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This is a bit off-topic for our site, so I moved it to the "everything else" catagory. Oh, and by the way Kyle, when you're finished testing out the discussion board, how about posting something relevant to CenterTao? Thanks bro.
Oh, and hey . . . I want to fly! Tell me how!
Oh, and hey . . . I want to fly! Tell me how!
Comments
Thanks for visiting CenterTao.org!
Luke
Hi, I'm Luke, and I came across this site because, well, I built it. I think there's a lot of interesting things in this site, and I can't wait to hear what other people think of them. Keep up the good work, CenterTao!
All right, I think we can top that, can't we?
At the moment I?m fourteen and living in Santa Cruz Ca. I've been barefoot for all my life, I hear everyone ask me "aren't your feet cold?" MAN!, I get so sick of it, when people see me barefoot it's like a UFO sighting, little kids say stuff like "hah hah! that kid's not wearing shoes! It's funny because that kid's not wearing shoes!".
I've got some ducks named, Buddy, Maggie, and Ducky.
I?m the main mandolin player of the family, at some gigs I play my mandolin behind my back on some songs. In fact, I'm a Mandolin picking, guitar flatpicking, banjo frailing, bass thumping, Shakuhachi blowing, Koto plucking, Shamisen strumming, semi-singin' Fry Daddy.
One of my favorite hobbies is archery, I like to shoot two arrows at once, and also shoot from our balcony. I don?t practice knife throwing too much any more. I used to do "whip-cracking", in other words, setting up targets and knocking them off one by one with my whip. I stopped for a few months (meaning a few years).
One of my favorite things to do is to fish on the wharf. I mainly catch surfperch (usually walleye perch), Jack-smelt, rock-fish, kingfish, octopus, sand-dab and Sculpin. I don't eat Sculpins 'cause not only are they spiny and bony, they are venomous scorpion fish. I'm hoping to catch a Ling-cod and Halibut.
I am learning Chinese, Mandarin to be specific, my chinese name (Qing-shan)
By the way, you don't have to read this if it's boring for you.
The top three favorite books is Dune, The Dig and Stephen K. Hayes's Ninjitsu books.
I?m great at annoying people too but I only summon that power when only absolutley necessary or if I'm feeling good.
I practice Sumi-e (Japenese brush painting)
Well... I guess that's about it.
Looking to add joy and fulfillment to your dull, dull life? Well look no further! Check out Kyle Abbott's Web Pit Stop!
http://www.playingbyear.com/kyle/
I can remove it if enough people complain, but I haven't heard anything yet. :roll:
I just discovered this site. I look forward to posting, replying, and setting you all straight! Haha! Just kidding. This is an attractive site and some good insights here. I discovered it while searching for the phrase "good and bad produce each other" or something like that. It is found in Carl's comments on DDJ 62: ?When I remember that good and bad produce each other, I'm don't cling so firmly to them in my life. I still have my preferences, and still regard some things good and other things bad, but only half heartily. I know a deeper reality, and this is my refuge from these warring cycles of good and bad which run through my life.? Very nice.
I think many people, if not most, would agree with that statement. And yet, this agreement is not reflected in their lives, by and large. This verse comes to mind: That simplicity is a virtue is something that can be appreciated by many, including myself. But to integrate that viewpoint into one's life is something that is extraordinarily difficult, including for myself. Maybe difficult isn't the right word . . . perhaps, improbable? Anyhow, glad to hear you enjoy the site! Take care, and ttyl,
Luke
P.S. - FYI, I haven't been making web sites for quite that long . . . it was more DOS-type stuff before.
Discourse on the concept of simplicity is intrinsically complicated. That said(!), let me offer this idea: "Your attitude is an aperature for your talent to work through". -Bill Howey
Translated to fit our terms, that essentially means one can do what one sets one's mind to. In other words, simplicity is as "difficult" or "improbable" as one makes it.
I'll leave you with the abridged version of Occam's Razor: Given a list of all possible solutions to a problem, the simplest explanation is probably correct.
To the Abbot Unit:
I hope your week, collectively, was educational and more importantly, tons of fun for all.
All Good Medicine,
Jeff Thompson
Re: simplicity is complicated. What is the hardest thing to contemplate? Nothing. Our brains are great at imagining things . . . stuff, action, Something. But we're not biologically set up to think about yin stuff very well. Thus, we can't help but throw complexity into the mix, mmm?
Of course, this doesn't mean that I can 'tackle' simplicity easily by just 'willing' myself to. Sure, it's a function of your attitude, but that's not something you can change on a whim...
Finally, on behalf of the rest of the unit, I can say that it was both those things. Papa calls it an adventure/vacation.
Luke
P.S. - You should register! In fact, both of you should! That'll push our registered user count all the way to 27!
Keep on the fiddle and you, Karen (on Dobro), your son and Lloyd can form a band!
Tell Lloyd that Playing By Beer is going strong!
Anyway, just signed onto this site-see my bio for fascinating, life changing info about me. Ran across your family searching for barefoot related topics on the net, and have really liked what i've seen so far in your web sites-We have so much in common it's scary (many find it scary to have ANYTHING in common with me.) Anyway, gonna check out the rest of this place (to the best of my computer illiterate abilities) and hope to check in regularly. I work nights (230am now-almost lunchtime) and usually have a lot of time to chat if anyone else is up this time of night.
:shock: peace Robert
I've read almost everything on your site and am so glad I did. Your family seems so friendly and normal compared to how TS wants to portray it. I would never have thought a reality show could twist reality so drastically. I've decided I don't want to be on their show after all. If they could take a sweet family like yours and convince the public you guys are crazy, I don't want to see what they would do to my family!
I'm a Greek Orthodox Christian and a homeschool mom. I distrust all branches of government and am afraid of down escalators. I'm a Dallas Cowboys fanatic, and I have all of Mark Chesnutt's CDs.
Frusterating is spelled Frustrating. Integrety is spelled Integrity.
My free time is spent hiking in the mountains in the summer and fall, and skiing in the winter...should we get any snow any time soon.
I IM'd Luke and he responded. Pretty exciting.
I hope you guys aren't too fired up over the show....we all know they edit those things to craft a "Reality" that makes for entertaining TV. Both of the families seemed really nice and well centered on what is really important out there. The truth is that makes for boring TV, doesnt it? Fox needs people to keep watching their shows, so obviously they are going to take differences in people, no matter how slight, and exagerate them into "Good TV."
I'll be cruising this website to see what else it has to offer.
btw Kyle .. aren't your feet cold ? LOL I'm a barefooter too and I get that all the time or even better "you know you aren't wearing shoes ??" well duh.
First things first, I'm Evan from Boston MA, 19 years old, came to this site via FOX's site. I went to FOX's community to read reactions on TS and found this site. I read the reactions here, and Luke and Carl's reactions on their site (I was flabbergasted to see that the 'crazy family' has the internet!) and now that I am schooled in the fact that FOX twists what they want, the Abbotts aren't crazy to me anymore! :P
Anyhoo, Luke and Kyle ... if you lived in Boston, there is no way you would allow yourself to go barefoot in January and February. You could try, but you'd get pneumonia all the time. Be thankful you live in Santa Cruz. I was actually in SC this summer, I went to Anaheim and SF for two weeks and popped into SC for a couple of hours. Yeah, a lot better than Boston ...
P.S. Are you going to college and are you driving now?
I am a bluegrass fan, and I wanted to say that I really enjoyed the scenes on TS where we got to see and hear you play. You can really pick up a storm, and I loved the four-part harmony. I'm just over the hill from you, so I hope we can get to one of your gigs sometime.
I'm also a writer for a reality TV website. We meet to watch and make fun of reality shows on a regular basis.
It's interesting to me how hard they tried to force a storyline here. But I thought it was very revealing when Vickie could not stand being in the redwoods. To me, someone who can't feel any connection to nature while standing in a forest is more unusual than a family who likes to go around barefoot. Her reaction seemed extreme, and no one was making her scream when a leaf fell on her or anything.
I enjoyed reading your site. Take care, and don't let the TV turkeys get you down.
To Carl, Luke, Kyle and Leslie, I hope you aren't offended by my recap of the show. I'm obligated to recap what was shown on the show. I try to make up for it by throwing in a few hints about the heavy-handed editing.
Having said that, though, most members of our site have seen enough "reality" shows to know better than to accept what's shown as the unadulterated truth. You would be welcome on our site if you want to visit and give your perspective on the show. We're a PG-13 site, and we don't allow flaming of other members (which would include you, if you register and join) so pretty much we attract good people interested in discussion.
Actually, I've been reading your recaps ever since we got that first email from the casting director. The forum you write for was the first one I ran across. I think you've done a great job with all of them. You have a way with words, my friend. I enjoyed reading 'em all, except maybe our own! :P But no, I wasn't offended by your recap -- you're just recounting what you saw on TV, after all. It's kind of odd, though, because it's just like reading fiction! But hey, for a work of fiction, it's a good story . . .
Anyway, about posting something on your site: I have a feeling that a lot of people on there just want their entertainment, and don't particularly want to hear about anything else, wouldn't you say? So I don't want to spoil their fun. :-)
It's a funny thing; some families don't really inspire much interest in finding out the real truth, but it seemed to me that a lot of people were interested in finding out more about your family.
I put a post up pointing to your site, and advised people they can find out more about you here. You would certainly be welcomed over there, but I completely understand if you don't. People can certainly make the effort to click on a link if they want to learn more. (Well, you'd think so, at least!)
When I took on recapping this show, I guess I didn't know what I was getting in to. Personally, the only reality shows I like are the competition ones, like Survivor and Big Brother. I certainly didn't expect that I would care about anyone personally on a reality show - on shows like Survivor, those people definitely want to be there and are competing for money.
But I find myself getting more and more upset with the heavy-handed editing and the way they seek out families they think will be laughed at or thought of as "weird". I made a commitment, so I'm stuck here for now.:(
I wish you guys all the best, and one of these days I'll walk up to you at a bluegrass gig and say Hi.
Urhmm...these is so weird! Well, my name is Cori. I very rarely, if ever, watch reality shows. I just so happened to turn on Trading Spouses one night, and there was a brainwashed, spiritual, homeshooling family (imagine that!) Curiousity got the best of me, and I found this site via Fox Message Boards...
Anyways, I wasn't really shocked to hear what Fox did to you guys. Actually, my mom and I watched the show together, and talked over how much of it was real and how much of it was fake. After reading your articles, I was apalled at how distorted it was...
well, I bet you guys are used to hearing that now. Anywho, ciao