Bowden, The, Metablog

I have switched to Comcast!

2010-11-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

Earthlink (Mindspring) via AT&T was beginning to slow down and hang up periodically. I switched to Comcast, which throws in free local and long-distance telephone service, so now I can eliminate AT&T entirely! I've moved my website (Metaphysical Calculations) to Comcast, and will delete it from Mindspring eventually, when I shut down that account.

Big deal, you say? Well to me it is, considering what I've had to go through in the way of website moving and notifying people of my new email address (j78b@comcast.net).

Meanwhile, life moves on. Raymond is now in his final year at U.C. Berkeley! He's studying math and computer science (snap courses for him) and also studying Japanese just to have something to fill up his spare time.

I have made a few more "legacy artist" videos, which you can see by clicking on the YouTube tab on the website. Judi has gotten into the act and is playing a bigger role in each new video. With any luck she'll take over the process completely, freeing me up for higher things, like past-life regressions. Click here to see my YouTube videos!

They say brevity is the soul of wit, and I suspect it's the soul of getting along with people too. So I'm going to knock off at this point, and I'm not making any promises about when I'll get back to you. I don't think much of the blogging idea anyway, and I've cancelled my FaceBook account as a waste of time and a continual annoyance.

Keep looking down! (You don't want to trip and maybe bust something.)

New YouTube video

2009-07-01T11:21:00.001-07:00

Alert! I've just posted a new video on YouTube: "Ann Hollister, Sonoma Artist". It's gotten a lot of hits in just two days. This is intended as the pilot project for a documentary of some of Sonoma's finest artists. We'll see what happens next!

Congratulations Raymond!

2009-06-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

I visited Lisa and Raymond yesterday in El Sobrante (Lisa rents a condo there and Raymond lives with her for now). We saw the movie "Up" and enjoyed it. But the real news is that Raymond finished his two-year associate degree with a 3.9 grade point average and has been admitted to U.C. Berkeley, where he plans to major in computer science and minor in Japanese. The plan is to work on computer games in Japan, once he graduates from U.C. He's already able to translate some Japanese, having taken a course at the junior college he's been attending.

Finally catching up!

2009-05-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

At last my decks are cleared enough for me to update my blog! I've met a friend, via the Internet, that I knew at Antioch College. I haven't seen her in 57 years! She was bridesmaid at my first wedding. Voices and images from the past! (She put out an album recently, and I ordered it.)

I bought a Blu-Ray burner for the computer. Now I can archive 25,000,000,000 bytes (25GB) of data on one disk! More importantly, when I make my next feature film (in the works) it will be in the highest resolution, 1080 vertical lines (the same as in a theater with digital projection), which my video camera produces. (A DVD has only 480 vertical lines of resolution.) Of course, no one will be able to watch it but me. People have been slow to adopt the new standard.

Five days ago I came down with some horrible thing that was made worse by me. It started as a sore throat, but, as I kept swilling martinis to ease the pain and relax the vessels, it escalated to mental misery, weirdness, vertigo, a profound desire to end it all, and an irregularly-pounding heart. Judi insisted it was simply the result of dehydration, brought about by the gin.

In any event, I made the decision on the spot to implement a long-planned change of lifestyle. I had been baking chocoloate-chip cookies several times a week, and eating them after meals and between meals. They were so good! Judi couldn't resist, even though they had devastating effects on her body. So much for creative cookery. Sorry, everybody, no more cookies.

My plan is to live simply, totally give up gin and cookies, cut down on coffee, go back to drinking green tea, and generally keep my caloric intake low enough that I am effectively on the life-extension diet and should live to 120 or more. While feeling peppy, of course.

By today my system has pretty well repaired itself. I fasted for one full day and ate lightly the next. So far in the past five days I've lost 8 pounds and now weigh 154.

But enough about my health, which has been excellent up to this point. This was a wakeup call, and I'm glad it happened.

In my life as a writer, I've uploaded my two novels to SCRIBD. They've been around for awhile, and only recently started charging for downloads, so if anybody buys my books through them, I'll make a few bucks. I'm listing each of them for $5. SCRIBD takes a cut, of course. It didn't cost me anything to upload the novels. (That's a funny name; I wonder if they pronounce it "scribed", meaning written or inscribed.)

I've also uploaded my two Vietnam War protest songs to my google website (sites.google.com/site/allthebowdenstuff) and copied a few live bars of one song to YouTube so it can be referenced on the website. Running across my old college friend with her album inspired me. Her album was actually recorded way back when, but only recently released.

A bunch of us watched The Unbearable Lightness of Being last night in my home theater, and were of decidedly mixed opinions. My thoughts (and Judi agrees) are that it's three hours of gratuitous sex hung on a very skimpy skeleton of historically-accurate violence (the Russians invading Prague).

Well, that's enough for now! I'm still regaining my strength and now I want to go out and hike in the hills for a couple of hours.

Oh no! Not another website!

2008-10-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, actually, there isn't much new here. I've just created a site to go along with my "AdWords" publicity campaign, to get my books out there into the hands of the public where they can do the most harm. Ah...bring the most joy. Let's be clear on that! Anyway, the URL is:
http://sites.google.com/site/upbeatnovels/

New Google Website!

2008-09-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

Well, there's no stopping someone on a roll! I have now created a brand-new website, using Google's free facilities. You can find lots of fantastic collages, an article about idiots on bicycles, and stuff about my two novels, now listed on Amazon.com. My old website is still there, but by all means pay a visit to the new site!

It's http://sites.google.com/site/allthebowdenstuff/

Brad Swanson reviews Diana for Amazon!

2008-09-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that Brad Swanson, world traveler and broker of complex microfinance deals, has posted a review of Diana and the Peace Helmet, on Amazon.com! I take the liberty of reproducing it here, thus saving you the trouble of visiting Amazon.com.

Brad Swanson Review of "Diana and the Peace Helmet"

In this novella, a spunky and idealistic woman and a skeptical but brilliant inventor join forces to create a device that will revolutionize human emotion -- for good or evil. The media moguls want to get their hands on it, but our heroes have laid a dizzying series of traps for them -- and spring them all on a balmy California evening while the wine and repartee flow copiously. In the end, you'll wonder exactly how it all happened but rejoice in the outcome as Diana and her peace helmet set out to conquer the world for happiness.

Dan Lather Interviews Diana Thornton

2008-09-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

This is a transcript of Dan Lather’s interview of Diana Thornton, inventor of many virtual-reality devices. Dan Lather is the well-known TV Anchorite.

(Recorded September 19, 2008 on KBUM, Los Angeles)

Dan: Jim Bowden has written two novels based on Diana Thornton’s incredible success story. One is Diana and the Peace Helmet and the other is Long Night in a Hot Tub. Both are available on Amazon.com. Diana, why did you let Jim Bowden write two novels about you?

Diana: Dan, it seemed the right thing to do. Besides, he was total enthusiasm. He was all “Diana, I’ve got to do this or jump off a bridge!” How do you fight that?

Dan: But don’t you think his fictionalized accounts missed the boat? After all, your real story has yet to be written, and it’s every bit as exciting. Why not just write your own autobiography?

Diana: There is no way I could find time to do that, Dan. I’ve got my fingers in a dozen pies right now. I’m running businesses and channeling money around the world for worthy causes. You know, Bill Gates isn’t the only one who has a problem with money!

Dan: Problem with money! What do you mean?

Diana: I mean, getting rid of it before it wrecks your life! I built a fifty-million-dollar mansion in Malibu and my kids were staging wild parties all the time. I couldn’t stop them!

Dan: Why not?

Diana: Do you know how many rooms that place has? I simply couldn’t find them. No, Dan, self-indulgence is not the way to go. I’m much happier fighting screw-worms along the Nile. Those people think of me as a goddess.

Dan: At the same time you manage to keep the wheels of industry turning! I mean marketing your virtual-reality inventions. That must take a lot of time.

Diana: It does, Dan. But I love it! You know, Jim Bowden pretty much captured the spirit of my success and that’s what counts. The details don’t matter. He wanted to write exciting romances of big money, sex, and intrigue. I told him to go for it. I don’t know anyone else who could have done the job the way he did—not once but twice!

Dan: You’re talking about his two novels, of course: Diana and the Peace Helmet and Long Night in a Hot Tub. Aren’t those rather strange titles?

Diana: So what? It isn’t easy to find a title that hasn’t already been used. You need something that will stand out.

Dan: I see. Well, folks, that about wraps it up! We’ve been talking with Diana Thornton, star of two novels by Jim Bowden. You can find them in paperback on Amazon.com. Thanks so much, Diana, and lots of luck with your fight against the screw-worm and other predators. You’re going to save a lot of lives!

(End of interview)