#brian dunning

[markfgriffin]

Puck Fair, “Doll’s Waltz,” from their 1987 Windham Hill album Fair Play, which is full of hauntingly lovely flute/guitar/bodhran compositions like this, as well as some foot-stompers. Too many Windham Hill releases were unjustly written off as ‘new age’ as if to imply some wimpy formlessness, a cop-out which would cause you to miss some seriously great music.

[planetofsnarfs]

Skeptoid #1012: The Rake That Comes for You in the Night — Skeptoid — Overcast

Is the Rake mere creepypasta, or do more recent events prove it to be a real creature?

[ponderingrandomthings]

This is such an amazing, peaceful, Celtic piece - Oceanus (the first song in the album - if the post shows song #2, please go back to song #1). I find the drums quite noteworthy...

I will listen to the remaining album someday (starting now...)

Album Write up (from Bandcamp):

The Celtic navigator's great journey inspires this recording featuring material reworked and remixed from "Navigatio" combined with brand new material. Introduction by Stephen Lawhead – The great saints of the early Celtic church - Patrick, Columba, Samson, Aidan, And Brendan - were great travelers as well. In an age when most men rarely journeyed more than a few miles from hearth and home, they roamed the world ' often with little more than the cloaks on their backs, and the sandals on their feet. For the Celtic saints, each outward journey was also a journey inward. They wandered as pilgrims for the good of their souls, and each new discovery was seen as a discovery of the hidden territory of their own inner hearts. But, as much as they liked to travel, they loved returning even more. It was been said the Celts often left home just so they could enjoy the home-coming. Indeed, a man like St. Brendan would have relished one of the Celtic world's rare and special pleasures; to see one's homeland again, and know if for the first time. Much has been written about "The Voyage of St. Brendan (Navigatio Sancti Abbatis)". The story of the intrepid Navigator's fantastic voyage with a handful of monks to the Land of Promise is one of the great tales in the Celtic literary cannon. Like we often do with stories about people from the past, I initially viewed Brendan from afar. Much like one viewing a passing ship from the shoreline with a pair of binoculars, I saw Brendan but I did not know him. But here, in this music, I have attempted to sit with him inside his boat upon the great open sea – Oceanus. While drifting along the world's edge, the Brendan that I met wrestles with many of the same things with which I struggle. His eyes seek and long for something good, beautiful and true yet seldom does he get more than a glimpse of these. His mind dreams and hopes but his heart more often fears and despairs. He often finds himself alone - not because he does not have friends - but because he pursues the path of faith which ultimately one must follow on their own. He wonders if he has enough faith to continue down the path which he follows ... He does not. Yet, always he prays and the King of Love's good grace sustains him. This is what makes Brendan a true saint and, for me, is the inspiration for this music. – Jeff Johnson

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Album Artists:

Jeff Johnson: Keys & voice

Janet Chvatal: Voice

Brian Dunning: Flute & whistles

Tim Ellis: Electric & acoustic guitars

Gregg Williams: Drums

Phil Baker: Bass

Roger Hadley: Percussion

Adele O'Dwyer: Cello

John Lehmkuhl: Drum loops

Jami Sieber: Electric cello

--

Just in case, here is the Spotify playlist for the Inspirational Moments Volume 1, 2, 3: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0KY8LFwNz3xW1bpprU1NH0 (that's where I first heard this, and other, songs)

YouTube Playlist (for Inspirational Moments Vol 3): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRVvLrB1aWvjU8gLXRA06gFxI0MsDA29D

[eksopolitiikka]

UFO-villityksen skeptikko kritisoi tunnettuja ’uskovia’ mediahuomion, ei tieteen, tavoittelijoiksi

Amerikkalainen kirjailija ja dokumentaristi Brian Dunning sanoi Fox News Digitalin haastattelussa, että UFOihin ”uskovia” ohjaavat mediahuomio ja sensaatiohakuisuus tieteen sijaan. Dunningin kohteena oli äskettäinen kongressin kuulemistilaisuus UFOista, joita kutsutaan myös tunnistamattomiksi ilmailmiöiksi (UAP), koska siinä esiteltiin kolme todistajaa, jotka ”ovat puhuneet UFO-konferensseissa jo vuosia”. Entinen laivaston lentäjä Ryan Graves, entinen laivaston komentaja David Fravor ja […] https://eksopolitiikka.fi/tiede/ufo-villityksen-skeptikko-kritisoi-tunnettuja-uskovia-mediahuomion-ei-tieteen-tavoittelijoiksi/

[lawrichai]

Deconstructing the Tasaday Tribe

Some say this tribe of "gentle savages", discovered in 1971, was just a hoax. The truth isn't quite so simple.

A very good article about the controversy surrounding the Tasaday Tribe from Brian Dunning for the Skeptoid.

[iwan1979]

Science writer. https://t.co/XX7AY8QRae movie; https://t.co/n9s8tdX25T science podcast since 2006; author "Conspiracies Declassified" https://t.co/naPaHjvrwy -- (9600 following, 53144 followers)

[escarlatafox]

I had a dramatic demonstration of the power of hypnopompia — the waking up version — when I was about 10 years old. Early one morning, the characters from Sesame Street put on a show for me in the tree outside my bedroom window. It had music, theme songs, lighting cues and costume changes: A full elaborate production, and it lasted a good hour. To this day, I have clear memories of some of the acts. I even went and woke my parents to get them to watch, but by then the show had gone away. I knew for a fact that I hadn't been asleep. I'd been sitting up in bed and writing down some of the songs they sang. Those writings were real, on real paper, and even made sense when viewed in the light of day. It had been a completely lucid, physical experience for me. But it only existed inside my own brain in a hypnopompic state. My brain had composed music, performed the music, written lyrics, and sang them in silly voices for some director who must also have come from within me. The skits were good. The actors were rough-sewn muppets, independently moving and climbing about, even swinging through the swashbuckling number, on tree branches representing the lines of a great pirate ship. Yet through it all, I'd been conscious and upright enough to actively transcribe the lyrics. That's the power of a brain.

Brian Dunning

Source: Dunning, B. "Shadow People." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, 13 Oct 2009. Web. 8 Jun 2018. <http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4175>

[ravenhull]

"I encourage everyone to listen to this episode, or to read and share its transcript online. Today I'm going to talk about some simple factual observations that anyone can make, that unambiguously prove human activity is driving warming of the Earth. I'm not going to mention climate models, politics, predictions, economics, or how many scientists agree or disagree — any of the topics on which there is debate. I'm only going to share a few of the most solid basics, the results of absolute measurements, over which there is no debate. These are the things nobody disagrees with, but so few people understand. Despite its contentious topic, this episode is intended to be — and should be — completely non-controversial."