, they are more than qualified to earn us our utmost worship, thanks, energies. 

Equinox Full Moon (no it's not the new Twilight book)

rare today, that we have the Equinox and a full Moon. near even amounts of day and night with top lunar brightness.

a lot of folks think a lot of bs about the Equinox: first day of Autumn (wrong: hottest days end around Labor day). me and many others used to say that it was the one day you can balance an egg on end (also wrong: can be done any day).

it's actually not that complicated: Equinox sounds like Equator. hence it's the exact time that the Equator lines up directly with the Sun. "Summer" in Tropics ( kind of), begin. darker days here, Sunnier days in SOuthern hemisphere. near equal light and dark most everywhere. that's about it. but again most technical: Equinox and Equator.

Beltane/May day

it's celebrated around the world in most regions, either as a Spring festival or a time of celebrating labor rights etc.. im focusing on the spring.

between the Equinoxes and Solstices (the days that the sun is directly lined up with the Equator or Tropic lines), are half way points. usually around the 7th but usually celebrated around the 1st, i suppose to keep the calendar neat. so they're more like movable feasts. some of these days are still celebrated much like the above, Samhain (halloween), Imbolc gives way to ground hog day, candlemass. there's also aug 1, Lughnassad. these are all Celtic names, and pre christian Pagan festivals.

anyway around now is the half way point where the Sun is really becoming more prominent in the Northern hemisphere. the Earth is more tilted towards it in the Northern hemisphere. more day light, warmth. celebrated with spring celebrations, fertility, hence marriage (i won't go on an argument against it for once), flowers, youth etc. lovely time, and of course time to send thanks, energy, sacrifice (like prayer and worship) to the Sun for all of the life it gives (most of life on Earth), and the Earth itself for the same reasons. thanks be to the Sun and Earth for giving us this most precious gift of life.

"First Day of Spring"

everyone thinks that the seasons magically "begin' on certain days. they don't. it's not like it's cold march 19 then springy and warm march 20, usually at least. on the Equinox, the Sun lines up directly with the Earth at the Equator (hence the name). the SUn really is directly over head at high noon then, which happens in the Tropics (between Caner and Capricorn) but no where else. that's what happens. around EQUAL day and night.

as far as temperature, what happens is: the solstices are the days when the SUn lines up directly with the Tropic lines, furthest north/south of the Equator of their direct shine on Earth. so the brightest/darkest day depending on the Hemisphere.

let's say it's Summer Solstice in the north: longest day, but NOT the hottest on average because the Earth takes time to warm up. you can actually experience this on an almost daily basis: the brightest time of day is noon, the HOTTEST times of day are a couple hours later usually. so it takes about a month for the hottest temperatures of JUly on average.

at all times of the year the temperatures rise and fall very gradually, so Winter solstice around Dec 20, coldest days about a month later. then they gradually rise. that's they way it is. evolution, not revolution. i know it probably isn't in the Bible, but it's fact if you're not blind to it.