Thursday, May 23, 2019
Book Review: The Unnamed Bears Favor
A new review of my book The Unnamed Bears Favor by writer/linguist E.G. Stone!
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
The Unnamed Bears Favor Featured on The Psychology of Books Series by Ruchika Pahwa
As we talk about the psychology of content on this blog, I want to share today about the books that have their unique psychology. We, the writers, weave a special world for our readers in order to instigate their imagination and thought processes in multiple directions. If a book cannot do that, there is no point in its existence.
I not only create books but also read tons of them (tons from different genres!) to spark my imagination and thoughts. I suggest the same when you read something. Explore a variety of genres and do not keep yourself limited to the one you like. While your favorite genre may keep your mind entertained, your mind also needs to grow and develop with a new stream of thought.
Recently, I came across this amazing read that I’d like to recommend to you. The title of this fantasy novelette is ‘The Unnamed Bears Favor.’ This book by J. Lyon Layden is a fine read for those readers who have been finding their truth and purpose in life. I’m posting a concise review so you may get a gist of what it brings along.
My review of The Unnamed Bears Favor
https://ruchikathoughtspeak.wordpress.com/2019/05/22/the-psychology-of-books-series-book-review-the-unnamed-bears-favor-by-j-lyon-layden/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Monday, May 20, 2019
Saturday, May 18, 2019
New Question on Denisovan Hybrids
I do have papers with a great deal of evidence and citations. I have not seen much use of citations on quora and do not think the average reader expects an academic paper as an answer. If they find one, it might bore them to tears.
Which specific claim would you like citations for?
I am a prehistoric fiction writer who wants to still be correct 200 years from now. If I did not use Occam’s Razor and common sense, I would be as behind as mainstream academia.
Because I am not afraid to extrapolate the obvious truth from the evidence at hand, I have been able to predict a multitude of scientific discoveries about prehistory.
For instance, when I saw the genetic evidence concerning Denisovans over 5 years ago I immediately said that it was a hybrid of at least three species. Just last month, that fact made headlines. Is that the citation you need?
Another example: I was criticized for 20 years by academics who insisted that Neanderthals had never mated with Homo sapiens. The evidence was there and was obvious long before academia excepted it due to DNA m. I’m not the only one who used common sense to determine that.
In the 80s, Stan Gooch compiled a mass of evidence from anthropology and archaeology to show that we bred with them, that there were as yet undiscovered sister-species to Neanderthal(Denisovan,etc, though he had his own names for them), and that Archaics survived into the Neolithic to influence our myth and folk lore.
He was removed from Academia for his unpopular theories and died in a trailer park.
Since then, all of his most important theories have been proven true by New fossils and genetics.
I am more concerned with being correct a hundred years from now, in order to avoid the obsoleteness of books like Clan of the Cave Bear, than I am with fitting into slow academia. Clan was a great book, but Aule assumed like most modern researchers that we were superior to our Archaic brothers.. This is not the case at all. We are good at making babies. The generalist in the middle zone can mate with all niche subspecies, and climate change/catastrophe favored our genetic make-up. We were not smarter, we were not superior in any way, we could not throw spears or slings better, and we weren’t more technologically advanced (for the majority of our shared existence at least, although some Neanderthal hybrids did outdo Neanderthals by the end of the Late Paleolithic).
Modern humans have no need for estrus, so we multiply like rabbits. Even so, only Homo Sapiens with Archaic introgression survived the Neolithic revolution. We have genetic evidence of pure populations from the fossil record. Non hybrid Homo Sapiens Went extinct, just like Neanderthals and Denisovans. There’s not a single pure Homo Sapien on this planet, though they were once ubiquitous in the Southern Hemisphere.
The first burials, chemical fires, religious rites, super-glue, megaliths, carvings, and cave paintings now go to Neanderthal, not Homo Sapien. Stan and I could have told you that in 1990
Here is A Discovery article released last month. They just caught up with what I’ve been saying about Denisovans for at least 5 years. Please let me know if you have questions about my other claims.
Friday, May 17, 2019
Vintage Pics of Looter's Keyboardist Dr. Dan Matrazzo
Dr. Dan Matrazzo is a Jazz, Jam, Rock, Blues, Space Funk and World Music American keyboardist and pianist. He was also a member and composer for legendary Grammy winning blues artist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Dr Dan started playing the piano at the age of three in 1962 and performed classical recitals while growing up in Tokyo. His uncle was a well known big band leader and bassist for Japanese TV networks.
Dr Dan recorded with The Allman Brothers[1] and Widespread Panic[2] which are available through various sources on the internet. His album "Timeless," which he recorded with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown was nominated for a Grammy Award.[3] Matrazzo's piano music can also be found on Brown's album "Real Life."[4]
Matrazzo was the founder, composer and producer for the band Fiji Mariners which is currently on Sony records. Dr. Dan has also played shows and/or tours with James Cotton andTaj Mahal, and has appeared on stage with Russell Malone, Lew Soloff, Phish, Blues Traveller, John Scofield, Michael Brecker, Les Claypool, Gov’t Mule, Ween, Lowell Fulson, George Porter Jr., Stanton Moore, Morphine and others.[5] Dan's professional journey began in 1975 as a teenager playing at sold-out arenas with Japanese guitarist Hisato "Char" Takenaka.[6] In 1981 Dr. Dan recorded on the album Cloudland/Pink Cloud on VAP Records with Nobuki Yoshinaga, Masayoshi Kabe, Hisato "Char" Takenaka.[7] From there he went on touring the US, Europe, Asia and the Mid-east with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and numerous other musical outfits, including several appearances at all major European Jazz festivals.
In the 1980s and 1990s when Dan was not touring he would work with the Atlanta-based group Life Force as a Jazz educator and concerts including the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics Northsea Jazz Festival.[8][9]
In 1992 to 1994, Dr. Dan and Char reunited with the band, the Psychedelix, and toured extensively in Japan, also, concerts in Los Angeles and New York City.[10] Together they released an album "Live At NHK Hall" and other DVDs and performed on March 20 at the SHIBUYA Public Hall TOKYO.
In 1996 to 1995 Matrazzo performed with Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie, recording the tracks for his album "Rendezvous With The Blues" on Hammond B3.[11]
He also recorded on Gregg Allman's album on Chrysalis Records in 1996.
His 2000 solo release “Dan on the Moon,” produced by David Z (Prince's “Parade:Music From Under the Cherry Moon”), was released by Terminus Records with Sam Sims (Joe Sample, Crusaders) on bass, Lil’ John Roberts (George Duke) on drums, and Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers) on guitar.[6] “Dan on the Moon” was considered by many to be the defining album of a new genre which jam fans immediately dubbed “Space Funk,”[3] though it explored many styles of music from funk and blues, soul, prog rock, and even classical piano.
From 2005 to 2011, Dr. Dan focused mainly on traditional and post-bebop jazz music, but then began touring with The Looters,[12] who are also known for backing Blue Note Records' Kristina Train, Rosa King, and Saskia Laroo.[12] In 2015 DR. Dan and The Looters released an album on Home Grown Records.[13]
In 2013 Matrazzo reunited with John Scofield as well as Gov't Mule at the 25th annual Christmas Jam in Asheville, North Carolina.[14]
In 2015 Gov't Mule released the album "Sco-Mule" with Dr Dan Matrazzo on keys, John Scofield on guitar, and a host of other musicians including Jimmy Herring and Allen Woodywhich was recorded at the Georgia Theatre and the Roxy in Atlanta. This was the last recording made by bassist Allen Woody of the Allman Brothers Band.[13]
Dr. Dan's music has been used by MTV for opening songs for a TV Murder and mystery show.[15] Later in 2017, there were sessions with Corky Laing of Mountain and Chris Barron and guitarist Shenkman Of the Spin Doctors.[16]
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
What do we know about Denisovans? How closely related are they to Neanderthals?
This is a complicated question. Denisovans are actually a hybrid species made up of at least three different species of archaic hominids. Around a million years ago, there was a “copying error” in the brain of one particular subspecies of Homo Erectus. This led to increased intelligence, and by 800,000 years ago this advanced group created an advanced acheulian stone technology and spread out over the whole of the Old World.
Their original habitat may have been the hills of Northern India, because this is the earliest example of such technology and it seems to spread in all directions from the river systems there.
In Europe, they assimilated (absorbed) Homo Antecessor and became Classic Neanderthals. In China, they assimilated the related Peking Man. This is why pre-Neanderthal Europeans more resemble the DNA of Denisovans than Neanderthals: one of the three species which make up Denisovans is actually the species of which Peking Man and Antecessor were a part.
In Africa, the advanced Homo erectus absorbed Homo Ergaster and eventually became the four to five subspecies which merged to form Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens between 300 and 200 thousand years ago.
This may seem complicated, but we must think of human evolution, and probably all evolution, as waves of assimilation. A species spreads out and adapts to niches, becoming various subspecies. Eventually, several subspecies become successful enough to spread out, or climate change favors one or the other. As they spread out, they hybridize with other subspecies and gain hybrid vigor. They continue to assimilate all the other subspecies until the collective genome becomes a new species with new subspecies.
The old idea of a tree or even a Bush is mostly incorrect. These “species” are better thought of as waves.
Advanced Homo Erectus or Early Archaic was A wave that assimilated most subspecies of Homo Erectus, and became Neanderthal in Europe, Homo Sapiens in Africa and the Middle East, Denisovans in Asia, the Mystery Hominid in SE Asia, and the Microcephalin D Hominid in India.
Only a few species escaped this wave of assimilation, and survived in Island Asia and the most remote parts of Africa.
Denisovans are a hybrid of a Neanderthal Sister species, Peking Man, and a more basal species that lived mostly in SE Asia.
Later, Neanderthals assimilated Denisovans and most of the Homo Sapiens living in SW Asia. Later still, a hybrid of Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens assimilated Neanderthals. Later still, mostly Homo Sapien agriculturalists assimilated the hybrids, as well as remaining Denisovans any other surviving subspecies like the aforementioned varieties in SE Asia and remote areas of Africa.
Waves.
consider this:
everyone in the world has a little bit of Neanderthal. Tibetans, SE Asians, and Native Americans have some Denisovan. Some SE Asians and ZPakistanis also have a bit of a species which branched from is 3.1 million years ago, the same time as our final separation from chimps and the appearance of the genus Homo (Homo Habilis).
The only people without Neanderthal are a few groups of hunter gatherers in Africa. However, these groups have introgression from a species which branched off from us 800,000 years ago and another that branched off 1.3 million years ago, about the time we lost our fur.
Pure Homo sapiens do not exist. We are hybrids too.
Although the above is complicated, it’s actually a gross simplification and lacks citations. I go much more in depth on my blog.
Toward a More Logically Acceptable Model of Archaic Introgression
From my Qora questions:
https://www.quora.com/What-do-we-know-about-Denisovans-How-closely-related-are-they-to-Neanderthals/answer/Joseph-Layden?__filter__=&__nsrc__=2&__snid3__=4415800248
Their original habitat may have been the hills of Northern India, because this is the earliest example of such technology and it seems to spread in all directions from the river systems there.
In Europe, they assimilated (absorbed) Homo Antecessor and became Classic Neanderthals. In China, they assimilated the related Peking Man. This is why pre-Neanderthal Europeans more resemble the DNA of Denisovans than Neanderthals: one of the three species which make up Denisovans is actually the species of which Peking Man and Antecessor were a part.
In Africa, the advanced Homo erectus absorbed Homo Ergaster and eventually became the four to five subspecies which merged to form Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens between 300 and 200 thousand years ago.
This may seem complicated, but we must think of human evolution, and probably all evolution, as waves of assimilation. A species spreads out and adapts to niches, becoming various subspecies. Eventually, several subspecies become successful enough to spread out, or climate change favors one or the other. As they spread out, they hybridize with other subspecies and gain hybrid vigor. They continue to assimilate all the other subspecies until the collective genome becomes a new species with new subspecies.
The old idea of a tree or even a Bush is mostly incorrect. These “species” are better thought of as waves.
Advanced Homo Erectus or Early Archaic was A wave that assimilated most subspecies of Homo Erectus, and became Neanderthal in Europe, Homo Sapiens in Africa and the Middle East, Denisovans in Asia, the Mystery Hominid in SE Asia, and the Microcephalin D Hominid in India.
Only a few species escaped this wave of assimilation, and survived in Island Asia and the most remote parts of Africa.
Denisovans are a hybrid of a Neanderthal Sister species, Peking Man, and a more basal species that lived mostly in SE Asia.
Later, Neanderthals assimilated Denisovans and most of the Homo Sapiens living in SW Asia. Later still, a hybrid of Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens assimilated Neanderthals. Later still, mostly Homo Sapien agriculturalists assimilated the hybrids, as well as remaining Denisovans any other surviving subspecies like the aforementioned varieties in SE Asia and remote areas of Africa.
Waves.
consider this:
everyone in the world has a little bit of Neanderthal. Tibetans, SE Asians, and Native Americans have some Denisovan. Some SE Asians and ZPakistanis also have a bit of a species which branched from is 3.1 million years ago, the same time as our final separation from chimps and the appearance of the genus Homo (Homo Habilis).
The only people without Neanderthal are a few groups of hunter gatherers in Africa. However, these groups have introgression from a species which branched off from us 800,000 years ago and another that branched off 1.3 million years ago, about the time we lost our fur.
Pure Homo sapiens do not exist. We are hybrids too.
Although the above is complicated, it’s actually a gross simplification and lacks citations. I go much more in depth on my blog.
Toward a More Logically Acceptable Model of Archaic Introgression
From my Qora questions:
https://www.quora.com/What-do-we-know-about-Denisovans-How-closely-related-are-they-to-Neanderthals/answer/Joseph-Layden?__filter__=&__nsrc__=2&__snid3__=4415800248
News for the Week 5/13/19
Dwarves in the Phillipines
The Teeth of Early Neanderthals May Indicate the Species’ Lineage Is Older Than Thought
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-neanderthals-modern-humans-diverged-years.amp
Denisovan Stoners.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2203647-cannabis-plant-evolved-super-high-on-the-tibetan-plateau/
We Don't Descend From Sediba
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/probability-helps-narrow-down-the-search-for-human-ancestors/
The Teeth of Early Neanderthals May Indicate the Species’ Lineage Is Older Than Thought
Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-neanderthals-modern-humans-diverged-years.amp
Denisovan Stoners.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2203647-cannabis-plant-evolved-super-high-on-the-tibetan-plateau/
One Catholic Priest Destroyed the Entire Mayan Written Language
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/05/probability-helps-narrow-down-the-search-for-human-ancestors/
New Review on The Unnamed Bears Favor
This is the story of an unnamed boy who yearns to be named a man in his stone-age (?) tribe. The story begins when he is chosen to join a group of mystical hunters, who offer him just that chance. However, he must go on a journey fraught with peril and haunted by magic and mystery.
This novella is a lushly worded, tightly paced journey into mystery, in the most traditional sense of the word.
The author evokes the worldview of a paleolithic person in a way that feels authentic, although we can never know what authentic actually means here. The world built in this compact story is unknown and unknowable, dangerous and beautiful and enchanting. I wish there were more.
One of the things that I find most compelling here is the author's reluctance to explain. Things are left unsaid, and things that we, the readers, do not understand are taken for granted. The characters do not explain things that they already know, just as would happen in real life, so the reader is left to wonder. What was real? What was confusion, or hallucination, or actually magic?
The use of language is also well wrought. The differences in dialect, hinting at connections beyond the tribal level, are interesting and fun. I found some parts where the language was perhaps a little too overwrought and got in the way of comprehension in a way that felt unintentional, though, so that line is a fine one.
I also spotted some basic typos, but such things are often unavoidable and so I didn't find them to detract overall from the story.
My only drawback, and the reason I'm not going for 5 stars, is that the ending felt rushed and vaguely flat. I felt that this might actually be enough of a world to merit a full novel, if a short one to maintain that mystery.
Overall, this was a genuine pleasure to read.
The Unnamed Bears Favor of Goodreads
This novella is a lushly worded, tightly paced journey into mystery, in the most traditional sense of the word.
The author evokes the worldview of a paleolithic person in a way that feels authentic, although we can never know what authentic actually means here. The world built in this compact story is unknown and unknowable, dangerous and beautiful and enchanting. I wish there were more.
One of the things that I find most compelling here is the author's reluctance to explain. Things are left unsaid, and things that we, the readers, do not understand are taken for granted. The characters do not explain things that they already know, just as would happen in real life, so the reader is left to wonder. What was real? What was confusion, or hallucination, or actually magic?
The use of language is also well wrought. The differences in dialect, hinting at connections beyond the tribal level, are interesting and fun. I found some parts where the language was perhaps a little too overwrought and got in the way of comprehension in a way that felt unintentional, though, so that line is a fine one.
I also spotted some basic typos, but such things are often unavoidable and so I didn't find them to detract overall from the story.
My only drawback, and the reason I'm not going for 5 stars, is that the ending felt rushed and vaguely flat. I felt that this might actually be enough of a world to merit a full novel, if a short one to maintain that mystery.
Overall, this was a genuine pleasure to read.
The Unnamed Bears Favor of Goodreads
Monday, May 13, 2019
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