Heavy Honey’s Las Vegas Gigs, Sign Up for OnlineVerdict.com, The 4th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: Magic, Myths and Miracles, Morocco’s Roman Ruins at Volubilis, Free PK Party-All Invited!, The Unauthorized Biography of Tom Cruise by Andrew Morton, Movies This Week, Hell Money, and more...

Heavy Honey. My favorite local band, Heavy Honey, appeared on the Matt McClure Internet Show last Thursday. Heavy Honey’s line-up includes lead singer/keyboardist London Mace and Vladimir Lacas on vocals and lead guitar (pictured). Here is the link to their appearance: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3359508228044118530

Heavy Honey’s independent debut CD, ‘God Bless The Fearless Lover’ was released in January 2007. Heavy Honey’s new CD, ‘Maiden America’ is dropping this month.

Heavy Honey’s scheduled upcoming shows are: January 26th at 2:00 PM at Borders Summerlin (10950 W. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89135); January 30th at 8:00 PM at The Cheyenne Saloon (3103 N Rancho Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89130); and February 1st at 9:30 PM at The Freakin’ Frog (4700 S Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV 89119). Join Heavy Honey’s myspace at http://www.myspace.com/heavyhoney2.

OnlineVerdict.com. Are you wondering if you will be called for the O.J. trial set for April in Las Vegas, or just want to play juror from the comfort of your home, sign up for OnlineVerdict.com. If you watch TruTV (formerly CourtTV) like I do, then you can earn extra money by becoming an OnlineVerdict.com juror. You will review interesting legal cases from home, provide feedback through an online questionnaire, and be paid for your time. OnlineVerdict.com provides online case review and juror feedback services to attorneys. Case information is summarized and presented to qualified jurors in the venue where the case was filed.

Las Vegas residents need to sign up to provide a strong pool of “jurors” for OnlineVerdict.com.

Juror feedback is then used by the attorneys to discover the strengths and weaknesses of their case, the possible settlement value, and general attitudes and opinions about their case facts. This information allows attorneys and legal professionals to make better decisions about trying, mediating and settling their legal disputes.

OnlineVerdict.com says there are no right or wrong answers. They are only looking for your honest reaction to the information presented. OnlineVerdict.com suggests that the time commitment for each case will vary from 20 minutes to 1 hour depending on the details of the case. You always have the option to choose which cases you want to review.

After you complete a case you will be paid for your time. Payment amounts vary depending on the complexity and length of the case reviewed, but payments start at $20 per case and can go up to $60 per case. The number of cases you may be asked to review will also vary depending on the number of attorneys in your area who are using this service http://onlineverdict.com/

The 4th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference: Magic, Myths and Miracles. The 4th IASC, organized by Alan Shoemaker, will be held again in the shamanic center of the Upper Amazon in Iquitos, Peru from July 19 to 27, 2008. The Conference website is: www.soga-del-alma.org. Soga Del Alma is Spanish for Vine of the Soul. Much information is already up on the site and daily the webmaster is adding more details. Many attendees come early and stay late when the Conference is over.

Soga Del Alma has Extension Tours following the Conference to the Sacred Valley, Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Alan’s wife, Mariella Noriega de Shoemaker, helps with travel and hotel reservations and looks forward to assisting interested people in any way she can. You can contact Alan directly at alanshoemaker@hotmail.com.

Volubilis. On our Moroccan adventure, we visited the spectacular Roman ruins at Volubilis. Volubilis was a Roman settlement constructed on what was probably a Carthaginian city, dating from 3rd century BC. Volubilis was a central administrative city for this part of Roman Africa, responsible for the grain producing in this fertile region, and exports to Rome. Volubilis was also administering contacts with the Berber tribes which the Romans never managed to suppress, but who only came as far as to cooperate with the Romans for mutual benefits.

Volubilis was first abandoned in the 18th century, when it was demolished in order to provide for building materials for the construction of the palaces of Moulay Ismail in nearby Meknes. If that demolishing had not arrived, Volubilis could have become one of the best preserved Roman sites anywhere.

The Romans evacuated most of Morocco at the end of the 3rd century but, unlike some other Roman cities, Volubilis was not abandoned. However, it appears to have been destroyed by an earthquake in the late fourth century A.D.

The ruins of the town were further damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Geologists today estimate the Lisbon earthquake approached magnitude 9 on the Richter scale, with an epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean. Estimates place the death toll between 60,000 to 100,000 people, making it one of the most destructive earthquakes in history.

Free PK Party (Spoon Bending). Our friend Jack Houck (with his lovely wife Jean accompanying him) is giving a PK party as part of the ABH Convention 2008 on January 24, 2008 (from 7:00 to 9:30 PM) at the Alexis Park Resort, Las Vegas. Sponsored by American Board of Hypnotherapy, the PK Party is free. Just show up and bring 5 stainless flatware forks or spoons. There is no need to register for the PK Party and children over age 5 are welcome. Additional information is on the ABH website: www.reachingwithin.org Attendance at Conference is not required to attend PK Party.

I’ve attended several of Jack’s PK Parties. As a researcher of paranormal phenomena, Jack is the originator of Psychokinesis (PK) Parties, and is recognized as one of the foremost authorities in the world on the subject. He has given more than 360 of these workshops to over 17,000 people during the last 23 years, and maintained meticulous records on them. If someone does bend a fork or spoon, Jack documents it with a photograph and a detailed questionnaire. Jack is now concentrating on technologies for alternative healing. (http://www.jackhouck.com/pk.shtml)

Photo of Vladimir Lacas with his bent spoon and famous psychic and spoon-bender Uri Geller. Taken in California in 1996.

Tom Cruise: The Unauthorized Biography by Andrew Morton. I’ve read all the pre-publication news about the explosive theories offered in Morton’s new book; mainly, that the Cruise baby might have been conceived using L. Ron Hubbard’s frozen sperm! However, regarding that prominent rumor that has dogged Cruise for years, Morton lays it to rest in the first sentences of his unauthorized tell-all:

“If truth be told, Tom Cruise Mapother IV has always been something of a ladies’ man. Sweethearts, girlfriends, lovers, and wives; it has been a rare day in his life when he has not been wooing, wowing, or wedded to a young woman.”

Tom Cruise: The Unauthorized Biography by Andrew Morton

Hell Bank Notes, Paper Viagra and Paper Prostitutes. I recently asked a friend if his deceased wife needed anything “on the other side.” I frequently burn fake money for my father (pictured) so he can have some “walking around” money and he can take his buddies out for a few drinks at Archangel Michael’s Pub. (I’m told they have a terrific house band.) As silly as it sounds, the practice of Spirit Money has a long tradition. In fact, the Chinese (I adopted the custom from them) have now taken it much further. Chinese cemeteries are selling paper replicas of Viagra pills to be burned for dead relatives wishing to have satisfying sex in the afterlife.

Customers were snapping up the paper Viagra, as well as images of condoms and heavily made-up bar girls. Chinese have traditionally burned fake money in honor of dead relatives believing the wealth will accrue to their ancestors in the afterlife.

But China's move toward a more consumer-oriented society saw new offerings including paper televisions, mobile phones, laptop computers, cars and other luxury items, like prostitutes. There are even Hell Money Credit Cards. There was an attempt to crackdown on the sex-related "vice" offerings, to no avail. Finally, in apparent frustration, China banned its citizens from burning paper models of condoms, luxury villas and karaoke hostesses when paying respect at the graves of their ancestors.

The authorities have issued new funeral and internment regulations that include fining citizens who burn "vulgar" offerings. "The burning of luxury villas, sedan cars, mistresses and other messy sacrificial items ... will be investigated and punished," said Dou Yupei, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Hell Bank Notes (Hell Money). So-called Hell Bank Notes are Afterlife Monetary Offerings or Spirit Money. When people die, their spirits or ghosts go to an afterlife where they continue to live on, doing the same sort of things why did while alive, eating, drinking, wearing clothes, playing with their children, and so forth. In order to ensure that they have lots of good things in the afterlife, their relatives send them presents, and one of the best things to send them is Hell Bank Notes -- money to spend in the afterworld. Like earthly notes, Hell Money bears serial numbers, and the denominations vary, as do their sizes. They are sold in packs of 30 to 50 bills, wrapped in cellophane.

There are several ways the Chinese send Spirit Money to their departed relatives: it can be thrown to the winds during the funeral procession, left on a grave at any time, or burned in ceremonial fires during the yearly Hungry Ghost Festival.

 

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Movies This Week

 Mad Money - NO

 

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Cloverfield - YES

 

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There Will Be Blood - YES

 

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Here is a brief summary of my review of “Mad Money”.

Could “Mad Money” kill Katie Holmes career? Only Queen Latifah walks off unscathed. After regal cleaning lady Bridget (Diane Keaton), ghetto mom Nina (Queen Latifah), and 70’s flower child Jackie (Katie Holmes) rob the Federal Reserve Bank of a billion dollars in ones, they go off and capture Osama bin Laden.

Hey, it doesn’t take a genius to rob the Federal Reserve Bank. All you need is a Masters lock and a toilet plunger.

Why do these three women put their freedom on the line committing a federal crime? Well, Bridget’s house-bound, eunuch-husband lost his job and is depressed. They have to sell their mansion and actually give up throwing garden parties. The shame pushes Bridget to the thug life.

Forced by huge bills to get a job, Bridget lands a job cleaning toilets at the Federal Reserve. Looking around, Bridget’s criminal mind immediately assesses the glaring possibilities presented to her. It would be easy to stuff those old bills down her girdle. The old money is being burned anyhow. Who will miss it?

Bridget, whose previous work experience was as a member of Kansas’s Einsatzgruppen, enlists Nina and Jackie into her devious scheme. Nina’s job is to shred the old money. Jackie dances down the halls listening to her iPod. All it takes is a few winks and these ladies are robbing with careless impunity.

This dim-witted heist is further damaged by director Callie Khouri (she wrote “Thelma and Louise”), who directs as if her stars were Kukla, Fran and Ollie.