The activity and the essence of the number must be measured by the power contained in the notion of 10. For this (power) is great, all embracing, all-accomplishing, and is the fundament and guide of the divine and heavenly life as well as human life. ?Philolaus

October 10, 2010 is a 10/10/10 day. Does 10 mean anything? Sure it does, at least to the ancient Greek dude Pythagoras, the Mayans, the Hebrews, and many other cultures, but what’s it signify for us? Maybe nothing more than watching Sunday football, but the history and esoteric symbolism of “10″ is pretty cool.

My first introduction to the meaning of numbers came via working with the Tarot. After my spiritual awakening with the rock band Cheap Trick nearly nine years ago, I was intuitively guided to check out the archetypal images on Tarot cards. Each card (except for the face cards) are numbered 0-22 in the Major Arcana, and Ace through 10 in the Minor Arcana.

10 of Cups, Rider Waite Tarot

10 in the Minor Arcana is a combination of 1 (independence, action, motivation, driven, purpose) and 0 (Alpha and Omega, beginning and ending, paradox, limitless, infinite, unity, pure potential, will). Put ‘em together, and 10 contains all preceding numbers as a whole contains its parts, therefore it represents fulfillment and completion. 10 often signifies a cycle which has ended, and that a new one is/will be beginning. According to A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, “Ten takes us beyond the realm of number itself, above the fray of ordinary numerical interactions and geometric relationships. It is a new beginning, a journey into limitless.”

So, does 10/10/10 indicate that humanity is collectively hammocked between the end of one cycle, and the start of a new one? Let’s hope it’s starting a cycle for the better.

You remember Pythagoras, the Pythagorean theorem dude? Well to Pythag, (ya really can’t give the guy a nickname) ten represents a recapitulation of the whole and is the “perfect number.” We praise something or someone like Bo Derek as a as a perfect “10,” and 10×10=100%, a perfect grade on an exam (I loved the two times I got those cause I’d get Carvel ice cream!). We have 10 fingers and toes, (unless of course you’re like my father-in-law and cut a few digits off with a table saw) making a perfect, complete set. In fact, Pythagoras seems to have been totally enamored with the number 10. For him, it was the symbol of the universe, and also expressed the whole of human knowledge. That’s a lotta weight 10 carries. Guess that’s why 10 is two digits, cause 9 looks like his back is breaking.

Around 500 BC, the Pythagorean schools discovered that ten points unfolding in four levels describes a Tetraktys (from the Greek for “fourfold”). The total of the four rows of points = 10; 1+2+3+4.

This image reminded me of a peg game I used to play, where one peg was missing, and you’d have to jump the other 9 pegs until only one was left. Problem was, that

Tetraktys

usually didn’t happen until you figured out the secret path. Often, you would annoyingly be left with two nonadjacent pegs that were like lovers waving to one another from across the ocean. “Hey, you’re just one space away and now we’re stuck! I can’t jump you and win this damn game, so now we gotta start all over again.”

The Tetraktys (I hope that sounds better than it’s spelled…for some reason whenever I write tetraktys, turkey tetrazzini pops into my head…now I’m hungry) provided a basis for the Pythagorean school’s studies of natural science and philosophy. The four levels represented increasing densities of the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth, and the four modern states of matter. The tetraktys also symbolizes divinity where the number one represents a point; two, length; three, a plane or surface (as a triangle); four, solidity or space.

Pythagoras

After my awakening (due to the music of that most wonderful rockin’ rock band Cheap Trick), I kept hearing the number “four.” Now I wonder if Pythag was whispering in my inner ear, telling me sweet nothings about the nature of the universe. He always was a sucker for tall blonds. Fascinating that through a triangle of ten simple points in four rows the Decad’s (fancy Greek word for ten) principles of fulfillment, completion and wholeness are revealed.

Now this gets a bit tricky. Mr. Pythagoras is often referred to as the father of music cause as an ancient Greek math geek, he tested how vibration/sound changed with various string lengths (think modern guitar or violin but with different lengths). When one string was twice as long as the other it would produce two notes that seemed very similar (that’s the ratio of 2-to-1, or an octave). He wondered if other simple ratios like 2/3 or 3/4 might also sound good. (The Greeks were big fans of mathematical ratios.) Ultimately, Pythagoras pretty much set up the basis for our seven-tone and chromatic musical scale.

Notice that those ratios above include the numbers 1,2,3 and 4, which add up to our favorite Greek word symbolizing 10 points, Tetraktys…or turkey tetrazzini. This led Pythagoras to discover the octave (one-half and two-fourths) the double octave(one-fourth), the musical fourth (three-fourths), and the musical fifth (two thirds). These produce the “spiral of fifths” or “spiral of fourths” and endless octaves of tones.

10 of Pentacles

So 10 influences lotsa things, and in the Tarot, the Kabbalistic Tree of Life is constructed out of 10 points, each point having a number and a meaning applied to the number. These points are called the Sephirot, which means “enumerations”…. the 10 numbers. I won’t go into the details, but the Tree of Life shows up on the 10 of Pentacles in the Universal Rider Waite deck, and symbolizes achievement, abundance and fulfillment.

‘Ten is also the number of completion of journeys and returns to origins: Odysseus wandered for nine years and returned on the tenth. Troy was besieged for nine years and fell on the tenth. After Dante toured the nine rings of hell, his journey culminated with an ascent to the tenth, or empyrean, realm of transcendent spiritual beauty. I’ve been traveling the Hero’s Journey for nearly nine years (started with my awakening in January 2002), and something recently happened with Cheap Trick that shifted a ton o’ energy on my odyssey which indicates that this 10th year could be a year of completion and fulfillment for me. How very cool!

I think the completion of a cycle or journey is best depicted by #10 in the Major Arcana of the Tarot: The Wheel of Fortune.

The circular wheel symbolizes the ever changing winds of fate. The tarot recognizes that each person sets his own path in life, but is also subject to the larger cycles that include him and all life. This again is our theme of a cycle ending, and another beginning.

And notice that on the wheel there are 4 letters (TARO), four symbols (in Hebrew they create the name for God) and the four creatures on the four corners of the card originate from Ezekiel 1:10. Four is mega connected to the perfect, all encompassing, TEN. I knew Pythagoras was yodeling four in my head for good reason.

So, now we come to the date 10/10/10. Do three 10′s signify 10³ as in 10 to the third power or 1000? We humans like numbers with lots of zeros at the end, especially when they are checks made out to our name. 101010 in binary is 42, so if that’s you’re lucky number, buy a lottery ticket today. Or watch/read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy since the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything is 42.

Maybe 10/10/10 is just a cool date to get married (lots of folks are tying the knot today). Personally, I think Pythagoras will return 10/10/10 and give a full dissertation on the meaning of the funkily spelled Tetraktys. After all, ten is the number of the cosmos?the paradigm of creation.

All kidding aside, since 10 is the number of completion/rebirth, perhaps 10/10/10 might just might be a good day to reflect on your life, and see if something, say a relationship, has ended or come to completion in some way. Has something similar happened before? If so, with who and when? I noted a five year cycle for me repeating itself with Cheap Trick just a few weeks ago, on Labor Day weekend. It helped me realize that I’m part of an evolving, cyclical universe.

I know no one who has lived a life that’s a perfect “10.” We all experience times of joy as well as profound sadness/grief. Yet completion/death is necessary in order for the new to emerge. Transitions can sometimes be painful, but if we take a moment to notice patterns that repeat themselves, it might help us understand the bigger picture of our lives. That kind of knowledge, at least to me, is certainly worthy of a 10.

Cheap Trick performed their final Sgt. Peppers show Saturday, September 18, 2010 at Paris Las Vegas, so it’s too late to catch the wonderful concert, but you can relive the adventure here with me, Laura the Explora (okay, lame, but I’m originally from New Yawk and it rhymes). Though I saw the show in June, this time (September 9 and 10th), my 81 yr old mother, Diane, accompanied me to Vegas, and I thought I’d write part show review/part adventure with my mom. Every trip is a journey, filled with moments of surprise, but this one had more laughs and hair pulling than any recent Cheap Trick rendezvous (I go to lotsa Trick shows) that I recall.

“A Little Ditty about Laura and Diane”

Laura picked up an excited Diane at her apartment on Wednesday, ready to begin their journey. Diane hadn’t been to Vegas in a decade, nor had she seen a live show in ages. We had tix for Trick on Thursday, and mom was going to see Cher on Friday night (while Laura returned to Sgt. Peppers for her Trick fix).

Diane has post-polio syndrome, and lost most of the use of her left arm when she was two years old. These days, exerting any kind of energy to walk leaves her gasping for air, so Laura had an electric wheelchair reserved for Diane at Bally’s in Vegas. When Laura and Diane finally got to Sin City, it was late in the evening. Her electric wheelchair was waiting, but she can’t see very well (ya know cataracts and glaucoma are an 81-yr-old’s best friend). Laura wished she could have had one of those hot orange bike flags attached to the scooter so people could see Diane coming and get the hell out of her way.

Laura was exhausted and went to bed, but Diane doesn’t sleep very well any more. She gets up about 30 times a night to go to the bathroom, have a drink, and/or eat a snack. Laura would be asleep and then SURPRISE!, wake-up to the sound of “clink-clink” ice in a glass and mom munching on left-over potato chips from their airport dinner. Diane must have woken Laura up a half-dozen times when I finally decided to get up and go for a walk at 6am.

Walking down the strip at that time of the morning is really…..interesting. Why anyone in their right mind gets up that early on vacation is beyond Laura’s comprehension…that is of course unless they’re rooming with Diane.

After breakfast, Diane followed Laura in her electric scooter over toward Paris to play some slots. Since Diane can’t see very well, she has to be Laura’s shadow wherever they go, which means Laura has to constantly look back and make sure mom hasn’t accidentally taken a detour into some glass-menagerie of a store (think bull in a china shop) because everything is so sparkly. Diane loves bling.

Robin Zander's long hair

Along the way, SURPRISE! Laura had a possible Mr. Robin Zander, Cheap Trick’s lead singer, sighting. As Diane complained about the annoying Paris cobblestones which made her ride oh-so-not smooth, Laura may have seen the Z-man walking about 20 feet ahead of her. The dude had a blond looped-up ponytail like the singer wears, but she wasn’t sure if it was him. She turned around for a moment to make sure Diane hadn’t been swallowed up into a Parisian fountain, and when she turned back around, the blond dude had disappeared. So there’s Laura’s weird random “maybe-saw-a-rock-star-from-behind” moment.

After losing about $7 on the penny slots and having lunch, Laura and Diane went back to the room where SURPRISE! Laura read an email she hadn’t expected. She’d wished it had said that she’d won the lottery, so that she could play real slots, like quarters, but alas, it was not to be. No unfound money was found and Laura decided to leave Diane in the room to nap.

Diane woke up around 3:30pm, and SURPRISE!, her digestive system was oh so not happy. The internal organs of an 81 yr old are always giving Diane surprises, but this was not one that we’d hoped to have 4 hours before the Tricksters were to surprise and delight us with their singing/musical showmanship. “Holy Crap! (pun intended) What do we do now Batman?”

Laura offered Diane lots of stuff to ease her tummy troubles. Wanna peppermint? Wanna homeopathic remedy? Wanna high colonic? Diane refused everything but cold “clink-clink” ice cubed water, and was determined to feel better by show time. Diane had a new outfit from JC Penney to wear, and nothing was going to stop her from being seen in public wearing her snazzy digs.

At 7:22pm, Diane’s gurgling intestines seemed to only be quasi-gurgling, and the two fancy schmancily dressed women decided to head to see Cheap Trick perform Sgt. Peppers at Paris Las Vegas. Laura prayed to the intestinal gods to leave Diane alone for two hours.

We arrived twenty-minutes before show time, and a nice lady asked us if we’d like our picture taken. “Sure!” After the show, Laura picked up the cool photo of mother and daughter with Sgt. Peppers printed over our heads, and little guitars at our feet. When Diane saw the photo, she gasped, “The circles around my eyes are so dark it looks like someone punched me.” That’s what happens when you only get 3 hours of sleep every night. Laura’s head, on the other hand, appeared elongated and quite huge, making her resemble an alien from another galaxy.

After the Kodak moment, Diane scooted to her seat in the first row, Mr. Rick Nielsen’s side. The pre-show anticipation was building, but Diane was cold. She’s always cold. And hungry. So I helped mom put on her white sweatshirt underneath her snazzy jacket, and she was happy. When Diane’s happy, Laura’s happy too.

********SHOWTIME!*********

For those who haven’t seen the concert, the opening number features an elevated orchestra playing “I Am The Walrus” with six singer dudes with fancy schmancy hairdoo’s going “goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob” (or whatever those onomatopoeia-like sounds are that they’re making) while Daxx Nielsen (Rick’s son) pounds the drums. It’s all very energetic and Diane had a big smile on her face.

Then, they bring the curtain down with a large screen and play snippets of Trick being referenced to in movies, some interviews with the band, and all that jazz. This allows the audience, many of whom have probably never seen the Tricksters before, to know what a great freakin’ band they are, and that this is not a tribute show to the Beatles. I still smile every time Mr. Tom Petersson says he’d mow Geoff Emerick’s lawn.

This little interlude gives the band a chance to take their places behind the magic curtain, so that when it rises, Mr. Nielsen is on a platform, and the guys surge into “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Within a few moments, SURPRISE! Mr. Nielsen was pelting me with a pick. And then another. He was quite animated and being right in front of him was mega fun.

Diane doesn’t know the lyrics to any songs…I mean any songs from any time period. She just sings “la la la” no matter what. So, when “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds” started, she immediately recognized it, but has no idea what they’re singing about. She believes “La, la, la” is all anyone needs to enjoy a song. So, Lucy has been rechristened, “LaLa in the Sky with more Lalas.”

The “Within You Without You” Indian ensemble featuring Mr. Tom Petersson is still a highlight for Laura, but this time they added smoke to enhance the mood. There’s this green light which is way cool in an eerie, Halloweenish way, but with the smoke now included (don’t remember it from previous shows), it was trippy beyond any hallucinogenic one could ingest. The smoke machine was cranked, and at one point, I looked toward the folks in the first row, center, and they were totally obscured by the fog. Laura hoped they wouldn’t start coughing, and they didn’t. Smoke or no smoke, it’s still a smokin’ song sung by the inventor of the 12-string bass.

The second half of the show, with the Tricksters doing some of their own tunes, always brings the energy up a notch or two. However, this audience was hesitant to stand up and most sat through the majority of the show. No matter, Laura and Diane still had a great time listening to “Lala Police” and “I Want You to LaLa Me.”

Ya’ can’t really prepare anyone for this, though I told Diane that by sitting in the front row, Mr. Nielsen might toss a pick or two her way. After he pelted moi at the beginning of the show, somewhere in the second half, he very gently tossed a pick to Diane, looked at me and said, “Tell her that’s a “heart” pick from me.” And then I believe he did a little pitter-patter with his hand over his heart. Laura then yelled in Diane’s ear what he said, and she smiled. I think she thought he said, “La la la heart la la.”

Sparkles!

Mr.Zander also wears some very sparkly outfits in the second half, and since Laura and Diane are descended from seagulls (they really like shiny things) they both enjoyed all of the holographic sparkles bouncing off of the bling-bling jacket he dons at the end of the show.

Now, at one point, while Laura sat attentively listening to Mr. Nielsen talk about their Sgt. Pepper CD/DVD (of which all the proceeds go to cancer research) SURPRISE! Mr. Nielsen tossed Laura the DVD after he was done with his spiel. Laura then paid it forward and SURPRISE! handed the DVD to the guy behind her because she already has a copy. The guy behind her was stoked. It’s all about spreading the love, cause love is all ya need, and love is a many splendid thing.

During “All You Need is Love,” Diane enjoyed the zillions of pink paper things that descended from the sky. She inquired, “Why are they in the shape of a tooth?” Laura told you her eyes weren’t functioning at their optimal level. After the show, Laura retrieved the electric scooter, and Diane proceeded to have so many paper hearts stuck on her clothing/hair, that they fell to her scooter, and then ultimately to the floor. If anyone had wanted to rob us, all they’d have to do is follow and paper trail all the way back to our room at Bally’s.

Random Ramblings from Diane (in her heavy Long Island accent) during/after the Sgt. Pepper’s show

“That drummer (Daxx Nielsen) is really cute…and so good at playing the drums. I love the drums.”

“Man, that blond fella really can sing.”

“Oooo….look at his sparkly jacket. I’d love to wear that.” (Told ya we were seagulls)

“Oh, that Rick is such a nice boy to throw me a piece of plastic. What does it say? I can’t read it.”

“Who’s this man? (pointing to Bill Lloyd) He’s working really hard too.”

“Aren’t they afraid to be playing up there?” (remarking about the elevated orchestra. Diane is deathly afraid of heights)

Day Deux

Laura and Diane ate some dinner after the show since Diane’s intestines were happier. Diane didn’t wake Laura up as much as the night before, but Laura still didn’t sleep well. Must have been the Nathan’s hot dog scarfed down at 11pm.

Laura and Diane hung out most of the day, played a little penny slots, and got ready for Diane’s big night out to see the one and only “Snap Out Of It!” Cher. Laura knew that getting Diane to Caesar’s Palace on her electric wheelchair would be an adventure in and of itself. And it was.

L&D left plenty early to get to Caesar’s, which is diagonally across from Bally’s on the corner of Flamingo Road and the Strip. It’s deceptively close, but since the only way to actually get there is via elevated cross-walks where you take either an escalator/stairs/elevator toward The Flamingo hotel or Bellagio, it gets more complicated with someone in an electric wheelchair who is terrified of heights and glass elevators, since elevators are the only option.

In some twisted phobic recesses of Diane’s brain, she believes that she will somehow catapult her scooter through the glass elevator and die, which makes having to go up and down in the lifts a complete joy to be with her. We approached the elevator at the corner of Bally’s which was to take us up to the The Flamingo crosswalk, and as we got closer, a guy in the elevator said SURPRISE!, it isn’t working. Sure enough, I pushed the up button, and nothing happened.

No big deal. “Okay, back up Diane, let’s go to the other elevator which will take us to the Bellagio instead.” We arrive at the elevator and SURPRISE! the sign says, “OUT OF ORDER.” Laura’s like, “Oh crap. Caesar’s is so close, yet so far. How do we get Diane over there?” I remembered there was a street crosswalk at the other end of Paris, which Trick fan Budokanasana (Claire) and I had taken after one of the June Sgt. Peppers shows. “Okay Diane, we’ve got to go past Paris. Follow me.”

Laura thought Diane might have a heart attack, since to her it felt as if she had to make it all the way to Rockford, Illinois in an electric cart. Like a greyhound, she’s easily excitable, has zero patience when stressed, and the crowds on a Friday afternoon didn’t help the situation. “Why are all of these $%^&$@# people in my way?” she’d complain.

When we finally got closer to the Paris crosswalk, Laura tried to rush Diane so that she could make the light, and then remembered Diane can’t really see all that well. For fear of her missing the little sloped ramp and instead going off of the curb and flipping her scooter, Laura felt like a ground air-traffic controller dude waving his arms for the airplane to follow….”Over here Diane,” I said, as I flailed both arms up and down. “Go up this ramp.” Diane cursed as she tried to negotiate around the thousands of bodies that got in her way.

Bellagio fountains, with Bally's and Paris in background...it's a lot bigger than it looks!

We were finally on the Bellagio side of the street when Laura realized that the fountains were dancing to the music, and almost everyone was watching the aquatic show. That meant Diane had a clear path to go the length of the block toward the next elevator without the annoying people, so Laura cranked the scooter to “jackrabbit”, and yelled, “Go Diane, run like the wind!” And Diane, not really being able to see where the hell she was going, darted off in as straight a line as she could with Laura lagging behind her. It was too bloody hot for Laura to run, but Diane made it almost all of the way before the fountains did their grand finale.

When Laura caught up, she turned the speed back to “semi-turtle” and Diane was cursing that she was exhausted, as if she’d run the length of a Vegas block. She was so delighted when Laura reminded her that she had to now go in an elevator, that she cursed nicely at Laura too. Laura went in first and had to coax Diane, wishing she had a sugar-free chocolate (Diane is diabetic) to entice her into the glass booth of death. Diane yelped as she drove about two inches past the door with her eyes closed, certain she was about to be launched into the afterlife.

We went through the yelping and eye closing again on our “down” elevator over at the Caesars corner, and at that point, Diane was about ready pack it in to go back to Bally’s, cause Caesar’s is like overwhelmingly huge. After more polite cursing and almost taking out a young couple in love with Diane’s impatient scooter driving, Laura finally gets mom to the Forum where Cher performs. You can tell Cher draws an older crowd, cause there is a nice man who will escort Diane to her seat and puts a ticket on her scooter which he’ll bring back to her after the show is finished. Laura is relieved and heads back to the hotel via the oh so simple stairs to get ready for Sgt. Peppers.

***********SHOWTIME PART DEUX***********

I had third row center seats Friday night, and chatted with the woman next to me. “Are you a Cheap Trick or Beatles fan?” I inquired. “Both”replied the bubbly woman from Queens, NY. “You’re from Queens? I grew up in Massapequa, Long Island” remarked Laura (Queens/Brooklyn/Long Island are all neighbors, in case yer not familiar with lower New York geography). Then a woman in the 2nd row turned her head and said, “I’m from Islip, Long Island.” Then the guy on Laura’s left gushed, “I grew up in Merrick and Hicksville, Long Island.” Rod Sterling entered, and instead of playing the Twilight Zone theme song, he asked Frank Sinatra and the orchestra to strike up “New Yawk, New Yawk.” It’s a hell of a town… or state…in case ya forgot.

The enthusiastic woman from Queens had seen lots of Vegas shows and said that “O” was the best show on the strip. When she asked Laura how many times she’d seen Cheap Trick and Laura replied “around 75 times,” the woman was delighted to be sitting next to a “real” fan. That made Laura giggle.

The show was just as enjoyable as the previous night, with lots of great energy from the band and audience. When Rick saw that Laura was Dianeless, he gestured/mouthed, “Where is she?” as if he was wondering what happened to the nice old lady he’d “picked” the night before.

Even after seeing Sgt. Peppers a total of eight times, (including the Hollywood Bowl/Hilton shows) I still picked up some new things I hadn’t noticed before. The singer dudes with the fancy hairdoos play gazoos for a few measures on one song (forgive me, not sure which tune, having a complete brain fart…does anyone actually know?). And mom is right…Billy Lloyd, as well as Magic Cristian (keyboards), really add a great deal to the overall sound of the production.

The Queens woman was grinning the entire evening, and when Trick got to “Lala Police,” Laura encouraged her to stand. She did, and Laura enjoyed watching the woman from Queens rock out. Laura, for some unknown reason, got teary-eyed during “World’s Greatest LaLa.” The lyrics hit her particularly hard that night, and “She’s Leaving Home” and “Carry That Weight” were heart twisters too. During “The End” she closed her eyes and listened to the orchestra. It was a cosmic experience.

As the show ended, the woman from Queens turned to Laura and SURPRISE! screamed, “THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE SHOW ON THE STRIP!” Listen to the lady. She knows her stuff. It is the best show in Vegas.

THE RETURN

On any mythic journey, the return voyage home can be just as daunting as the beginning of the trek. Getting Diane back to Bally’s was no easy task. Cher was awesome because she started her show with a “boom-boom” very loud drum according to Diane, but the scooter driving octogenarian was mega cranky and beyond exhausted. Laura still had to get her back on two elevators, which was not going to be easy. When they approached the first one, Diane, like a stubborn mule, refused to ride the scooter onto it. She looked at Laura and said, “YOU DO IT!” and with that, she grabbed her cane and got off the scooter. Laura drove it in without yelping, and they made it to the Flamingo side.

They crossed over the bridge and got to the next elevator and SURPRISE! it doesn’t work. Oh crap! Laura had tested it on the way back from Caesars a few hours earlier, and it worked if ya pushed the button from the elevated crosswalk, but not at street level. The homeless person (looked homeless) sitting next to it said, “Go down Flamingo.” Laura looked down Flamingo Road and sure enough, there was a crosswalk in the middle of the street, leading right into Bally’s. It was one of those “Wow, I coulda had a V-8″ moments. It would have been nice to have known a simpler option existed earlier in the day, but sometimes we are guided to take the long way home (or to Caesars) for some reason we just don’t understand at the time. When things don’t go as planned, that often becomes the most memorable part of the journey.

So, mom and I went back down another glass elevator and after more arm flailing and yelling by Laura…. “Mom, no, that red thing is the curb! Over here!” finally get back home. I was never so relieved to be back to a noisy, crowded casino in my life. They say that life’s a journey, and when you journey with Diane, expect the unexpected.

Thanks Las Vegas and Cheap Trick for an unforgettable mother/daughter adventure. Diane says she had such a good time she’d like to go to Vegas every three months. Don’t think so, at least not with moi. Maybe next year if the Tricksters do Sgt. Peppers again, and only if Diane promises not go near Caesar’s Palace.

P.S. I recently took my mom and daughters to see “Alpha and Omega” in 3-D. Diane has never seen a 3-D movie before, and since her vision isn’t what the lady at the DMV calls “stellar,” (Diane got ZERO correct on her license renewal vision test) we weren’t sure what to expect. As soon as the movie started, she was delighted. “The screen is so clear! This is wonderful.” As we left the theater, she asked me, “Why can’t they make these 3-D glasses for real life?” It made me think of the song “3-D” by Cheap Trick.

That reminds me! I was going to write about Rick’s newer guitar with the wonky checkerboard pattern and totally forgot to include it in the review. It’s got a warped checkerboard with a 3-D perspective, kinda bent, hard to describe, and reminds me of the new slightly distorted checkerboard backdrop they’ve been using lately. So, 3-D rocks for older folks with poor eyesight and it makes a neat guitar design as well.

Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick

I got back from my Las Vegas trip with my two daughters Friday night (6/25). What a great adventure. We started out driving the 760 miles from Denver/Boulder to Vegas early Monday morning as planned, but as I came down Vail pass, my car shimmied more than a belly dancer at a Middle-Eastern restaurant. We frantically looked for a place to repair my brakes. God bless Google. There was a Big O’ Tire a mile away, and I begged the guy to get me out of there as quickly as possible. Within 2 hours, we were back on I-70 and on our way to Vegas baby with a minivan that could now stop on a dime without shakin’, rattlin’, or rollin’.

Made it by 7pm Vegas time, and after a bite to eat and checking into the hotel, the girls wanted to check out the Fremont Experience. I drove right past it, and by the time we found the light spectacular, Queen’s “We Will Rock You” was blaring. We only stayed about 10 minutes cause my 9-yr-old stated she was exhausted and wanted some zzzzz. So back to Bally’s we went. We stayed there since it was less expensive than Paris (I wasn’t positive we were going, so I didn’t book until last Thursday. Rates went up as the arrival date got closer). Bally’s is also connected to Paris, so we didn’t have to walk outside in the hotter than Hades weather to get to the shows. (I complained about the oppressive hot and humid Florida weather in my Orland HOB review, but it had to be well over 100 degrees in Vegas. Why can’t Cheap Trick do Vegas in March when it’s a balmy 70 degrees?)

The girls spent a few hours Tuesday morning at Circus Circus Adventuredome game/ride arena, and we checked out Bellagio’s gardens. Next time we go to Vegas they want to stay at the Bellagio…when I win the lottery I told them. I needed to win the lottery to buy three full-price seats for Tuesday night’s show and just couldn’t justify it. I thought the girls would enjoy seeing Sgt. Pepper and I had a ticket for me for Wednesday night, but nothing for Tuesday. Luckily, I was able to get three 4th row center tix (near Rick’s side) for $100 total. Three different people contacted me that they had 4th row seats to sell for $30 to $35 a piece, so if you’re considering going but price is an issue, you should be able to get good seats at a reasonable cost via Craigslist.

My daughters had experienced their first Trick concert at the HOB in Orlando a few weeks ago, and they inquired if they would have to stand again. When I told them we had actual seats, they were curious if they were soft comfy seats, or like the hard chairs they have in their school cafetorium. Needless to say they were delighted for the Paris seats were very plush (just in case you were wondering. ) After the show they said their favorite part was the confetti of paper hearts, but even more exciting was the fact that they could sit at a concert. I think they believed all rock concerts were standing room only, so now they think this whole rock ‘n’ roll thing is pretty cool if you can sit and enjoy it.

Speaking of seats, the show Wednesday looked maybe 3/4′s full. Tuesday might have had more people, but I don’t think by very much. There were seats in the first row that were empty on Tuesday, and Wed. night there had to be at least a half-dozen totally empty rows in the back of the house. I’d hoped that the show would be more of a draw; signs for the concert were all around Paris/Bally’s, and Rick/Robin/Tom are on the cover of the Las Vegas magazine in the hotel rooms. But I do think the steep prices and other competing shows in town are keeping some folks from seeing Sgt. Peppers, which is a shame because this version with “Trick only” is such a great experience.

Enjoyed the Hollywood Bowl and Hilton concerts, but this show definitely feels more cohesive without the guest artists. It just seems more fluid. Robin Zander deftly weaves his vocal magic through every Beatles song, and the rest of the guys looked to be really enjoying themselves. They seemed more relaxed…except when Rick finishes “Surrender” and then has to segue into playing the piano/singing lead for “World’s Greatest Lover.” He needs another minute to come down from his adrenaline rush and switch gears for the gentleness of “WGL.”

One of the biggest surprises for me was “Within You Without You.” It’s one of my favorite songs from the Hollywood Bowl/Hilton shows because the Indian ensemble was amazing. Satnam Singh Ramgotra is such a skilled tabla player, and I thought he was the cohesive glue for the ensemble, but he wasn’t a part of the Paris shows. Though the guy who filled in for him did a commendable job, Ramgotra plays on a different level. The array of sounds that a skilled player can bring out of this drum is mind blowing. I took several tabla lessons from my acupuncturist a few years ago, and he told me that to become a master tabla player is a lifelong commitment. My commitment lasted about six weeks, just long enough to learn that the tabla is an incredibly challenging instrument to play.

That said, Tom’s vocals were exquisite on this song. I don’t consider him a strong lead singer, but since the lyrics aren’t sung in a traditional manner, this suited his vocal style. I could be wrong, but he seems to me to be the Trickster most likely to resonate with Indian spirituality and music, so this seemed a really good fit. The segment was a great contribution to overall show in my opinion. I give Mr. Petersson kudos for taking this raga, which is so sonically different to the rest of the Sgt. Pepper’s album, and bringing it to life.

Robin does several wardrobe changes including switching into black leather pants and a black shirt and hat for several songs. It’s nice to see him without sunglasses/hat and how he really connected with the audience both nights. At one point Tuesday night during “All You Need Is Love,” it dawned on me that I could hear his voice but he wasn’t on stage. I was like, “Where’d he go? Backstage to change outfits again?” As Claire (budokanasana) remarked in her review, he went down the aisles and connected with the audience but the paper heart deluge made it nearly impossible to see anyone more than a few feet away. Interestingly, he didn’t go into the audience on Wednesday for some reason, but instead, Zandergal (Allie) got a loving handshake from Z. I was seated in the row behind Allie that night, and how awesome is it to have Z sing “All You Need Is Love,” look in your eyes and and grab yer hand. Wish I’d known it was coming Allie or I would have gotten a picture for you. The two seats in front of me were empty, so it would have been a great shot.

There were other amusing moments. Tuesday night, I kept noticing that Rick’s legs were moving rapidly, and from where I was sitting, it looked as if he had a rapid nervous twitch. I later realized there was a fan at his feet and it was simply blowing the pant-leg material which made him look as though he was doing the “Man, I gotta go to the bathroom” dance. Rick’s Beatles sneakers were way cool and Daxx looked quite dapper Wed. night in a stylish jacket (Daxx did an excellent job on drums.) In the past it seemed Robin’s white pants were just leather, but Wed night I realized they are actually iridescent and sparkle like a hologram…kinda like that jacket he wears at the end, only much more subtler.

Rick was throwing picks at someone behind me on Tuesday night. He kept moving his fingers in a way that implied the person was texting (at least that’s what it seemed like he was pantomiming to my eyes). A few of his picks fell short and landed in my daughter’s lap. Now she’s got a blue one to go with her “gone through the wash” red/orange pick from Orlando.

Before the Wednesday night show, I chatted with the older couple next to me. They had received comp tickets and the woman had never seen the band before. She was wearing a tasteful lower-cut blouse, and toward the end of the show, Rick tossed her a pick, but he was a gentleman and didn’t try to nail her. He did some hand gestures so that she got the hint that he was trying to get it down her blouse. When she realized what he had tried to do, she had that familiar stunned look of surprise, then she laughed. I think she had a really good time.

It was great to see Allie again (and meet her husband) and meet Claire and her mom. Claire got to press the flesh with Robin on Tuesday as he passed her during “All You Need Is Love.” I wish I could have seen it because I knew where she was standing, but the plethora of hearts made it impossible to see across the room. I’m so glad Claire’s mom had the chance to see the show. I took my 81 yr old mom to see her first rock concert with Billy Joel and Elton John a few months ago, and she had a blast. Mommies Alright, and she doesn’t seem so weird anymore now that she digs this thing called rock ‘n’ roll.

Got back last Tuesday night from vacationing in Florida with my daughters, so sorry for the delayed HOB review. This spring I considered bringing the kids to Disney World right after school got out at the end of May. When the HOB show was announced, I discovered it was an all ages show and took it as a sign that I was supposed to travel to the Sunshine state and take my 9 and 11 yr old daughters not only to see Mickey Mouse and friends, but to their first rock concert. So glad we did. (note: if you only want to read concert info, skip to about half-way through the post)

I wanted to make sure the girls were up front, so I got on line about 4pm. They went off in Downtown Disney looking for gifts for friends while I chatted with a guy who is the bass player for the Tampa AC/DC tribute band Highway to Hell. Speaking of hell, did I mention that central Florida was hotter than Hades and the humidity was about 1000%? We joke that Colorado is hot, but it’s a dry heat. I haven’t been in Florida during the summer in decades, and this was not only hot, but the stickiest I’ve ever felt. Downtown Disney should include a big pool filled with ice to cool oneself off. I’ll take the Nestea plunge there any time.

Around 6pm the girls got hungry for a Haagen-Dazs milkshake, so I told them to wait on line (which was now getting fairly long) and I went in search of the store at the other end of downtown. While ordering their high caloric snack, the heavens suddenly opened and a huge downpour soaked everything in sight for about five minutes. I, fortunately, watched the mini-monsoon from inside the air conditioned Pretzle Wetzle/Haagen-Dazs shop. When I got back to the line, everyone looked like wet rats. The AC/DC guy said the girls were troopers and stayed in line and held our spot. I believe this could be considered a rock concert baptism of sorts, an initiation into the world of rock fandom and the kind of things we go through to see our favorite band up close and personal. They wore their Cheap Trick logo t-shirts with pride…or maybe it’s just me that’s proud, but I was happy they didn’t run for cover as their mother would have because I’m a wuss and my hair was already in a really bad mood from all of the humidity.

The front of the “pass-the-line” line grew as friends of people ahead of us showed up closer to 7pm when the doors opened. I was getting concerned that the girls wouldn’t get next to the stage. They’re tall for their ages, but still wouldn’t see much if they weren’t right up front. When we got in to the theater, all of the spots along the barrier were taken except for the extreme right by Tom, and I said to the Highway to Hell dude that it sucks if you wait in line for three hours and still can’t get upfront. Upon hearing that, two women turned around, moved a bit to the right, and invited my daughter to squeeze in. I thanked them profusely, and the younger one’s head just made it over the barrier. Her sister stood behind her so they both had a good view.

I had earplugs for everyone, but no matter what I did, the 9-yr-old’s ear canal was too small and the plugs kept popping out like dandelions in July. All through opener Ricky Warwick I was trying to shove little pieces of foam into her head which she didn’t appreciate… I even ripped some in half…didn’t help. When Trick came on, I attempted once again to block some of the noise with the now mutilated earplugs, and after about 10 minutes, I gave up. Someone later told me that they sold children’s ear plugs at Walmart. Next time I’ll be better prepared, but she was fine and can still hear clear as a bell, though for some reason she seems to become a bit deaf when I ask her to take out the garbage or turn off the TV.

Anyway, if you’ve read this far, here’s my concert musings… MFSITWWWMRZ did a great review (sorry I missed you at the show!) and I’ll just add a few things. The guys definitely were in fine form. The first surprise was “Hot Love.” They really tore it up, and then “Cry Cry” after “Miss Tomorrow” was a wonderful treat. The guy to the left of my daughter and the woman to the right knew each other and kept hi-fiving over my kid’s head every time the band pulled out an oldie but goodie. They were totally stoked.

The boy they brought on stage (with the “My 2nd concert and I’m 7 years old” sign) was very cute. Glad he got the band’s autographs and will tell all of his 2nd grade friends how amazing Cheap Trick is. My 9-yr-old kept asking me if they’d play “Sick Man of Europe” and I said they probably would…and they did, which brought a big grin to her face. Her friends listen to “The Latest” in the car when I’m shuttling them after school to various classes. Just trying to do my part to help the next generation appreciate good rock ‘n’ roll.

Back to the show. Maybe it’s just me, but the past few times I’ve heard “Heaven Tonight” in concert, it sends me into some kind of alternate reality. It’s so hypnotic that I close my eyes and allow the song to take me into the stratosphere and beyond. It’s like I’m communing with the Big Cheese or something way mystical every time I hear it live. Why do drugs when you can listen to “Heaven Tonight?” There’s no side-effects and it doesn’t give ya a hang-over. Dentists should use it when conducting a root canal instead of Novocaine. “Would you like me to shove a needle into your jaw, or would you prefer some Heaven Tonight?”

At the beginning of “Closer,” Robin headed over to Tom’s side of the stage and started walking as if he were on a tight-rope when he sang “one step closer to mine.” I don’t know why, but that sticks out as one of my favorite moments of the show. He was super animated all night long, and when he sang the initial “Gonna Raise Hell” line, he looked at my daughter after saying “hell,” put his hands on his cheeks and then did a little “o” of surprise with his mouth as if he were saying “I just said a bad word! Naughty-naughty.” My daughter didn’t quite get it, but I thought it was pretty amusing.

“Ballad of TV Violence” rocked, but I gotta say “Gonna Raise Hell” was superb. It was hotter than hell standing in line for hours, but totally worth it just for this song alone. Talk about sending your consciousness into an alternate reality. When Rick and Tom groove toward the end of the tune, it’s freakin’ cosmic. Just incredible. I really needed a swimming pool to jump into after that one since I think my body temperature shot up to about 110 degrees.

As we left the venue, the 11 yr old was walking like a 111 yr old and said, “Mom, my back is killing me. This is the longest I’ve ever stood in one place in my entire life! How can you do this?” Just cracked me up. Pain dissipates in the presence of the master musicians known as Cheap Trick for they channel the healing power of music. Oh, and both girls each got a pick, one red and one orange. The red one was in a pocket unbeknownst to me and just got washed and dried so now its sorta orange and a bit bent. She can tell her friends that the guitarist bit it and then spit it at her, though I’m not sure if that would be cool or creepy.

It’s hard to top Disney, Sea World, and Busch Gardens in the eyes of a kid, but Cheap Trick put on such a great show that the girls said it was more fun than Disney’s Hollywood Studios Aerosmith Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster ride. I personally don’t do roller coasters, but Trick’s alternating between ballads and rockers provided all of the emotional ups and downs and loop-de-loops I could handle. A Cheap Trick concert is the best ride of them all.

Today my guest is Traci L. Slatton, author of the novel Immortal, published by Bantam Dell. Traci, can you tell me a bit about what inspired you to write about a boy who hardly ages, and therefore seems immortal, during the 14th and 15th centuries in Florence, Italy?

Immortal is a rags-to-riches-to-burnt-at-the-stake story. It’s a journey of faith, an education of the heart, and an exploration of the deepest reaches of love.

My husband Sabin Howard (www.sabinhoward.com) is a classical figurative sculptor. Think Michelangelo. He is obsessed with the Italian Renaissance and it’s a regular topic of conversation with him. We’ve made some trips to Italy and I fell in love with Giotto and Fra Angelico and Botticelli and fresh, savory Italian food…. So I wanted to write a story that would include my heroes, from Giotto to Da Vinci. That meant my protagonist had to live a long time!

Also, in world mythology, there is a vein of tales about people who live for centuries, barely aging. I read an article in the alternative Aussie magazine NEXUS about two brothers in the south of France who seem to keep popping up in photos through the decades, looking exactly the same.

Then there is my fascination with Elaine Pagels and early Christianity. I have to wonder--and I must acknowledge Dan Brown and the Da Vinci code in articulating this question: How much of what we accept as true gospel has been edited by the early church fathers for the purpose of controlling the populace? That is, how were the original stories and sayings of Jesus’ reconfigured to give the church power and authority? There is so much in Jesus’ words about love, tolerance, helping people without judgment. Then there’s a judgmental overlay that wants to condemn anyone who isn’t Christian in a certain way--feels like it didn’t come from the same being who said, “Let he who is perfect cast the first stone.”

The main character Luca Bastardo ultimately studies alchemy. Since I was guided to learn about a 17th century alchemist on my spiritual journey with rock ‘n’ roll, I’m very curious if this is a topic of personal interest. Why might alchemy be important for those of us in the 21st century to study and explore?

I remember that you deeply researched an alchemist named Robert Fludd. Interesting. Alchemy is ultimately about the transformation of the self. It’s about liberation from the dross of the material realm and knowing ourselves to be “golden,” that is, eternal spirit. That’s a journey, not an endpoint. It’s also not immediate. It takes time and work and patience. In a world where instant gratification is idolized--we have a lot to gain from alchemy.

A character named The Wanderer at one point says to Luca, “It’s simple fact that the soul’s presence in the body means it hasn’t completed it work, and that it must transmigrate until the work is finished, until all is repaired, until it has wound through every branch of the tree of life.” My blog is called Rock ‘n’ Reincarnation, and that sounds like the basis of reincarnation to me. So I have to ask….what are your thoughts on reincarnation, and do you have any sense if you’ve lived before?

Reincarnation makes sense to me. I grew up with alternate sets of memories--fragments and flashes with deep emotional charge--I didn’t know what they were until I started researching consciousness and reincarnation in grad school. Alas, I was no one famous or important, best as I can figure out, but lived some lives as an ordinary person learning lessons about love. I also recommend Dr. Brian Weiss’ books on reincarnation.

You graduated from the Barbara Brennan School of Healing and for several years had a hands-on healing practice. Did that work influence some of the subjects you explore in Immortal, such as the Cathar’s transfer of spirit through the hands called consolamentum? Are you still doing any healing work?

Healing is a part of me; the BBSH is a mystery school, and once you emerge from one of those, you’re never the same. Luca has a healing gift. He’s the archetypal wounded healer.

Healing work comes up from time to time. Sometimes my husband or my little daughter will ask me to put my hands on a part of their body that hurts and “make it feel better.” I find myself doing healing work during meditation. I no longer have a formal practice. Now I’m an author, which is the longing that leads me through my life. The universe was very clear with me when it was time for me to put aside my practice and to pursue writing exclusively. I had never advertised but people came to me, and I had as full a practice each week as I wished. Then, over the course of one week, after many years, all my healing clients ended their work with me. I said, “Ok, ok, Universe, duh, I get the message!”

Getting a novel published for a first-time author can be a challenging process. Can you briefly describe how you came to Bantam Dell?

This was complicated and included me upsetting my former literary agent. Not a good thing to do. My editor at Bantam had read an earlier novel and liked it, but her boss said, “No.” Then, after I wrote a few chapters of Immortal, I gave it to my oldest daughter, who was then 14 and is now 19. She was always a gifted reader and in the 6th grade read at the college level. She loved those few chapters. I was pleased but thought nothing of it. A week later she came to me and said, “Mom, I can’t stop thinking about your novel. I have to know, what happens to Luca? Write the rest!” That’s when I knew I had something. I spontaneously emailed those chapters to the editor, and she loved Immortal too….

Any recommendations for authors who are trying to publish their novels?

Here’s the thing: publishing is a mess right now. The system is broken and no one knows exactly what’s going to save it. E-books? Print on demand? Vampire fiction? No one really knows where it will all end up. Everyone’s got a theory.

Last year was a disaster in the publishing industry, with massive layoffs. Harcourt stopped taking submissions for almost a year. Bantam went through a major re-structuring and went through not one but two rounds of firings. Twenty percent fewer books were published all around.

And this has been hardest of all on authors, particularly mid-list authors like me. One major, massive publishing house is, in my opinion, foundering like the Titanic. They’ve stopped paying advances in the traditional ways but now pay in small installments, quarterly. The last installment comes one year after publication. This same company is really screwing book packagers, too, paying them half of what their traditional pay has been.

What does this mean for authors? A few things. There is no room for beautiful, self-indulgent literary novels, unless you are Faulkner or Nabokov. If the only people who are going to buy your book are your mother, your spouse, and your five best friends: self-publish it.

Self-publishing no longer has the same big stigma it used to. HOWEVER, and none of the print-on-demand places like Lulu and Createspace and iUniverse will tell you this, it still has a small stigma. Self-published books are still viewed with a little bit of suspicion. They have to prove themselves.

Nonetheless, self publishing is an option. If you do that, be careful with those companies. They like to pretend that they aren’t vanity presses: they are. Also, they will try to sell you a lot of services because that is how they make money. You won’t need all the services they will try to pressure you to buy. Think used car salesmen: you need a vehicle but you MUST filter the salesman’s pitch.

If you self-publish, market the hell out of your book. Try to make sure that someone is tracking those sales figures. If you have really got something good that the scared, risk-averse traditional publishers missed because they collectively have their heads up their nether parts, the sales figures will reflect it. If you sell enough copies, a traditional publisher will get interested. After all, YOU have taken the financial risk, and you have a proven commodity.

The bottom line is: there is a bottom line. Publishing is a business. Artists of all ilks want to express themselves. Writers who want to be read by the masses have to keep in mind that their self-expression must be tempered with a thorough understanding of the market.

Because it is a business, and a traditional publisher is going to invest a lot of money in paying you, editing the book, marketing the book, printing and distributing the book--if you want to go the traditional publishing route--KNOW YOUR MARKET. Who is going to shell out cold hard cash, which is in hard supply, for your story?

Get an agent. That’s the first gate. Approach your agent with this pitch: “Here’s my novel and here’s who will buy it.” Know your demographics.

If you want to go the traditional route, your book had better hook your reader and fast. Be willing to revise, revise, revise until your novel is COMPELLING.

If you get a contract, don’t expect the publishing company to do your marketing. They won’t. The best you can hope for is that they won’t actively thwart your attempts to sell copies of your book. (They will get in your way and this is one of the reasons that the big publishing conglomerates are in trouble.) I spent my advance on a PR company, and I’m glad I did.

Above all, remember: you are not just in the business of writing books, you are in the business of selling them. If you keep that in mind, it will help you understand the traditional companies.

Thanks for that really thorough response Traci. Have you done anything unique to market Immortal?

As I said, I spent my advance on a PR firm. They are a great company out of Austin, Texas and they hustled like crazy for me. I did radio interviews and a lot of blogtalk radio (internet radio) interviews. Immortal was also frequently reviewed on the internet. Internet presence is important. I wrote articles for magazines. I contacted my alumnae associations. I tracked down everyone I’d ever met, ever, and sent them a postcard via snailmail. I sent emails. I canvassed the internet and sent emails about Immortal to all the professors of art history at colleges around the world who teach Renaissance art--there are a lot of them!--because Immortal features Giotto, Botticelli, and Da Vinci. One of those emails got me a lecture at a college.

Everyone is a potential reader. I carry around cards for Immortal and give them to everyone: the mailman, the video store clerk, my neighbors, the deli store lady, the drycleaner, my kids’ teachers, my kids’ friends’ parents, etc. I am shameless. My kids were sometimes humiliated, but, hey! I am not just in the business of writing books, I am in the business of selling books.

Two of the most fun events: My husband Sabin arranged for me to have a launch party at the Salmagundi Club in NYC (see www.salmagundi.org). This is a venerable art club that hosts art shows, lectures, workshops, etc. They’ve been around since 1871. My husband brought in a bunch of his sculptures and we did a joint sculpture show/book reading. We had an amazing turn out, the Salmagundi club sold lots of copies of IMMORTAL for their library conservation fund, and we all had fun!

Then I was invited to read at the Sundance Film Festival, under the auspices of the New York Film Lounge. That was a blast!

What was the most exciting moment for you throughout the entire book publishing process (and marketing process too).

It’s been a great ride. The most fun? Probably when the film rights for Immortal sold!

You have a very young daughter (and older daughters as well). How do you find time to write?

My little one is now almost 5. The two oldest girls are in college. So I only have two at home now.

I’ve had a babysitter and fortunately the little one now has a solid day in pre-K. I’ve been lucky because discipline is easy for me. I can shut the door to my little office and write. If I have three hours, then I write three hours. If I have 5, I write for 5 hours. That’s a blessing.

Plenty of time is spent multitasking. With a big family there is plenty of correspondence, planning, school events, volleyball games, dance recitals, chorus recitals, holiday parties, assemblies, summer camp planning sessions, piano lessons, clothes to be laundered….. It is absolutely endless. Not everything gets done every day. I try to be efficient but stuff just falls through into the ethers. My kids have to be able to forge my signature for school trip forms. I give them a sheet of paper and make them practice until they’re pretty good at it.

Every day is a little different, but the time that is available is well used. Also, like a lot of writers, I get up in the middle of the night and write, when I can’t sleep.

I’m really enjoying your blog Traci. Where can readers get more information about Immortal, your book signings, blog, and other recent news in the life of Traci Slatton.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Laura!! My website is www.tracilslatton.com and the blog is www.tracilslatton.blogspot.com.

My husband Sabin Howard and I are working on a sculpture book that will be published through a packager; look for that in the fall. It’s about why beauty is the point of art and reads easily. There’s a vampire novel making the rounds and I’m also working on the sequel to Immortal. It will all be on the website!

Thank you again for sharing your wit and wisdom with us Traci. Good luck with Immortal and all of your other fascinating projects.

The Healing Power of Rock ‘n’ Roll

“This is surreal for me. I haven’t seen them since 1974,” she said, squinting in the garishly lit restaurant’s powder room mirror to analyze the effect of her newly applied blush. Sparkles literally emanated from her face, as the pre-concert glitter reflected off the gaudy lighting. “If only my friend could be here to see them too?.” Her voice trailed off as all pretense disappeared as she spoke of her best friend who recently died.

The two women worked at a club in Lake Geneva, WI, where the band frequently played before they became superstars. As waitresses, the teenage girls were delighted to fetch the guys sandwiches and coffee during their rehearsals. It was apparent going to this concert was very meaningful for her as she proudly displayed a 1974 black and white photo of the band that she hoped they’d autograph.

“I really want to get close enough to the stage for them to read this. Do you think I will?” She pulled out a small sign from her oversized purse which mentioned Lake Geneva and 1974. Over the years, many a fascinating conversation has been sparked in the ladies room before a rock concert, but this was one of the most touching encounters I’d had in a long time.

More than a quarter of a century has passed since this rock band’s music wove its way into my own soul, and even today, their sound still resonates deep within. My annual Southern California concert pilgrimage had me on a plane to San Diego to hook up with another fan nicknamed Sundante. Until we became buddies, my connection to fans never went beyond chatting at concerts (frequently in the powder room). Yet thanks to the Internet, over the past four years we’ve been electronic pen-pals and shared our deepest secrets, hopes and dreams with one another. After all these years, I could finally revel in a friendship with someone who shared my passion for the band and their music.

We wanted to arrive at the venue early, because getting a spot up close to the stage at a general admission show is a major coup for most long time fans. Many have personally met the band over the years and it’s fun to get a shout-out from the lead guitarist because he recognizes you in the audience, or have him throw a guitar pick at your cranium and nail ya’ in the forehead. Way back in the rafters, a fan misses out on lots of the action up front, so many get to the venue “stupid early” to ensure a primo spot in front of their favorite band member. People sometimes ask, “You’ve seen these guys about 50 times, why do you still go to their concerts? What’s the point?”

I go because each concert is an opportunity to discover something incredible about myself and other fans. Even if the band plays the same set list, when looking past the superficial and delving into the true essence of a concert, something is always different and unique. Like snowflakes, no two groups of fans are the same. No two songs are ever played exactly the same way. There’s always some element of surprise, some kind of magic in the air. Sometimes it surprises me how fans are brought together, and I frequently ponder, “Why? What makes us so drawn to this band and their music?”

After years of observation, numerous theories have sprouted out of my brain, but I sense the primary reason we come together is to heal. Heal? Yes, heal. That’s because music is the most potent healing force in the Universe! Music, whether it’s rock, classical or Gregorian monks chanting, can get us in touch with a deeper sense of ourselves. Though unseen, it’s a visceral vibration we feel in our body. Music is an aural medicine; an elixir that tickles our hearts and makes us beam with joy, or awakens long forgotten emotions buried in the recess of our psyche which we need to heal. Music is the supreme Doctor, and we don’t need an insurance company to get access to our magic potion. At the San Diego concert, I’d witness magic, even though Houdini wasn’t anywhere to be found.

Not long after leaving the restaurant, we stood on line outside the venue, but I had no idea how Sundante was going to make it through the concert. Despite some heavy duty meds, she was in excruciating pain. Her back started to act up over a week earlier, and standing or sitting made her want to scream in agony. It’s difficult to watch another person suffer; to feel helpless and not be able to do anything to ease their pain. But there was nothing I could do except make sure she got a spot at the railing next to the stage to lean on.

“I’ll be okay” said Sundante. “As soon as the band starts playing, the pain will disappear.” This statement doesn’t surprise me, for once upon a time, Beatles producer George Martin said, “They’re a healing force in music.” He wasn’t talking about the Fab Four; he was referring to our band. Sundante knew the healing musical vibrations would help soften the torturous spasms that consumed her body.

We snagged a spot next to the stage and the Lake Geneva woman wound up next to me. She was so incredibly excited to be right up front, and not long after the band took the stage, shyly raised her arms a bit so that the lead guitarist could read her sign. He spotted it and read part of the message out loud to the audience. With that, the singer and bassist came over and checked out the sign, enthusiastically pointing at her and commenting on Lake Geneva.

Though adjacent to the woman, I couldn’t look at the singer and bass player while they connected with her. Despite being in a room full of hundreds of people, it felt like an invasion of her privacy. This was her moment with the band, her moment to connect with her past and get acknowledgment for having known them in the beginning of their careers. Her moment to honor the loss of a dear friend, and find a place of solace in her wounded heart by saying hi to some familiar rock stars and bathe in that healing force of the band’s music.

At one point, the lead guitarist launched into his typical shtick about how the lead singer is his favorite singer in the whole wide world. But tonight, he added a twist. He said that the lead singer never forgets the lyrics, and never forgets the meaning behind the words in a song. He’s right. The vibration of a word carries an inherent message. When those lyrics are coupled with a singer who croons with intent behind those words, the impact on a fan can be phenomenal, as is the case with Sundante.

As soon as the distinctive vibration of the opening notes to the song “The Flame” graced my ears, I knew what was coming: tears. Not mine, but Sundante’s. The singer belts out the lyrics with such intention, such powerful emotion, Sundante can’t help but turn into Pavlov’s dog. Instead of salivating when she hears a bell, she weeps whenever “The Flame” touches her eardrums. You’d think the tears might be caused by the extreme physical pain in her body, but no, these are tears of emotional turmoil.

Sundante has told me numerous times how embarrassing it is to have this happen at a concert. The lyrics just rip open her heart, for they remind her of the love she feels for someone so emotionally close, yet often he’s physically far away. Without even a tissue to offer, all I could give Sundante was her space during this song, and watch her eyes well up, because that’s the purpose of rock music. It helps bring healing by prompting us to feel emotions we bury deep inside during our ordinary lives. For a little over an hour at a concert, we are transported into another world by the band’s music. It’s a world where we can feel joy, sorrow, yearning, passion, or whatever else arises from the depths of our being, and not judge ourselves as inappropriate or strange. The music encourages us be who we are, and who we are is an amazing group of fans.

Amazing doesn’t have to be stupendous, huge, and hung with a neon sign. Sometimes, amazing is gentle and understated. As I leaned back a bit from the railing during “The Flame,” the Lake Geneva woman saw Sundante crying and instinctively leaned over me and gave her a hug. Virtually perfect strangers, and having no idea why Sundante was weeping, she reached out to console another fan. Perhaps the lyrics to the song touched her heart as well, and brought to mind the best friend she recently lost. After the song ended, the lead singer walked towards Sundante, leaned over and handed her a tissue from the stage. It was a touching moment, for his action epitomized the shared sense of connection fans felt during the song.

A rock concert is a collective union of souls drawn together to reconnect with ourselves, our past, our joy, and sometimes heal our pain. Sundante’s pain was so intense she could barely walk, so after the concert I retrieved the car, and headed back inside the venue to tell another friend where we were parked. The Lake Geneva woman was outside the venue talking with some fans she’d just met, and greeted me with a huge smile that stretched all the way to Toledo.

“Look, look, look!!! They signed my picture! I can’t believe it. They were hanging out in their limo in back of the theater, and were so incredibly nice to me. I’m soooo happy!”

She proudly displayed her newly autographed photo of the band. On the surface, it may look like pain can transform into joy with a pen and a rock star, but it was the emotional connection she felt with them that made her jubilant.

It’s moments like these that make being a fan amazing, because though the band probably had no idea that she’d recently lost a dear friend, by signing her photograph, it seemed to bring a sense of closure to this woman’s life. She set out with a mission: to have the band notice her sign and get the photo autographed, and now her mission was accomplished. She appeared complete and content to go back to her ordinary life, but the concert was magical, and a night I’m sure she’ll never forget.

Magic always seems to happen around the concerts. Not every fan walks away with something special signed by the band, but when we focus our attention on the little things, the special moments of interaction between fans and the band, the beauty is there if we’re willing to look for it.

The next night the band performed at a club north of Los Angeles, and more subtle, magical moments arose. Like the moment when a fan who didn’t know me very well placed a very cool dog tag necklace with the band’s logo in my hand. It was a wonderful gesture of inclusion.

Or the relief I felt the moment a woman offered me a pair of earplugs without my asking. I thought I’d have to resort to using a tiny wad of toilet tissue from the ladies room which I’d rolled into a ball to attempt to keep my inner ear from exploding. Now I’d live to hear another day.

Or when another fan shared that after years of drinking, he’d been sober for several months. I responded with words of encouragement to continue on the difficult path of allowing his body and mind to heal. By opening up and showing one another who we are, that none of us are perfect and we all have our addictions, he showed me the importance of being part of a community of people that feel comfortable enough to expose their weaknesses without the fear of being judged.

As I watched other fans smile and sing, their hearts filled with love and devotion, a deep sense of appreciation infused my heart. Where else can a group of people exude this kind of passion? It’s hard to conjure a place or event that brings together beings from all walks of life and allows their souls to become unified in emotional bliss. Who would think that a rock concert could be a magical place of healing? But for many fans it is.

My life has been so profoundly impacted by the sounds of this rock band, that I can’t fathom how other people go through their lives without a favorite musical artist or group to help them navigate the challenges of our insane world. So when people look at me as if I’m the crazy one for being a long-time fan, I just shake my head because they don’t know what they’re missing. They have no idea the breadth of insights I’ve gleaned from this rock group all these years, and why I’m honored to call myself a fan of the band known as Cheap Trick.

fiZ

Today I’m discussing the healing power of music with the talented visionary and musician fiZ. First things first. How did you get the name fiZ? What does that symbolize? Do you prefer to be called Tony or fiZ, or don’t you care?

I’ve always had nicknames. I don’t know why, but friends and family always had these nicknames for me; Vibe, Tone, Tonevibe (hence my label), fiZ. I can go on and on…there we’re many. I decided on using fiZ because it’s easy to remember unlike my birth name. It’s fun,it goes with Pop/Rock. Even though I know some might think it’s a little silly, I saw the universal appeal of it, the flexibility of it for marketing purposes…fiZTV, fiZWEAR Clothing Line (Coming soon to a store near you)ect… My birth name is Anthony Luca DeMattia, a name I was never too fond of, because I’ve been a rocker ever since I was a young boy.

I always felt it was too ethnic sounding to be a Rock Star’s name…(and still do). I like names like David Bowie,T Rex, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger…even though a lot of these rockers used their birth names, a lot didn’t too. To me Bono is Bono not Paul Hewson…that’s his identity.vI made a transition from being called Anthony to being called Tony…now I prefer to be called fiZ. We are all souls in the material world so I don’t have strong connections to names that way..but I see it like this, if you’re in the Army and see someone who is a Sergeant, that’s what you call him because he’s earned that title. I see fiZ the same way.

So, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself and your music? What instruments do you play, how long have you been writing/performing, that kind of thing.

I play guitar & piano, sometimes mandolin and harmonica. I’ve been writing songs for almost 30 years now. I was always singing. I started playing the organ when I was eight. I wrote my first song with my first band at the age of thirteen. I came from a divorced family. There was a lot of turmoil and bad feelings…music was my savior…That’s why I used to have visions of being a Rock Star that was helping people in need. That’s what it did for me, and I’ve always wanted to share that with others…the healing power of music…I still believe music can save the world.

I sense a great deal of emotion in your singing voice. It feels very soothing to me as well. Have you always enjoyed singing, or was that something that came at a later point in your life?

I was always singing along with songs…back in the 70′s, I’d be sitting in the back of my dads car while Elton John,Smokey Robinson or Cat Stevens we’re being blasted on the radio…I would be singing my ass off…and I thank heavens I still am.

I know you’ve done some benefit concerts to raise money for charity. Please share a bit about the benefits, and what makes your concerts special or unique?

Well, I created “Notes for Life” (www.notesforlife.org) back in 1998. The 1st benefit I did was for “The Just Kids Foundation,” for Children with AIDS. I noticed that a lot of the medication and support for AIDS was driven more for adults and not for children with AIDS. I came up with the idea of creating an organization that supports up-and-coming artists while simultaneously raising funds for small charities in need. The most recent one I did was called “Music & Mediums”. I wanted to do something unique, so I combined the musical & the metaphysical worlds together; three musicians, three mediums. We raised nearly $10,000 for “The Golden Fund for Autism”. I don’t take any of the money…it goes directly to whatever charity I’m raising the money for.

The most rewarding performances I do are for physically challenged children. Their hearts are very open,they are not judgmental like we are. They are able to receive music on a deeper level then most people because they don’t have a lot of issues that we do. We’re constantly thinking this, thinking that….”look at that person”…”yeah look at her”…blah,blah blah…the ego mind getting in the way of love. When I perform for those children, the love is overwhelming. It’s healing. You have to be there to really know what I’m talking about.

I usually perform in a big auditorium filled with kids in wheelchairs. When I first started performing for them I would bring my guitar, but I quickly realized there was a lack of connection with me standing on a stage playing the guitar, so I purchased a wireless microphone so I could get in the crowd and let them sing with me. When you connect with people on a deep level, the healing power of music becomes that much more powerful.

What’s your bigger vision of how music can help us individually and collectively heal?

We’ll, different strokes for different folks. Some people feel connected by listening to Heavy Metal, some classical or Rap music. I would like to see more of an awareness of positive songs or just good music for children to listen to. Let them learn an instrument instead of a video game.

I was fortunate to grow up listening to The Beatles, Cat Stevens, John Denver, CCR etc… Artists with a message instead of “yo pop the beat box you dirty ho.” Obviously I believe in freedom of speech. I don’t believe in censorship, but I do believe parents should be aware of the importance of the Arts and educate their children accordingly.

I explore the possibility of group reincarnation in my book, and how rock music seems to be calling certain groups of people together to heal. If you could be reincarnated from a particular era, when would it be, and what part of the world would you have been from? Why?

The Renaissance Era in Italy. I feel a strong connection to the artists of that time. The passion and drive of artists like DaVinci & Michelangelo .

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself or your music? What’s next for fiZ?

I just came out with a CD called “fiZ” this year. I hired some of the best musicians in rock to play with me. From Paul McCartney’s former drummer, Steve Holley, to Paul Errico, who has been Steve Forbet’s keyboardist for years. It was produced by Bob Stander, who is just brilliant. We wanted to make a CD that’s timeless. It’s Melodic Pop/Rock with deep spiritual messages. I have fans from seven to sixty seven yrs old flipping out over this CD, so I accomplished my goal of recording a CD that has mass universal appeal. Now I’m working on getting the world to hear and buy it ,which is a little tricky without the right team behind you.

So I’m focused on getting a team behind me. I put my life savings into this CD, so when people say they copied my CD or what have you, I’m flattered people like the music enough to make copies but they are stealing from me. If they don’t buy my CD,then I can’t record with top musicians and producers. Musicians need to get paid for their craft as anyone else does. If people continue to just steal music, then the quality of music will diminish.

I’m also focused on taking fiZTV to the next level. fiZTV is on my website fiZband.com. In the next episode I interview a child named Anthony who is blind. He sings and has perfect pitch. His mother is very supportive of him. These are the type of people I want to start interviewing on fiZTV. People making a positive impact in the world…whether it’s a mother who’s supportive of her child or an entrepreneur who raises money for people in need or perhaps someone like Eckhart Tolle or Joe Vitale. I will be intertwining these people with artists for a show that’s all about positivity and healing. I see it getting on a TV station one day.

Of course I’m always writing music. The next CD is really going to be phenomenal, but first I need to focus on promoting the “fiZ” CD. So whomever is reading this, if you buy my CD,you’re not only getting a great CD but your helping an artist out that likes to help others, so in the end, we’re all helping one another, and that’s what it’s all about. So on that note, please go to my website www.fizband.com and purchase my CD and sign my mailing list. Hopefully I will meet you at a show one day.

Until then, I wish you all…

peace.luv.music.
fiZ

Numbers became a big deal for me on my journey with rock music. Shortly after my awakening, the number “four” camped out in my brain with a lawn chair. The words “archetype” and “everyone” also did the cha-cha in my skull for many months, but I had no idea at the time why I was hearing this crap. Since they were like annoying neighbors who frequently visited me on a daily basis to borrow a cup of sugar, I knew the words were important clues on my journey. But why would a number be significant?

Numerology, the system, tradition or belief in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things, goes way back. Pythagoras, the dude who gave us the Pythagorean Theorem, was into the spirituality of numbers big time. He thought every number resonates at a unique frequency. Kind of like music. Just as the note middle “C” vibrates at the frequency of 256 cycles per second, the numbers 1-9 are also believed to resonate to different energies and therefore offer insight into ourselves and our world.

The Davinci Code’s smart and handsome Professor Langdon illustrates how the five sided pentagram, or pentacle symbol, is considered both divine and magical by many cultures. That’s because if you draw a pentagram, the lines divide themselves into segments according to the Divine Proportion, aslo called PHI = 1.618.

Phi is s a symbol of beauty and perfection and connected with nature, the goddess, and the sacred feminine.

My journey as a woman with rock music helped me get in touch with the sacred feminine through various avenues, but especially via numbers. I began to see the correlations between music, numbers and sacred geometry in spectacular ways. The Divine Proportion, or 1.618, is everywhere in nature and even in different proportions of the human body.

The black and white keys on a piano represent the ratios of musical proportion as well. (from http://www.miqel.com/jazz_music_heart/vibrational-truth.html)

Phi is closely related to the Fibonacci series. In the 12th century, Leonardo Fibonacci discovered a simple numerical series that is the foundation for an incredible mathematical relationship behind phi. Starting with 0 and 1, each new number in the series is simply the sum of the two before it.

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, . . .

The ratio of each successive pair of numbers in the series approximates phi (1.618. . .) , as 5 divided by 3 is 1.666…, and 8 divided by 5 is 1.60. After the 40th number in the series, the ratio is accurate to 15 decimal places. 1.618033988749895 . . .

Since my book delves into alchemy, codes, symbols, and the Rosicrucian Dr. Robert Fludd, I wondered if 1.618 might be a code for me. Think, think, think. Aha! Take the decimal away from 1.618 and ya get the year 1618. In 1618 Fludd wrote De Musica Mundana (Mundane Music) which described his theories of music, including his mundane (also known as “divine” or “celestial”) monochord. And look. God is tuning the chord so it sounds nice for us.

Interestingly, Fludd’s image is all about proportion and illustrates the mathematical properties of musical pitch. In music, the 5th note of a scale (for example G in a C scale, also called a fifth) creates a 2:3 ratio or .666. Therefore, as noted above, if you play a fifth, such as C and G together, it is considered the musical representation of Phi and sounds very harmonious sound to our ears.

Gary Val Tenuta explores Phi and the Divine Proportion in The Ezekiel Code as well. Tenuta calls his form of numerology, whereby each letter represents a number; 1 = A, 2 =B, so on up to Z=26, crypronumerology. On his website, he writes that the term “crypto” relates to the idea of secret writing, ciphers, and codes. Therefore, any word or group of words has a numerical value (by tallying the numbers associated with the letters in the word or group of words). This is important since some consider that numbers not only have quantitative values, but qualitative values as well. “In this sense,” says Tenuta “one might think of numbers as being resonant symbols reflecting archetypal concepts residing in what the Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung, called the collective unconscious.”

AHA! Numbers are archetypal! That must be why I kept hearing “archetype” and the number “four” after my awakening. Getting back to PHI and the Divine Proportion, The Ezekiel Code offers numbers and musical references up the yin/yang. For instance, THE GOLDEN MEAN SPIRAL = 198 = THE MUSICAL SCALE OF GOD and PHI SPIRAL = 108 = GEOMETRY. THE MUSICAL PHI = 144. THE DIVINE PROPORTION = 252 = CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS = ALCHEMICAL TRANSMUTATION. In case you didn’t notice, all of these numbers add up to 18 or 9 (18 or 1+8=9). Many of the hidden messages in The Ezekiel Code total 9, and Tenuta believes 9 represents “synchronicity.”

Reading The Ezekiel Code was a blast because there were numerous synchronicities between the numbers and my own journey. Synchronicity to me indicates that everything is connected, and my thoughts attract situations/people/information to me when I’m in a place of allowing. The synchronicities I encountered on my spiritual journey with a famous rock band are so prolific, so freaking mind-blowing, that it left no doubt that our consciousness expands beyond our physical mind.

In an upcoming blog, I’ll delve into several important numbers I encountered on my journey: Too, Fore, Sicks, Ate, Who Do We A-Pre-She-8? (and maybe Sicksteen too).

The DaVinci Code included several anagrams and letter puzzles, and The Lost Symbol features a 16 letter magic square, that when read in the correct order, spells Jeova Sanctus Unus – Latin for “One True God.” I’ve had my share of clues in the form of letters as well. Back in 1998, while standing at an outdoor rock concert waiting for TBIF to begin playing, the four musicians’ names repeated over and over in my mind: Robin, Bun E., Rick and Tom. Suddenly, the initials of their first names R-B-R-T did the fox-trot in my head. “Huh, that’s weird,” I thought to myself, “R-B-R-T spells the name “Robert” without any vowels.” I didn’t realize at the time if I took the first two letters or initials from Robin- RO, and BE from Bun E., it precisely spelled “Robert.”

“Robert” ruminated through my mind during the concert, and several years later, the name kept popping up in my consciousness till I spied “Robert Fludd” in some alchemical texts. Totally brushed it off as coincidence? until I saw Robert Fludd listed among the Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion in The DaVinci Code. The name literally glowed. I sensed it was a sign I needed to check out this dude Dr. Robert Fludd.

How on Goddess’s green earth is Fludd connected to me and rock and roll? Though I won’t go into details about him here, suffice to say Dr. Robert Fludd was a physician, alchemist, and true Renaissance man. He also wrote extensively about healing and the esoteric importance of music. Since I was guided to alchemy soon after my spiritual awakening, and my book revolves around the possibility of group reincarnation and the healing power of music, it seemed that good ol’ Robert Fludd and the Rosicrucian movement were an important piece of my past life puzzle. Yes, I sense myself and the souls of TBIF were possibly connected with Robert Fludd.

And guess what? Brown mentions Fludd in The Lost Symbol as well. Isn’t that interesting? Brown focuses on the Freemasons, with a brief introduction to their predecessors, the Rosicrucian brotherhood. He writes: “Admittedly, history’s list of famous Rosicrucians was a who’s who of European Renaissance luminaries: Parcelsus, Bacon, Fludd, Descartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Newton, Leibniz.” I had no idea Fludd was considered a luminary. Pretty cool!

Rosicrucian Renaissance dudes were way into alchemy, which is the process by which one can transform ordinary consciousness into union with God. Brown describes the transformation in The Lost Symbol as “apotheosis”- to be made divine. After my awakening, I was led to Rosicrucians and the significance of alchemy as a path to enlightenment with music, so this drive toward man becoming aware of his own divinity becomes a central theme in my book, I Found All the Parts: Healing the Soul through Rock ‘n’ Roll. Seems like me and Dan Brown have got some kinda weird mind-meld thingy going on.

Another letter puzzle that suddenly smacked me upside the head one day was how the rearrangement of the letters of R-B-R-T spelled B-R-T-R. So what, you ask? Well, in my twisted mind, I saw the word “BROTHER.” Yes, a close anagram of Robert. Then I realized if I took B for Bun (not his birth name, but his birth name starts with a B), RO from Robin, Th from Tom (Thomas), E from Bun E., and R from Rick, it spelled it out Brother exactly. The Freemasons and Roscirucians are secret “brother”hoods. Might rock ‘n’ roll be considered a brotherhood as well? Brotherhood then. Brotherhood now. All in the hope of awakening society with music.

I know it sounds crazy, but many synchronicities with “Robert” and “Brother” led me on an incredible journey of self-discovery with rock music. And, it’s pretty funny (at least it is in my twisted mind) how Dan Brown’s main character’s first name, Professor Langdon, is ROBERT!

Alchemists and Rosicrucians such as Fludd loved using letter and number codes in their work. Next time, I’ll delve into a few numbers in The Lost Symbol and share how numerology became an important part of my path during my spiritual rock music odyssey.

Part of my wild and crazy journey is chronicled in the book, I Found All the Parts: Healing the Soul through Rock ‘n’ Roll, and I thought it would be fun to write a few blogs about how intuition, symbols and spirituality aren’t just relevant in the world of fiction, but became intertwined with my “real” life.

Let’s start with something simple: how about the colors black and white? The main female character in The DaVinci Code, Sophie, recalled watching men and women wearing white and black masks perform a strange sexual ritual called Hieros Gamos. In alchemical and Hermetic sciences, Hieros Gamos is a marriage whereby physical union with a female was the only way through which man could become spiritually complete and ultimately achieve gnosis; direct knowledge of the divine. Basically, it’s orgasm as a way to connect with the Big Cheese. The masks represent duality: masculine (black) and feminine (white).

The black and white duality theme connects to my favorite band, and hit me upside the head one night shortly after I started working with my Universal Rider Waite Tarot deck in Spring 2002. I asked to understand how a certain card karmically related to The Band I Followed (referred to as TBIF since I don’t reveal their name in my book?a little mystery easily solved by rock music fans). Two cards in the spread were the High Priestess and the 10 of Pentacles.

I stared at the 10 of Pentacles for several minutes, and suddenly noticed a black and white perpendicular checkerboard along the left side, slightly inward from the edge of the card. See it?

My first reaction was, “What’s that doing there in the picture? What does that have to do with anything?” Within two seconds, one of the largest metaphoric 2×4′s ever hit me between the eyes. “OH MY GOD, THAT’S MY FAVORITE ROCK BAND’S LOGO!” They’ve used the checkerboard as part of their motif and merchandise for decades.

My heart raced. Suddenly, an overwhelming knowing went through my entire being. This was a huge clue. After doing some on-line searches for the words checkerboard, chessboard and alchemy, I discovered the Tarot had its origins in alchemy, and the checkerboard pattern was frequently seen in old alchemical texts. The alternating black and white squares represent duality: Light/dark, good/evil, conscious/unconscious, masculine/feminine. A checkerboard adorns the Freemason First Degree Tracing board.

This prompted me to question if the band was attracted to the black/white squares because it was a universal archetype? Was my soul involved in alchemy in another lifetime? Maybe, maybe not. But the black and white theme would guide me along my rock ‘n’ roll mystical adventure, and deeper meanings would be revealed.

In The Lost Symbol, the words “Boaz” and “Jachin” are inscribed on the insane bad guy’s tattooed right and left legs, often representing the eternal balancing of dark and light. Boaz and Jachin (or Joachim) are usually depicted as black and white pillars, and the first time I came across them was during my study of the Tarot in the High Priestess card. Notice the black and white pillars and the letters B and J.

This card sparked a major connection to an album from TBIF. The High Priestess is in color and sits between black and white pillars. She’s the 2nd numbered card in the Major Arcana, and the band’s 2nd album way back when is titled In Color?and Black and White. But that’s not the only association. Ultimately, I connected all 22 Major Arcana cards in the Tarot to TBIF’s 22 album titles at that time (the number of titles in 2003). Since the Tarot represents universal archetypes, the strange coincidence between the cards and album titles implied (in my twisted mind) that even rock bands can unwittingly tap into archetypes and the collective unconscious.

I’ll discuss synchronicities between a 17th century alchemist, TBIF and The DaVinici Code and The Lost Symbol in my next blog.

But the first week of the release and tour was not unlike Cheap Trick’s checkerboard logo. It was a compilation of dark and light. Though early reviews of the new CD were very positive, shipping delays caused great agida for fans and Cheap Trick’s webmaster. Then some folks complained about the CD from Amazon not really being an official CD, but a CD-R. Several reviewers, despite noting that the songs were very good, gave the band only 1 or 2 stars on Amazon due to the CD-R issue.

To top it off, the band didn’t make it to the third show (June 26) of their tour, Darien Lake, NY, due to being stuck on a tarmac in a New York City area airport because of very inclement weather. A few fans were extremely vocal on the boards about their irritation and disappointment that Def Leppard and Poison made it to the gig, but not Trick. Why was Trick in NYC and not traveling from Cuyahoga Falls, OH, where they’d played the night before?

So overall, it was a week of highs and lows for the fans and band. As for the really important thing, the music on “The Latest,” when I first heard the 30 second snippets on Amazon, I wasn’t too impressed. But after listening to the CD numerous times, (the CD-R sounds just fine to my ears) I’ve changed my tune. The songs on “The Latest” are much more powerful than I expected. I wrote the following review and posted it on Amazon.

Let’s start with the CD cover. The band is on the beach with metal detectors looking for buried treasure, and the lead guitarist himself, Rick Nielsen, is more than half buried in the sand. Is this a metaphor of “The Latest?” Should listeners go on a musical beachcombing expedition looking for buried treasure in the lyrics and melodies? After listening to the CD numerous times, I’d say abso-freakin-lutely YES!

“The Latest” is a diverse, well engineered array of songs from the slow, dirge-like opener “Sleep Forever,” to the funky bass-driven rock scorcher “Sick Man of Europe.” You can mine a great deal of gold in this CD, but it takes at least several listens in order to appreciate the lush orchestral arrangements in “Closer,” “Everybody Knows,” and “Times of Our Lives,” all of which smack of The Beatles. Cheap Trick has always been highly influenced by the Fab Four, and in September 2009 they’ll roll out nine performances of the Sgt. Pepper’s album in Las Vegas. But no song on “The Latest” is as Beatle-esque as “Miracle.” “Miracle” is reminiscent of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and lead singer Robin Zander sounds eerily as if he’s channeling the deceased Beatles singer/songwriter.

Speaking of the deceased, death doesn’t take a holiday on several songs. “Sleep Forever” was inspired by the passing of a close friend of the band, and the haunting “Everybody Knows” implies the impending demise of a ship’s crew. Even the rockin’ chorus in “Alive” wails, “We’re never gonna get out of this place alive. You know we’ll never survive…” The beginning of “Sleep Forever” features guitar-made SETI space-like sounds one would hear if you were trying to communicate with the beyond (at least that’s what it resembles to my ears) and similar unusual sounds pop up on “Closer: The Ballad of Burt and Linda.” “The Latest” is chock-full of unique vibrations and almost dissonant orchestral melodies that combine for a powerful new aural experience.

Part of the fun of listening to any Trick CD is trying to figure out the meaning of the lyrics. Some songs seem pretty straight forward, like “California Girl,” “When the Lights are Out,” and “Every day You Make Me Crazy.” But others, such as “Alive,” “Miracle,” “Closer,” and “Everybody Knows” beg to be explored on a deeper level. If you give the CD a few whirls, you’ll enjoy pondering the messages, though there aren’t any right or wrong answers. Each song has a unique or personal meaning to each listener, and that’s the beauty of Cheap Trick’s music.

Bonnie Raitt once said, “I think my fans will follow me into our combined old age. Real musicians and real fans stay together for a long, long time.” For those fans that have followed Cheap Trick for decades, “The Latest” displays their evolution as song writers and musicians. Zander’s vocals exude intense emotion, and his voice sounds as amazing, if not better, than 30 years ago. The diversity of the CD offers something for new listeners and old fans alike. If you go on your own musical beachcombing expedition and search for the hidden treasures, I’m sure you will find at least one or two gems that are sonically golden to your ears.

Sick Man of Euorpe

Hi Hunt, why don’t you tell me a bit about your new book, “The Don Q Point of View.”

It tells Cervantes’s stories about Quixote from Q’s perspective. It also discusses his commitment to The Impossible Dream in a way that I hope makes it relevant for today. More here: http://www.shiftawareness.com/donq.html

When did you first sense that you were Don Q, and the inspiration for the famed Miguel de Cervantes?s Man of La Mancha?

Actually, it hit me suddenly when I was told about it in channeling. However, after being told, memories started to come back. Then, as I read Cervantes?s Don Quixote, memories really started to flood in.

Writing a book is a huge undertaking. What inspired you to write “The Don Q Point of View?

I’ve always felt that his message of “reaching for the unreachable star” is just as relevant today as it was 400 years ago. I’ve always had an affinity for the character and what he represented. Then, when i started finding out the details of his true story, which i frankly think is much better than the funny stories Cervantes tried to tell, I felt compelled to compile them, and then to shape them into something anyone else could relate to.

Can you tell me a little about the other lifetimes you mention in the book and how they relate to your incarnation as Quixote?

I tell the story of how one lifetime led to another in the book. Basically tho, I found myself vulnerable, so I made the soul decision to be less so and came back as a soldier — over and over! Then, I took that invulnerability lesson to the next level by studying the mystic workings of the universe under Pythagoras and others.

My commitment to the ways of the light became an obsession, and my unrealistic hopes and desires caused me to give up on the enlightened, humanitarian way for a short while. Then the pendulum swung the other way. So it didn?t matter at all by the time I was born as Q that my battle was a totally unbeatable one. I just sort of snapped, and commitment overruled even the most common of common sense.

What is the primary message you hope comes across to the reader with “The Don Q Point of View”?

If that crazy old Q, with all his human failings, could stay committed to the ways of light, the rest of us, who are only a little crazy, certainly can!

Since the concept of reincarnation is woven throughout your manuscript, what’s a good way for people to learn more about reincarnation?

The Don Q Point of View illustrates how things work, and I think opens up the reader to wondering about their own past. This wondering process in the context of how enemies become lovers and how our desires lead to tragedies which resolved in a grand multi-life catharsis leads to the discovery of a lot of truth even if actual past lives are crystallized in the readers mind. If at that point, they feel compelled to look into their past lives, there?s always channeling or past life regression.

What’s the best way people can get a copy of Don Q?

Personalized copies are available from our web site: www.shiftawareness.com, but you can also get the book or eBook through Amazon or your favorite bookstore.

Thanks Hunt for chatting with me today and sharing your insights about The Don Q Point of View.

Reincarnation seems totally impossible to the human ego. We fight the possibility that our consciousness might not be locked into the physical body and transcends death. Carol Bowman’s book, Children’s Past Lives is an excellent account of numerous children recalling other lifetimes, and how these memories impact their current life. Though most kid’s memories begin to fade by age 6, the significant number of children who seem to recall another life prods us to question the possibility.

The late Dr. Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia conducted extensive research into claims of children recalling past lives. His books are by far the most exhaustive I’ve heard of regarding scientific evidence for reincarnation. Dr. Walter Semkiw’s Return of the Revolutionaries provides a great deal of his own research into group reincarnation. And I’m currently reading Dr. Adrian Finkelstein’s Marilyn Monroe Returns: The Healing of a Soul, about singer/musician Sherrie Lea Laird’s journey of coming to terms with being the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe.

As in Sherrie Lea Laird’s and James Leininger’s cases, there appears to be a higher correlation of past-life recall when people die suddenly or traumatically in the last life. Often, disturbing memories and intense emotions arise that appear to be caused by the previous trauma. Hopefully, Soul Survivor will bring to light more information about why our souls choose to come back again and again to learn, heal and grow.

Though Soul Survivor is ranked #1 in Amazon’s top books in the Reincarnation category, right now, my book I Found All the Parts: Healing the Soul through Rock ‘n’ Roll, is ranked #73. I hope that it one day gets on the Amazon best-seller list too. My personal exploration of my past lives with a famous rock band does not provide clear evidence of reincarnation. It shows the process though which we can be led on a journey of self-discovery to recall our past lives, even without distinct memories of another lifetime. Hypnosis is one way people can explore a past life, though this is not always accurate. As a certified hypnotherapist, I instead look for similar themes that come up during a regression which can help a person discover why they are having problems and difficult issues in this lifetime.

What if reincarnation became accepted by mainstream society? How would our world change if we knew that our thoughts and actions can have ongoing repercussions for many lifetimes? It’s mindboggling to consider, but it’s my hope that one day, people’s consciousness raises so that we all can know we are spiritual beings having a physical experience….and also know that the physical experience isn’t just a one time occurance either.

I just posted a comment on www.waycooldogs.com regarding dogs reincarnating. Can a dog come back in another life, and will it come back to its current owner? According to the website, many pet owners hope this is the case.

This reminds me of A.S. King’s novel, The Dust of 100 Dogs, which follows a woman who incarnates 100 times as a dog before reincarnating as a woman again in modern times. She remembers her previous incarnations not only as a dog, but also as a pirate in the 1600s who buried her treasure in the Caribbean. The story weaves between both womens worlds, as we wait to see if the treasure will be found over 400 years later.

Even if you did have past-life (now future life) recall putting your money into the reincarnation bank, proving that it’s yours is another story. Even more challenging, like the woman in The Dust of 100 Dogs, the heroine had to wait until she was old enough to travel by herself to get to the Caribbean, and then get to the spot where she’d buried the goods. What if you reincarnate into an impoverished part of the world, and at age five remember, “I’ve got me a big old hunking wad of cash in that bank in Gibraltar” how exactly would you get it?

The whole idea of a reincarnation bank just gives skeptics more ammunition to make those of us who have past-life recall seem like buffoons. Even though I know my soul has been here before, I won’t be depositing any money into a reincarnation bank. Not in this lifetime.

The pilot was written by creator David Hudgins (Friday Night Lights, Everwood), and a full writing staff is currently being corralled. The cast includes Kelli Giddish (Di on All My Children), Nicholas Bishop (from the Aussie series Home and Away), Richard Schiff (The West Wing), and Ravi Patel (Easy Money).

I’ve read that novelist MJ Rose consulted on the scripts for the pilot seeing that her latest novels, The Reincarnationist and The Memorist, are about a reincarnation. I contacted MJ a few years back and asked if she’d be interested in reading I Found All the Parts to write a blurb for the jacket. She responded that she was worried about reading it because she was working on the second book in a series (The Memorist) and it involved music and secret societies. She was afraid of unconsciously borrowing something from my journey.

Hollywood can make up stories about information from a past life coming to light to help solve a crime, and novelists can conjure characters that reincarnate in this lifetime which involve music and secret societies, but unfortunately, only about 20% of the US population believes reincarnation is for real. From my perspective, reincarnation isn’t a bunch of fantasy. It’s how our soul evolves and learns to understand our true divine nature.

In my experience of exploring my possible past lives with a famous rock band, fact was certainly way stranger than fiction. Yet it’s VERY REAL! This makes some folks uncomfortable because they’re certain there is nothing in the afterlife but nothingness. Yet those same people will read a novel or watch a TV show about reincarnation for pure entertainment.

We’ll see if Past Life fiction becomes a popular show. In the meantime, I wonder if I can get anyone interested in a real-life past-life epic journey of self-discovery.

Here’s a story about reincarnation that might make you chuckle.

A couple made a deal that whoever died first would come back and inform the other of the afterlife.
Their biggest fear was that there was no afterlife.
After a long life, the husband was the first to go, and true to his word he made contact,
“Mary. Mary.”
“Is that you,Fred?”
“Yes, I’ve come back like we agreed.”
“What’s it like?”
“Well, I get up in The morning, I have sex, I have breakfast, off to the golf course, I have sex, I bathe in the sun, and Then I have sex twice. I have lunch, another romp around the golf course, then sex pretty much all afternoon. After supper, golf course again. Then have sex until late at night. The next day it starts again.”
“Oh, Fred you surely must be in heaven.”

“Not exactly, I’m a rabbit in Pebble Beach.”

In 2002, drummer Joey Kramer of Aerosmith spoke to Lonn of his near-psychological-death experience and how faith in the Hindu avatar Sai Baba brought him back from the brink. Really? But I was even more shocked when lead singer Steven Tyler told Lonn that New Age writer and speaker Marianne Williamson had performed a private morning service for him. Tyler felt she had a direct line to God and Lonn commented that Steven absolutely glowed after recounting his time with her.

In the acknowledgements, Lonn thanks a half-a-gazillion folks, both musicians and spiritual teachers alike, including Eckhart Tolle, Carlos Castaneda, Wayne Dyer, M. Scott Peck, Dan Millman, Krishnamurti, and Joseph Campbell. I’ve read books from most of these guys, so I knew Lonn was on a similar spiritual trajectory as me. After ingesting Life on Planet Rock, I hired Lonn to help get I Found All the Parts to music industry folks who might resonate with what I thought was an unusual message: Rock music has the ability to help us trigger and heal emotional trauma; launch us into altered states of consciousness; and calls fans together to break our old karmic patterns.

I was so glad to find Lonn, because until starting my book in 2002, I’d always believed that rock musicians weren’t interested in anything remotely related to spirituality. Sex, drugs, and other physical pleasures were the name of the game. But I learned that this is a grossly inaccurate image. Many rock musicians are on an intense spiritual path.

I just sent six copies of I Found All the Parts to Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen’s organization Raven Drum Foundation, which helps veterans and their families heal the trauma that war can leave on the psyche and body via drumming circles. Rick and his wife singer/songwriter Lauren Monroe have also created a new inspirational recording, “Sri Bhagavan.” The excerpts I heard on sound healer Jonathan Goldman’s internet talk show were transcendent.

Rick, who lost an arm in a car accident in 1984, noted that going to an Indian ashram and incorporating a regular spiritual practice into his life has had a profound impact on him. He received The Oneness Blessing/Oneness Deeksha, which is a process of transfer of divine grace that initiates a journey into higher states of consciousness. The Deeksha is believed to affect the different lobes of the brain, thereby reducing stress levels and intensifying the levels of love, joy and awareness.

According to the Oneness website, Rick Allen testified, “The Oneness Blessing has been the single most profound and positive life changing event in my life. I now have a deep sense of direction, a sacred connection to the divine that guides my work, my music and my family. Thank you!”

I’m discovering my spiritual awakening with rock ‘n’ roll isn’t all that whacky. Hell, if some of the dudes in Aerosmith and Def Leppard are “seeing the light,” then maybe I’m not totally nuts. I thank Lonn for educating me on the fact that more and more musicians are exploring their spirituality. Oh, and though they haven’t been in touch lately, Lonn knows Rick Allen too.

Here’s a video of Lonn interviewing me atop Flagstaff Mountain, September, 2008. (Sorry, the wind wreaked havoc with the audio at times).

My theory that fans and bands are drawn together to heal emotional trauma may seem way out there, but the healing power of sound has been known for thousands of years. It makes sense to me that this is one way we join together, like the tribes and clans in the past, to move to the rhythms of music. According to professor Dr. Brad Keeney, shaking and movement can be essential elements in connection to our spirituality and healing.  Could so many people be attracted to rock ‘n’ roll because we are innately drawn to that which can help us spiritually “wake up?”

Heidi discusses how she  energetically sees rock music as evolving from a spiritually shamanic tradition. She feels that many rock bands may have been together in smaller communities in other lifetimes, and set an intention to eventually bring music to a larger audience.  However, in this lifetime, as the bands grew more influential in technologically advanced societies, the irony is that they lost their sense of connection to their spirituality because of being raised in a more secular, logical world.

And that’s the rub. Mass media brought The Beatles into our homes, but it catapulted The Beatles and other bands into super-stardom. This made it difficult for bands to remember what the heck they incarnated for in the first place, and let’s just say the spiritual connection to music was lost for the most part. But now, many artists claim that rock music is very spiritual, so perhaps they are beginning to remember this genre’s original purpose…to help us “Wake the Bleep Up!” to our spiritual nature and heal the soul with rock ‘n’ roll.

A.S., you mentioned in other blogs that you are a Jimi Hendrix fan, and I was wondering if you might share a bit about how/when you grew to love Jimi?

A.S. I was really lucky to receive my first Jimi when I was 11 years old. I was the youngest child in my family, and my sister had gone off to art college so, I was blessed with an early immersion into all sorts of great art school music. The Jimi album (which was a really old copied cassette tape with The Ventures taped on the other side) was Smash Hits–and I instantly loved it. I soon bought the three Experience studio albums, which carried me through high school & college.

L.F. Because I delve into the esoteric, spiritual, and psychological impact of music in my book, I quote Hendrix when he said, “Rock music is more than music. It’s like church!” Do you feel that’s true? Does his music, or the music of another musician/band that you enjoy make you feel connected to something bigger than yourself when you’re at a concert?

A.S. My favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., once said, “My epitaph, should I ever need one, God forbid: ‘The only proof he ever needed of the existence of God was music.’”

I think music is the closest I’ll ever get to God. I think, at times, that music IS God–a mysterious rope to the place. Jimi takes me there. Bob Marley takes me there as well. Others have too. And I agree that concerts can hold the same sort of rapture as religious ceremonies, and a connectedness with the other people and energy in the room that’s unmistakable. Nothing else is quite like it.

Trailer for Dust of 100 Dogs…it’s cool! Watch it!

L.F. Got a favorite rock concert story? Wanna share?

A.S. That’s tough! I tossed my top ten into a hat & came up with this one, which probably makes me look like a dork: The second time I saw Elvis & the Attractions was in Kilkenny City, which was a day-long gig with all sorts of great names, including Elvis & Bob Dylan. I sat on my husband’s shoulders, while the bouncers yelled at me to get down–about 15 feet from Elvis, and I looked into his eyes and screamed, “I LOVE YOU ELVIS!!!” And he gave me the Elvis eyebrows over his glasses. The 13-year-old inside me is still sobbing with joy about this. Then, he played Lipstick Vogue for an encore and I think a little part of me exploded.

Random A.S. King Rock Concert Facts:

My first = Public Enemy & The Beastie Boys
My last = Adrian Belew Power Trio
Odd Concert Fact = My honeymoon was the 1992 St. Patrick’s Day Grateful Dead show at the Spectrum in Philly.
The one who got away = Bootsy Collins at the Tivoli in Dublin. Had tickets, and was nearly in the door when I passed out because I was sick (and pretending I wasn’t, because I really wanted to see Bootsy Collins.) Scared poor Mr. King to death.

L.F. What are your current three favorite bands/musicians, and why do you think their music resonates with you?

A.S. In my car CD player:

Gnarls Barkley’s St Elsewhere
The Wailers Burnin’
Black Sabbath Paranoid

The why question is tough. Music resonates with me when it’s the exact mix of quality, content, structure and love.

OKGO’s Oh No inspired my next book, IGNORE VERA DIETZ (Random House/Knopf 2010) and as I write this, Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere is getting me through my work-in-progress.

Thanks so much for having me, Laura. This was so much fun!