When Bluegrass Came to Earth

Headlines: Big UFO blitz in North Carolina's baffling "Bluegrass Triangle"

Several pulsating, multicolored UFOs were tracked for hours by Raleigh police in the latest sightings in North Carolina's bizarre "Bluegrass Triangle," where a baffling series of UFO encounters are taking place.

People in the area are convinced they're the target of a "UFO blitz" – and the latest sighting by resident Pat Simpson has strengthened that belief.

"Wake County is noted for its UFO sightings," said Simpson. "There are too many by too many people to explain it away. The number of encounters goes on without end...we've been besieged by UFOs. We're talking about a UFO blitz!"

Simpson came upon his UFO September 27 while walking along downtown's Fayetteville Street. He said the craft was hovering over a food truck when he first spotted it. "It hovered overhead long enough for me to grab a camera and take pictures of it," he said. "And then it landed – right in the middle of the street. At this point, several alien beings came out of the craft and began moving toward the food truck."

The incredible events that followed will never be forgotten – neither in Raleigh nor in the world beyond. But survivor Simpson, an accomplished linguist who also keeps a written or tape-recorded diary, was not only able to record that fateful day, but he was able to communicate with the strange, but beautiful creatures that had suddenly entered our world.

Here, for the first time, he reveals their improbable story – a story beyond belief.

"These creatures," he said, "were on a mission to invade our planet and had just finished a 75-year journey to Earth. But many years ago, they'd heard Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys on their space radio. They fell in love with our music, so rather than destroying Earth, their crews decided to form bluegrass bands instead. In fact, their musical prowess is very highly advanced. Now they are among us. They came for our planet, but when they heard our music they stayed to pick and sing."

"They mean us no harm," said Simpson. "In fact, you might say they are close encounters of the charming kind. But you decide. Watch this video and judge for yourself."


I told you it was beyond belief!

Author Patrick Simpson and his wheelchair-restricted wife Anne uncover their experiences exploring historical and cultural experiences around the world. Visit now to learn how independent travel for disabled persons is not only possible, it can be fun!! www.booksbypatricksimpson.com

Sadako & the Thousand Paper Cranes

Saturday, 20 August 1994, Japan: Shortly after 1994's Peace Day commemorations in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, we happened upon a wonderfully poignant scene. Thousands and thousands of folded paper cranes had been laid around the Children's Peace Monument. The heap was as high as our heads and

fifty feet long. Atop the domed memorial a likeness of Sadako Sasaki reached skyward, her arms holding the metal outline of a paper crane high above her head.

Twelve-year old Sadako Sasaki had a dream – to be the best runner in her class. They say she never lost a race. But one day, she started to get sick. At first she tried to keep it a secret from her family, but that didn't last long. They took her to the hospital to get the most frightening news…

Sadako was only two years old when a sudden explosion near her home blew her out of the window. Thinking she was dead, her mother ran out to find her, but found her alive. She looked up to see about a mile away a giant mushroom cloud boiling six miles up into the sky. The landscape was utterly devastated – flattened houses, snapped trees, bent flag poles – with flames already licking the air. People were crying and dying before her eyes. Sadako's mother fled, carrying her daughter, but they couldn't escape the "black rain."

It was August 6, 1945, the day an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima – the day when everything changed, not only for the world, but for Sadako. Only she didn't know it…

She'd also been exposed to a radiation time bomb.

Nine years later, lumps began to develop on Sadako's neck and behind her ears. She began to suffer from dizzy spells when she was running until the day she collapsed in front of teachers. Her parents took her to the hospital where she was hospitalized. The prognosis: leukemia with – at the most – a year to live. The lumps slowly grew bigger, making her look as if she had the mumps.

One story recounts the day her best friend Chizuko brought her some paper and showed her how to fold it into a paper crane. She told her about the legend of the origami cranes and the Japanese belief that if you could fold 1,000 cranes, you could have a wish granted. "I wish to live," said Sadako as she began trying to fold her 1,000 cranes. She folded as many as the sickness allowed. Then she would string thread through them and her brother would hang them from the ceiling. She would say, "I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world."

Some days she just didn't have the strength to fold them. Her friends would visit and say, "It's time to rest. You can make more birds tomorrow." Unfortunately, she only made it to 644 before she died, surrounded by her family. Following her death, her friends finished the remainder of the 1,000 cranes and buried them with her.

Her story was picked up by newspapers and published in Eleanor Coerr’s children’s book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Later, inspired young people from all over Japan raised funds to build the Children's Peace Monument in the new Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It was dedicated to Sadako and all of the children who had died from the effects of the atomic bomb. In 1958, a statue of Sadako standing on the Mountain of Paradise holding a golden crane was unveiled in the park.

Sadoko lost the race to save her life but she won the hearts of millions. To this day, children all over Japan and the world fold paper cranes and ship them to the park by the box load. On Peace Day (August 6th) thousands of them are placed at the statue's base. At the foot of the statue is a plaque that reads:

"This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in the world."

Author Patrick Simpson and his wheelchair-restricted wife Anne uncover their experiences exploring historical and cultural experiences around the world. Visit now to learn how independent travel for disabled persons is not only possible, it can be fun!! www.booksbypatricksimpson.com

The Mascot

The word mascot has been traced back to colloquial use in Provence and Gascony in France, where it was used to describe anything – animal, person, or object – which inspires and brings good luck. Even a garden!

September 11 is not only a day of remembrance, it has also become known as a "Day of Service", commemorated this year in Raleigh's News & Observer's front-page article: "Doing some good while doing time". It reported how inmates at Johnston Correctional Institution in Smithfield NC work the soil as their part in the "Plant a Row for the Hungry" program. They are learning gardening techniques and using them to raise food for charity. By eating what they produce, you may literally be taking – to quote McGruff the Crime Dog – "a bite out of crime!"

One prisoner said, "It’s like when you’re here, you’re not in prison. It’s like you’re on a little farm, for a couple of hours a day. It gives me something to do, keeps me out of trouble. And at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve done something to help somebody.” The garden has become his inspiration – his mascot.

Around that same time, Fox News reported a similar story from the other side of the world – Japan. The Asahikawa prison, located some 560 miles north of Tokyo has just become the first Japanese prison with a life-size mascot!

"Katakkuri-chan" is a 6-foot 6-inch humanoid with a huge square face and an enormous purple flower for hair. The mascot wears the uniform of a prison warden, (A female version has the same name). Katakkuri-chan made its recent debut at an annual weekend fair at the prison. On Sunday it played with 1,700 children and visitors (up from 1,200 last year) who were able to buy handicrafts made by inmates, ranging from barbecue parts to TV stands and aprons. Katakkuri-chan is spearheading the jail's efforts to warm up their chill and forbidding image.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police has had its own crime-fighting mascot since the 1980s. Pipo-kun is well-loved across the nation and appears on posters and in crime prevention videos as well as on cell phone cases, notepads, erasers, mouse pads, T-shirts and key chains. A combination of several animals, he takes the best parts in order to be the best law-enforcement officer: his large ears help him hear people in trouble, an antennae to catch quick movement and large eyes to watch every corner of society. He even has a stirring song on his website.

Now that's thinking "outside the box". Maybe these are ideas other prisons can try!

Can you think of a way to do your own Day of Service? Here are three ways to think out of the box:

• Draw a picture. Drawing a picture is more right-brained, and can help break your logical left-brain’s hold on a problem.
• Work backwards. Start with a goal and think back through the steps needed to reach it until you get to where you want to be.
• Ask a child for advice. Ask a child how they might tackle a problem in a way they can understand it. A child thinks and speaks with an ignorance of convention that is often helpful.

Think of it – You may solve world peace. You may come up with a new mode of transportation. You may discover a cure for cancer.

You may even come up with a cure for autism.

Now that, my friends, would be a truly extraordinary day of service. And you would be one humdinger of a mascot!

Author Patrick Simpson and his wheelchair-restricted wife Anne uncover their experiences exploring historical and cultural experiences around the world. Visit now to learn how independent travel for disabled persons is not only possible, it can be fun!! www.booksbypatricksimpson.com

The Big Debutante Ball

The annual North Carolina Debutante Ball, which presents debs from all over the state, continued its tradition Friday night at the Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh.

For 87 years the debs have been chosen based on their families’ contributions to North Carolina economic, cultural, social and civic life.

Long considered the premier social event in the state, it originated in 1923 as the "Raleigh Fall Festival," sponsored by the merchants of the city. Prominent young ladies from throughout the state were presented as candidates for Queen of the Festival before a queen was crowned by the governor. In 1927 the Terpsichorean Club was formed and held the first North Carolina Debutante Ball. The purpose of the club, which derived its name from the Greek mythological muse, Terpsichore, the goddess of dancing and choral song, was to "sponsor annually a ball for the presentation of North Carolina Debutantes to be held in Raleigh on the first weekend after Labor Day."

My wife was once presented there. In fact, she was leader (and "spoke of the wheel") of the ball.

And now it was my granddaughter Raven's turn.

She was one of the 162 young ladies who received invitations this year. They were selected by more than 200 nominators located throughout the state. The final approval of the Debutantes was made by Terpsichorean Club members.

For most debutantes, the excitement starts in the spring, when the invitations – or "bids" – arrive. The season gets into full swing around the first of July and culminates with the Debutante Ball the weekend after Labor Day. In between, there are numerous brunches, barbecues, buffets, cocktail parties, mother-daughter teas and father-daughter cookouts to attend. A young woman who accepts every invitation may go to 30 parties or more in a season.

Last weekend there were eight functions held in Raleigh honoring the debutantes, their families and their escorts. But the ball on Friday evening was the focal point of the weekend. And my eyes were on Raven, my granddaughter (seen here with rose corsage). I have never been so proud of anyone in my life.

"And debutantes, after all, still wear white. They still carry roses. And for at least one breathtaking moment, when they descend the staircase and extend a long white glove to reach for their fathers' hand, all the money it took to get them there must seem worthwhile."
– The News & Observer 9/6/1991

Author Patrick Simpson and his wheelchair-restricted wife Anne uncover their experiences exploring historical and cultural experiences around the world. Visit now to learn how independent travel for disabled persons is not only possible, it can be fun!! www.booksbypatricksimpson.com