Time Travel and Immortality

Listen NOW in our archives on Unity Online Radio or download the podcast from iTunes!

Original air date: Monday, October 13, 2014

Time Travel and Immortality – These themes are popular because they resonate with people of all ages and cultures. Working with the concept of mortality is something we do throughout our lives, and Pop Conscious is ready to explore that and find other life lessons that can be gleaned from tales of time travel and eternal life. We want time travel! And we want it now and forever! Or do we?

Malayna recently contributed a piece on this topic to Beliefnet.com, and found she had so much more to say about it!

Why the resonance and popularity?

•    They allow us to see history with a twist of fictional fun, enjoying the contrast created by the passage of time and sometimes, alternative paths through the evolution of culture and technology.  (Steampunk is a genre based in alternative history.)   (Fringe has an alternate present with zeppelins! Sliders, and Dr. Who too….)

•    It also offers a way for us to grapple with our own mortality.  We yearn for the ability to see beyond what our years normally allow, to have more time to travel, and of course, with unending youth and strength to enjoy it all.

•    Learn about who we are from our ties to our ancestry — our families, our tribes, and our nations, and the family of humanity.

•    Perhaps learn reasons for gratitude for the rarity of this moment.

•    What we love! What we’d like to add to our lives in the here and now to live them to the fullest.
TV Series
Voyagers! – 1982-83 – A member of a league of time travelers (Phineas Bogg) and a boy travel through time repairing errors in world history.  (Aaron was stunt double for Meeno Peluce

Quantum Leap is a 1988-1993 NBC Cult Classic series about a scientist, played by Scott Bakula, caught in a malfunctioning Time Travel experiment that bounced him back and forth in the past; the only way for him to move on from any time period he landed in was to change the life or lives of someone there for the better.

Time Trax is an American/Australian co-produced science fiction television series that first aired in 1993.[1][3][4] A police officer, Darien Lambert (Dale Midkiff) sent through time into the past, has to track down and return convicted criminals who have escaped prison in the future.[5] This was the last new production from Lorimar Television.

Twice in a Lifetime (1999–2001) – Canadian production – Various judges from the Old Testament’s Book of Judges, preside over the court of judgment of the recently deceased. The judge in question evaluates their life and decides their fate, specifically if they deserve a second chance at their life. For those who had a questionable life but whom he deems deserves a second chance, the judge sends them back to a pivotal point in the past where their life path was determined. However they are sent back as someone other than themselves but with the full knowledge of their mission of their own redemption. In addition, they only have three days to change that life path. – GREAT MEDITATION EXERCISE!!!  (Other Canadian prod that I love, love, love – Murdoch Mysteries/Artful Detective)

Tru Calling 2003 to 2005 – The show starred Eliza Dushku as Tru Davies, a woman who works at the city morgue. In the course of her job, the bodies of dead people start talking to Tru, asking her for help. Tru then finds herself reliving their last day alive, trying to keep their death from happening. Her morgue assistant:  (Zach Galifianakis), her socially-challenged but loyal friend, confidante, and supervisor at the morgue.
Timelines of Time Travel Movies & TV!
from Information is beautiful:
•    Methods of time travel: Alien tech, Forces of Nature, Time machine, Deep Freeze, Unknown
•    Intersections = paradoxes:
•    The Terminatrix encounters Evan from Butterfly Effect pursued by Timecop Max Walker
•    Marty McFly meets the Star Trek crew and both battle The Terminator (1985?)
•    Time Bandits meet Evan from Butterfly Effect
•    DCI Sam Tyler (Life on Mars – 1973) arrests Miles Munroe from Sleeper

Top 10 Immortals – Live Science

Ranker.com — Top 50 Immortals

How to Make People Think You’re Immortal – on WikiHow

Michio Kaku – Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel

Spiral Whirled Travels — World Travel IS Time Travel

The Body Image Shift

Listen NOW from our archives at Unity Online Radio — or download the podcast from iTunes.

Original air date: Monday, September 29, 2014

“Evening Gown” by Jenny Hahn – JensPaintings.com

This week, Stacy and Malayna will discuss body image and the media, and how we can all make a lasting shift to appreciation and love for the wondrous vehicle that facilitates our lives. They’ll point out positive media images that can support that journey, and tools to deal with the not-so-supportive messages that are all too prevalent in the world today. “Let your adornment be the inner self …” (1 Peter 3:4)!

“…with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:4)

1. Embrace film promo and “disgusting” – convo with Erika Eleniak, Baywatch Babe told me I looked good! Ego boost!  And how beauty and sex appeal can be limiting…

 

2. Barbie to Bratz, photoshopping (Dove Campaign for Real Beauty) and “fat shaming” – not just women either, I hear the men closest to me talking about their weight and muscles, rather than fitness levels too. And let’s not forget the cultural aspect, body image based on skin color, hair color, or physical build.

 

3. Scene in What the Bleep (celebrating its 10^th Anniversary at the Awakened World International Film Festival in Santa Barbara Oct 27 – 30) where she writes positive words and images on her body, to emulate Dr. Emoto’s experiment with water.

 

4.  Maria Nemeth, Mastering Life’s Energies: Simple Steps to a Luminous Life at Work and Play – what if you and your body went to couple’s therapy and it was revealed that it loved you, and you don’t give it what it needs? It’s a waste of energy to beat yourself up and put yourself down.

 

5. Gone with the Wind – Scarlett O’Hara is a great example of how she let her beauty ruin her life – not wanting to have another kid because she couldn’t get her 20” waist back down to 18-1/2” after having a baby. Didn’t Melanie seem more beautiful and transcendent because she was kind and loving and saw the best in others?

 

6. Ever notice how your impression changes once you get to know someone? An attractive person can become ugly, and someone who at first glance didn’t impress can become beautiful/handsome.

 

7. Then, think about people you really admire – Oprah, Deepak, isn’t because of who they are? How they make you feel? Their confidence, their comfort, their belief, whatever it is – their them-ness. Paulette Pipe’s perfection. Seeing perfection in others.

 

8. Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing – interesting looking, compelling. Post nose job, she’s pretty, but not memorable or recognizable.

 

9. Shift to healthy, compassionate treatment of our bodies. Bloom where we’re planted! We only have so much control over the tools we inherited in this lifetime.

 

10. Every period of history held its own standards of beauty – Been to a museum lately? And still in many cultures today, being thin is a sign of poverty, and being curvy is a sign of abundance.

 

11. Gary Simmons – Finger pointing at the moon, mistaking the symbol for the message.  Joseph Campbell – Archetypally, the heroes in myths and the gods and goddesses were larger than life for symbolic purposes. Stronger, more beautiful, to make a point. But society is confusing the myth for reality. The on-camera character for the real person.

 

12. • zaftig: pleasingly plump, buxom, full-figured, as a woman (from Yiddish זאַפֿטיק zaftik ‘juicy’; cf. German saftig ‘juicy’) (OED, MW)The television sitcom Ugly Betty portrays the life of a girl faced with hardships due to society’s unwelcoming attitudes toward those they deem unattractive. However, a person may also be targeted for harassment because of their beauty. In Malèna, a strikingly beautiful Italian woman is forced into poverty by the women of the community who refuse to give her work for fear that she may “woo” their husbands. The documentary Beauty in the Eyes of the Beheld explores both the societal blessings and curses of female beauty through interviews of women considered beautiful.St. Augustine said of beauty “Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.”^[40]– From Wikipedia: on Beauty
    • • Media Smarts http://mediasmarts.ca/body-image/ – Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy.

    POSITIVE TOOLS:

    • Healthy is the new Skinny – Smile TV uploaded the video you can find on You Tube,
    • Dove Campaign for Real Beauty – Real Beauty Sketches
    • The Body Image Survival Guide for Parents – http://www.todaysparent.com – offers a few suggestions for kids
    • OUR SUGGESTIONS
      1. Replace reading material that celebrates the outer with ones that celebrate the inner – photo albums of people you love! Real people you admire!  (Contagious Optimism?)
      2. Use the guidelines from A Complaint-Free World for body image – no complaining, gossiping or criticizing your body or anyone else’s. Instead, be affirmative, set goals for health, happiness, celebration, enjoyment of all that the world and life has to offer.
      3. Make eating about health and fun and diversity and exploration and community/family — great app recommended by Awaken Whole Life Center Nutritionist — Fooducate
      4. Seek out role models from your community that you can spend time with, in person, and beyond—those you’d like to meet and work with and share your favorites.
      5. Make friends with your face, your body, your spirit’s partner in this life. The underlying meaning is what’s important. – if you were more like you imagine you want to be, how would you feel? Most of us want to feel worthy of love, and appreciation. Love our negative thoughts for pointing us to where we need to be healed, and stop resisting them. The pain is in the resistance – to who we are, to what we fear. Listen compassionately to them, love them, heal them, act affirmatively to create the underlying value.

     Spark Movement and saw this on their blog at Spark Summit.com – a resource kit to be an activist

    “From writing petitions, to engaging in dialogue to writing and producing theater, you will learn simple yet effective activities to inspire the girls in your community.

    In 125 colorful pages of information, activities, resources, and blogs by the young women (ages 13-22) of the SPARKteam (SPARK’s troupe of girl activists), you’ll find the creative work of a coalition of grassroots organizations who have joined together to educate and engage girls in activism.”

    • See Jane.org – website for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (Event Oct 6^th)
    • Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls – amysmartgirls.com “Change the world by being yourself”
      • Videos like Girls of the World, Operation Nice and Smart Girls at a Party

     

Spreading Contagious Optimism

Listen NOW in our archives at Unity Online Radio! 

Or download the podcast from iTunes!

Original air date: Monday, September 15, 2014

Pop Conscious welcomes author David Mezzapelle, the man behind the book Contagious Optimism: Uplifting Stories and Motivational Advice for Positive Forward Thinking. The bestseller has become a multimedia force and something of a movement.

They’ll talk about the value of uplifting personal stories from people around the world, and the power of sharing our life’s adventures, and how entertainment can benefit. Tune in to find out how to catch the bug and spread the joy!

 You may be surprised to hear what David Mezzapelle identified as his pop culture influence from childhood!  Listen and learn!

Daniel Nahmod: Musical Humanitarian

Original air date: Monday, August 25, 2014

Listen NOW in our archives on Unity Online Radio!

Episode Description:

Many of us in Unity and New Thought are familiar with Daniel’s uplifting songs, but we at Pop Conscious love the way his resume reflects successes in mainstream media and global humanitarian efforts as well. Join us as we learn more about all the good music and words can do in the world.

The Spirit Behind CG Animation

Original air date: Monday, August 18, 2014

Listen NOW from our archives at Unity Online Radio! or download from iTunes!  FUN!

Episode Description:

If you’ve ever played a video game, or watched cartoons or anime, chances are you’ve heard our special guest, Erin Fitzgerald! If you haven’t, but were ever curious about why everyone else has, Pop Conscious can help you. We’ll examine what has allowed the video game industry to surpass the success of film and television for years now. Join us as we explore computer-generated animation!

Show Notes:

We met a handful of her different characters… talked about the connection between spirit, breath and voice…found life lessons and spiritual metaphors in both the creation process and the message of cartoons, anime and video games!

We learned Erin’s technique of getting into character to create the voice, heart and soul of the artist’s vision, and how we can use that same technique in our spiritual practice to “put on” our best, most ideal selves.

We learned to be fountains of spirit, and spread our glistening drops of light wherever we go — we just need to do our best to be clear channels of that love.

We laughed a lot too.  Not surprising really!

Listen NOW from our archives at Unity Online Radio! or download from iTunes!  FUN!

Pop Music to Rock Your Sundays – with Adam Chester

Original air date: Monday, April 28, 2014

Listen to this episode NOW on Unity Online Radio!

Join Malayna and Stacy as they laugh and learn with their friend and special guest Adam Chester! He has a colorful musical career—Unity musician on Sundays, and the “surrogate Elton John” whenever Sir Elton and the band need him. He uses music and a sense of humor to connect with the people in the pews and make Sunday services fun. He also put the offering blessing of Unity to music so we can all sing along. Get ideas for your playlist here!

From rehearsing in Elton John’s place with his band before live gigs, Adam Chester most recently wrote and arranged a choral piece on Elton John’s new single “Home Again”.

Always a fan of Elton, he was unaware of Elton’s appearance on The Muppet Show, which apparently had a big impact on Stacy.

Elton John on The Muppet Show doing Crocodile Rock

He’s been doing Unity music since 1997 or 1998.  From West Valley Unity to Westside Unity, where he plays currently, Adam wrote music to Unity’s abundance blessing “Divine Love through me, blesses and multiplies all I have, all that I give, all I receive.  I give in love and I trust in God.”

Adam has enjoyed that Unity is flexible and contemporary with pop music, he does songs like, “Heaven Must Be Missin’ an Angel” by Tavares, “Love Train”,  and The Theme song to TV’s’ Cheers, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”.

Singer songwriter trend in Unity names like: Karen Drucker, Daniel Nahmod, Rickie Byars & Michael Beckwith and Mark Stanton Welch!  Adam Chester should be part of that!

 

 

 

 

Environmental Pop Culture for Earth Day

Original air date: Monday, April 21, 2014

Click here to listen NOW on Unity Online Radio!

Unity of the Oaks tree

 

Tour with your Pop Conscious friends Malayna and Stacy, with Pop Culture as your eco-friendly vehicle through the sustainable past and the future possible. We’ll talk about cartoons (yay!) like Bambi, Pocahontas, Fern Gully and Wall-E. We’ll discuss Sci-Fi films like Avatar and activists like Erin Brockovich and Al Gore. We’ll also see what Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore said about conservation, all in time to celebrate Earth Day!

(And it was also Malayna’s dad’s birthday! But he’s not quite as old as the earth…)

 SHOW NOTES:

Disney has a history of nature documentaries –  BEARS is coming out on Earth Day!  Live action, but with personifications that people can relate with.

Plus, Bambi, Pocahontas, Wall-E!  (See lyrics to “Colors of the Wind” below….)

Charles Fillmore – on Conservation:

• Revealing Word : Law of Conservation–Building up a large reserve consciousness of substance, life, strength, and power, instead of laying up material treasures. This is done through prayer.
  In Prosperity on Laying Up Treasures – Any form of waste is a violation of the divine law of conservation.  Everywhere in  nature there is evidence of stored up energy substance, ready for use when needed.

No hoarding!  Join in the cycle!

Deepak Chopra said energy and prosperity is like water — you need it to run and circulate and have an inlet and outlet. Much like Charles Fillmore said about Spirit.

Check out the Environmental Media Association!  Awards and green seal for responsible production.

MOVIES with an ECO-MESSAGE:

Check out this article: 10 Films to Inspire Your Inner Environmentalist

• Celeb Documentary – 11th Hour with Leonardo Di Caprio, Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth
• Message Movie – Promised Land with Matt Damon, Erin Brockovich (she lives in Ventura County, like we do!)
• Post Apocolyptic -Wall-E, The Day After Tomorrow
• Horror Movies – Godzilla, Swamp Thing
  
• Environmental Fiction – Avatar! (Featuring James Cameron‘s love for deep-sea bioluminescence!)

I Heart Huckabees – A movie about the environment and quantum physics, and stuff.

HOME – Aerial shots of the amazing Earth.

Animation:  Princess Mononoke, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Songs for Earth Day:

• It’s the End of the World As We Know It – by R.E.M.
• The Greatest Love of All – by Whitney Houston (featured on the episode of Who’s the Boss that Malayna was on!)
• We Are the World and Hands Across America

Book Series:

Fashion:

Garments Without Guilt! Ecouterre! Tree Hugger.com!  Planet Green!