"Making Movies is a Slow Business", by Alister Bredee

They started filming in Alicante and moved on location to Thailand in October. The tsunami drama, “The Impossible” is a Spanish production telling the story of one family’s harrowing experiences when giant waves ravaged the Andaman Coast of Thailand. Ewan McGregor plays Henry and Naomi Watts his wife Maria in the English language debut of director Juan Antonio Bayona. His Spanish speaking horror film “The Orphanage”, opened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and picked up several awards.
The crew needed many extras both Thai and foreign for this production. The final filming sequence was set in the grounds of the Takuapa Hospital which lies 30 kilometers north of Khao Lak. The hospital grounds were transformed into a seeming refugee camp as survivors both injured and unhurt congregated in a desperate search for missing loved ones.
Some 900 extras both Thai and foreign converged on the site before sunrise on February 1st. The ex-pats came from most of the popular destinations in southern Thailand. Koh Samui sent three bus loads that converged on Donsak on January 31st. The adventure started a few weeks previously when small flyers posted in strategic locations asked “would be actors” to contact Danny who sent them all to a casting at the Piano Bar in Chaweng’s Soi Reggae on the 21st January. The successful were texted the next evening.
Once on set the groups were marched crocodile fashion into the “Extras Base Camp” where they were assigned a group and a number. The colored card that went with this determined whether the individual was injured or unhurt. Own clothes were surrendered as colors had to be pastel camera friendly and those who needed it went to make-up. The injured were splattered with chocolate sauce that bore an amazing resemblance to blood. The purpose of the extras was to provide moving background to the central scene. Lucas, played by Tom Holland first appears on the hospital entrance searching the moving crowd below for his missing parents and younger brothers. Later he moves down onto the hospital lawn where his siblings run tearfully into his outstretched arms and they are later reunited with their distraught father, played by Ewan McGregor. Naomi Watts had gone home as her family reunion takes place at Suratthani Airport. When it comes to making movies scenes are not filmed in chronological order so her work had already been completed.
It takes many shots before the director is satisfied with the material. A film is really made on the cutting room floor. This is when the production team pores over every frame and decides what goes into the finished product and what does not. This process can take a year or more, although “The Impossible” is slated to be premiered before the end of the year. Anyway, the extras plodded across the set each time the magic word “action” was sounded and came to a halt with the instruction “cut”! Then it was “back to one” and the whole rigmarole was repeated sometimes up to thirty times. It was long, hot and often dreary work. Production Assistant David doled out sun screen lotion to stop sun burn, but supplies began to diminish as the week went on because the director was disturbed by the white shiny effect this had on his fleet of extras.
Friday February 4th was shooting day 85. They were running over time and over budget. The extras were supposed to go home on the Saturday but many were still needed. They asked who was prepared to stay and surprisingly the majority agreed. Those who stayed were offered reduced salary for two days of holiday and were destined to continue their work on the following Monday when their number was to be culled to 400.
Production Assistant Olga worked like a Trojan to keep everything running smoothly, but she was not looking very happy as filming came to a close because of a heavy downpour on the Friday evening. I have feeling that all those who still want to be extras will have the opportunity right up to the moment the production team board their flight home in mid-February.

This article first appeared in "The Samui Gazette" of Friday 18th February 2011

"The Authority Hoax, Recalling Our Power." By Mary Croft

Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian art by which we discover that we are 100% responsible for every experience of our lives. Through self-identity, the four phrases of Ho’oponopono allow us to be responsible for all our thoughts, feelings, behaviour, problems, relationships, actions and reactions, circumstances, and even the opportunities which come our way. By taking 100% responsibility we can erase programming, data, memories, and beliefs, in order to get closer to Zero. By “cleaning on” our subconscious, we can become clear to receive inspiration from Divinity. With inspiration, we can recall the power we were meant to have.
Worry about, judgement of, or engagement in a problem reveals to Divinity that we do not require its assistance. We do have “free will” to do so, however, what we resist will persist until we let go of it and allow Divinity to erase it from our memory. The phrases which energetically allow for this are: “I love you; I’m sorry; Please forgive me; Thank you.” Dr. Hew Len worked as a psychotherapist at Hawaii State Hospital for the criminally insane and never met with any patients, in session. He knew that his seeing them as insane was due to his memory and data, so he worked with this concept, not with the patients. After two years, all but two patients had left the hospital and it was closed.
We are constantly living in our memories. We can never experience anything as ‘new’ and our ability to “Be Here Now” is prevented. What if we had no emotional memory? We could then see everything, clearly, as Here and Now. Ho’oponopono allows the Divinity within us to erase the memories which are causing us to react to all information, persons, and situations.
It is important not to have expectations of outcomes. We know this, yet, it is difficult to avoid. I recall when I ate only alkaline food for a couple of weeks. Certain aspects of my body, which I never would have imagined would heal, did heal; and others, which I had hoped would heal, did not. So, this is all up to Divinity to erase those memories as it deems to be in the best interest of us all … as the one.
Every problem we encounter is an opportunity to ‘clean on it’. If the problem appears to be someone else’s, it is up to us to clean on it because, in the here and now, WE are experiencing it; therefore, it is ours to heal. “If you spot it, you got it.”
Ho’oponopono allows us to be at peace. Whatever or whoever is disturbing us is only due to our perceiving it … or them, based upon a memory. It might be due to data which we both share, and this is possible if we have a previous experience with them. This is usually the case because we have lifetimes upon lifetimes with those who appear to be unknown to us now. The finale is: we just don’t know anything so the solution is to repeat the phrases and trust that Divinity will erase the programs, data, memory, fear, belief, and trauma and we will be free. Trying to “figure it out” (why am I ill? … why don’t I like that fellow? … why did I create this situation?) is only a waste of time and energy because not only can we never know, but also “knowing” will not assist our spiritual evolution. “Why” doesn’t matter; so, asking “why?” only placates the ego-mind and this is how it maintains its vice-grip control of us.
Everything but “peace” is a memory! This means that all ‘negative’ thoughts, annoying circumstances, disease, our reaction to people, and everything, other than peace of mind, is a memory. It is not real in the here and now. The conscious mind is capable of processing only 15 bits of the 11 million bits of information we perceive subconsciously, every second. It is idiocy to think that we know what is going on in the world. We couldn’t possibly know what is going on with anything or anyone, anywhere, any time, ever. We are clueless! Fifteen bits, of the 11 million which impact any given circumstance, are hardly enough information upon which to make any sort of wise discernment or take any sort of appropriate action. We are missing the bulk of the information to do so. Better to leave this in the hands of Divinity and one way is to repeat the phrases which invite that power to do so.
Ho’oponopono teaches that we have three levels to the mind. Memories release from conscious to subconscious to super-conscious to Divinity which erases them from the world. Our usual waking state is in memory and so, we are deaf to Divinity’s inspiration. By taking 100% responsibility and “cleaning on” everything, all the time, we release memories, open to inspiration, and ultimately reach Zero state where we feel peace. We then become an empty vessel for Divinity to provide us all that we require.
Not only do we not know anything but also we have no need to know anything. The desire for information and knowledge is our conscious mind/ego’s desire to remain in control. But, that’s impossible because it cannot process the vast amount of information with which we are presented every second. It is lose/lose, so our intent to learn as much as we can about any given situation is laughable. I am reminded of when my mid-wife asked me, “So, are you ready to have this baby?”, who was due in two days, and I answered, “I just wish I had time to read one more book on the subject.” She sternly looked me in the eye and said, “YOU need to have read one LESS book.” She knew that I was an information junkie, I over-analyzed everything, and I had a belief that if I knew, intellectually, everything there was to know about bearing my baby, I would be a ripping success when, in fact, I noticed, as I was in labour and delivery, that my intellect and vast knowledge had absolutely nothing to do with my experience. The entire event was a success, due to my intuition, not my information.
For those of you who are searching for a solution to our commercial woes, my intent is that you realize that doing so is an attempt to correct the system – that which lies outside ourselves. It is not only impossible but also a ludicrous concept, now that we know that there is nothing ‘out there’. There is no ‘world’ out there. It is all within each of us and what we see is a mirror image of what we bring to any waking moment. There is only we, facing our memories. Those whom we meet in commercial situations – cops, judges, bankers, et al – are only there for us to realize that we must clean on our memory, traumas, beliefs – whether from ‘another time and space’ or just last week. Bumping into those whom we deem ‘thugs’ is only our opportunity to clean on it so that it does not occur again. Blaming them only further empowers them and disempowers us.
The world is not being done TO you; the world is being done BY you. The world is not coming AT you; it is coming FROM you. When you go to a position of being “at cause” instead of being “at effect”, then you are no longer a victim. – Gary Renard
I wish I could tell you that the degree of our desire could impact our success; alas, I cannot. This ought not to keep us from doing it though because it is the ONLY way to put an end to all this nonsense that we have all experienced. There is no other solution. There is no solution IN commerce FOR commerce; it is all within US and the instant we accept 100% responsibility for our experiences, it will all come to a screeching halt… whenever that is meant to be. It is determined by Divinity, not us, and although we are a duplication of divinity, it is not our business. As long as we pour our time and energy into something which is outside ourselves, we are pouring them down the drain. The solution is within ourselves and no amount of knowledge, processes, information, remedies, etc. can relieve us of the horrors which we have all suffered, by our own memories. We must quit listening to others, reading, learning, or studying commercial “solutions”. Only we can clear this up for ourselves and when we do, it will be cleared for us all. Remember, Dr. Hew Len cleaned only on himself: “What is it in me that causes me to experience these people as insane?” He worked only on his memories and, within months, these “criminally insane” people were no longer so. Can’t we do the same to stop the viciousness which is solely our own lifetimes of memories? Of course we can. We can no longer spend our time and energy on looking outside ourselves for a solution to what appears to be the problems “in the world”. The “world situation” is not “in the world”; it is in our memories and only we can clean on those memories and only Divinity can erase them so that we are no longer at the effect of them.
“When we clear our personal stuff, we can go cosmic.” – Barbara Marciniak
What appears to be going on in the world is none of our business because it is only ‘details’. We already know how insane the ‘world’ is, so the details are immaterial. We have enough going on within ourselves to keep us busy. But, notice that the propaganda is designed to keep our attention on healing the mirror image (world) and away from healing ourselves. We have no idea what is going on in the world. We must quit pretending that we do. Information and knowledge are red herrings. It is the global elitists’ way of saying, “Look over here, at the image, so that you will not look to the source. Ignore the man behind the curtain – the cause – because the cause is we and as soon as we recall our power, it is we who can change that which appears to be ‘in the world’.
The elitists want us searching for palliatives for what is in the mirror; they do not want us to heal the cause. We can heal the cause by asking Divinity to erase our memories, in order to effect a cure for what is going on because, since “Peace Begins with Me”, we would then have 100% control over what is going on in the mirror/world. As long as we continue to look where they point, to see how bad it all is, we remain powerless. This is how they want us … out of control and powerless. If we take 100% responsibility for ALL of it, we recall our power and have the energy to shift the entire situation, via shifting the projector – the mind. That which appears to be going on in the world is really only a result of what is going on in the mind. The only place our attention ought to be is on us and ‘cleaning on’ those memories which are preventing us from experiencing peace. There is no authority outside of us. We are the authority – both the cause and the cure. There is no one and nothing else.
We are meant to act, immediately, upon inspiration. If we are confused about what we ‘hear’, we are to clean on it. We must stop giving our memories our power. They are what keep us from living our lives. Everything in our lives which pains us is always, only a result of our memory. When we clean on our memories and Divinity erases them, they are gone from the world because we are the source of all the problems which appear to be in the world.
There are hundreds of billions of info-bits which we subconsciously perceive every day and we react to them via our memories. Based upon these memories, which we couldn’t possibly begin to discover, we have developed beliefs. ‘Good’ beliefs are as detrimental as ‘bad’ beliefs, as they are all based upon only memories, not upon any facts because there are no “facts”; there are only experiences. We have beliefs about God, other people, events, health, wealth, love, and life itself. It is never-ending and it is ALL the past. E.g.: think about how many times eggs, have gained and lost status: “good food - bad food”. Only our personal experiences of anything, is important. But, those experiences are all influenced by memory, opinions, propaganda, facts, science, history, etc. There is only here and now.
Peace Begins With Me
If there is to be peace on earth; it must begin with each one of us, individually. There is nothing to do, out there. Nothing out there can be “corrected” without first correcting our memories, beliefs, programming, knowledge, data, judgements, information, “truths”, opinions, etc. which is ALL garbage. “The Information Era” was a huge boon, but it has back-fired on us in that we now ‘know’ too much. This has titillated our left brain to grasp at greater amounts of data – the very thing we want to erase. We have no need of what we think is “important information” because we do not have the capacity to assimilate it.
Once you decide to titillate instead of illuminate . . . you create a climate of expectation that requires a higher and higher level of intensity. – Bill Moyers.
Dr. Hew Len says that when we are willing to take 100% responsibility for whatever we experience in our life, we can then go on to the next step where we say, “I am sorry for bringing, to this situation, whatever is going on in me, that I experience the world this way. Please forgive me for whatever it is that caused this”. Once we ‘let go’, the Divine can shift the energy and this will impact the entire cosmos.
We never experience life’s events accurately; we experience only our reaction to them. When we meet people, we do not experience them the way the Divine created them, so we ought to be thinking, “I am sorry for what ever is going on in me that I do not experience him the way Divinity created him; please forgive me”. If we want to rid the problems of others, we must rid our own, first. Our memories dictate our experiences and, ergo, our experiences are inauthentic. When we do not take responsibility for our experiences, not only do we miss the here and now but also we resort to blaming others for any ‘bad’ experiences. When conscious and unconscious memories are erased, they stop dictating our reactions.
The most important questions of creation are, “Who am I?” and “Who’s in Charge?” We must “know thyself”. When we know that we are Divinity, we are capable of taking 100% responsibility and this grants us the power to experience authentically. The whole world is within us and, by being 100% responsible, (saying “I love you; I’m sorry; please forgive me; thank you”), we regain our power, we change, and the world changes, too.
Unfortunately, for those of us who pride ourselves on our intellect, our intellect does not have the ability to erase memories from our subconscious mind because that is not its function. When we have 11 million bits per second of information coming at us, of which we are conscious of only 15, (Tor Norretranders - The User Illusion), our conscious mind can not make our decisions; it is memories that choose our resultant behaviour. The function of the intellect, according to Dr. Hew Len, is to make the choice between whether we are going to take 100% responsibility for everything we experience in our lives, or not. This is similar to the concept of A Course In Miracles: We are three minds: the ego, the spirit, and the one who chooses to which one to listen. We must learn to chose ‘spirit’/Divinity to be the one to dictate our actions and experiences.
David Ike says, “The cliché, “knowledge is power” is not true. Knowledge is not power unless you act on it.” I contend that both “knowledge” and “the acting upon it” are what keeps us in the world when our soul’s intent is to get us out of it.
Most are seeking more information, hence, the popularity of “the information superhighway”, however, I want LESS information. I want to unplug; I want less on my mind. I want to “tune in, turn on, and drop-out”…. tune into the frequency of my Divinity, turn on to who I really am: an innocent who has no knowledge of the world, and drop-out of the meaningless barrage of programs, information, beliefs, knowledge, news, data, and memories which only prevent a clear, still, non-judgemental, thought-free, neutral mind. “Zero” – “here and now” – is the only state in which we can receive Divine inspiration.
ACIM (A Course in Miracles) is adamant about this! “I do not know what anything is for; I have given everything I see all the meaning it has for me; I do not understand anything; I am never upset for the reason I think; I see only the past; I see nothing as it is now; My thoughts do not mean anything; My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world; A meaningless world engenders fear; I have no neutral thoughts; I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts; God is in everything I see because God is in my mind; I am not a victim of the world I see; I have invented the world I see; I could see peace instead of this; There is nothing to fear”, etc.
Be vigilant, be aware, be disciplined. We are to “clean” before we inflict our preconceived ideas on all people, places, and things. I don’t know what is going on or why, but I would like to make amends for them. Yet we cannot correct what appears to be outside ourselves; we can only ask that Divinity erase what we are bringing to the world. We want to be in tune with ourselves and at peace, not in tune with what is “out there”. When we are at Zero, we operate in the best interests of us all.
Decades ago, my friend broke up with a fellow called, Ralph. She told me that, now, her life was, ALL about “Ralph and NOT Ralph” …. in other words, even when she was not missing Ralph and her life was about not Ralph, that meant that her life was still about “Ralph”. This duality is the entire matter. There is no neutrality in duality or polarity. As ACIM says, “I have no neutral thoughts”, so thoughts themselves are the problem. So, the cliché, “think positive” is a hazardous concept. We do not have thoughts; thoughts have us. When we can reach neutrality, which Dr. Hew Len calls, “Zero”, we are FREE. In meditation, we strive to get to “no thought”. My ego does not want me to meditate because it thrives on my attention and, to the ego, my not paying attention to it means ‘death’. It will do anything to hold my attention, keep me thinking its thoughts, and holding its beliefs. It doesn’t care whether these beliefs are negative or positive, as long as it has the authority, over me, on what to believe.
The PTB, Global Elite, Illuminati, Government, Vatican, Corporations, etc. represent the ego mind. It does not care whether we believe ‘good’ beliefs or ‘bad’ beliefs, as long as we continue to ‘believe’ and look outside ourselves for ‘information’ and situations which corroborate those beliefs. That is where it controls us. Which side of the coin we believe is not the issue; the issue is the coin itself. They do not care which religion, nationality, profession, sports team, TV show, doctor, career, opinions, school, etc., we choose, as long as we do choose, regard it as very important to us, and insist upon identifying with it. All that matters is that our identifying beliefs be well-lodged within our psyche. THIS is what grants them control over us. Neither the ego nor the PTB cares what we believe as long as we have beliefs …. to hold energetic space – space which is meant to be kept clear to receive Divine inspiration. Neither the ego mind nor the PTB wants us clear because both want to remain in control of us so that we cannot spiritually evolve and return to our true ascended soul selves.
“The information age” has gone from an assist to a detriment. We must dismiss all beliefs, information, fears, programming, data, memory, etc., i.e.: “crash the computer”, in order to receive the messages which we truly require in order to become free. Those messages – our inspiration – can come from only our Source/Divinity/Higher Self. We must turn our attention away from the world and what appears to be its problems and get on with this assignment of clearing ourselves, if we are ever to become free.
I love you (I love you, Divinity, which is all of us and everything)
I’m sorry (I’m sorry for bringing, to this situation or this divine being, my memories which are assessing the circumstances and influencing my experience.)
Please forgive me (Please forgive me for bringing my memories, judgements, fear, information, traumas, ‘knowledge’, data, ‘facts’, and opinions of the ‘there and then’ into the Here and Now.)
Thank you (It is done. So be it)
These phrases encompass love, correction, forgiveness, and gratitude.
This is all we require to live in love and peace.

The Authority Hoax, Recalling Our Power.
By Mary Croft***

"Ex-Samui Resident helps save baby Tuptim!” by Alister Bredee

On Wednesday 19^th January a leading edge transplant operation took place in a well know Bangkok Hospital. Baby Tuptim received a piece of her mother’s liver in a surgery performed by Professor Dr Sumate Teeraratkul of the Ramathibodi Hospital. The eighteen hour surgery involved taking a piece of mother Nit’s liver and placing in her baby daughter. The liver is one of the few human organs known to regenerate itself. The operation was a success and the little girl is now in Intensive Care where she will remain for several weeks. The mother is expected to leave hospital soon.

The eight month old is the daughter of Phuket Tiger Muay Thai trainer Rattanachai “Kru Nai” Jadngoouem and his wife Nit. At three months of age the baby was diagnosed with a bilary obstruction and local doctors said there was nothing they could do to help her. The parents were resigned to her death, besides “Kru Nai” was particularly suspicious of the medical establishment as his own mother had recently died as a result of what appeared to be a simple knee surgery.

Grainne Farrell first came to Thailand to practice her passion which is the martial art of Thai boxing. Although from Belfast she was living in London and working in the pharmaceutical industry. Her Thai experiences persuaded her to start a medical tourism business which she based in the Kingdom. She is the Managing Partner of “Lotus Medical International”, and came first to Koh Samui to locate her new venture. In 2010 she moved to Phuket because it seemed that many of her “tourists” came in search of cosmetic surgery and there were better surgeons available in the larger locale of Koh Phuket.

A rich foreign business man and would be business partner first brought Tuptim’s case to Grainne’s attention. He had heard her sad story and discovered that a state of the art operation could be performed in Thailand and agreed to fund it to the tune of THB 1,500,000. The businessman subsequently disappeared and literally left Grainne holding the baby. He had underestimated the grit of the Irish. Christmas was looming and Grainne being a member of the MuayThai boxing community in Chalong, quickly leapt to the aid of the little girl. She organized a fund raising campaign amongst the community to meet the costs of the operation. This started with a charity yoga event and moved on to a fancy dress theme fundraiser on Christmas Eve. They still had a long way to go when fate stepped in!

The fairy godfather in this case is Dana White who is the President of the UFC or “Ultimate Fighting Championships” in the USA. Someone had told White about little Tuptim’s predicament and he quickly agreed to put up the $50,000 necessary to fund the operation. White has a reputation for outspokenness which does not sit well with some people. However, here he has proved that he does indeed have a heart of gold!

It is White’s generosity that made the life saving operation on January 19^th possible but Grainne and her fund raisers have not finished yet. Tuptim will need to take expensive immuno-suppressant drugs far into the future. The cost of these medications alone will come out at more than the cost of the operation itself. Based on this, the plucky Irish woman has decided to start a foundation to meet these high medical bills. But she is not going to stop there as there are other children like Tuptim who would simply be left to die if it were not for the energy and overall generosity of people like Grainne Farrell. It is her goal then not only to help Tuptim but use the money from her charity to help meet the medical expenses of other children in a similar situation. Maybe you can find it in your heart to help them meet their goals by donating something to what can only be described as a very worthy cause. You will find their website at http://savetuptim.yolasite.com

This article appeared in "The Samui Gazette" of Friday 4th February 2011