Speaking of “Star Trek”

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

Saw the movie today. Won’t say much about it, lest I spoil your experience, but I will say that the kid who plays James T. Kirk as a young man is going to have a big career. He has that certain something — the sort of appeal shared by actors as diverse as Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Harrison Ford. Many of the actors were good, especially the two who played McCoy and Scott, but the one who played Kirk really stood out. 

Of course, Hollywood being Hollywood, they had to hoke things up and come up with an ending (the coda, really) that was not believable, whereas they could easily have come up with one that was. But they always have their eye on the teenage consumer, so it is too much to ask that they consider grown up sensibilities as well. We’re lucky when it is as good as this one was. I did enjoy it.

Richard Bach on Babe in the Woods

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

Richard Bach, the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions, etc., who became a friend of mine a few years ago, sent me a series of emails as he was reading Babe in the Woods, and he is very generously allowing me to quote them here. Some excerpts:

“I’ve begun reading at last, and have to tell you again what a pleasure is your writing! You catch me on paragraph one, have me fascinated and at the same time at ease with that homey comfortable style of yours….”

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Neglecting this blog

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

It is always a delicate balance, like breathing. You can’t always be breathing out, you can’t always be breathing in. If the two halves of the rhythm don’t alternate smoothly, you’ve got problems. Similarly, you’ve got to keep a balance between absorbing new material (whether by reading or other experience) and expressing what you know. At least, that’s my experience.

When I began this blog in another format in March 2007, the result of a kind and perceptive suggestion from a friend who pointed out that I was already blogging, in essence, in the amount of material I was sending out to my friends via e-mail, at first the material poured out. Already I have hundreds of pieces blogged, and potential hundreds more, because I read a lot, think a lot, talk to myself pretty continuously, and keep a journal as I have done since I was 20. That makes for a lot of material.

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What could be more delightful…?

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

…than somebody really getting it?

Babe in the Woods is being offered on Amazon and in other places by Doyle Whiteaker, a friend from one of the Monroe Institute-oriented email groups. He requested that a friend of his read it, and he sent me her review, which follows:

Continue reading What could be more delightful…?

Babe in the Woods is in print

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

If you ever wondered what it would be like to go through a program with a couple of dozen people all looking for extraordinary potential — here’s an easy way to get the idea.

Babe in the Woods is about a skeptical news reporter’s entry into a world that he had always assumed did not exist. As he goes through the program he is surrounded by others at very different levels of being. Some are beginners, some are experienced. Some are skeptical, some credulous. Some are able to go with their experiences, some are not. Kind of like real life….

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Sample chapter of Babe in the Woods

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

 

 

Chapter One

March 18, 1995

Saturday Evening

 

My first thought was: What in the world am I doing here and how am I going to last the week?

 

I got off the plane in the early evening darkness, walked through the automatic doors and there I was in the Charlottesville airport, finally. Up the escalator, through the empty second-floor lounge, and down the escalator to the main floor, wondering if my van ride to the institute had waited the extra hour, and if not, how I was going to get out there. I suppose if the rental car agencies are closed, I’ll have to call a cab, I thought. A 40-mile taxi ride will make an impressive addition to the tab.

 

Wasted anticipation, because as soon as I came out of the secured area through the revolving door, a guy came up and said, “You must be Angelo. I’m Mick. I’m your transportation to the institute, and I’ve got two of your fellow participants over here,” pointing behind him. He was maybe 50, a youngish 50, pretty average looking.

 

“Yes, I’m Angelo. How did you know?” I wasn’t the only man from the plane coming through the door.

 

Mick smiled. “I can generally tell. Let’s get your baggage and get on the road so we can get you some supper.” He led the way to the airport’s only baggage carousel. “You guys can introduce yourselves. You’re going to know each other a little better by the time I bring you back here next week, you might as well start now.”

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Okay, we’re pretty much functioning now

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

If you’ve been following our progress here, you know that we have been working step by step. First we moved the blog to this site, then came the process of constructing what we call the HologramBooks store. Most of that work has been behind the scenes, of course, a combination of technical stuff (at which I am no help whatsoever) and writing descriptions.

We have now gotten to the point that Messenger, Muddy Tracks, and Babe in the Woods can be ordered on line. My three books of poetry can be downloaded, free. And you can see what’s coming up.

So here’s how you do it.

Continue reading Okay, we’re pretty much functioning now