Well folks, it’s starting to look like the era of full-blown robots and clones is just around the corner! Sometime in the near future we are all going to have to grapple with their effects on our lives. How soon? Perhaps within the next five to ten years.

Within the past two weeks I have read that two horses were successfully cloned from a champion thoroughbred racehorse. At the press conference the participants mentioned that they expect to do thirty more over the next year. Why is this important? Horses are mammals, last time I checked…and so are we. Are we fully prepared for the impact of clones in mass numbers on our daily lives?

So what about the robots? We’ve all seen the demonstration of Japanese robots…I know, they look a little strange and mechanical, but trust me, things are moving fast. I always believed that the robotic brain or program would enter our lives first, to be followed by the hardware or body. Sprouting up all over the Internet are sites where you can communicate with or create your own ChatBot. Some of the software is free, where you get a choice to implement the subject matter and interests that you want the Bot to have. I have checked out some of the sites…it is truly fascinating. You ask the Bot a question, and it answers, and as each question is accumulated, the Bot begins to develop a greater understanding of who you are, what you like, and what information you need. Eerie, but interesting. A computer in every home? How about a robot in every living room? These robots will quite easily be able to be personalized to each person’s or family’s satisfaction. You want a robot interested in sports? Presto! You got it. How about a political robot?…Tell me this, how long will it be before “Meet The Press” is hosted by “Tim Chatbot!!” I’ve read articles where people are concerned that Artificial Intelligence can increase at thousands of times the speed of the human brain.

So what’s it going to be? Do you want a clone? Or a robot for your birthday?….think hard. One or the other is coming to a store or manufacturing facility near you. So check it out….stay informed. If you have a few minutes, read up on the latest clone research, and enter Chatbot in your search engine to see what’s coming. People are going to be talking about the ethics of these issues as they evolve, for years.

Be informed,
love, Jennifer Avalon

© 2006 Jennifer Avalon

We go to work, we come home. We go to work, we come home. We go to work. We come home. Same thing, week after week, over and over again. At some point, we all must force ourselves to take a “time-out” from the cycle, otherwise before you know it, Life’s over!! I don’t care if it’s a walk around the block, a conversation with the flowers in the back garden, a card game with friends, or, if you must, a scream from a mountaintop, all of us must accept the fact that if we don’t control what we do with our time, Time will control us.

Let’s get real….with television’s 24 hour news cycle, how much is enough? Hey guys….I know the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but how many times do you expect me to hear it before I just “zone it out?” I find myself these days more and more tuning into shows on the Discovery, or Travel Channel. There are many things I probably will never be able to do in my life, but at least for fifteen minutes, I may be able to get a glimpse of them. Each evening I try, whenever I can, to take a fifteen minute “vacation” to see, hear, or experience something I have not done before. I find this exercise a great refreshing excursion outside the norm….so that when I “return,” I am filled with a feeling of newness.

All it takes is fifteen minutes….around the block, or around the world through television, or the internet…it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are transported to someplace you’ve never been before. If we humans are a collection of our experiences, the more, the merrier.

Bon Voyage!!!

love, Jennifer Avalon

© 2006 Jennifer Avalon

My life has been touched by some strange events over the past couple of months…yet I believe they are all connected. I know somewhere within the center of these events is an underlying message. Let me share some of them with you:

I got a chance to rent the movie “Two for The Money,” this past week….an interesting film starring Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey. The premise of the movie is that Matthew’s character has a knack for picking winning football teams on Sunday. His percentages are so good that it reaches the ears of a large bookmaker in New York, played by Al Pacino, who offers Matthew’s character a job with a large salary. What is revealed during the movie is what great lengths people will go to in order to bet money to win on games. It is shown that betting on sports is an over 200 billion dollar business a year. What we eventually see is how important money is to the general population. Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Monte Carlo, etc….the planes fly in daily for the chance to touch the golden nugget, despite the odds against them.

I also visited an Assisted Living facility, where an aged friend of mine who recently lost his wife, lives. As I entered the lobby and passed along the corridor, lining the walls were painting after painting done by some of the residents. I kid you not, the talent and the dedication were obvious. Underneath each painting was a price which someone could pay to purchase the artwork. Unfortunately, not many of the paintings appeared to be sold. One doesn’t have to stretch too far to come to the conclusion that there are more who are willing to spin the wheel for a dance with Lady Luck than to appreciate a one of a kind expression of the heart.

The streets of Hollywood are lined with actors, screenplay writers, and wanna-be directors, just hoping for the chance for their dreams to light up the Silver Screen. In Nashville, Tennessee, each day a bus lets someone off with a guitar in their hands, searching for the elusive Recording Contract. Does the “Starving Artist” always have to starve? or is there, or could there, be a way to put a little food on their table?

Writers, musicians, photographers, painters, filmmakers…..a system must be created to address and appreciate each one of their talents. I know…the cream rises to the top….there are grants for the asking….but seriously, if a system can be created to engulf sports betting and gambling, is it too far-fetched that some of that money could be directed to the Arts?

I’m sure you have your thoughts….here’s one of mine: I recently paid a visit to a local music store…what astounded me is the amount of musicians and singers who purchase equipment weekly from the store. I asked myself, what are they doing with all that equipment? So I mentioned to the manager, “I know this may sound crazy, but wouldn’t it be great if you put together a small selection of CD’s from local musicians who purchase equipment from your store? Can you imagine the buzz that it would send through the music community in your neighborhood?” The manager looked at me baffled but said, “You know, it’s not such a crazy thought…let me think about it.” If a store sells items, it’s not a bad thing to display the fruit that springs forth from those items.

Money is Power….and it does send a message. How we use it contributes not only to our environment, but also to our lives.

Place your bets,

Jennifer Avalon
© 2006 Jennifer Avalon

In our hands daily is a transistor radio that is attached to our minds. We move the dial back and forth to find the desired station to permeate through the speakers. From one end to the other we choose what information is eventually transmitted into our minds. The choices that we make can be influenced by our opinions, Faith, hobbies, drama, and humor. We have our finger on that dial and we move it constantly to search for what we want to listen to.

Though we have the radio in our hands, responsibility of how we use it comes with the turf. While we want freedom to choose whatever we want, those choices can greatly influence our lives. Across the radio dial are multiple stations that transmit 24 hours a day….and those stations are there to develop a following of like-minded people. We all have our favorite television shows, and radio shows, and those favorites do reflect who we are. No one knows this better than the advertising community…..the commercials on the stations cater to a certain demographic that they believe will purchase and embrace their product.

As we get older, we become more selective of our stations….and eventually we settle on one, two, or three personal favorites. In many cases, we settle into these choices and waver little. The young, on the other hand (kids and teenagers) are more open to suggestion, and in quite a few cases have been known to spin the dial like a wheel, just for the fun of it. The young are quite susceptible to influence…more so than the older demographics. As long as we hold the radio, what plays through the speakers is up to us. If we don’t like a station, we turn it off…if we enjoy it, we can play it 24 hours a day. With that in mind, any complaints must rest at our doorstep. Influence is everywhere….what is influential to us personally is up to us.

The Beatles influenced multiple generations…still, once in a while it is quite easy to run into someone who will tell you point blank that they never liked them, and never enjoyed their music. While many listened to all the Beatle records, some just changed the channel. Music programmers have said on numerous occasions that even a bad song, if it’s played enough, people will start to like it……hmmmmm……I wonder what that means.

So check out that radio…pick a station or two…the hills are alive with the sound of more than music.

Touch the dial,

Jennifer Avalon
© 2006 Jennifer Avalon

We tend to spend much time during the week examining why we make the choices we do, and where they lead us. There has to be a reason for why things go right, and why they go wrong. Choices, decisions, contemplations and dilemmas circle around us daily, until we all reach a point when we say we are either “Here, or There.”

What do I mean? Well here it goes: We either believe that there is a God, or we don’t….plain and simple. Yet, in many cases, that simple decision sends us off in a direction that will determine almost all the events that will engulf our lives. If we believe in God, then every single decision that we make must not only bring us in alignment with that belief, but also closer to God. If God exists, and is responsible for all that we see here and feel, then that belief must flow through every cell in our bodies. The alignment with that Divinity will solve most, if not all, of our problems. I am not talking about showing up for Church, or House of Worship, for lip-service on Sunday, I am talking about actually allowing the influence and alignment with God to be with you all week. True Believers know this.

If we don’t believe in God, then whether we know it or not, we develop our own alternative belief system. If we eliminate the presence of God, we then have to seek out and acknowledge that something else or someone else is in play. While believing that God does not exist, we are left more or less with one entity running the show…..Man. Mankind calls the shots.

Suppose you invite the truly religious leaders of the world to a party, and one by one you ask, “What does God mean to you?” Over and over again you would probably hear statements like, “God is my source for peace of mind,” “God wants us to progress as a human family,” and, “God is the Light and our Salvation.” Is the purpose for man to contemplate that there is something greater than himself? Or is man’s purpose to reach the answer that he or she is the center of their own universe?

For those who believe in God, it can sometimes be quite a hard road to hoe. Doubts, indecision, being criticized, being judged on your Faith. In the belief of God, and of its defense, this all comes with the turf. While at the same time, this belief can also bring peace of mind, tranquility, acceptance of Life after death, a reason and plan for one’s existence. For those who do not believe in God, they too have their road to hoe. The mysteries of life haunt all of us….how we solve them individually is up to us. For me, nature holds one of the most profound keys…..as long as the sun rises in the morning, and sets in the evening, someone has created a miracle.

Thanks be to God,
Jennifer Avalon

© 2006 Jennifer Avalon