Final Move (hopefully)

I've set up a phpBB forum and placed my blog on there.
That way I have a bit more flexibility in what I can do with the forum later.

It's hosted by the same guy that left me hanging originally, but I'm giving the guy another chance.

The new blog is here: http://placebo.serv.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2
I'm still working on it, and moving the resources, etc etc. I can't promise that it'll be particularly busy right now as I still have a lot going - I just moved into my house and discovered I have an unwanted indoor water feature during rainstorms, as well as a lot of outstanding building work.

FreeWebTown, for now

I'm about to move some of my stuff over to freewebtown. I'll probably put the pages elsewhere, but we'll see how it goes.
For the moment, the blog is going to have to stay here.

I've begun to practice bone breathing, but stay reserved as to exactly what it *is*.
The sensations I experience doing bone breathing is very, very close to some of what I experience when doing TK. And the practice of bone breathing seems to be helping me develop that raw control and strength.

For a full explanation of what it is : http://www.taoisthealing.com/bone_breathing.html
As I say, I have no idea what causes these sensations. Often one finds an ancient practice like this that has a basis somewhere, but has been extended into all sorts of fanciful mysticism.

I'm only hoping that developing this skill helps with my TK.

Oh, and unfortunately I'm getting less TK time again because of personal situations.
The room I practice in is being used by a girl, and the building of my house is still taking a lot of my time.
Bone breathing however can be done whenever I'm waiting for something, etc.

FTP hell

Hey all, you'll notice that most of my links and videos are not available anymore.
The reason? Well my new host is dead, DreamViews (who I used to use a bit) has relinquished all FTP accounts for staff, and I simply have nowhere to put them :
In other news, I did some TK 2 nights ago, and I was suprised at how well it went - considering I haven't been practicing very much lately.
I was trying to spin some foil with folded up sides on a desk - and while I didn't get continuous motion, I got some quite convincing movement. I also tried to replicate it with heat and air, but could not.

Laters

*Hang head*

Yes okay, this is taking way longer than expected.
My new host has gone bad, and I've been overwhelmed with a new project at work. Stupidly, it was all my idea :/

It was meant to let up about 3 weeks ago, but it just keeps going.
But I'm still alive, and I haven't forgotten TK :)

New Host

I've bought myself some decent space of my own with a nice subdomain, and will be moving everything over soon - after designing my own blog system + site. Could be fun, I don't know php or mysql :P

Let's see... TK has taken a back seat for a while. I've decided to use it as an experiment for what happens with a longer-than-2-week break.
But not to worry, I'll be back into it soon.
The decision was triggered by a lot of personal events taking place at once - eg. the building of my new home before I have to move. Once everything beds down, and I'm rested, I'll be back :)

In addition to the stressful things, I've had one or two happy ones. I have myself a bearded dragon, a new kitten, and a decent digital camera.
I set up a simple webcam for Norbert (the dragon) at http://www.dreamviews.com/mods/Placebo/cam.html
Other pics of my pets, excluding the new one : http://www.dreamviews.com/mods/Placebo/PlaceboPets.htm

Anyway, I know this posting was largely unrelated to TK, but it's my blog so BLEH!
So onto house building, wedding anniversaries (with holidays), debt handling, electronics work, heavy secular work and website building...

Time Trouble

Alright, I haven't had time for TK for ... a while :(

I'm going to shuffle my day around to force it in. In any event, expect this page to be idle for a while longer

(yawn)

I've been doing intermittent practice with developmental TK (the foil on desk)
It's going slow, and I've taken a few detours. I want to break this barrier, so for a little while (while I do so) this blog is going to get boring :)

Experimental TK 26 Feb

I did some experimental TK today, with the straw again (awwww :P)
Basically it involved testing for the effects of static, and the 'switch' test (control test of when I do not attempt TK, and when I do)

As usual, it isn't proof. It's an experiment.
The subtitles more or less explain what I'm doing

Here we go: Experimental TK Vid for 26 Feb 2005

Update

I've been doing some developmental TK with the foil, but haven't had as much time as I'd like. Partly because I'm finding it really hard to get out of bed early (lately), and partly due to guests in the evenings (fun anyway)

I have a video snippet from the practice I did get, but I feel it doesn't warrant sticking online. It's not much better, if any, than the last one. Maybe if I get some spare time soon :P (unlikely)

Today was another TK-less day, and I'm fairly tipsy from some wine and rum. So excuse any irrational language :P

What was interesting about yesterday (or day before? *scratches head*) - I sat in front of the TV with a small cake fork and experimented with a bit of spoonbending (No, I don't necessarily have an opinion on it's authenticity. I was just playing :) )
In any event, I rested the fork in my left hand, and tried to bend it in a similar way that I do TK, using my right hand (+usual head sensations)

I didn't bend it at all, but when doing TK on it I could FEEL the fork moving in my left hand. That left me quite excited. Of course, that doesn't mean much to everyone else, since it's not demonstrable, but it had me quite excited all the same :)

Other than that - I've been looking around the Randi forums. Interesting bunch :)
After looking over the attitude to the challenge, I don't think I'm close to being verifiable just yet. At least not well enough to chance the expense of travel, disruption of job, etc etc
So I fall in the box of 'believer' and unable to prove it yet :P

Developmental TK for 21 Feb

Alright. I've decided that there are two distinct types of exercises I will do.
Developmental and Experimental TK
I know they sound similar, but it's just semantics

Experimental = Controlled and analysed tests of my existing skills. E.g. yesterday. I'm not a scientist, so this is not exactly 'evidence', but it is an attempt to understand and document my TK.
Developmental = Attempting to exceed my existing abilities. Exercising and growing my skills. Obviously displays smaller results until it becomes more fluent. Obviously is not much use at all to a sceptic as 'evidence' since it is so casually practiced.

I'm open to ideas for better names :P
Anyway today was a developmental TK day, and I worked on spinning foil on a CD cover
I have a vid of what I managed : Dev TK 21 Feb 2005
It's not half bad, and is not the first time I have moved it. Simply the first time I have recorded it.

At the moment I have a problem in maintaining my pages on my blog - my dreamviews FTP has gone sour after the site had that hacking :(
So I cannot change my explanation page or my media links for the moment

First Chart

This morning I got an hour or so to practice. So after some warmups I established a test.
I constructed a HTML page that alternated red/green every 60 seconds. Green meant go, and red, well, stop.
I then document the absolute amount of movement made in those cycles
And produce a graph of the results
I'll call this test Absolute Movement Switching Test for lack of a better name at this point
AMST? :P

Anyway, I did a AMST with 60 seconds switching on a balanced straw.
Thankfully I could keep the straw from becoming 'stuck' on the bottle it was balanced upon, so that wasn't a problem.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Setting:
Weather: Wet, without lightning
Position: My keyboard + hands kept under the desk. Straw balanced on top of desk and bottle. No body movement allowed except to record data on the keyboard.
Environment: Room closed, mouth covered, no creatures or humans in the room.
Static: Tests were ineffective in moving the straw with static.

Results:
Score Rating: 1.7 (loose James Conrad level index)
Comments: It was fairly difficult to switch on and off :P. Lately my TK abilities have not been optimal, but I feel this is a reasonable result - if not entirely consistent and impressive.
Chart:

(Click to enlarge - blue like is 'TK-On' and purple is 'TK-Off')
-------------------------------------------------------

I still have to change my explanation page :)

Non Visual

I got a tiny bit of time to practice today, and used the balanced straw for a quick + simple 'workout' :)
I was trying to spin the straw with my hands about 20 cm below the table, under the straw. I realise this might cause thermals on the edge of the straw, but considering that I had no success for some time - it seems unlikely.

At first, my TK was almost unnoticeable. Very disappointing :I realised somewhere in the middle of it that I had my mind racing through thoughts of theories and criticism. So without stopping the flow, I tried to clear my mind - this time by closing my eyes and visualising a simple dot. In the back of my mind, I was still letting things flow, with the idea to make it rotate anticlockwise (much as you would effortlessly think of running while concentrating on catching a ball :P - call it consciousness splitting if you will)
Keep in mind that I'm fairly good at controlling my thoughts when I put a bit of effort into it - due to my self hypnosis and lucid dreaming hobbies :)

In any event, when I opened my eyes: I had not moved but the straw was moving anticlockwise.
Of course, it doesn't mean a lot considering that it can be explained with thermals, but I find it interesting due to the delay of success in that case.

I continued to keep my mind free of distractions and had a bit more success, but nothing particularly noteworthy - I give today a score of 1.1 on Conrad's scale. Poor.
Considering that I had previous claims of reproducibly rotating the straw in a direction of my choice - it is actually quite dismal.
That said, I also didn't get a lot of time to get into it and I had difficulty concentrating in the heat and with a cloth wrapped around my face :P

Tomorrow seems to be a potentially free day for me, and will be able to get a decent amount of time to practice. Goody :)

James Conrad
I've finally got around to reading James Conrad's site, thanks to a link from Keith Mayes
He has some interesting ideas. Some I find interesting, others I question.
One thing that stuck out to me was his tenuous belief in blood iron content
After talking with my wife... she let me onto a little hidden piece of information that she tends to cook food with high iron content during her menstruation.

Perhaps the trend will be evident in my TK, since I would be increasing my iron levels slowly during that time?
It's only a theory, and everyone seems to have them these days. But it's worth a look :)

I would also like to ask Keith of his opinions on James Conrad ...

Practice Method
As I indicated, I think I need to tighten up with the way I do my practice. I'm way to casual about it, and lately that seems to be a bad thing (tm)

One move I'd like to make... I will decide on an exercise to attempt PRIOR to the practice
That way I can put more thought into it, and perhaps record data about my progress or lack thereof (at times)

Two: I would like to rate my TK on a scale for each practice. I may as well base it loosely on Conrad's levels of ability - loosely because it isn't that clearly defined. I'll fill in a rough chart for myself as I go along.

Another thing I'd like to do, is to change my 'explanation' page a bit more. My attitude to things has changed recently and I feel the explanation page needs amending.

Idle

I have been getting so little time for TK - secular work, administration issues (buying a property, selling a property, speaking to a myriad of banks) and in between this I became sick
I'm also finding all the forums to take a lot of my time
The bit of practice I have managed showed no real progress

I've also decided to change my explanation page a little, and organise+document my TK a bit better. That way it can be looked at a bit more objectively to form a few conclusions and get an idea of the nature of whatever it is that I'm doing

Bump

No interesting news, apart from having a good practice on foil the night before last.
I moved it significantly 3 times in succession

Whats interesting is that I had to relax my muscles before anything would happen ...

Practice last night was broken into two sessions, because of supper
Turned out to be a bad idea :/
I need one slightly longer practice, I think

{TEST BLOG}

Struggling for time

AAarg.. shit... I edited this post instead of posting a new one *grrr*
Okay, sorry, this post was originally about a strange experience I had with foil
That may or may not have been me

That said - we can all assume it wasn't me and I can continue practice anyway
The link was : http://www.light-in-darkness.de/vids/Placebo_TK_7_Feb_2005_WIERD.avi

I also had a post or two about a Dr Shen Hongxun - doctor of both western and chinese medicine and tai chi grandmaster. He claims to have abilities that are quite something. Here's his life story : http://www.buqi.net/gb/index.html

News
I've really had so little time for anything lately :(
Too much work, too little play (Not that TK doesn't feel like work sometimes... )
So no news, no change. Everything is about the same still.

Here's an interesting link though : http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/polter.html
Of course, the guy is an parapsychological anomalies investigator, so he is a tad biassed perhaps
But he could be right about some of it