Social Media Meets its Match—Hackers with Pretend Money Worming Their Way into People’s Hearts

With great sadness I preface this blog with news that Her Majesty the Queen, 96, has died at Balmoral Castle on the Royal Estate, Aberdeenshire. We send sincere condolences and support/love to the Royal Family.

Not certain if as a Brit ex-pat, currently living mid-Pacific, I should announce her death as a post- or ante-script to IWSG & First Wednesday, but a series of unprecedented events this week led me to miss this month’s deadline by 2 days {GMT-1 day PDT}.

My Angelic choir clearly approved/sent spiritual help support my request 2recover from mental & physical violation. Not only did Source aka the Universe send power outage-cum-rainstorm couple hours Weds. evening, but my computah wouldn’t load the blog. Death announcement arrives as the date/midnight changes to zero-day+1 Hence delay, date confusion—didn’t backdate to correct-so here goes Writing Addicts Pic rt. © NewYorker Monarch sits on 11thC Stone of Destiny.

SOCIAL MEDIA MEETS ITS MATCH—HACKERS WITH PRETEND MONEY WORMING THEIR WAY INTO PEOPLE’S HEARTS

FIRST WEDNESDAY BLOG—TIME FOR CREATIVE WRITERS, ARTISTS, MUSICIANS—INSECURE OR OTHERWISE—TO RISE OUT OF OUR DUSTY WRITING CAVERN INTO THE LIGHT OF DAY TO CHRONICLE/COMMENT ON HUMANITY’S SEPTEMBER FOLLIES—BEFORE THE FALL

Hack-Attack: new fearsome enemy on the home front that nobody thought would last

Human memory bank-especially in a child’s 1st, happy, protected, familiar territory with beloved toys, dollies, baby names-rulez!

"I'm gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own / A doll that other fellas cannot steal / And then those flirty flirty guys / With their flirty flirty eyes / Will have to flirt with dollies that are real" John Mayer

As the Old World [double-entendre] gets demolished around us to make way for the New—below left Cahuenga cut-off where SoCA’s Hollywood “superhighway” (no longer exists) used to link northern end of San Fernando Valley Hwy with downtown Los Angeles Civic Center. Demolished too are downtown Alhambra district Japan and Chinatown, with loss of beloved restaurants like The Far East Café. Korean food trucks replace.

As fuel prices soar, superhighways aren’t getting the traffic. Windfarms and environmentalists rulez.

A ‘stay-at-home work-from-home’ preference shown by majority of employees during our enforced two-year isolation period—using video meetings instead—has begun to rub off on businesses around the globe, with outdoor walks, recreational gardening and a work-at-home-ethic becoming the norm. Remarkably, Saudi desert’s THE LINE, recreational ‘outdoor living’—a feature of old hippie times—is likely to catch on with the new wave—nouvelle vague—of iGen/Generation-Z of youngsters finding joy, pleasure and fulfillment in simple pursuits.

This shorthand version of ‘happiness’ is the wavelength accomplished hackers beam in on. But it’s the oldies—but goodies with a kindly trusting heart—who get spammed.

Decline… and Fall—Call Center Consciousness

There are many spaces between Earth and Heaven and in between are The Doors

misquote Wm.B.Yeats by Jim Morrison & The Doors

In the ‘Fifties when Baby Boomers were ‘in’, English-speaking nations commissioned call centers in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Pakistan using [cough] “English-speaking” local labour at a fraction of cost of a similar outfit at home in the West. They died pre-internet revolution, with onset of mobile phones, but seem to have raised their head again in this latest phone-related scandal.

In the ‘Sixties and ‘Seventies, nobody gave a thought to such strange remote telephone exchanges. An antiquated (but cheap) method of communication did survive the noughties’ boom. But now, surprise surprise, not only is the hacking empire privy to your personal information, but it has resuscitated the old call-center theme—this time in Nigeria, South Africa and Midlands England.

To a veteran ex-pat Brit with octogenarian comfort zone, a Manchester accent even in text—dahling—is a whole lot less intimidating than a voice on the line in broken accent telling you to hang up already.

The little lady from Manchester—so short of breath you can hear her gasping between texts—but so inner circle—in the know about it all—she has time and patience to chat (text)with an oldie—usually a safe bet as we Booomers & beyond less likely to baulk at bottom line when the money chat comes up.

iGens & Millennials are decidedly wary creatures; have little time for subjects that need a long-winded explanation. Often the shortest answer—no—can take Boomers and vintage grannies a very long time to unearth from their verbal repertoire. So they/we say yes instead and then wonder why our friendly social media accounts no longer belong to us.

Cleverly, the technique works in the hackers’ favour: soc.med. sites like Pinterest and Facebook aren’t equipped to handle breakdown. Restoring isn’t an option, either—your site no longer belongs to you. One has to start all over at the beginning; ask to join Insta, send a new photo—the newbie approach.

Meantime—every day since—my poor iPhone jumps and splutters, beeps and cajoles me from mine- no-longer Insta account telling me fifty-two messages from the hacker to all of my followers. Some of my followers still think it’s me. And until I have the strength to initiate a new account, I’m unable to correct that. Thankfully some (young, bright minds) figured it out & challenged the chat-monkey.

Monsieur Musk Plunges into Twitterdom

Most brilliant of all events, however, unfolding in this cyber-saga of crazies, and because I managed to (sortof) get my Twitter page up and running again, albeit with no files or explanation to friends: I asked Elon Musk to look into security risk and hacking potential of his new acquisition.

True to his image as Humanity’s Saviour, not only did the dear billionaire listen, actually read my text, give it some thought, respond! and follow up but my stats on that day hit the ceiling. Bless you M.Musk

Warning to oldies who get targeted: at first it feels friendly, ‘why not help her? I’m old, what harm can it do?’ Loads. Don’t mean losing friends. I mean losing one’s mind. Constant texting-even when I didn’t reply- sent me to cloud cuckoo-land. More below.

I believe in Musk. I believe he will actually make the change which wraps all this garbage up into a spaceball and flings it into orbit to join all the other spacejunk circling ever circling out there till it falls…

In 40% of hacking cases, the target is older, newcomer-friendly, artistic, feels socially responsible to help humanity and therefore, almost invariably will respond to the long-reaching arm of a complete stranger asking intimate personal questions with a view to “helping out”.

Generation Gap Plus Factor—More Oldie+Goodie Vibe

The older the target, the greater likelihood of receiving off-the-wall personal questions amicably. This sole fact of difference in age producing a different response on a thorny subject has been a miracle catalyst in the whole “false-coin” issue. Hackers already know who the best targets are: they’ve usually well beyond middle years. They’ve had their life. It’s okay to help another out, especially if they’re only just past the starting gate.

One pill makes you larger / And one pill makes you small / And the ones that Mother gave you / Don’t do anything at all
Go ask Alice when she’s ten feet tall

And if you go chasing [White] Rabbits / And you know you’re gpin’ to fall ——— Tell them a hookah-smokin’ caterpillar / Has given you the call

When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead / And the White Knight is talking backwards / And the Red Queen’s lost her head / Remember what the dormouse said:

Feed your head / Feed your head

courtesy Gracie Slick 1967 & Jefferson Airplane/Starship White Rabbit

‘Advice from a Caterpillar’ from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll illustration by Arthur Rackham d. Sept. 6th 1867-1939 (71) via his dau. Mrs B. Edwards

‘Sixties: Biggest, Most, Best, Weirdest—all the Superlatives

Sample text (below right) received by new Insta ‘followers’, with emphasis on revealing your own pet project, so that #superfriendly lady hacker from Birmingham or Wolverhampton can encourage a ‘sale’

If you were assured a sum of 50 thousand [take your pick, Euro, Yen, Roubles], how would you spend the money?

• New car
• New house
• Cruise liner vacation abroad
• Help relatives
• None of the above

I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve immortality by not dying

Woody Allen

Music holds the space as underlying influence in all 20thC generations. The earlier the group, the more likely are they to be controlled by addiction of choice. Twenties and Thirties: booze, including illegal venues. Forties: war-restricted, but booze and cigarettes. Fifties & early ‘Sixties: heroin, cocaine, opium. Late ‘Sixties: everything including hard drugs, heroin, cocaine, synthetic and natural coca, ayahuasca, methamphetamine, opiate morphine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) & recreational ganja.

Closing the StarGate: Full Harvest Moon ends Twin Flame Month

So what do the ‘Sixties and 21stC 2022 Full Harvest Moon post-8/8-Lionsgate Twin-Flame month have in common?

For several generations of moviegoers/big screen watchers, film production invariably features as a growing-up medium. Less so is the attitude of Millennials, 16-year old Gen-Zs and 20-year old iGens to anything that smacks of Media, television news, man-made hype. They are, as a rule, only interested in one person aka self.

This generational trait surfaces in art, film, media presence, social interaction, text and creative identity.

Google the first of the bigtime internet-friendly outfits has warned Google Chrome users of the security risk posed by “friendly” hackers.

Twitter, as we’ve seen above, is responding to the threat with appropriate action.

Writing All the Way to the End

For us (Insecure) Creative types, writing fills the gap between empty memory Muse-infused hippie cabin in Redwood country and 21st Century internet wobble from a system of bots who will control our cyber-future.

Stargates are familiar. We’ve all been here before. As all the best ‘Fifties & ‘Sixties beat generation know, Reggae and Boyband Dance Moves are just playful repeats of an age-old message. This one’s REALLY the last time round, this time. Maya gate-keepers confirm.

p.s. Rainstorms over Pacific and gates of Balmoral; yet HM managed to hold an audience with new Tory PM Liz Truss to form a goverment, before she died Weds/early Thurs—like her daddy Geo.VI— in her sleep. Royal Family members William, Charlotte & George had flown north from Norfolk to Ballater and Balmoral on Monday, to be by her side as she rested on advice of doctors. She asked Tory appointee Liz Truss in her official capacity as Monarch to form a government Tuesday. Died peacefully in early hours of Wednesday a.m.

Ticking all the boxes, Your Majesty. Stay cool, Ma’am. We love you.

Like Her Majesty, tapping her riding crop with an impatient dig at the Almighty B4 the Pearly Gates: Open the Door brother: Immortality here we come.

Or words to that effect. Writers write. Bloggers blog. Gardeners plant gardens and the rest is in the hands of Fate. Go ask Alice. She knowz. ©2022 Marian C. Youngblood

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New ‘Roaring Twenties’ Generations Breathe Life into Past from a Futurist Perspective

NEW ‘ROARING TWENTIES’ GENERATIONS Breathe Life into Past from a Futurist Perspective—Create Multi-linguistic Multiculture

FIRST (WRITING) WEDNESDAY OF NEW YEAR NEW DECADE-EMERGENCE FROM (INSECURE) SCRIBE CAVE OPTIONAL

New Multi-linguistix Multiculture Shares Subconscious Synchronicities with Fans

Throughout our human past, future generations were traditionally the ones we ‘prepared the way for’, ‘made allowances for, (Boomers) ‘scrimped and saved for’ (pre-WWII) ‘did without so they could have… Several decades down the line, WWII is a distant memory for Oldies; an historical event for Millennials, iGens, GenZs. Yet, there’s full complement of #NewTweenties totally unaware of its political influence in Vintage-gen lives.

Internationally, from a social-media-altered perspective—fueled by two years’ isolation, health concerns and personal angst—the internet has developed/become a huge market for media, news, entertainment and (crucially) under-age teens’ ‘stuff’—ENHYPEN’s seven-crew member dance moves troupe, above, an ‘influencer’ group that skyrocketed to stardom over last twenty months.

Be Prepared

Be prepared!

One of many new groups surfacing through a (suppressed) creative interlude during world isolation, Korean-born Enhypen speak Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. Their age range is from 16-20.

If you’re a Baby Boomer, you’ll recall the Beatles started playing in Liverpool as teenagers. (Sir) Ringo Starr is Richard Starkey, and Macca is short for Paul McCartney—technically pre-Boom (b.1940) oldies. Both still perform.

If you’re a Baby Boomer, you’ll recall the Beatles started in a local Liverpool skiffle group as teenagers, 1963. Boomer British nicknames were all the rage then: Sir Ringo Starr (rt.) is Richard Starkey; performing with Macca (l.) Paul McCartney in 2019

Tweenties Stage a Visual Revolution in 2022

With medical resources and technology being shared globally in the current situation, culture and language barriers seem to melt: Native American knowledge revealed, Asian multilanguage interchange commonplace. Differences in generations, too, have a chance to cross (former) boundaries.

In this peripatetic iPhone world, communication by visuals rather than text becomes the norm—sacred realm of Social Media kings/queens familiar to iGens, Tweens and some six-year olds.

While Boomers (and even pre-Boomer Vintage pros) may deign to tweet occasionally (biz, professional, sports, less personal, more oldie), hardcore iGens have Twitter accounts. They also dabble in TikTok, Pinterest, Instagram and possibly also have a YouTube account to show their wares, e.g. artwork, meme graphics, cartoon and classic video art, movies, travel selfies and, most recently, drone footage from the world’s classic locations, never-before seen elevations of ancient strongholds from an angel’s view.

“When the Condor of the South flies together with the Eagle of the North, the spirit of Mother Earth—Pacha Mama—will awaken.
Then She will wake millions of her children.
This will be the Resurrection of the Dead.”
Quechua Inca Prophecy

Baby Condor reintroduction Klamath, CA

Prehistoric Landscape Remembered in Folklore Tradition

Newbie selfies are an attempt by tweens to join a venerable bunch of (#Vintage) bloggers like me—tapping out keys since 2009—described in psychiatric terms as ‘essential journaling accessories’ in maintaining mental health, by Columbia University neuropsychologist Sanam Hafeez. Also adequate sleep and ‘happy-feel’ activities, particularly outdoors, promote serotonin which produces calm within.

Focus has turned on Mother Nature. Renewed commitment is high priority in Cairngorms to ‘save the Earth’, rewilding and restoring former natural pine, hazel and birch forest lost over centuries of careless husbandry. Scotland in particular has lost 90% of its former ‘wild’ Caledonian Forest—plus rainforest— c.f. Pacific redwood old growth stands sprouting 1000-year-old pine needles; rowans as old as Perth’s Fortingall yew; casualty of the Clearances: guilt added to landowner anxiety=restore, replant, rewild.

Some ancestral memory still exists from that distant time when Scotland’s Highlands, Islands and (even) Lowlands were covered in thick ancient pines (Pinus sylvatica) supporting rich arboreal/fungal understorey. Even before the Herschip o’ Buchan, 1308 burn by Bruce, when people remembered trees burning for 30 years, some isolated villages remain where ancient tree spirits are celebrated and given gifts, respect—offerings in pagan tradition.

Glen Lyon, the longest completely enclosed mountain loch in Perthshire, source of the River Tay, is held sacred by local (prefer anonymity) guardians of the Cailleach(Old Woman) and Bodach(Old Man) stone altars, especially through winter until released to grow wild again on February 2nd, ancient Candlemas.

The Old Woman—Cailleach—original creator deity of Caledonia—Roman North Britain—was celebrated in the Western and Northern Isles (now treeless and devoid of any growing medium but sheep, grouse and heather moor) as an entity disguised as a raincloud (prehistoric rainforest—are rewilders ready for extra rainfall that goes with it?) who flew in anger, dropping lightning bolts into forest canopy, starting forest fires. Shades of Pacific NW forest fires where trees burn for square miles in summer, impervious to H20.

Difficult to imagine the Old Woman gathering her skirts to set the Cairngorms alight—only heather. But time will tell.

Rewilding aka Allowing Nature to Do What She Does Best: Growth

Despite political shenanigans surrounding land ownership, traditional (post Highland Clearances) moor management (burning heather, shooting grouse), some landowners allow access to this treeless land in an attempt to encourage interest in new tree-grow projects. Scotland’s Right-to-Roam Act complicates matters in giving an impression that hiking is legal everywhere—more signs get erected in an attempt to clarify who is allowed where.

Meanwhile back in Rainforest Alley aka Underground Word & Verbage Cavern camouflaged as Writing Cave Subterranean Style, we (insecure) writers have a Plan. Plant More Trees; write more stories; keep the Door (to the Future) Open. You never know who may walk right in.

Angels, Dragons, Fire & Rain, ancient ways to pick up our (writing)skirts and fly. Happy New Year 2022. ©2022 Marian Youngblood

Where Were You…? Mystical Journey Generations Will Look Back Upon

WHERE WERE YOU IN LOCKDOWN…? OUR MYSTICAL JOURNEY—GENERATIONS WILL LOOK BACK & REMEMBER Monthly Writerly Corner for Introverts Coping in Extremes of Isolation and Self-Exploration

Members of Corvidae family overseeing this human crisis—they’re taking the long-sighted view

Entering Lockdown versus Leaving—What Have I Become?

We all have our doubts, failings, even fears—for family and others—yet we have an inate ability to control that fear, and help ourselves stand up to what makes us feel less than we are. In moments of solitude we are able to breathe in a healing calm. In times of stress we can call on that calm to help us accept and flow with change.

Because Change there Will Be
Is this the Doorway to the New Earth? they ask.
Boomers remember where they were on the night John F. Kennedy got shot 11/22/63. Hippies’ Counterculture memory-mark is Woodstock, NY, August 1969 (or Altamont, CA, December 1969, depending on your coastal affiliation). Brits of all ages remember where they were the night Diana died 08/31/97. Millennials like to think they survived Apocalypse already—when the Calendar of the Maya ended on 12/12/2012. Even iGens—they are a fatalistic lot—believe they are the Chosen Ones to lead us through what comes next.

All of them are trying to persuade their still-living great-grandparents not to remember World Wars I, II and/or III. They forget that those of the ‘twenties generation—last century’s version, not the 2020s—are the ones who know what community is all about. And 2020 lockdown has strengthened bonds in small western bloc communities which haven’t experienced such close camaraderie since 1945.

Mother Earth has responded to human isolation from her wild places, by taking over human spaces and making them more wild.

Reason We Have to Be Here Now on this Mystical Journey
Bestselling author and speaker on human consciousness and transformation, Caroline Myss says we have help—guides from our ancestral archetypes, who hold our hand through traumatic change.

Getting through transformation—with help, courtesy Sistine ceiling by Michelangelo, 1475-1564

This experience we are sharing has all the elements of that larger context of mystical transformation. 1. the nature of a shared journey is we never get to decide when it will start, how it will start, or what will be asked of us. We don’t get to make that decision—it simply ignites. 2. we never get to choose the components—they just arise out of the setting of our lives. 3. transformation accompanies some kind of trauma. There is something that has to be changed
—Caroline Myss, psychic intermediary

Through transformation, we are as beautiful as we allow ourselves to be—Venus emerges from ocean shell ©Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Botticelli 1477

What is it in you that needs transformation? Personal Transformation, Ms. Myss suggests, is the Sacred Topic we should all be talking about.

We have now to go into deep reflection and ask:
What is it within myself that I need to transform?
What is the person I need to be as I move forward for the rest of my life?
Instead of wanting to be first, can I embrace being second?
Instead of being impatient, can I be a better listener?
Is there a part of me that, instead of being a hoarder, could I be more generous?
Caroline asks: ‘What is it in you that needs transformation? Because there’s something in all of us that needs transformation. Otherwise we wouldn’t need to be here now.’

Venus, Goddess of Beauty, and Transformation Go Hand-in-Hand
In the classical tale, based on Ovid’s mythological masterpiece Metamorphoses, A.D.8, which recounted Roman history from year dot—aka birth of the Universe—until Julius Caesar’s death, 44B.C., Venus/Aphrodite sprang naked from the ocean, symbolic of change—metamorphosis—perennially beautiful and supported by the winds. She represents spring, new life, fertility and growth—her meadow is sprinkled with violets, a symbol of modesty but often used in medieval love potions. Her purity and chastity are seen as her maintaining a centre of calm through tempestuous times.

Ovid’s masterpiece on transformation inspired Florentine artists Botticelli & Michelangelo, into changing 16thC Roman metaphysical thought

In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas / corpora: “I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities‘
Publius Ovidius Naso [Ovid], Metamorphoses

Many aspects of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus are in motion—leaves of orange trees in background, ringlets of her hair blown by the Zephyrs, roses and violets floating around her, waves gently breaking, with cloaks and drapery of her supporters blown and lifted by the breeze.

The winds blowing Venus towards the shore are Zephyr and Aura—and the handmaid who receives her is one of the Three Graces, or Hours. Knowing the Ancients’ love of calendar synchronicity, it is tempting to think that tomorrow’s Full Flower Scorpio SuperMoon signaling crop planting and waxing growth, was predicted to occur during Beltane week, when Venus stands 90º at maximum brightness—with added perk—Aquarid meteor showers.

Transformation, Transfiguration and Winds of Change
Both Botticelli and Michelangelo were indebted to Ovid—as were Shakespeare and many authors-artists of the period, for speaking out about human transformation.

Remarkably, Ovid’s pre-Christian vision took its characters through psychic and corporeal change which Botticelli and Michelangelo translated into images commissioned by powerful [Christian] Medici overlords, giving glory to the Roman—and Orthodox—Church, rather than the Titans of Greek mythology.

In our new world of change, we are all beginners. But we’re free to make our own choice: pagan, Christian, Born Again, multi-platform, Judaeo-Muslim, Klingon or Supermortal. Enlightenment was never easy. But we do have help with our mental anguish and through physical stress. In our writing family on social media, we (Insecure) writers have only to reach out virtually, and answers and support are there for us.

Amid worldwide trauma, let’s not forget scenes of buffalo roaming the streets of Buffalo, NY; of storks nesting in Sussex for first time in 200 years; of flamingos dancing in Central Park, goats frolicking in Cardiff. The Ancestors: our Archetype Angels are psychically holding our hands, willing us to survive and succeed.They know we have a future and we will have learned—a little—about how to CHANGE and care more deeply for our planetary home.
©2020 Marian Youngblood

Avengers-Endgame—Super-Life Fantasy or Life Support?

AVENGERS:ENDGAME—SuperLife Fantasy for Beyond-SciFi Fans
Monthly Distraction Corner for IWGers and Wannabe Insecure Scribes

Avengers—Endgame images to die for, so many reasons to stay alive, but do they?

Having succumbed to temptation—aided and abetted by iGen granddaughters—to attend the première of Captain Marvel last month, and believing the hype created by the Marvel Cinematic Universe for mass consumption, I was drawn last weekend into one of the first million seats to view what I thought might be a prequel.

Avengers-Endgame is no prequel. Not even a sequel. It has its own time.

ENDGAME Surpasses Box-Office $357Million Predictions its First Weekend

Having allowed myself the adrenalin rush of multiple technicolor slo-mo explosions as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel found her niche on Earth, I was prepared to suspend disbelief and await developments—secretly hoping to see my fave characters reappear in EndGame.

The film is a fairly transparent heist caper, along the lines of Ocean’s Eleven—both the Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin (1960) and the luscious George Clooney (2007) versions—where the gang splits into sub-teams to steal the life-snuffing Infinity Stones from Thanos in a time-warp effort to undo his genocidal finger-snap. Ocean’s Eleven tactics induce familiarity, just so our comfort zone can be ripped apart.

Her powerful appearance in Avengers—Endgame is too brief—Brie Larson as Capt.Marvel

That’s all folks! Marvel Studios have done such a great job of keeping the central plot device concealed, I dare not reveal more. What I will say is that, while the mission takes the characters into new territory for them, it is territory which has been explored by countless non-Marvel film and television productions before. War Machine and Ant-Man even list the films their latest adventure reminds them of—a shrewd way of making you an ally, but a hint that you’ll have seen a few twists and jokes before*.

*Teaser—Sometimes it’s a John Wayne-ism; maybe a hint of Band of Brothers; no, that was Donald Sutherland’s Kelly’s Heroes (1970); several James Bond renditions; even some old Burt Lancaster coastline in Aberdeenshire—where the Cove Bay ‘Scottish Unit’ is on location.

Beleaguered Baby Boomers Get the Plot

Much emphasis has been placed lately on how the ‘younger’ generation leads world thinking in conservation, fashion ideals and the future. Current ‘oldies’, having led culture away from wars and into the Peace movement, are now having a hard time amid a youth invasion of media-supported teenagers who have (mostly) only seen war on the silver screen.

Refreshingly, in mid-Brexit-Angst Britain, on the other hand, slightly-oldie but cuddly politician Boris Johnson—former Lord Mayor of London and potential Prime Minister, has grabbed the baton and bravely stated—

Familiar? Iconic egg hatching on original Ridley Scott Alien (1979) set resonates with EndGame Infinity Stones hatching in nonTime (2019)

“With all due #humility to my #juniors, I intend to be #alive for a very long time”
~Boris Johnson, Conservative MP for Ruislip, Middlesex

Thus, familiar Boomers appearing in the Endgame cast, below, seemed to me like avenging angels.

While losing myself in the imagery and effects of Avengers-Endgame, I became immersed in a separate world—one of my own [Boomer, age-related] making. Because I hear around one-third of normal human soundtrack—including plot, storyline, nuances of dialogue—I enter an even-more-rarified time capsule. This I clearly admit is the world of the ‘Sixties Generation looking for recognizable pillars, posts, roadsigns along a rocky new road of the iGens in the 2020s.

Hints of Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory, 2001:Space Odyssey and Little House on the Prairie floated in and out. Alien and Star Trek sets beckoned

But imagery—especially imagery that moves—is always a hit. Add to that psychedelic multi-dimensional lighting and effects, and I was hooked.

Fantasy has traditionally been a realm to retreat to when ‘real-time’ gets scary. Here, we writers/IWSGers try to do the monthly round and help other bloggers, while simultaneously keeping up our own creative level. It can take its toll!

So, when Marvel Studios-Russo Brothers beckoned a second time, I downed tools and followed.

I didn’t feel guilty reclining in the plush cinema seat captured by full surround-sound at high decibels—still could not make out dialogue unless lips were mobile—but transfixed by the animation, I holed up and waited for the Oldies-but-goodies to show.

And they did.
Clever Cartoon Cameo Roles
Apart from Samuel L., who did show for a microsecond, I was expecting more and was disappointed…loved his Nick Fury CGI-youthened image plus cat friend Goose in Marvel

Captain America, Chris Evans doesn’t actually die but his life comes to an end

ditto Annette Bening—expectations dashed
Brie Larson—far too briefly—taste only—she has other Universes to conquer—blatant audience bait
Gwyneth Paltrow—superb
Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man, has become a great ‘older’ actor
Michael Douglas! huge surprise
William Hurt—adorable old man—who would’ve thunk it?
Michelle Pfeiffer—unbelievably stunning
Rocket Raccoon’s clever voice-over Bradley Cooper
Marisa Tomei—like this auntie
Tom Holland flashes in as Spider-Man, black animated spider in tow
Robert Redford—surprised me, but makeup artist not as kind to him as in Man With A Gun. He does a Man with a Gun reprise here! Cleverly cartoonish.

If you were expecting the rest of the cast—vaporized in Marvel, remember?

My inner child was lulled. Excitement, surprise, fave olde actors and actresses in cameo sparkles, flanked by rainbow colored explosive graphics—entering constantly changing imaginary realms. When Thor’s hammer got too threatening, I looked at flashing lights.

Such adrenalin-satisfying; choline-intensifying, calm-inducing dreams afterwards.

Happy May Day-Beltane
A MayDay shoutout to hard-working A-to-Z Challenge winners, NaNoWriMo Campers and @TheIWSG for keeping the flag flying. Besides, our Space Capt. Alex was probably among the first million East Coast moviegoers to catch last weekend’s show.

You know, I think they need Sigourney in there somewhere…
©2019 Marian Youngblood

Millennial or Generational Divide: all Baby-Boomers’ Fault

MILLENNIAL OR GENERATIONAL DIVIDE: ALL BABY-BOOMERS’ FAULT
Monthly IWSG Writerly Hideaway for All Generations

Ernst & Young report on Rise of Gen-Z shows 2001+ iGen overtaking Millennials worldwide

“Millennials are more focused on what’s in it for them. They look outside to others—companies and colleagues—for solutions; whereas the younger people naturally seek to create their own solutions.”
Marcie Merriman, Exec.Dir. Ernst & Young LLP

Children born in 2001 will turn 18 next year. In U.S. many will enter university, vote and, depending on their choice, may smoke and drink alcohol without breaking the law. These are the Gen Zers or iGens. They have never known a non-digital world and have grown up amid a world aware of terrorism and global recession.

They are grandchildren of the Flower Power peace people of the ‘sixties Boomer breakaway. They have seen mistakes made by parents and grandparents, and are determined to do things better.

Psychedelic Dragon by 12-year old GenZ artist

And they have the IT capability to make it happen.

Baby Boomer Baggage
Boomers, born after their parents returned from war in 1945, were radical—not rad like their great-grandkids, but countercultural enough to up-tentpoles and follow their rock idols (as groupies) anywhere; some experiencing Vietnam, took the advice of Berkeley guru-of-all-trades, Timothy Leary:—

“Turn on, tune in, drop out”
Timothy Leary, UC Berkeley, 1966
Mantra of the ‘Sixties psychedelic generation

Millennials, on the other hand, are accustomed to external motivators, according to a recent report by Ernst & Young. Time Magazine called them “The Me Me Me Generation” because they want it all. To Psychology Today they are known as confident, entitled and depressed.

Apex hippie flower power Boomer music curve, Altamont 1969:— “If U remember, U weren’t there”

Born between 1980 and 2000, incentives, trophies, and praise were used [by their parents, the Baby Boomers, themselves struggling to survive] to motivate Millennials as they were growing up. Many Millennials lack internal motivation to overcome career impatience.

iGens are DIY-motivated, independent; i.e. if you want it done right, do it yourself—75% of them believe there are alternative ways to get a good education than attending college, according to Sparks & Honey 2018 survey. Nielsen’s recent research survey finds:

“Each generation comes with a unique pattern of behavior, presenting challenges for those targeting them. Gen Z are bombarded by messages and, as a generation, can quickly detect its relevance to them.”

Demographic switch-over is welcome news for delivery services, gadget makers and the so-called gig economy.
But it means headaches for educators, event planners, luxury brands and travel companies. Golf and world cruising are relegated almost exclusively to Baby-Boomerdom. Golf is now a game where the average age of players is 50+. Tiger Woods, 42, would be pleased to know he is an anachronism.

Rôle-Hopping or Job-Hopping

Which generation burns the candle at both ends? CatGen, of course

Growing up fast in an on-demand culture, the Millennial generation [b.1980-2001] has little patience for stagnation, especially when it impacts their careers. They switch jobs. Or hold down multiple after-hours work themes.

Generation Z don’t want to miss any valuable experience. They flex their super-aware learning antennae by multi-tasking: marketing, accounting, human resources—always with IT—within an organization. Or work from home.

iGens say they’d rather have a reliable internet connection, than a functioning bathroom, according to Nielsen. They make do with what is—while continuing to communicate with a network of roughly 150 friends—see Dunbar Number—via Memes, wordplay, game slang and graphics.

Global Citizens or Spectators

IWSG Anthology contest continues thru Nov 4

Nielsen states 58 percent of adults worldwide aged 35+ agreed “kids today have more in common with their global peers than with adults in their own country.”

Millennials were the first global generation. They saw significant world events in their life times and share character traits and international values across borders.

Gen Z interacts with global peers with greater fluidity than any previous generation. As more people come online and geography continues to shrink, Gen Z see themselves as global citizens.

We Insecure writers are mostly head down tunnel-visioned introverts. Our Ninja Cap’n.Alex helps us draw inspiration from the future—his prequel CassaDawn is reviewed as rivaling Asimov’s Foundation. Asimov (1920-1992) was of the classic “Silent Generation”. Think Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin and the Ocean’s-11 Rat Pack—themselves prequel to 2018’s Ocean’s-8.

A great way for us—in-between Boomer groups—to cherish our ancestors!
©2018 Marian Youngblood

Our Saturn Return and The New Earth

Earth squeezed in a T-square between planetary giants in retrograde motion

The full moon in Aquarius just brightened last weekend, before plunging us and the planet back into the thick of our current conflict, heavily buttressed by a planetary T-square, the next most-challenging astrological lineup to hit us after June’s Grand Cross. It’s not that the Grand Cross has gone away: it’s just hovering, waiting to return on August 6th/7th. Saturn is dominating the astral path right now, being just about the only major planet in direct motion. And while that might not be seen as a positive aspect, its qualities as harsh taskmaster, cleanser, ruler of passion are being given a position of balance at the doorway (0º) to Libra. Right behind it, also moving direct, come Mars at 27º and Venus at 17º in Virgo. Meticulous attention to detail in love and control over unruly emotions are the best paths to tread. This is not an easy time for society (Saturn 0º Libra), the ‘real world’ of banking establishments, government departments experiencing major change. They are being directly opposed by all things expansive, generous, abundant — Jupiter at 3º Aries — and Uranus, planet of societal change at 0º Aries, encouraging us to stay alert, to think anew. Their drag is being felt most severely as both these giant planets are in retrograde motion. We are abandoning the old draconian systems, throwing out defunct legislation and top-heavy bureaucracy that no longer works. Changing channels.

Late July until August 9th: revolutionary changes in lifestyle, personal relationships, community, globally

Clustering close by, particularly since last weekend’s full moon in Aquarius, now moving through emotional and soothing Pisces, we are being guided by watery Neptune, 27º Aquarius, also retrograde, and in direct opposition to Mercury at 27º in Leo with the Sun, but suggesting a spiritual solution, steering a clear course for us through this unprecedented storm. Across the bows of these two opposing bulkheads of the zodiac stands Pluto, the planet of death and rebirth, at 3º of Capricorn, in control within its fixed, immovable T-square.

Not an easy time for mankind. But help is at hand.

It’s been said when all hell breaks loose, only the most peaceful, most love-centered and most ‘allowing’ natures will move through into the next dimension. For that is where we are: standing at a new portal into humaniity’s future.

Thirty years ago a whole generation was born into a world where Saturn stood at the doorway of Libra. That 1979-1980-1981 group of children are now, as the current golden generation of thirty-somethings, experiencing their first Saturn Return. For the Baby-Boomers, the late-’40s/early-’50s generation born after their parents’ return from war, this moment in 2010 is their second Saturn Return, the second time the giant ringed planet has made its 30-year circuit. It is no wonder the ethos of their teenage years — the glorious Sixties — is coming round again and we’re hearing the kind of special spiritual advice which was common speech in that magical era.

Two voices in particular are being heard above the clamor.

One is that of Dr Carl Johan Calleman, long-time student of the Calendar of the Maya and supporter of mankind’s entering the Ninth (and last) Wave of the calendrical system with focused intent. He suggested the weekend of July 17th-18th as an initiation to this new wave, calling it the Conscious Convergence, to tie in with the Harmonic Convergence of August 1987 which started the consciousness ball rolling again.

“Maybe it (Conscious Convergence) will be humanity’s last chance of setting such an intention, which almost with necessity must exist at an early point if we are to elevate ourselves above the economic chaos that we may expect in the years ahead.”

We the human species are, according to Dr Calleman in his interpretaion of the calendar, due to emerge from the sixth Night of the Mayan Underworld on November 2nd later this year (“Yellow Galactic Seed“) and will enter the Ninth and Last ‘Universal’ Underworld in February 2011. Conscious Convergence thus gives us a headstart for ‘Unity Consciousness’.

Those unfamiliar with Dr Calleman’s work will find multiple links on his page, but for beginners it might be helpful to start here.

There is another voice — a young female voice — who has been making herself increasingly more audible since spring this year. A young thirty-something herself, Kiesha Crowther is the daughter of a white father and a native American mother and is a tribal shaman and youngest-ever wisdomkeeper. Since spring 2010 she has been getting people’s attention by speaking about her people’s ‘New Way’ to wake up and pay attention to ‘who we really are’. Her suggestion to us, the world Tribe of Many Colors, is that the world changes today, in 2010, and she gives eight ways we might try to change our thinking about the physical. These are her pointers to helping us as a planetary family ascend.

Flower of Life: from our heart

Kiesha Crowther says: ‘the Light Beings are returning and they’re bringing their families!’ These are her suggested Steps to Enlightenment a new way of seeing;
Self-Memory – how to remember who you are;
Sustainable Lifestyle; and
Achieving higher consciousness

1. There is a Higher Knowing than ourselves.
There is a Grand Design: we are part of something greater than ourselves that has conscious intent. We can tune into that and become one with the Universe.

2. History is not an evolution of technology and production. It is the evolution of thought and we are moving through the process of thinking around the heart.

3. A new understanding of the physical world:
All things are alive and have energy. This enegy is keeping us alive.

4. Energy: Exchange energy with plants; share/take energy from the Earth. Instead of taking energy from others, get your energy from the Earth. We don’t have to take others’ energy. It is a gift from the planet: breathe in new energy from a tree, the river, the blade of grass, the rose. The Earth has energy for us. Stop giving it away. Go outside and fire yourself up. Fill up with Mother Earth energy.

5. Stop fighting to be heard or be in charge.
We do not need to feed off each other’s opinions of ourselves. If we fill ourselves up with Earth Energy, breathing it in and giving our energy back out to Mother Earth, we don’t need anybody else’s energy — nor do we need to let someone take our energy away.
We need to stop hurting each other, depleting the energy of another. Go outside and fill up with all the energy you need.

6. What do you stand for? Who do you want to be?
Why are you here? Ask yourself that and listen for the answers. You are the creator. Make a decision and watch it unfold.

7. Ways of Knowing:
Dreams are not just dreams. They come from the Higher Self. Thoughts pop out, we have daydreams; something comes into our heads. These are promptings from Spirit. Listen to them. Pay attention to your dreams.

Ask the right questions and listen. Listen to one another, listen to where the answers come from. From coincidences, through dreams, pay attention to what’s happening in your head. When you stop thinking so hard, and pay attention to what’s happening around you, you begin to receive some real information.

8. Do not become addicted to other human beings. This will stop your growth.
If you failed at something you love, why did you fail? Did you give your energy away? Did you let somebody else tell you you’d failed? We don’t have to be addicted to someone else’s opinion of us. We have our own inner path.

Things are not happening by chance. We chose to come here: to be here now. We belong to something enormous. We are part of a greater plan.

Stop thinking so hard and connect heart and mind. Start using mind to think about change from the heart. Our thinking is beginnning to realize there is more. We are realizing we are creators. Use our brains to connect with our inner knowing.

Energy
Seeing energy, sensing beauty. Filling ourselves up with energy from the planet, not from each other. Learn to take energy from plants, the mountains, trees, experience joy in the earth instead of stealing it from another.

‘We have been using energy the wrong way. That is a huge failure on our part. Now is the time to change. All the energy we need exists already on the planet. Go outside and breathe it in from an acorn, an apple, a plant, from the animals, streams, mountains. We are being asked to stop taking from others and to stop giving our energy away.’

‘All your life’s energy exists outside. If you feel weak. If someone says negative things about you, don’t let that make you feel bad. How silly! Sit outside and fill up with energy. Why does it feel so good? Because you’re plugging yourself in. Mother Earth is Everything.’

Little Grandmother Kiesha Crowther firmly believes that there is no hierarchy in this New Way of living in the New Earth. We each have the power to gather our own strength from the Earth Mother and grow at our own pace. There are no leaders, no followers. We are all equal, she says.

There is right now a physical group of around 32,000 people living this way, actually working on growing this consciousness larger. She warns: ‘If you can’t commit to it, don’t commit to it, but if you can, please stick with it.’

‘Stop telling yourself you can’t, because you can.’

Change the Channel
In order to change the balance from fear to love, she gives the advice of the ‘Grandfathers’, the Elders who say: ‘Change the Channel.’

‘If you are sitting next to someone who speaks ill of someone else or is not speaking from the heart, don’t be afraid to change the channel: shedding off what we are used to agreeing to on a daily basis and stopping it. If you hear negativity, stop listening to it. You cannot give your energy to something that is not good and expect it to change. If you give your energy to it, it will thrive. If you don’t want to have negativity in your life, change the channel.’

‘When you read something negative in the newspaper, your energy level plummets. If every one of us agrees to this contract, we will not listen to negativity.

We are the Ones we have been waiting for
‘The Grandfathers were not making it up when they said you are the very ones you have been waiting for. There is no savior who will come and change this planet. So I ask you as my brothers and sisters, people of my heart, people of the Tribe of Many Colors, will you join the cause? Will you stop listening to negativity? Will you change the channel? Then we change the world.’

‘We will charge ourselves and be responsible for ourselves and we will change the world.’

How do we change it?
‘We each have responsibility — all the answers are right here, We just forgot how to look at them. Truth is always easy. It’s the manade rules that are so hard to follow.

Through love
‘Through love this whole world is changing. Through love the light beings are returning and through love they’re going to show us the way. And through love all of those things we didn’t know before are going to become manifest to us. And through love all of our dreams are going to come true. And through love this planet earth is going to be magnificent and we’re going to be reborn. She will be reborn through love. And through love everything is possible.’

Kiesha Crowther would like us to share her message. We chose to come here NOW. We are all Creators. We are part of something enormous and it’s happening now. It is time for us to share the wisdom of the Grandfathers and Grandmothers with all people of the Tribe of Many Colors on the planet, Mother Earth.

So while Dr Calleman and Kiesha Crowther both envisage a movement of people changing for good, the Calleman ‘convergence’ focuses on the movement, while Kiesha’s advice is directed at the individual.

Both believe we can change the world.

Kiesha Crowther has a website at http://www.littlegrandmother.net and Live at Santa Fe, an Evening with the Youngest Wisdomkeeper and both she and Carl Johan Calleman have recorded and live video talks available on YouTube.