Sonnet 4 a.m. New York City

I was looking for this old sonnet today, something I wrote in college.

Mr. Sonnet himself

When I was 18 I wound up in Manhattan with two friends, Paul Tracey and Cate Conniff. Our first trip to the Big Apple, we had a discount room at the Sheraton, because Cate worked at the one in our home town - but that meant one room only.We were pretty broke - so we three shared one bed.

Not these four -
but here's Kathy D, Paul, Janet T and Me circa 1969

However as we checked in, we met these guys from a rock band in L.A. Long haired fellas with easy smiles. They told us they were playing a gig in Central Park (I had no idea how big or little the park was or where the gig might have been within that park) and invited us to the after show in their room. Cate went, Paul and I did not - she hung out with that band; the Eagles.

Amazing how YouTube can locate actual footage from that particular day. Here's the Eagles in Central Park in 1973 the same day we met them.

But this isn't about the Eagles.. It's about my sonnet.

Later - when Cate came back to the room about 2 a.m., she was flying - and proceeded to chat up a storm... Paul was trying to sleep, she was talking a blue streak (hmm... wonder why?) I tried to sleep on the floor and then gave up - found solace walking the streets of Manhattan at 4 a.m.

It was raining, so there weren't many people. I walked all the way from 57th to Times Square and back again. Saw just a few folks in the rain.

1973 the year the towers were dedicated; when I stepped foot in NY.

A couple of years later, while a Humanities Major at Boston University, one of my roommates, Andre Shashaty had some "space to fill" in the DGE newsletter and asked me to contribute something.  Here's my sonnet. I post it here because I know that one day, if I type in the words "New York City lies in a quaking still" I can find it. Here - in cyberspace.

Me at BU circa 1973. Photo Ellyn Toscano

"New York City 4 A.M."

New York City lies in a quaking still.
Streetlights reply to the silent alleys
while Bowery confessors lie in their swill.
The rain drives the pimps to rat warm'd galleys,
The only doors open boast lewd desire.
The gay movie crowed stays out of the wet
in all night freak shows that never retire.
It's 4 a.m., the hooker ends her set
Back to the corner she finds a dry spot.
Scanning the parked cars for a John to meet
Like erect buildings determined to rot.
The smoke dissipates from cooling concrete.
A city in rain can only perspire
when the city's pulse is the devil's fire.

But I dodge drops from the park to the square.
trying to remain the unseen foot tread,
crossing the street to hear corner girls dare,
I smile wink once and shake my blood filled head.
"Tis too early for love," I tell the wall...
The bricks laughed back at my foolish wishes:
"Don't you know you're not old enough to crawl?
Give yourself time to sleep with the fishes!"
The wet Boulevards will soon fill the ears
With the honking, dodging shouts in the street
Her ghosts disappear from thousand of years
Manhattan returns to staggering feet.
Just as my storm clouds begin to grow few...
the sun soon enough decides to break through.



AbAb, CdCd, EfEf, GG.  Twice.

But it adequately captures the memory. (And the last four EfEf lines are lost, so they were written 45 years later. Kinda like Goethe writing the second act to Faust 57 years after he wrote the First Act.) Cheers.

A message from the Flipside

Needless to say, with so many of our fellow travelers not making it or having their lives ended by something as senseless as a "zombie virus" - it sends the mind reeling. Looking for answers.


If one looks through this blog they'll find some practical advice from none other than Jonas Salk.  Zinc (elderberry) aloe vera (juice) and acai.  Daily. Stay home. Wash hands. Eventually there will be a vaccine, and or the amounts will lessen.  These things take time.

Elderberry, Aloe Vera, Acai
from Jonas Salk

Or we can try to look for value in the pandemic; "Well, I can finish up my books about the afterlife, just in case."  That was on my mind, when I raced to finish both "Backstage Pass to the Flipside 3: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer book three" and "Architecture of the Afterlife."   I had these two very large books over 600 pages each, and I knew if I spent the next three months trying to edit them, they might never get done.

So I put them out, then recorded the Audible versions.  That too was a matter of urgency, getting the recording equipment together, finding the right space to record it - and then reading about 40 hours (for both books.)  Then because Audible was in another mode because of the pandemic it took two months to get those versions released.

I'm aware some quality control has slipped through the cracks - a fan wrote today that he found a 100 typos in "Architecture of the Afterlife."  The good news is that once I recorded the Audible, I saw many typos, then edited the copy and submitted new editions (something not available to authors before, but nowadays it's a click of a button to resubmit a new edition.)  So my sincere apologies for any typos I missed. (If you have an "older edition" send me an email to "MartiniProds" at gmail and I'll forward a newer edition (PDF) without the typos.)

Also, I heard that in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside 3" one can hear me "making corrections" while I'm reading the text. (Scribbling in the margins) Which is pretty funny - or a testament to recording. Again - apologies if the sound of a pen is distracting. An early review had one person complain they could hear my "cat meowing" in the original audio of "Flipside." So in subsequent introductions I proclaim "I'm the kind of author that has cats meow in his books. If that's an issue, I sincerely suggest getting a refund. You also might hear me get choked up while reading a passage (often) - I can't help that. Part of what I'm doing is catching lightning in a bottle - and sometimes that includes crickets."

But this post is about something else.  

The other day, I was in my kitchen where sometime I hear folks saying things to me. Robert Kennedy approached me there (I clearly heard his voice say "I understand you're the fellow I'm supposed to speak with to pass a message to my children.") Startled, I said "No, sir, I'm the guy who knows the people who can help you. If you want to speak with us, show up at our weekly session where Jennifer and I speak to the flipside via Luana." 

Luana Anders waving hello.

Then the following week, on my way to see Jennifer - lo and behold when I arrived at our meeting place she said "Robert Kennedy is here."  (What he had to say I did pass along to one of his children.)

That has happened more than once - another time with John McCain - another time with Paul Allen (see "Paul Allen, Junior Seau and Dave Duerson" on YouTube for direct visual evidence of what I'm talking about.)  But again - that's not what this post is about.  





This is about something I heard the other day.  I heard the voice of a friend who had departed, and I heard her say something clear as a bell.

I don't know what she meant by it. I immediately thought it might mean one thing - and I took offense at hearing it. "What are you telling me that for?"  

However - I normally don't have a problem with people reaching out to me from the flipside as I know they do so for a reason.  And despite the thoughts that surrounded what she said - I have to allow that if it's accurate, it's for a reason.

So next week I'm going to address this in a session with Jennifer. 

I've been doing this research for over ten years.  My books are filled with the hows and whys those events have occurred.  They're like bread crumbs to the same place, the same conclusions.  If one wants to take that ride, and reads them in order, they will see the same information that I've seen. 

What I've seen is that everything happens for a reason - nothing happens without the connectivity of all of our previous lifetimes, all of our guides and teachers and loved ones participating. There are no coincidences, and our loved ones can communicate with us from the other side if we're open to the possibility that they can do so.

I've also learned that time exists relatively over there - while some say "there is no time" or that "everything exists at the same time" I've found that not to be the case in terms of the research. We apparently live each life in a linear fashion, we experience them in a linear fashion, otherwise we couldn't learn anything. 

If after every lifetime we said "Oh, I want a do over" - everyone who participated would have to agree. And even then, all the events would be different.  Even the concept is self serving - we live our lives so we can learn things about ourselves, or learn things about love and help others, even if we can't see that's why we chose our lifetimes in the first place.

The most important thing I've learned in this research is that the journey to the planet is about unconditional love. That's easy to say, next to impossible to consider. We all have conditions about why and who and what we're doing on the planet - or opinions, reactions to what other people do on the planet.  

But by "opening our hearts to everyone and all things" we have a shot at understanding the nature of reality. Not that it's a phrase that's a panacea - or an ad campaign - but understanding that the nature of consciousness, the nature of reality is embracing the idea that we are all connected and if one wants to experience that connection they can... by "opening their hearts to everyone and all things."

And beyond that to realize that we chose to come here, that leaving here is just another part of the journey, that no one dies that no one leaves the stage entirely - we are all available on the flipside, even if a portion of us has already come back. Two thirds of "who we are" is always "back home."  If one reads all the books, they'll come to the same conclusion (or I would bet they would.)

By the way there is a "donate" button on the side of the page. If this research has helped in any way, or changed perspective in any way, it would be most helpful if one took the time to donate something to that research - any amount that they can. I sincerely thank everyone for doing so, and also I mention those donors to the gofundme page in the next book and they get PDF's of the books for doing so.

So this post is about paying attention to what people say to us from the flipside. It's also a preamble that the next session I'm going to do with Jennifer I will bring up this person and this message and see if she gets it right.  I'll post it next week. I would say what the message was - but then someone somewhere would say "But Jennifer must have read your post."  I have a larger issue to deal with - Jennifer is often reading my mind, especially when writing about her or her name. My phone routinely rings whenever I write something she said, or was about to say. ("Ring." "I was just writing your name." "Shut the front door." "No seriously. Stop bugging me.")

So do the same with your loved ones. They still exist. Allow them to speak to you. Allow for the possibility that they can. Allow that they still care for you and want you to do well, and have some pretty cool things to impart from the flipside. Live your life with as much love as you can. Love love.

Remember; they're as close as you can imagine, and never far from you despite the illusion they aren't. 

Don't take my word for it. Just ask them. When you hear an answer before you can ask the question, you'll know you've made a connection.

My two cents. 

The true story behind Amazing Grace

In case you didn't know....







and for those who haven't heard it... the song inspired by a dream about 11:11.

Quora and the Flipside

from COAST TO COAST with George Noory

I've been answering questions about the flipside research on quora.com - it's a site where a global audience can ask questions on any topic, I answer those about my "Flipside" research. 

After my appearance on Coast to Coast 6/16, noticed a spike of people reading my posts;  2.33 million in the past 3 weeks. (12 million over the past couple years) Have no clue if any of them buy books, but it's fun to hope they might.

Last three months

Last year


Past couple of years.

Here are links to the books!!!!

Thanks.

BACKSTAGE PASS BOOKS

BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE ONE: 

BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE TWO: 

BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE THREE: 


FLIPSIDE


FLIPSIDE FILM:

IT'S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE ONE

IT'S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE TWO

HACKING THE AFTERLIFE


TALKING TO BILL PAXTON FILM

ARCHITECTURE OF THE AFTERLIFE:

Here's an example of a recent message:

To me: 

"You are obviously convinced but I see only conviction & belief in your words, not proof so I remain very sceptical. Produce some concrete scientific evidence if you want to be taken seriously."

My reply: 

"You assume I want to be taken seriously. I don't want to be taken anywhere. I film. The footage exists. Look at it. Don’t look at it. The transcripts exist. Read them or don’t. The research still exists.

Two things are required for data. Consistent results that are reproducible. We can debate how data is gathered. But when the data is both consistent and reproducible it doesn't change whether we consider it serious or not.

I've filmed over 50 people saying the same things about the afterlife under deep hypnosis. I don't ask questions. I film. I’ve filmed interviews with about 50 people saying the same things without hypnosis. I did ask the questions. Same results without hypnosis.

What they say is the same (identical/ word for word) to the research gathered by clinical psychologist Dr.. Helen Wambach in the 70s. I've studied her methodology, have her raw tapes. What her 2000 cases said (its 2750 with her 2nd book) is the same as what Michael Newton's 7000 reports say over 30 years published a decade later. The Newton institute continues to report their data. It hasn't changed.

I approached my documentary “Flipside" as a skeptic. I was determined to report nothing if I saw nothing for 4 hours. That's not what happened.

I remain a skeptic. Not about the research - that's just data. I'm skeptical about skepticism.

Research shows we have filters on the brain that prevent people from accessing this information. For a science report on filters I recommend Dr. Greyson's talk “Is consciousness produced by the brain?”  where he cites medical evidence that indicates it is "not only." 

So not everyone is going to be able to access this information.

Shy of a near death event, LSD, OBE, deep hypnosis,guided meditation or some other filter altering event they won’t be able to access this information until the filters die. That's a shame. But not everyone signs up for a lifetime to have that experience or learn that information.

As the late actor Harry Dean Stanton told me from the flipside when asked what he wanted me to say at his memorial - “tell people to believe in the afterlife." (It's in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" book one)

I laughed. I replied (via Jennifer Shaffer, a medium who works with law enforcement agencies nationwide on missing person cases) “Harry, all your pals are skeptics. None will believe I spoke to you.”

So he gave me "concrete proof." 

Private messages about health issues to three of his closest friends only they would know. Details that only he could know from the afterlife. They were flabbergasted when I told them at the memorial… privately. 

You see - proof is private. I'm not allowed to alter a skeptic’s path unless their dear friend asks me to.

Harry told me to tell them to “believe in the possibility of an afterlife so then they wouldn't waste another minute of their life arguing about it like he did.” (And he did spend alot of time doing so as I knew him and had heard a few hours worth. That's why I asked him "So Harry, what was it like to realize there actually is an afterlife?)

But concrete proof won't change people’s minds or path. I can't do that. They have to do that shift of consciousness on their own. Seriously. Only a person's higher self can make that happen... perhaps by directing them to this page to read this very sentence.

Doesn't get much seriouser than that. Seriously or cereally, or even serially. Enjoy the ride.

Here's the latest stats for "all time content" while on Quora.  Who knew?

Hello Quora folks. I see you.