A Christmas Musical Offering

Close friends, a healthy homemade meal, guitars and fun: it doesn't get any better than this.

In the spirit of Christmas sharing, here is a musical offering. Though this is not a Christmas song per se, it was created in the spirit of sharing the gifts of friendship, food, fun and music.

Close friends, a healthy, homemade meal, guitars and fun: it doesn't get any better than this:



Here's the song CHS and CC recorded: Hamakua Dream (3:05).

Those with little interest in making and recording music can stop reading....

Our goal (arising from both preference and time constraints) was to capture the spontaneity and freshness (and yes, the imperfections) of a jam, while using the tools of the trade (multiple tracks and various guitar effects) to enhance the dreaminess of the song's cascading open-string chords.

After adjusting a few of the notes/beats, we overlaid two rhythm guitar tracks, each with a different effect, to create the song's basic musical theme. A bass guitar track added depth, and then we each played lead guitar in a live double-lead.

A short interval we called a "palate cleanser" serves to separate the song's parts. I am wondering if other guitarists will discern the absurdly easy root of this transitional "palate pleaser."

We hope you enjoy our little musical offering.

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The Nearly Free University and The Emerging Economy:
The Revolution in Higher Education

Reconnecting higher education, livelihoods and the economy

With the soaring cost of higher education, has the value a college degree been turned upside down? College tuition and fees are up 1000% since 1980. Half of all recent college graduates are jobless or underemployed, revealing a deep disconnect between higher education and the job market.

It is no surprise everyone is asking: Where is the return on investment? Is the assumption that higher education returns greater prosperity no longer true? And if this is the case, how does this impact you, your children and grandchildren?


We must thoroughly understand the twin revolutions now fundamentally changing our world: The true cost of higher education and an economy that seems to re-shape itself minute to minute.

The Nearly Free University and the Emerging Economy clearly describes the underlying dynamics at work - and, more importantly, lays out a new low-cost model for higher education: how digital technology is enabling a revolution in higher education that dramatically lowers costs while expanding the opportunities for students of all ages.

The Nearly Free University and the Emerging Economy provides clarity and optimism in a period of the greatest change our educational systems and society have seen, and offers everyone the tools needed to prosper in the Emerging Economy.

Read the Foreword, first section and the Table of Contents.

print edition (list $20, now $18)

Kindle edition: list $9.95 

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Things are falling apart--that is obvious. But why are they falling apart? The reasons are complex and global. Our economy and society have structural problems that cannot be solved by adding debt to debt. We are becoming poorer, not just from financial over-reach, but from fundamental forces that are not easy to identify. We will cover the five core reasons why things are falling apart:

1. Debt and financialization
2. Crony capitalism
3. Diminishing returns
4. Centralization
5. Technological, financial and demographic changes in our economy

Complex systems weakened by diminishing returns collapse under their own weight and are replaced by systems that are simpler, faster and affordable. If we cling to the old ways, our system will disintegrate. If we want sustainable prosperity rather than collapse, we must embrace a new model that is Decentralized, Adaptive, Transparent and Accountable (DATA).

We are not powerless. Once we accept responsibility, we become powerful.

Kindle: $9.95       print: $24