The Sudoko of LIFE & The 12 Pathways.

In playing the daily puzzle Sudoko, your brain gets a good logical workout. It'’s like a crossword puzzle, only instead of finding the one and only word that fits, you need to find the one and only number that will go in a particular square.

The game of Sudoko dovetails into the larger game of life in that if you begin to view life as a giant Sudoko game, where you'’re constantly trying to find the right action to take, the right words to say, the right reaction to have, the right way to think.

The solution you'’re looking for is to merge with the Unity of the Zone. The Zone is the space, where your ego is immersed in the totality of BEING. In laymen's terms, it's called being a peace with yourself, your God, your higher power. It goes by many names.

Often I will get to a point where it'’s too hard to figure out. Solving the puzzle would require giant trail and error efforts to solve. At this point, the addiction to solving the puzzle kicks in and in the Giant Game of the Sudoko of LIFE, the right answer is to give up and focus on something else. Some might quibble that you should never give up. Why not? What does it get me to solve the puzzle. There are far more important things to do in life that solve a difficult puzzle to my demanding ego'’s satisfaction, As I reach that impasse where I'’m chiding myself for being a quitter, I can apply another pathway: accepting myself no matter what. I don'’t have to reject myself because I'’m not smart enough to solve the tough puzzle.

Surely, there are Einstein’s out there who could solve the puzzle lickety split. And then there are mentally retarded adults out there, who probably could never even solve the simplest puzzles. I am somewhere in the middle. Sure, I like the challenge, but it'’s just a game. My preference might be that I be smart enough to solve the toughest puzzle, but how important is that to me. So I can recite a few pathways, and immediately I cease to make myself upset over my failure to solve the puzzle, and in doing so, solve or find the solution to that point in my life.

At each step, there is a pathway or an idea built in the Science of Happiness as taught by the late Ken Keyes, Jr. in his seminal work: The Handbook to Higher Consciousness, that fits the situation, and the metaphor is that each time we figure out what pathway or what addiction we need to reprogram or however it is we handle the situation, we have found the solution for that “spot in our life.

The pathways are statements or affirmations that help steer you away from thoughts and behaviors aimed a lower consciousness level solutions to unhappiness. Here are the pathways:

1. I am freeing myself from security, sensation, and power addictions which make me try to forcefully control situations, thus destroying my serenity and keeps me from loving myself as well as others.

2. I am discovering how my consciousness dominating addictions create my illusory version of the changing world of people and situations around me.

3. I welcome the opportunity, even if painful, that my minute-to-minute experience offers me in order to become aware of the addictions I must reprogram in order to liberate myself from robot-like emotional patterns.

4. I always remember I have everything I need to enjoy my here and now, unless I am letting my consciousness be dominated by demands & expectations based on the dead past or imagined future.

5. I take full responsibility for everything I experience here and now for it is my own programming that creates my own actions and influences the reactions of people around me.

6. I accept myself completely here and now and consciously experience everything I think, feel, do, and say as a necessary part of my growth into higher consciousness.

7. I open myself genuinely to all people by being willing to communicate my deepest feelings since hiding in any degree keeps me stuck in the illusion of separateness from other people.

8. I feel w/ loving compassion the problems of other people w/out emotionally getting caught up in thepredicamentsnts which are offering messages which they need for growth.

9. I act freely when tuned-in, calm, centered, and loving, however if possible, avoid acting if emotionally upset and thus depriving myself of the wisdom that flows from love & expanded consciousness.

10. I am continually calming the restless scanning of my rational mind in order to perceive the finer energies which enable me to unitively merge with everything around me.

11. I am constantly aware of which of the seven centers of consciousness I am using and feel my peace, love, energy and effectiveness grow as I open all my centers of consciousness.

12. I am perceiving everyone including myself as an awakening being here to claim his or her birthright to higher consciousness planes of unconditional love & oneness.

For Christians, the phrasing might be a little different, but it still works. If you look the core of all religions they are all the same, just Submitting to the will of God involves surrending the desires and addictions of our models of how life should be. Prayers are like preferences and just as when prayers arenÂ’t answered, you tell yourself that God's will is God's will i.e. there is a reason and purpose for everything.

Waterlion Books, Looking Blue Pressworks and Flow Control.

Updates from Joe Rossi & Flow Control

I kind of like the idea of doing a show on the Joe Rossi Report that features the music of Double Down. From Dylan and the Stone Roses, to The Eagles, Grateful Dead, Paul Williams, Beatles, Alice-in-Chains, Oasis, and The Doors. The Joe Rossi Report airs on glpradio.com from 3 to 6 p.m. CST. We've been featuring the music of our good friend Byron, as well as a cut Dave Osti recommended we download. It's a ripping hot song called Brown Eyed Suzy.

BTW, my dreamcast for Double Down now includes Hillary Duff as the Sugar Spun-Sister. For Louie I think the perfect candidate is Wilmer Valderrama, who plays Fez on That Seventies Show. Perhaps Jim Carrey could play the Rooster. I'm not sure about Jack, though Bruce Willis would be cool Harrison Ford is just too old. Same with Mel Gibson. I might add, Drew Barrymore was for the longest time Ginny, but she's getting too old. Hillary Duff for a few more years, would be perfect.

• In other far out news, we have learned that Margaret, our dear friend Margaret is expecting, thus making our dear friend Judy, a soon-to-be Grandma, which is cool news. Really cool news.
  
  
• From out of nowhere, a blast from the doors chat past, the cat that flew by double V, a guy I was really hoping to hear from you see. He's doing cool and is happy, and that makes my day. That pushes the number to three, the number of friends who have contacted me because of my post a few months back in July: The Missing.
  
  
• Still waiting to hear from Marshall Nagle, Suzanne Sellers, Doug Maas, ... among others.
  
  
• Tweaking and fine tuning Double Down at lulu.com and the storefront for Looking Blue Pressworks. Check out http://lulu.com/lookingblue.
  
  
  
• A printed version of P.S. kiss the Duchess For Me is coming soon!
  
  
  Yes, typing lookingblue sparked in me the realization I wanted to talk about how I was reaching back into my past, to look for names of my Imprint, as I venture forth with this self-publishing effort. And that of course made realize that in among others includes Ken Whiteley, guitarist extraordinaire and founding member of the Looking Blue the band that recorded Rock & Roll Socks, and Round, Black Eyes. I miss Ken.

And it also makes me think of Tree, because I always loved the name of the song Waterlion, and think that's a fine name for an imprint: Waterlion Books. She had written a song called Waterline, and I misheard her when she told me the name, and she liked Waterlion better. It was a great song, in fact. Somewhere around I have a cassette copy. Ken Whiteley, myself, Tree and a few others, like Terry Burke, and Doug Maas, played in a band called Loose Connection. Tree was the female vocalist who succeeded Pamela Rasada, another name and face I haven't talked to in some time.

Finally, Flow Control. Flow Control is what I do for UPS. I am a flow controller. I kind of like the way that sounds: Flow Control. Flow Control Books doesn't work, but if ever have another band, it just could be: Joe Rossi & Flow Control.


Yeah, right.

Happy Holidays! & Merry XMAS, & all that wonderful jazz!

The Joe Rossi Report on INTERNET RADIO

Ok, it's part deadhead hour, part anything I feel like playing hour, and then some. Until I can get the kinks worked out on the microphone end, I'm not comfortable doing the live talk format I want to do. Still hopefully soon, the Joe Rossi Report on glpradio will feature live broadcasts of some really cool jams, spoken word, poetry, political commentary as well as complete goofiness.

Elbop THRIVES

A long time ago, in a city called Pasadena.. so far far away... I knew a naked cat named Elbop.
His art and his spirit thrive.

Double Down! A Rock & Roll Road Novel

Maybe you''ve heard of or even read Double Down--a Rock & Roll Road Novel--or maybe not. No doubt if you know me, you might be aware of it. Well, for only $1.99 you can download a .pdf file of it at lulu.com. As this is my first venture into the world of online publishing and print-on-demand publishing your support would be appreciated. The book is available as well as 6x9 paperback for less than $10. My good friend Skye has whipped some deliciously dark and dreamlike artwork for the cover.

Double Down was born in the wake of the movie Pulp Fiction's commercial success, during an outing to Laughlin Nevada, where I played black jack. It is deliberately cartoonish, as well as melodramatic. It seeks to entertain while at the same time serving as what Al Franken calls "nutritious candy." It matters little to me lately, that some of the plot, dialogue or events might seem a bit absurd, having watched Pulp Fiction again; and having seen what passes for entertainment from Hollywood these days, with films like Herbie Reloaded, which I watched at my kid's school on movie night this past weekend.

What can I say about a book features the word "shit," twice in the first paragraph and the very last sentence has the word hell in it. I can say that in between the shit and hell, is plenty of gratuitous cartoonish violence, graphic sex, drugs, rock and roll, foul language, gambling, pornography, and heady heated, discussions about all of the above, then some, with sporadic dialogue concerning the meaning of life, love, god and war.

Double Down is Austin Powers meets Pulp Fiction. It is absurd in the ways these films seem absurd. It is darker than Austin Powers, but not nearly as sadistic as Pulp Fiction. I mean if Doctor Evil can have a hideout carved out of a rock in a mountain, why can't Rooster have his hideaway in the Nevada desert? Clearly, there is a vision of a film at hand. I can see the "film" every time I play the song Sugar Spun Sister. I can see the way the film begins as well as the way it ends with another song by the Stone Roses, called I am The Resurrection. I can see the panaromas of the grand canyon, the white van streaming through the desertscapes. I can see Hillary Duff as Ginny. I can hear Jack's voice narrating here and there. I can see it all.

Double Down! A Rock & Roll Road Novel

The Joe Rossi Report on godlike Productions Internet Radio

Sundays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Central Standard Time, I'll be doing a live Internet Radio show courtesy of the good folks over at GLP radio, the People's Radio. I
went live last week and played from a selection of music: everything from my own music, to the Doors, Grateful Dead, Stone Roses, Oasis, Selena, Eminem ... and so on.. hope to expand the show to include news commentary, spoken word, improvised poetry and the likes. So tune in every Sunday at glpradio.com for the Joe Rossi Report at 3 p.m. central standard time.

We tell each other fairy tales

We tell each other Fairy Tales

A lyric from a song keeps running through my head; the lyric captures the essence of how I view religion and the relationship believers have with each other when it comes to people of faith of all religions. The lyric is from Counting Crows Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones and I tell each other fairy tales

Even some of the other lyrics fall magically into place.

I want to believe in something; I want to believe

Of course it'’s not a perfect fit but nothing ever is.

And in this scenario, the Christians tell fairy tales to the Muslims who tell their fairy tales to the Hindus and so on ad infinitum. And only the worst among each of these groups believes their particular fairy tale is THE ONLY TRUE FAIRY TALE, and that all other fairy tales are heresy and deceptions of the devil. These are the kinds of people who fly airplanes into buildings and seek constitutional amendments banning same sex marriages.

The less extreme are usually pretty decent people who go out of their way to respect and honor the differences in others's fairy tales and give these people the benefit of the doubt even if their fairy tales are different than their own. They perhaps subscribe to the idea that as long as they have a fairy tale they believe it's OK, because it's probably the same God, and they are just a little confused.

And the only people who are really suspect are the atheists and agnostics, cynics and skeptics who are reduced to shouting the Emperor wears no clothes. There are either inclined to say there is no God, or that the existence of God cannot be proved. And this is perfectly rational.

The Big Disconnect

I tend to believe in God, but not in any one set of beliefs. Because I have had countless experiences both induced and some just purely incidental in which things I've read in the Bible, snippets from other religions I've seen, maxims and adages expressed by sages and saints, ideas peddled in self-help books and on television make a whole lot of sense. My own spirituality is perhaps closer to Buddhism than anything else, in that I find the greatest peace and the greatest self-knowledge and clarity when I meditate. And in those experiences I unify with something that defies description. It's what the Taoists call the Tao that cannot be told.

By all means most people today are rational, logical, and even resigned to accepting science in most aspects of our lives. After all when we are ill we may go to church and pray but more importantly we go to a doctor. And if we are really sick we go to a hospital. And there we trust our mortal lives to those whose techniques and methods are based not on scriptures or fairy tales, but on solid science.

And when these same types of people come to us and tell us that we evolved, or that greenhouse gases are causing global warming, we put our hands to our ears and over our eyes, because we don't want to hear it. I mean right wing conservatives were OK with science when DNA testing proved that was Bill Clinton's semen on that blue dress, but not when science tells us we evolved, or that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is causing global warming.

Rush Limblah & The Republican art of Symbolism over Substance

Awhile back, Rush Limblah went on at lengths comparing the Terri Schiavo situation to the Elian Gonzales situation in response to the idea that Jeb Bush should use his executive authority to raid the hospice in the same manner that Janet Reno used the FBI to seize Gonzales and return him to his father. I remember him saying it'’s a classic example of how the conservatives are always on the side of life and liberty. I mean after all they drew a line in the sand when it came to Terri Schiavo's life and Elian Gonzales' liberty.

I say it's a classic example of how the right chooses symbolism over substance. In other words, it's easier and manageable for the right to be on the side of one illegal immigrant when in serves their ideological purpose. But consider for a minute that west of Florida along the porous Mexican border, the Minutemen project is stirring passions, angst, and headlines. Would the right wing in this country be willing to open their arms to millions seeking a better life were they not economic refuges but political refugees? Maybe, the best thing that could happen in Mexico for those who want to flee their dire economic situation would be for the country to take a sharp left turn into the state of Marxism.

As for being on the side of life, I've always believed the right wing'’s obsession with abortion is due in part to the fact that it allows them to rally on the side of the underdog, without having to actually touch it, clothe it, feed it, or smell it. It's this abstraction; this potential person growing in someone else it. But once they are born, they are loathe to provide them with quality healthcare, or a decent education. So whether it'’s a fetus tucked away in someone's womb, or a brain-dead woman tucked away in a hospice in Florida, or a child stashed away in a relatives house, Republicans will rally around the individual in a so called stand for life or liberty, but its little more than grandstanding for the sake of scoring ideological points..

Further Proof that W is a true Dolt!

I think the hand-wringing over Harriet Miers speaks volumes about W's idiocy. I really think he thought all he had to do was nominate an evangelical who many would assume would overturn Roe W. Wade. I give credit to those conservatives who are questioning the wisdom of this move. It'’s like they'’re saying: What did you think all we care about is whether or not they will overturn Roe V. Wade? Actual judicial experience and constitutional law expertise are't important to us. Just give us that no vote to Roe V. Wade and we will be happy. Furthermore, to nominate someone from his own inner circle. What a dunderhead!

Driving to the sounds of my favorite tunes

Something about the Eminor chord and/or a good solid Em D major riff like in Oasis' What's The Story Morning Glory that makes me hear God in the music and see love in the fabric of the universe around me. Mornings are always mystical man, on my way to work at the ungodly hour of 2:30 A.M. to work the UPS preload, I enjoy a clarity of thought and superb vision.

Man, the letters I write; the stories I tell, in the first, few fresh hours of the day. But by the time I get home to actually be able to write and have some time for myself, I am just so burned out. I try to make lists, and reminders of all the things I've thought during the day, but it becomes hard to focus.

Much of my focus lately has been on Duchess. As well, I have published a version of Double Down at lulu.com. I went ahead and ordered one hard copy book. I want to see the finished product before I make a bigger and bolder leap in trying to get folks to check it out there, or purchase it.