Reincarnation, aliens and fantasy

There is a movie named, "The search for Bridie Murphy" It's all about reincarnation and based upon a true story. Of course, "based upon" coupled with literary license can become so far removed from the original story that it is almost unrecognizable. From what I understand the case of Bridie Murphy remains one of the strongest arguments for some or all of us having lived before. The comedy team Laurel and Hardy starred in an hilarious movie about airplanes, crashes, death and being reincarnated as a horse. I don't know whether it was "based upon" a true story or not. But, it made me laugh out loud and the movie, "The search for Bridie Murphy" didn't. It is my understanding that some religious beliefs are very strong concerning reincarnation, some regarding becoming another person and some regarding coming back as an animal. I have no real education in those beliefs or the history behind them. There are a lot of interesting beliefs in this world I am not familiar with and more are appearing as time goes on. It's impossible to keep up. Reincarnation is not new though and I found the movie about it quite riveting.

A psychologist or psychiatrist hypnotizes a woman as part of her treatment for psychological problems. While under hypnosis the woman slowly unravels the story of who she was in a former life. The doctor does some checking and finds out it was a real person and the woman he is treating has no way of knowing anything about her. Spooky! I wondered how she knew. I wondered if it was all a hoax like the Cardiff Giant, gargoyles or tax relief. But still, she was so convincing and looked so innocent, someone that looked like that could not possibly lie about such a thing. And, it was all based upon a true story. When I left the theatre I knew I had a lot of thinking to do. Up to that time I didn't believe reincarnation was something to be taken seriously. The next weekend I saw a movie called, "The Thing" It was all about an alien frozen in the arctic somewhere and when some well meaning scientists thawed it out they got way more than they bargained for. This alien creature, instead of wanting to make friends with earthlings, simply wanted to kill them and eat them and their dogs in a vicious manner. I can remember leaving the theatre wondering if this movie too was loosely "based upon" a true story. At school the following week I discovered that I wasn't the only pre-teen guy that wondered if it was true. It made for some lively discussion but eventually we decided, one of us at a time that "The Thing" was fantasy. But the spectre of alien life (especially on cold snowy, frozen, windy nights) always remained. The same regarding reincarnation.

Reincarnation and Alien life forms are not the same subject at all are they? I do wonder if the answer lies in hypnotizing an alien? Yeah, I do wonder that sometimes. Fantasy movies and stories based upon a true story do that to a person.

Cats, dogs, rain, roofs and bicycles

Speaking of animals, it's raining cats and dogs around here. I ran across an explanation for that phrase quite some time ago. Not having the time to verify it I'll accept it as a believable theory for now. It seems that a few centuries back when people built homes out of whatever they could find, the roofs were made from straw or long grass or even clods of sod on a wooden frame. When bad weather came around many of the animals were brought into the home for protection. But, for some reason the cats and dogs were kept in small coveys in the roof. When the rain came down in torrents it washed away part of the roofing and down would come the cats and dogs. Sounds believable to me I guess. I just wonder why the dogs and cats were banished to the roof while pigs and cattle, sheep and mules came inside?

I suppose we all have our unexplainable little quirks don't we? One of my favorite things to do is to walk in the rain. The more rain the better. Riding a bicycle is great too. However, one day I was riding a bicycle on the sidewalk after about 3 inches of rain came down within an hour. I was on the sidewalk because I felt the car drivers had enough to watch out for what with all the puddles and fallen tree branches without dodging a bicycle too. As I looked up from the sidewalk I noticed a truck driver coming in the opposite direction on the road. His eyes were huge and his mouth was open as if to yell something. In another second I found out what it was that caused his discomfort. Bwoosch! Although he tried to avoid it, his tires hit a deep mud puddle in the road as he went by and the wave he created came over me like a Tsunami, splashing me and knocking me over sideways onto the soaked and muddy grass on the side of the road. No injuries but cause for a good laugh I guess. I must have looked like some sort of primeval earth creature. I didn't find any cats or dogs though.

So, there we have it. Cats, dogs, mud puddles and not too aware bicycle riders. One of the greatest gifts of civilization is written history so we may learn from it. That way we don't have to chase our tails looking to break the boredom. And then again, you could just say that I'm all wet!..............Joe