My Two Cents On Time Travel

You’ve seen movies about time travel and if you’re like me you’ve done your research and have a good idea of how close (or how very far) we are from achieving it.  Let’s assume for the moment that it is possible and we are capable of it.  What then?  Will we tamper with the past to change the future?  What events will we change and how will they affect other moments in our history?  I’ve thought about it from time to time (no pun intended) and I came up with my own theory.  And here it is..

I believe that if time travel were possible and you could travel back in time, you would not be able to affect anything at all.  I believe that if you were to go into the past, you would not even be seen by anyone there.  If you were to stand in front of an approaching person, they would simply pass through you.  The reason being:  you do not yet exist.  Even though you are there in your own body, you will be housed in a body which was not from that time.  Therefore, in the eyes of those in the past, you are not there.  Even though you are visiting another time and seeing it with your own eyes, you are seeing something that has happened already and cannot be changed.  Although it would be an interesting experience, you could only be a spectator, not a participant.

I believe the same holds true for the future.  It would probably be the same.  You would be a ghost because likewise you would not be from that time.  In fact, you will have been long dead. 

I believe there is little or no difference between the past present and future.  Even the future has already happened.  Humor me for a moment.

Imagine you could throw a rock into outer space.   It would travel on and on forever until it finally hit something.  Let’s assume that the very moment you threw the rock, there is no way to retrieve it.  (Duh) Consider it an irreversible decision.  In a way, the rock had already landed at its destination because it is GOING to happen and it CANNOT be stopped.  The minute you threw it… the action was complete even though it hadn’t quite played out yet. 

 

The same holds true for the signals that we (humans) have been broadcasting into outer space over the past 100 years with hopes of reaching some intelligent life-form.  Is there any way possible we can go back and catch those waves?  We cannot.  It is irreversible.  Therefore, whatever those waves run into whether a star, black hole or an alien radio receiver, the action is done.  Perhaps we’ve already been visited by others who are able to travel through time.  If that were the case, the moment the signal was sent, it is possible that we could have been visited the next day or within the same hour.  That is, if they could travel back in time.  However, if I’m correct, we would never know it because they would not have been from this time and therefore would not exist!   Unless I’m wrong, then maybe that explains all the UFO sightings we’ve been seeing for quite some time now.

What it all boils down to is the irreversible decision.  Once it is made there is no going back!  Does it really matter whether it will take a hundred years or a billion years to play out?  What’s done is done.  Maybe, in the eyes of time, there is no past present or future, only decisions and outcomes.  Those decisions that have not yet been made… will eventually be made, will they not?  Once those decisions are made they will play out eventually.  In a way everything has already been done.  There is no way to UNDO an irreversible decision.  They WILL be made and regardless of the amount of time that passes, the outcome will come to pass.  There is no way to change what we will do in the future.   Even if we change our minds and make a different decision… even then, it will still be that final decision we were destined to make.  Regardless, we still have to make those irreversible decisions.  They MUST be thought out and put into motion.  I could be right and I could be wrong…. Nevertheless, that’s my two cents on time travel. 

Inspired by:   Into the Universe with Stephen Hawkins Season I Episode 2 “Time Travel”  via Netflix

My First Catfish Festival

I remember the first time I'd ever heard of a Catfish Festival.  I don't recall the year exactly but I do remember that Wayne's World was popular at the movies.  I only remember that because Bohemian Rhapsody was on the radio as I headed south on New Hwy 61.   My destination:  Belzoni Mississippi.  (Pronounced Bell-zone-uh just the opposite of bologna... well..at least around here it is).  I was around 15 or 16 and I'd just gotten my driver's license.  I should never have received my driver's license at that time due to the fact that I wasn't a very good driver,  but that is another post for another time.  I was all ready to go but there was a problem with the car.  It had been leaking water and anti-freeze and the radiator was completely empty.  Within an hour or so I had located and replaced the bad heater-core tube, taken a shower, dressed and was well on my way to the Catfish Festival in Belzoni (wherever the hell that was).  I am quite amazed at just how much a young man can accomplish just to sneak away for girls and/or booze! 

On a similar morning my best friend Caleb and I were heading home from God knows where when we heard a loud POP from the undercarriage of his pickup.  We pulled over and I saw oil pouring onto the road from the bottom of the back axle (aka differential).  I reached my hand underneath and felt hot oil pouring out.  Trying to locate the source of the leak I cut my finger wide open on the sharp edge of the gash protruding from the casing.  The gears inside the axle evidently gave way, snapped in pieces and sent a shard of metal straight through the steel wall.  We were devastated!  How were we going to go out and party that night?!  Nevertheless, by the time night fell we had located a new rear axle (differential) at a salvage yard, propped the truck up on cinder-blocks and wot-not and were out on the town!  Of course then we called it riding the strip.  Who or what could have stopped us?  OK enough reminiscing.

 I had never even been to Belzoni so I was relying on a map my friend Caleb had drawn out for me.   He and his girlfriend were already there and partying without me.  All I knew of this "Catfish Festival" was that there was supposed to be live bands, food, girls and beer!  So, here I was driving and driving and driving.  I 'd looked at the map several times.  How far is this place?  Is anybody even going to BE there?  It's out in the middle of nowhere!  Nearly 45 minutes passed and I was begininng to think I was either lost or victim of a cruel joke by my dear friends.  I could see it already... they're doubled over laughing at me and saying "Ha ha!  we told him it was a catfish festival and he bit into it!"  But suddenly to my relief I saw humanity again.   At the intersection of Hwy 49 and Hwy 12 traffic was getting pretty thick.  In fact, you couldn't park near the actual festival unless you got there around 10:00 A.M.  Man that place was happening!  Who would have thought?  It was warm and sunny out, there were live bands, crawfish, catfish, beer, girls and corndogs!  I was a teenager who had just earned (or was reluctantly handed) a driver's license and drove myself to my first festival!  What a day! 

Now, I'm going to be on the stage this Saturday as a performing artist.  Although I've played many venues and festivals I can't help but get excited.  Although I know the crowd may not be what it used to be, the spirit of the Catfish Festival is still there and still strong.  I hope to see you there and for many years to come!

How to Catch a Monkey

 My dad unwittingly taught me, at a very young age, how to catch a monkey. Although I never thought I would need to catch one, useless information is information.  If I recall correctly, he and his buddies who were serving with him in Viet  Nam did this once or twice.  Either that or he’d seen a few Vietnamese perform the act.  Anyway here’s how you do it:  1) Take a coconut and cut a hole just big enough for an orange to fit in.  2) Secure the coconut to the ground with a chain or rope attached to a spike 3) place an orange into the hole.  4) There is no four.  You’re done.

The orange should barely fit through the hole but too large for a monkey’s hand and the bait to exit.  The monkey reaches in, grabs the fruit, and you got him!  That’s it.  It won’t let go of the fruit.  It just ain’t gonna happen!  You just walk up and get your monkey.  Isn’t that frickin’ hilarious!?  I’ve always thought that was soooo funny!   Stupid monkeys!  Ha ha!

Well, a few days ago I was over at a friend’s house washing my hands when suddenly the water wasn’t draining fast enough or at least not to my own pitiful standards.  I’ve done this so many times that I don’t even use a plunger anymore, I have a technique that I use by forming both my hands into a sort of suction cup and voila’!  On my third attempt I just about had it draining full speed when I remembered the story of the monkey trap.  I looked up into the mirror and I didn’t see me.  I saw a helpless little monkey with his hand stuck inside a coconut, refusing to let it go.   It’s not just slow sinks.  It’s toilets too!  Yeah.  I once swiftly repaired a toilet in a restaurant bathroom, washed my hands thoroughly (twice), then returned to eat my dinner!  I USED A PLUNGER BY THE WAY!!  I'm obsessed, not gross!  I just like for things to work so to speak.  Don’t judge me, I may fix your toilet one day or unclog your sink.  I’ll admit I’m a little obsessive but it's not something I can’t cope with.  It's not something I even enjoy.  It's just something I gotta do!  I just tend to get hung up in certain situations or get stuck in a loop so to speak.  We all have little obsessions don’t we all?  Sinks and toilets anybody?  Anybody?  Maybe that’s just me.  I feel sorry for those who are REALLY diagnosed with OCD though.  Some people have it really bad.  Counting stair steps or squares in the concrete, washing their hands every ten minutes etc.  Thankfully I’m not one of those…. yet…  I do have my own little monkey traps.  I just though I would share one of mine with you.  We all have them.  What's yours?