Category Archives: Trance

SHENGJIN, Albania The medical student, in a trauma-induced trance after a week under Taliban rule and three days of terror waiting for a flight out of Kabuls airport, looked out the window on her first day at her new home and saw the Statue of Liberty.

I thought for a moment that perhaps I was in New York, said Tahera, a 21-year-old student. But the statue, made of plaster instead of copper and located in northern Albania, a fiercely pro-American country, was much shorter than the real one, she added, summoning up a wry sense of humor despite her harrowing ordeal.

The statue was an unintentionally taunting decoration, a kitschy flourish on the grounds of an Albanian beach resort housing more than 440 Afghans who fled Kabul after the city fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15.

Before being flown last week to Albania, a country she had never heard of, Tahera had hoped to escape to the United States or Britain, where she has an uncle. (The New York Times is using only Taheras first name to protect her family still in Afghanistan.) But with those countries and other wealthy nations wary of taking in refugees, she has found shelter in what is perhaps the worlds strangest and most luxurious refugee camp.

Albania, one of Europes poorest nations, has committed to taking in up to 4,000 refugees from Afghanistan, more than any other country. The 677 who have arrived, including about 250 children, are being housed in resorts along the Adriatic coast, a practice based on an emergency-response approach that Albania developed after a devastating earthquake in 2019, when people left homeless were put up in beach hotels.

Although the Afghans are grateful for the accommodations, the touch of luxury rings somewhat hollow for many.

Parwarish, an Afghan womens activist who worked on projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development, said that she was touched by the Albanians kindness but that she nonetheless was sleeping fitfully and having nightmares.

I see my family dying in my dreams, she said. All this luxury is great if you have peace of mind. I dont.

The decision to welcome the Afghans appears to be popular in Albania, a country with a long history of its people taking flight. Providing for the refugees is the right and natural thing to do, Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview in Tirana, the capital.

While opposition politicians in France, Germany and other European nations regularly stoke fear of refugees and migrants to put pressure on government leaders, Mr. Ramas opponents have mostly stayed quiet or supported his welcoming of Afghans.

We dont put people in camps. They are dehumanizing and where all the problems start psychologically, the prime minister said. We have been like them many times in our own history. They are just trying to escape from hell.

Tahera, the medical student, shares a room with an Afghan woman who lost both of her hands in a bomb attack in Afghanistan. Now at a resort with three swimming pools and a long sandy beach, Tahera wants to learn to swim, keen to take her mind off the traumas. She also looks forward to learning to ride a bicycle, a form of exercise that Afghanistans conservative, patriarchal society frowns on for women.

Determined to keep her planned medical career on track, she is taking a first-aid course offered at the resort by an Afghan doctor from London.

Albania, a NATO member that sent troops to Afghanistan to join the U.S.-led effort to hold the Taliban at bay, has long helped people the United States doesnt want or doesnt know what to do with.

When the American military decided in 2006 that a group of Chinese Uyghurs it had held captive for four years at Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, were not dangerous terrorists as China had maintained, Albania agreed to give them a place to live.

But Mr. Rama said of taking in the Afghans, We are not doing this because the Americans asked us.

Sensing that the American-backed government in Kabul would not last long as U.S. troops completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan, Mr. Rama first offered at a NATO summit in June to help with what he feared would be a flood of Afghan refugees. He urged other leaders to do the same. (A senior American diplomat in Tirana confirmed Mr. Ramas account.)

But NATO leaders saw little reason for immediate worry. They stuck to Washingtons optimistic view that the Taliban were months or even years away from victory.

Two months later, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, setting off an exodus of womens activists, civil society workers, journalists and other Afghans who fear the Taliban.

In Albania, at the Rafaelo Resort, a cluster of four- and five-star hotels near the town of Lezhe, evacuees from Afghanistan eat in a separate restaurant that serves halal meals, but mingle by the pool with tourists, mostly ethnic Albanians from neighboring Kosovo.

The Afghans room and board are covered by foreign organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy and the Yalda Hakim Foundation, which was set up by a BBC journalist of Afghan origin. George Soros Open Society Foundations are paying for 135 Afghans who worked with the organization in Afghanistan to stay at a high-end hotel and spa down the coast. (The organization negotiated a steep discount.)

The presence of veiled Afghan women on poolside lounger chairs at the Rafaelo Resort has come as a surprise to the paying guests, but none seemed to mind.

Who are the Taliban? The Taliban arose in 1994 amid the turmoil that came after the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including floggings, amputations and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Heres more on their origin story and their record as rulers.

Who are the Taliban leaders? These arethe top leaders of the Taliban, men who have spent years on the run, in hiding, in jail and dodging American drones. Little is known about them or how they plan to govern, including whether they will be as tolerant as they claim to be. One spokesman told The Timesthat the group wanted to forget its past, but that there would be some restrictions.

I had no idea there were so many Afghans living here, but they dont bother me, said Besnik Zeqiri, a Kosovo Albanian migr to the United States. They are all humans and need to be protected.

Liri Gezon, another tourist, said he had seen terrified Afghans at Kabuls airport on television and was happy to see them safe in Albania. They are not creating any problems for us and deserve to live like we do, he said, recalling how hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians had fled Kosovo to escape marauding Serbian forces in the late 1990s and knew the trauma of flight.

Albanias foreign minister, Olta Xhacka, said in an interview that the Afghan evacuees were originally expected to stay a couple of months while their visas for the United States were being processed. But we are now working on the premise that they will stay in Albania for at least one year, maybe longer, she said, adding that those unable to secure visas to move elsewhere would be welcome to stay in Albania.

Wahab, a journalist who helped run a U.S.-funded news agency covering womens issues in the western Afghan city of Herat, said he had never expected such deluxe facilities. He fled Afghanistan with his wife and three children, with help from the National Endowment for Democracy.

We are luxury refugees, he joked. We go to the beach and see half-naked women. We sleep, eat and go to the beach. For most people this would seem like paradise.

But Afghanistan keeps intruding. He cant stop thinking about the eight Taliban checkpoints that stopped the bus he was traveling on with his family from Herat to Kabul, or seeing the Afghan capital for perhaps the last time as his evacuation flight took off. Kabul, which the Taliban had taken over a few days earlier, looked very, very dark, he said.

An editor, who asked not to be named because her family has received threats from the Taliban, said she had lost all hope in Afghanistan and believed that the United States was in a way right to leave our country, because nothing was really changing.

As a fiercely independent journalist who grew up in a family of Pashtun, Afghanistans most conservative and numerous ethnic group, she was herself evidence that some things could change. But the lightning-swift return of the Pashtun-dominated Taliban sounded the death knell for her media outfit.

Any change we achieved has now been multiplied by zero, she said. We are back at naught.

Tahera, the medical student, avoids discussions about why her world imploded so quickly.

She had never planned to leave Afghanistan, but as a woman and a member of the often persecuted Hazara minority, she decided that there was no future for her in a Taliban-ruled nation.

I always told my family and friends, I will never leave my country, she said. Yet her father urged her to go when the Yalda Hakim Foundation offered her a chance to get out, even though it meant leaving behind her parents, five sisters and an infant brother.

I miss my family, she said. I miss my university. I miss Afghanistan. I worry all the time. There are just too many questions I dont know the answer to.

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In Albania, Afghan Refugees Live in Luxury and Trauma - The New York Times

The original and fast becoming an international phenomenon of trance, house, breakbeat and new age music is Paul Elstaks worldwide chart topping album Trance. It is widely hailed as the best and most downloaded album in history and has achieved a fan base all over the world. Over the years, the popularity of Paul Elstaks music has grown and taken fans from across the globe to his musics dance floor, club and record label appearances. This article will discuss his rise to fame and the success of his worldwide fan club, including a brief biography of the man himself.

The term Trance was coined by British DJ and producer John Caffe (with whom Elstak worked for over 15 years). Trance is usually characterized by a heavy, dark and mysterious atmosphere usually characterized by deep vocals and instrumentation. Most producers from the rave and hardstyle music genres are known to have produced a good amount of trance tracks and are usually characterized by a dark & sinister sound, although there is often an underlying feeling of humor amongst the critics. Trance music usually has an impressive range of high frequencies, with high frequency ranges usually consisting of ultra-deep bass sounds that are usually characterized with pounding drums. A good amount of trance songs have been produced using such musical styles, most notably Michael Jacksons XT and Korns I Remember You. There are also countless other artists that have made trance music tracks, most notably buried in the digital underground where they have been continually released through illegal downloading and sharing.

I Remember You is one of many examples of a great example of a track that many people consider to be among the best trance songs ever made. Produced by DJ Chronic, I Remember You uses some of the new elements of breakbeat and tribal style vocals which are very much present in many of the leading breakcore albums of the moment, but which typically wouldnt feature in such a highly popular track. One reason why I Remember You stands out is simply down to the incredible level of production that has gone into producing this track. Other producers who have worked on similar albums have only managed to match or even surpassed the quality of production that is characteristic of Chronics work. This is down to his experience and because he knows what it takes to make a hit album, which is something a lot of modern producers dont seem to have.

Another track that many people will consider to be in the same genre as I Remember You, Karaoke 4ever by Lee Sharp is another example of a fast electronic dance music song which features a wide variety of high-pitched vocals. Although the vocals are relatively similar between songs, the production is not. One reason why this can be an issue is because it makes it seem like the vocals are being recorded at the same volume as the beat. In many cases, especially on Karaoke versions of this track, the vocalist may be trying to reach a pitch that is higher than her own, something that causes a distortion due to hitting the top of the head. In many cases, this version is probably not even close to being a happy hardcore song.

One other track which is often lumped together with the likes of Karaoke 4ever and I Remember You is none other than Bouncy Techno. This is another track from Lee Sharps acclaimed Bouncy techno series and is also from the Bouncy techno series. The production on this track is a real spectacle, featuring an abundance of keyboards and effects. Unfortunately, this version of the track does not have the same production values as the others in the series and is probably not as enjoyable for those looking for some fast electronic dance music. Its a shame that this track didnt make the cut though, as it is just another example of a fairly similar sound that is unfortunately missed by most producers.

One other track which should feature more prominence when discussing early 90s rave is I Remember You by Novelty and his mates. This track is a classic rave hit, featuring early 90s rave legend Michael Jackson (of Thriller fame). For those looking for that familiar Michael Jackson vibe, this track is a great place to look as it has a distorted and almost dubby sample that is incredibly hard to identify on its own.

Now lets discuss some tracks which arent from the early 1990s but which still sound popular today. One of these is Electronic Guitar Starring feat. Antony, Jon Bell & Alex Grey (The Who) from the album Reality. What makes this track standout from the others that came before it is the use of a distorted bass drum sound. This sound was used extensively in early 90s rave music and continues to be used to this day. A lot of producers consider this style of drum sample as over processed and unnecessary, but many people feel that it adds a unique aspect to the sound which isnt commonly found in many other songs from the early 1990s.

Finally I want to touch on the less popular and lesser-known style of electronic dance music from the early 1990s. This is techno, which can loosely be described as raveting techno. There are a lot of artists that have released some excellent genre defining techno tracks throughout the years, but none more so than Canadian group Astral Travel. Their song Waking Light is an excellent example of this style and comes from their classic album Astral. This track is worth a listen to by any fan of rave.

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Fast Electronic Dance Music From The Early 1990s - One EDM

Beloved trance legends Nic Chagall and Bossi AKA Cosmic Gate just dropped a bomb on us with the first stage of their hotly anticipated new artist album MOSAIIK. Trailed throughout the early parts of 2021 by vanguard single releases and stunning livestreams, MOSAIIK contains nine sensational cuts from the GRAMMY-nominated duo.

They say that music is a reflection of the times it is written in, mostly a sonic snapshot of the mood of a society and a window into the soul of the enduring human spirit. When enthusiasm is high, anthemic powerhouses tend to arise, urging listeners to have fun, worry less, and party more. And when morale slips, the tones are somber and lyrics turn towards self-reflection. Arguably, humankind is currently experiencing the latter, and musicians are listening. As producers emerge from the progressive tones of the 2010s, electronic artists have taken a liking towards deeper, techno-driven sounds. The minimalistic approach practically mirrors societys angst amidst a global pandemic, something Cosmic Gate picked up on and created yet another shift in their musical catalogue.

With MOSAIIK they will be mirroring the same delivery system they adopted by their 2017 Materia albums. Most seasoned Cosmic Gate fans will already be familiar with MOSAIIK release dynamic. Shared across two Chapters MOSAIIKs II styled title is a direct nod to the groups eleventh artist long-player. In chapter one we find Nic and Bossi embracing the dark corners of the dance floor in a bass-driven techno affair. We were delighted to have a chat with them about their new album and what else inspires them.

The Nocturnal Times: Thank you both for taking the time for this interview. Big congrats on your new album release. You must be pretty excited to finally release this beast to your fans. What does this album mean to you? And what can fans expect from this album? What would you like to tell readers about the entire MOSAIIK project that they may not already know?

Cosmic Gate: Hey, thanks a lot for having us, we appreciate your time! What can we say, indeed we are so excited MOSAIIK is finally released now, even after so many years and album releases ( The II-styled title a nod to our eleventh longplayer, in case you wonder!), its always a special moment when an album sees the day of light.

About the story behind it, somehow after our anniversary album Forward Ever Backward Never, it did not just feel like just a new LP, but more like the start in a new era. There were some signs that our fans were as ready as we were. I mean accepting of a deeper, more progressed sound and production direction. No one told us we needed to do this change. We very naturally felt this from within, as weve always followed our intuitions over the years.

When the clubbing world was pretty much severed from dancefloors last March, that circumstance gave us even more artistic latitude. Thus MOSAIIKs music making became less symmetric and floor-focused, and all the more enriching for it. It as weird as it sounds, we somehow became even freer in our work, while life outside was actually the opposite. We tried to take the worst of possible circumstances and turn it into more of a chance and less of an obstacle.

After a fair while, we laid out all of MOSAIIKs ideas, drafts and demos, and quickly realised that there was so much material, we needed to split it into two again, (as we did before with the Materia series).

The Nocturnal Times: This album is jam packed with nine amazing tracks. One might wonder what your personal favorite track is? And is there a story you want to tell us with this track selection?

Cosmic Gate: To be quite honest, we tend to never answer this question, simply, as were not able. Its like asking parents to point out one of their kids is above the others. Its impossible to choose. All the tracks are our creations and mean a lot. All that matters to us in the end, is that our fans, or new listeners that have not heard of us before, hopefully find some tracks they like, or maybe even love. They put them in their favourite playlist or introduce them to their friends. Then our time in the studio was wells spend and we could not be any happier.

The Nocturnal Times: With this album it feels like you keep re-inventing yourself. Tell us some behind the scenes of producing this album? What techniques do you use to remain original yet so innovative?

Cosmic Gate: Well, we feel its less about the production techniques, and more about the mindset and personal current taste in music when it comes to writing something new. But reinventing, this sounds great to us we take it anytime as a big compliment. To us that means we sound fresh and not like a copy of what we did before. Sure our tastes change over time, and are always already influenced from club music of the 90s, as trance, techno, progressive, etc, have developed and changed.

The Nocturnal Times: You both have been living abroad for some years now. Do you guys miss the good old Germany? And how did moving to the States affect your career? Is it difficult at times to collaborate while living far apart from each other?

Cosmic Gate: Indeed we do both live in the US for round about 10 or more years now. It means we were on the forefront of this EDM movement coming from Europe somehow. We played a lot of great shows, and sure do love living in the US guess we are fully domesticated!

Still during all this time we traveled abroad for shows a lot. Europe, Asia, Australia, and we will be in Germany at least a few times a year, so we see our families and dont miss our favourite foods either. That is one of the big perks of the job fortunately. On top to come to the last part of your question, we can work together on music in those times on the road. Living apart or not.

The Nocturnal Times: Throughout the pandemic, you performed some amazing live stream shows. What was your most favorite live stream show? And how excited are you now to be playing in front of live crowds again?

Cosmic Gate: We enjoyed all of these streams and their individuality enormously, but one we like to point to most maybe was the one in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Its just a spectacular charming and gorgeous little city with a lot of surprising cool venues, good food and friendly people. Do check it out if you have the chance and think about us when you do. We had great times doing these streams, we always have fun DJing together. To be very honest though, the energy to play for a crowd is so much better. The chemistry between a DJ and their audience cant be replaced by anything! So yes, we loved playing these locations and play these streams for you guys, but to be in one room together with a big crowd nothing can beat that. We are very social creatures and thrive from the energy around us. We hope to see you all on one of our future club or festival shows very soon.

The Nocturnal Times: Do we dare ask when may fans get a glimpse of MOSAIIK chapter two?

Cosmic Gate: We do love to test new tunes out, so our tip would be to come to some of our shows in the coming fall and winter. We cant promise, but wont deny to catch some glimpses of MOSAIIK part 2 during some of those sets either

The Nocturnal Times: We appreciate taking time for this interview and we know you are busy! Lets wrap this up with a question. Who is one artist you havent worked with yet that you would like to and why?

Cosmic Gate: We were lucky enough to work with some of the most outstanding talents in our scene in the one or other way during the years, no-one in particular we have on a list ready to present now be very honest though. Things will happen. Whats meant to be is meant to be. We will keep Nocturnal Times posted in this regard first. Thanks again for having us, a pleasure as always!

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Get the Latest on all Things Cosmic Gate [Interview] - The Nocturnal Times

September 14, 2021September 14, 2021

4.7/5by Daily Music Roll

review

ArtistJahi Israelrecently came out with the single Oppression that defines the best streaks of reggae music along with reformative and inspiring themes.

Music artistJahi Israelrecreates the essence of life with his own interpretations and melodic streaming. He is a reggae artist who is bringing back consciousness into music with his captivating productions. He recently came out with the track, Oppression which is a beautiful track depicting the virtues of life with a renewed perspective. What sets the song apart from the rest lies in its purpose to inspire and motivate the audiences. He is a poet who puts together a compelling thematic trance through his soundscape paving the way for new ideas and lyrical verses. Speaking of truth and rights, the artist sets a motion that makes each listener extract a sense of inspiration. From the start to the end, the track keeps the audience hooked to its musical glory.

ArtistJahi Israelis making reggae music reach the highest point of global appreciation. The track, Oppression presents his own perspectives aligned with that of lifes true colors. The song is not just for recreation but to enable people to live their life on their own terms. His other song, Give Praises is another successful attempt at delivering the best creative inspiration. His music is for the global audience looking for closure. Reggae music goes back in history for its opinions and individualism. The artist also exemplifies the same in his art and melodies alongside a beautiful lyrical trance. For anyone looking for inspiration, his soundscape is the best dose to elevate the mood in an instant. Listen to his songs on Apple Music and get immersed into an endless stream of melodic and lyrical consciousness.

Check out the song on Apple Music:

Charles Edward is a writer and musician from New York City. He publishes various poems and writes songs for his band.He is one of the leading members of a New based Rock band. He also does reviews in Daily Music Roll and writes music blog posts.

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Music Artist Jahi Israel's Recently Released Song 'Oppression' is a Creative Plunge into Reggae Streams - Daily Music Roll

The old rabbis say we must put salt on our challah before we say the blessing on Shabbat, to remind us that the world is built on longing. When Hashem created the earth, they say, they split the heavenly waters and the earthly waters. Before that, all was just an endless lake above and below and within. But bringing things into being required a separation.

Shira had been texting her best friend for a long time. Maybe this will be forever, she thought. This imperfect, one-sided conversation. The world is built on longing, she remembered as she pulled one end of the gum out of her mouth, stretched it out, and stuck the end back in and pulled to make a loop. It snapped and again she chewed, and pulled, and waited for the screen to light up with the little Virgo emoji and ladybug next to her best friends name.

Shira had for a few weeks been putting all her friends zodiac signs and personality animals next to their names in her phone. She told herself that it was so that she wouldnt miss anyones birthday or forget the creatures that delighted them. Perhaps it was also so she could have an excuse to speak to those whose signs she needed, but this did not feel like a worthy problem to examine. She tasted salt and copper in her mouth where the inside of her lip was raw from the little bites her teeth took out of her flesh when she wasnt focusing hard enough on stopping them.

The heavenly and earthly waters grieved at their breaking. They asked Hashem, how am I to exist without a half of myself? And Hashem, the all-knowing, had no perfect answer for them. This must be done. They were rent one from the other, and they grieved the absence like a lover, like a mother, like a friend, like a limb torn off.

Josey and Shira, once long ago, had pressed their faces together and tried to synchronize their breath. Shira felt her best friends eyelashes flutter against her cheek. They pressed the palms of their sweaty August hands to each other and breathed in, out, in, out, though Josey wasnt able to slow their breathing down enough no matter how much they tried. And when Shira giggled, she felt the shaking reverberate through Joseys whole body. It was a trick theyd seen in a movie once: if two people were able to line up perfectly, to breathe as one, they would enter a trance state. Then, Shira thought, she and Josey would be able to see the whole universe. In the movie, the characters lift up and float through a void, and part of Shira was at this time still young enough to believe that if she and Josey put their minds to it soon theyd be floating away too. As long as they didnt let go of each others hands.

Shira remembered how Josey, after their first year in college, had come back home with short hair. Their face seemed naked and fragile without the dark, precise eyeliner they used to paint on each morning before they left the house. They would even sleep in it, sometimes, and wake up with smudgy pits around their eyes like they were collecting the ash from back when the fires were burning down California. Joseys eyes were little memorials those mornings to places that they remembered but no one else did.

When they came back that first year, those memories were all gone, replaced by shiny soft skin and cleanliness. Shira still worked at the Starbucks, and couldnt get the smell of coffee and the stains out of her clothes no matter how much she scrubbed.

I feel like Lady Macbeth, you know? she told Josey. They sat down for a conversation at a different Starbucks, the one that Shira didnt work at, after weeks of unanswered texts and one half-hearted sure. when r u free?

Its like, will these hands neer be clean? But I didnt even get to kill anyone! All I get is the cleanup! Shira wished she could make Josey laugh, but Josey just picked at their cuticles and focused on the difficult business of drinking their cardamom iced coffee without a straw.

The earthly waters cried out in pain as the heavenly waters were lifted away and they felt themselves sinking. For the first time, they felt the constant pains of gravity and knew that this holding-down was part of them now, and they screamed with the hurt of it. They witnessed half of their self and all of their love disappear into the sky into a place where they could never reach now, though moments ago they were close as breathing.

Shira stared out the window as Josey told her about the Saudi Arabian princess. She said that this girl Noora, in her freshman class, was able to live off campus first year, which was unusual, because no one has the money for that. Shira wasnt sure what that meant about Noora, but Josey said it made them curious enough to google her. She showed Shira pictures: Noora laughing, with a mane of dark and curly hair, Noora at fashion week, Noora on an island somewhere. Turns out Noora was a Saudi Arabian princess, daughter of some guy who liked to post polemics about homosexuality online. Josey said they matched with Noora on Tinder but never did anything about it. Shira said, if it had been her, shed have a princess girlfriend by now.

And a death warrant from a foreign country, Josey said. You know this is serious, right?

Shira wasnt sure what serious meant in this context, but her friend was looking in her eyes again, and the light through the Starbucks window was soft and forgiving, and maybe the rhythm of their breathing even matched.

The bottom of the ocean is the darkest place on Earth, but outer space is darker. Yes, there are stars everywhere, but there is so little light compared to the vastness. So, Hashem asked the earthly waters, why complain? Its darkness, either way. But the earthly waters sobbed. The heavenly waters, they said, at least got Hashems company. They were allowed to fly. And what consolation prize did the earthly waters have? Bound down in darkness, they were forced to support all the life and all the death on Earth. All the refuse, all the bodies, all the sunken ships. The earthly waters cried and felt themselves becoming little more than a graveyard.

I got my first tattoo, Shira blurted out to Josey. It was kind of fucked up the first time around, because its a stick and poke. But Im going to get someone to touch it up someday. I mean, its fine, its just kind of, uh, pointillist, you know?

Josey didnt ask what it was a tattoo of. They sat in sticky silence. They said, I cant wait for this summer to be over. Shira had forgotten that it was summer.

Hashem offered a consolation prize: each time their people burned a sacrifice in tribute perhaps a plump goat or a lamb or a cow the priests of the Temple were to place salt on the animals bleeding body. Not just because Hashem has a taste for salt. The all-knowing, after all, tastes all things at once. This was for the sake of the earthly waters. All salt, after all, is the product of the earthly waters grief at separation from their love. But sacrifices are to be burned. So, each time the temple grounds fill with sweet smoke, some of that salt goes up to be reunited with the heavenly waters, and they cry out and embrace and dance in circles out of joy that some part of themself long lost has come home.

Later, Shira asked Josey if they remembered Aaron. There had been a third member of their group before, but no one had heard from him in years. The rumor was that Aarons father, a metrolink security guard, got shot in the head. Shira knew these things happened, but figured that Josey didnt want to think about that kind of thing anymore.

Aaron had the softest hands in the world. He was probably still alive, Shira figured, but he didnt talk to her anymore. Shira knew that sometimes people needed to cut off their old selves and the people that those selves were attached to, which meant maybe that Shira and Josey were Aarons sacrifices. Shira imagined herself as a limb gnawed off by an animal in a trap. There had been a couple of boys who lived in Aarons neighborhood who he was friends with, a long time ago. They played Overwatch and things. Shira hoped they still did.

Remember how hed put on his headphones, and suddenly hes talking to his gamer buddies, and we had to wave our hands in front of his face to get his attention? Shira asked.

Yeah, and that one time I did tip his chair over, didnt I? said Josey. They were starting to lose that composed east-coast voice that they put on these days. The chair had tumbled down, and caught a cord, and taken Aarons well-loved light-up keyboard with it, his headset lost in the carnage.

Josey laughed, then Shira lost them again. Hey, do you want to hear about my internship? I saved money all last semester because I didnt spend any dining dollars, I just used my fastbucks, plus I caught rides on the campus shuttle for free because I knew the driver, because my friend got a job at campus po

Shira imagined her best friend in a castle in the woods, zooming around in a big shuttle bus from one end of the castle to the other, and maybe thats why they were always rescheduling their video calls. Shiras vanilla latte was cold. She wanted to rip that whole castle down, but her hands were tired and her mind was tired and all the exhaustion was somehow Joseys fault. Josey was the one who made it out of town, not because they deserved it but because Shira didnt know why. Something about money, something about Joseys staring eyes too close together, something about their quick hands and their speech that never tripped over itself these days. Something about college counseling and the ACT test and being just poor enough for the fee waivers but not so poor that they didnt know to ask for them like Shira.

And Shiras anger started to fall on her like the first few raindrops of a storm.

Perhaps weve forgotten the art of burning sacrifices. But the rabbis remind us that we must taste salt even in our joy. We bless the challah, and toss salt on it as we pass it around to our families. The world is built on longing, and without the yearning of the waters for its own completeness, we would drown.

Hey, do you know where I could get a job around here? Josey asked Shira, laughing as if getting a job or not getting a job was just a game, just a test, just something to get a score on, just someone to be charmed. I mean, like, I dont really know how it works back home, Ive never worked heremaybe I could, I dont know, just kinda ask the baristas if I could join them for the summer? Or write freelance, or bake bread and sell it online.

Uh huh, Shira said. And she wanted nothing more than to leave. Starbucks requires a lot of training, not that you would know. I mean. You know. Its a real job.

Yeah, sure, of course. Josey fidgeted, unpeeling one sweaty leg then the other off the chair.

Ive gotta go. Shira suddenly stood up. Work to do. This wasnt her best friend anymore. Maybe Josey wasnt even a person anymore.

See you later? Josey asked. Shira couldnt imagine anything she wanted less. She wanted her best friend back, but she didnt want Josey. Shira got into her car, and skidded out of the parking lot. Once she got onto the road, she looked around for cars. Then, without taking her foot off the gas, she closed her eyes just for a moment and screamed. She opened her eyes and swerved out of the path of the pickup in the lane next to her. Shira bit the inside of her cheek, and the whole world tasted like salt.

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Waters Of Heaven, Waters Of Earth - New Voices

I treat them the way I want to be treated. Its as simple as practicing the golden rule.

I was preparing to keynote for a chain of quick-service restaurants and I asked one of their franchisees what he does to provide good customer service. He shared the same belief Ive heard a thousand times. Imagine youre them and ask what would make you happy.

This is a terrible approach to customer service. The intention is noble, but it often doesnt yield the experience your customers are seeking.

You and I are different. We may not share the same desires, preferences, or values. We may not have the same needs. We might be in different moods. If you serve me according to your requirements, you may not meet mine.

I once went to a pizza restaurant to get food for my sons birthday party. I still had to get the cake and was in a hurry. But the gentleman taking my order fancied himself a comedian and kept cracking jokes. They werent funny and I wasnt in the mood. Instead of serving me, he kept trying to entertain me. It dragged out the transaction. He valued humor and believed ordering pizza should be fun. I valued efficiency and needed to get out of there. He treated me the way he wanted to be treated and created the experience he desired. After several failed attempts to make me laugh he said, Wow, youre really serious.

I came in to buy food and now Im getting feedback? That certainly didnt help my mood. Instead of judging me, he should accommodate me. If he observes that Im serious, he should become serious. Make the experience about me.

Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share others feelings. It means shifting your emotions to align with someone elses. People like that. It builds connection. When you practice the golden rule, however, your behavior is rooted in your feelings. It creates experiences based on your perceptions and standards, not the other persons.

Restaurants should practice empathy and treat people the way they want to be treated. That requires paying attention. It means focusing and noticing, one customer at a time. Look at their body language. Listen to what they say and to how they say it. Are they playful? Rushed? Are they worried about food quality? Order accuracy? Price? If you look for the emotional need on top of the food need, youll pick up on cues that can guide you in providing the best customized experience for that guest.

In an environment built on speed and efficiency, it may be difficult to wrap your brain around personalizing the experience for each customer. Too many restaurants (especially QSRs) think in terms of quick transactions, not memorable experiences. They dont want to slow the sale.

But personalizing experiences doesnt take more time; it takes more focus. More presence. It means snapping out of the typical robotic trance weve come to expect from most QSR employees. This is absolutely possible and its as good for your team as it is for customers. Itll engage them in their work at a deeper level.

My team members found the process fun. They came to understand their job was not only to assess the specific food customers wanted, but also the experience they wanted, even though customers dont directly articulate it. Taking an order was like solving a puzzle. That required them to pay more attention, to look for the humanity in each customer. When they saw them as unique human beings and not just as the next customer in line, they treated them better. It made their job less monotonous and their service more impactful.

I recently took my teenage daughter to a chicken restaurant and when she placed her order, she asked for confirmation shed get a biscuit. My meal comes with a biscuit, right? Ive been dreaming about it all day!

Oh yeah, she was told by the young woman taking our order. I love them, too. Arent they the best?! For just the shortest moment, my daughter and the employee shared a connection over the love of the same product. It didnt slow down the order, but it made it a little nicer, more human.

We stepped aside and I observed the next transaction. Id like a No. 5 and a bottle of water, said a middle-aged man.

Sounds good, replied the employee. Hows your day going?

Fine, he replied curtly. He obviously wasnt in the mood for chit chat.

The employee noticed and dialed back the affability. Thatll be $12.45. Well get that right out.

If she was practicing the golden rule, she might have continued her attempts to engage him in friendly banter. But she could tell he didnt want that, so she quickly shifted her service approach. Her shift wasnt a major change in personality, but a subtle change in interaction.

Five minutes later, when she called our number and handed us our bag, she returned to being the friendly biscuit-lover with whom my daughter briefly connected. Then she elevated the experience even more. I threw an extra biscuit in there for you. Enjoy!

A shortsighted owner would see this as giving away free food. A smart one would look at the free biscuit as incredible marketing, an investment of a few cents that virtually guarantees my daughter will come back, and most likely bring others. My daughter revealed her customer service tell, and, picking up on it, the employee knew how to make her a little happier. If she does that consistently, itll make the owner a little wealthier.

The golden rule does force us to reflect on the human experience, and thats better than mindlessly facilitating cold transactions. But you and your employees can do even better. Focus less on how you want to be treated and more on what each customer wants. Thats the rule that wins the gold.

AUTHOR BIO

Scott Greenbergis a speaker, writer and business coach and the author ofThe WealthyFranchisee: Game-Changing Steps to Becoming a Thriving Franchise Superstar.Find more information atwww.scottgreenberg.com.

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The Wealthy Franchisee: Why you should ditch the golden rule - Nation's Restaurant News

London's Ministry of Sound will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a series of trance, UKG and house parties next weekend.

The iconic Elephant & Castle club, which featured in this year's Top 100 Clubs poll, is celebrating three decades of music on Friday 17th & Saturday 18th September, hosting three parties as part of a marathon weekender.

Kicking things off on Friday night, Part 1 will see trance legend Paul van Dyk perform at the London club, joined by the likes of Aly & Fila, Judge Jules, Tall Paul and Lottie, with SISTER and HD Life curating the Baby Box and Loft line-ups.

Scheduled for Saturday daytime, a UKG special will see DJ Zinc, Matt Jam Lamont, Zed Bias and Heartless Crew take over the main room, joined by DJ Mag UK's July cover star,Todd Edwards, who'll play B2B with Majestic.

The celebrations are set to close out on Saturday evening, with Ministry of Sound favourite Armand van Helden, Groove Armada, Bellaire, Fat Tony and Arielle Free all soundtracking the end of another era for the club.

You can get tickets for the events here.

Earlier this year,Ministry of Sound partnered with sleep and meditation app Calm for a new series of chillout-focused mixes.

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Ministry of Sound celebrates 30th anniversary with trance, UKG and house parties - DJ Mag

The road to Chle Bailey's debut solo single "Have Mercy" was long, arduous, and sometimes even plagued by toxic comments from strangers who refused to let her own her confidence. But with a wildly bold and inventive new video directed by Karena Evans that lets Chle present herself precisely how she wants the world to see her, she's truly arrived.

As she tells MTV News ahead of the debut performance of "Have Mercy" at the 2021 VMAs on Sunday, September 12, executing her vision as she saw it was paramount to the song's rollout. "Men can glorify ass in their videos. I want to do it with this in an artful, really fun, beautiful way," she tells MTV News correspondent Dometi Pongo. "I think it's so great how women can claim ownership of their bodies and not let the world do it. We get to do it in the way that we want to."

In the dizzying clip, a dominating Chle steals every moment of spotlight as she fills the frame in look after look on sorority row, all while a loose narrative of missing men plays throughout. By the end, it's clear she's turning these guys (boys, really) to stone. But the cornerstone of the entire concept resides in simple shots of Chle in front of pink backgrounds.

The visual found its origins in that color, which led to the idea of Greek life, and Chle herself suggested the darker twist of the "modern-day Medusa" tale, epitomized by a series of frightening and erratic choreography by Chle bathed in harsh nightmare lighting.

"I wanted to make it all about ass, but in an artistic way," she says. "I think it's so cool how women have this incredible power. They can leave men in a trance with their bodies and their spirits and the way they carry themselves."

She felt like a different person on set, and throughout her interview, the difference between the protagonist of "Have Mercy" and the gentler Chle we knew are palpable. That said, she's happy to keep the experience of embodying such a confident and sexual persona in her own personal reserves she never knows when she might need to "tap back into" it. Part of her positivity about the shoot comes from the "family vibe" they established thanks to director Evans, her creative lead, Andrew Makadsi, and even a quick cameo from Beyonc's mom, Tina Knowles-Lawson.

"I think it's amazing how Karena gets it because she's a woman, she's a Black woman, and there's some things that I didn't even have to really explain because she knows it by living life," she says. "You get to see the power that we hold within the music video. I felt sexy doing it, but it's also very empowering."

"Have Mercy" will likely appear on Chle's forthcoming debut album, the solid roots of which took hold in 2020. After her and sister Halle embarked on their so-called "backyard tour" for their 2019 album Ungodly Hour, Halle went into production on Disney's The Little Mermaid update. Chle, meanwhile, dove right into her solo music. Of the estimated 100 songs she recorded for possible inclusion, Chle currently has it narrowed down to about 30 and in a streaming era marked by much longer albums, maybe she only has to lose about 10 to make it work.

So far, it seems like it'll span pop and R&B, as both "Have Mercy" and her Chloe x Halle work have. Although, she's teasing that we haven't quite heard what she's fully capable of. "I love how my tone sounds on pop records, which you guys really haven't even heard yet," she says.

What we have heard? "Have Mercy," though we still haven't seen what Chle will do with it when she debuts it live at the VMAs. If the video is any indication of where her head is at now, we're in for a ride. "I'm going to be honest: I'm very scared," she says of the showcase moment. "But I'm really grateful... [to] finally show the world who I am completely."

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Chle Says Her 'Have Mercy' Video Is 'All About Ass, But In An Artistic Way' - MTV.com

Mike Richard| Special for The Gardner News

It seems as though every generation experiences its own significant day of infamy.

For my parents, it occurred on Dec. 7, 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the United States into World War II.

For me, it occurred in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

For my children, it was 9/11; so significant that it needs only those numbers and no other explanation.

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, started out like every other day, early in the school year at Gardner High School. It was crisp and sunny; just a picture-perfect late summer day if there ever was one.

I had a free period and was making my way through the schools main office when the secretaries had the TV monitor tuned to a breaking news story out of New York City.

It seemed as though an airplane had struck the World Trade Center.

My mind quickly flashed back to an event I had read about from 1945, when a B-25 Mitchell bomber flew into the Empire State Building; the pilot misjudging his whereabouts in a heavy fog.

However, if the skies over New York were as bright and clear as those over Gardner, that couldnt have been the cause.

All of a sudden, the room echoed a collective gasp as the TV showed a second airplane crashing into the other Twin Tower.

We quickly realized this was no accident.

The bell ending the second period and heralded the beginning of homeroom which occurred on Tuesdays around 9:30 snapped us back into reality.

Before long, the students were made aware of the terrorist attacks on our country, as news began to filter in about another plane crashing into the Pentagon and a fourth plane downed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

As I stood before a room full of freshmen my daughter, Lindsey, among them who were in their second full week of high school, it was nearly impossible to attempt to assuage their emotions of fear and uncertainty.

For generations, students have looked to their teachers in the quest of getting right answers.

I had none.

The rest of the day went by in a blur with a pall cast over the assembled student body who ambled through the school session in a trance-like existence. It was quite impossible to try to get high school kids in my English class to focus on their studies.

No doubt, anyone else who can recall that day and their own experiences in the workplace can relate.

After school, the football team practiced, half-heartedly going the motions in preparation for Friday nights game at Fitchburg.

Suddenly, everyone on the practice field froze in place and looked skyward as a medical helicopter from UMass Memorial zipped above toward its customary landing spot on the field at nearby Mount Wachusett Community College.

All air travel had been grounded that day, and the appearance of the emergency Medivac caused an unexplained panic among everyone on the ground.

Airports, IDs, privacy: Here's what changed after 9/11 that probably now seems normal

Upon arriving home that evening, I had the urge to just burrow into my living room chair and gather the family around me to take in the full scope of what happened that day.

However, we had dropped our son, Casey, off at Providence College just prior to Labor Day, and having that void in the family felt like an empty hole to me.

Then I realized the empty holes that many other families were experiencing that night, having lost one or more of their own members to the terrorist attack.

We kept vigil by our television, so reminiscent of the bleak weekend back in November of 1963 when our country experienced all of the details of the Kennedy assassination on our black and white sets.

More from Mike Richard: Once again, someone has put our columnist's good name in 'Jeopardy'

A few days later, Gardner would make the national news.

The Federal Aviation Administration indicated that the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 11 out of Logan Airport had gained control of the flight over Gardners airspace.

American Airlines Flight 11 had left Logan Airport in Boston and was en route to Los Angeles, the Associated Press dispatch reported. According to the controller, it was first noticed that Flight 11 was having difficulties when its transponder suddenly shut off while in the Gardner area.

As the weeks progressed and a nation tried to heal, students of Gardner High did their own small part to help the families whose lives were so devastated that day.

For several Saturdays through the months of October and November, students organized and volunteered for a program they called De-leaf for Relief.

20 years after 9/11, New Englanders reflect on a defining moment

Residents of Gardner who wanted students to assist with raking the leaves in their yard paid a pre-arranged fee to have the job completed; the money going to a New York City relief fund.

Later that fall, a busload of those same students took the trip to New York City to deliver a large donation from their efforts. It was a unique kindness that was typical of students at Gardner High in that era helping them heal, as the nation tried to heal as well.

Eventually, the world would get back to normal; a new normal.

However, on that crisp and sunny September day 20 years ago, life as we knew it and the innocence we also once knew was robbed from a generation.

Comments and suggestions for The Gardner Scene can be sent to Mike Richard at mikerichard0725@gmail.com or in writing to Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Road, Sandwich, MA 02563.

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'All of a sudden, the room echoed a collective gasp': Former teacher looks back on 9/11 - The Gardner News

Is highway hypnosis a real thing and what about those AI self-driving cars?

You are driving along on a lengthy stretch of an open highway.

Gloriously, you seem to have the roadway entirely to yourself. For miles on end, you havent encountered any traffic. This is a relief in comparison to the daily commute that you undertake each day when going to work in a busy downtown city area.

Now, it is just you and the expansive highway.

The overall scenery on this highway is admittedly a bit drab. Nothing much to see. There arent any flashy billboards or other eye-catching hallmarks. About the only manmade item is the laid-down asphalt of the highway and the painted roadway lines that seem to extend to the furthest horizon.

You begin to find yourself becoming somewhat preoccupied with the lines and lane markers of the highway. For driving purposes, you are merely having to keep your car within the lines of your lane. Your right foot is pressing down on the accelerator pedal with a constant amount of force and you are maintaining a consistent speed. Your hands are securely and fully on the steering wheel, occasionally making microscopic adjustments to ensure that the vehicle remains stridently going straight ahead on this everlasting straightaway.

Occasional bumps arise from having the tires go over a rough patch on the highway, providing an almost welcome respite from the otherwise tedium and boredom of this driving trek. When those gruff spots occur, it kind of sparks you to remember that you are driving a car. Indeed, you are driving a car at speeds exceeding 65 miles per hour and are hurdling along at a pace that doesnt seem fast to you, but if anyone was standing by the roadside you would zoom right past them (for my coverage about the relative nature of speed perception when driving a car, see the link here).

The good news is that you are wide awake and had several cups of coffee before you got onto the highway.

You know that being sleepy while driving is a highly dangerous act. That is definitely not going to happen to you. You loathe people that try to drive while drowsy. Of course, it goes without saying that you have even worse opinions about those that try to drink and drive.

As the monotony of the driving journey starts to grab up your mind, you almost feel as though you are no longer occupying your body. It is as though your body, essentially your legs and arms, are working without you having to put any conscious thought into the matter. Your mind is floating away from the matters underway, meanwhile, your body and limbs are doing the right thing by staying glued to the driving controls.

The driving is so mesmerizing that you begin to lose a sense of time. How long have you been driving on this darned road? The lack of external stimuli such as pedestrians, other cars, bicycle riders, and the like has altered your perception of time and space. You are on a kind of highway treadmill that just seems to be endlessly running the same path over and over again.

If someone could see your face, they would probably notice a somewhat expressionless look. Your eyes have that glassy and faraway appearance. Your mind is operating on a sluggish basis and you almost have an emptiness of thought processes. There isnt anything worthy of devoting any mental contortions toward. The highway is a simple open path that requires no particular mental gymnastics to contend with.

What is happening to you during this long and uneventful drive?

Highway hypnosis.

Yes, you might remember learning in a driver training class about the dangers of highway hypnosis. It used to be that newbie teenage drivers were strictly forewarned about the evils of highway hypnosis. You were told repeatedly to be on the watch for your mind going into a kind of mental trance.

This trance could be induced via driving when there are little or no roadway changes or other alluring attractors that keep your head in the game. It is patently obvious that driving in a hectic city environment you are bombarded by stimuli and your mind has to be going at its peak performance (well, we hope so, for your sake and the other nearby drivers). In contrast, driving on a lengthy mountain road, or through an endless desert, or on any prolonged straightaway is oftentimes bereft of any notable visual stimuli.

The belief is that you can become somewhat hypnotized by the roadway.

Similar to the movies and TV shows that used to showcase a person being hypnotized by watching a spiraling line that keeps going and going, the same thing is said to affect you when it is a painted line on the highway that appears to go eternally. The quietness inside the car is coupled with the dullness of the external environment, and the next thing that you know this has combined to put your mind into a sort of dulled trance.

There is an ongoing heated debate about the nature of highway hypnosis.

Does it occur?

Is it a made-up excuse?

What causes it?

Some trace the origins of the discovery of highway hypnosis to the early days of driving and the initial formulations of automobiles. There are historical accounts that suggest the matter was originally coined as road hypnotism, which eventually was renamed highway hypnosis. The highway hypnosis moniker certainly is a catchier phrasing and seems to readily roll off the tongue.

Some experts do not like the catchphrase since it incorporates the notion of hypnotism into it. For various reasons, the mentioning of being hypnotized or being the subject of hypnotism is considered misleading and potentially outright misapplied. The preferred phrasing is something akin to saying that this is a phenomenon consisting of Driving Without Awareness (DWA).

Stating that this is driving without awareness is indubitably a more reasoned way to depict the situation, but the popularity and tangy beat of exhorting about the ominous soul-sapping of highway hypnosis is pretty hard to dislodge from the public vocabulary on this intriguing topic.

For sake of discussion, please allow me to continue to use the reference of highway hypnosis, and I do so with a proper head nod and apologies to those that vehemently prefer the DWA mantra. Regardless of the naming, the overall facet is that you mentally seem to fade away from the driving task at hand.

This can create a mental time gap, whereby you cannot immediately remember how long you have been at the wheel. You likely cannot recall what youve seen so far while being there in the drivers seat. It is as though your brain is no longer recording whatever you are seeing. In one ear, out the other, in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek homage to the sage piece of wisdom about how we sometimes skip the act of mental processing.

People that claim to have been entranced by highway hypnosis will often insist that this did not affect whatsoever on their driving. They reluctantly agree that they might have mentally been in a tropical paradise for a few moments, but assuredly they still were driving the car. They did not remove their hands from the wheel. They did not remove their foot from the pedals.

One distinction that some take toward the immersion into highway hypnosis is that it is not the same as the mental act of driving while distracted.

A distracted driver is fully cognizant of the driving task but has switched their mental attention to something other than the driving. For example, a driver might be watching a fascinating cat video via their in-car display, which is causing their mental attention to be split between the roadway and those cute kittens that are playing with a ball of string in that endearing video.

The person driving is still mentally alert. The bad news is that they are giving short shrift to the driving task. At one moment, they are looking and thinking about the highway. The next moment, they are glancing at the cat video or repositioning the mental energies toward the cat video. This kind of mental shifting is playing out like a vigorous ping pong match. The really bad news is that if something goes awry on the highway, their attention might at that instant be on the distracting aspect, such as the cat video, and therefore they are caught utterly unawares of the impending and possibly dire driving situation.

In contrast, the purist viewpoint about highway hypnosis is that you are not distracted by anything and that you are in fact devoted to the driving task. The problem is that you are mentally disengaged from the driving task. Some would argue that they are using their subconscious to do the driving, rather than their conscious mind per se (this is open to debate).

It is as though your mind has seemingly gone into a mindless state. The barebones fundamental operation of your body and about driving the car is still occurring. This is almost happening by so-called muscle memory. It is reflexive. Your mind is not necessarily thinking about other matters. One might liken this mental condition to being in the midst of some hefty meditation and you have zoned out of the driving chore.

The difficulty too is that your mind might not be telling you that you are immersed in this trance. If you were watching a cat video, your mind might be nagging you that you are not paying attention to the roadway. You override that nagging. Despite the overriding, at least the nagging is taking place. A claimed issue for highway hypnosis is that your mind lets itself go free and doesnt kick you in the mental butt about being more responsible to devote attention to the roadway.

Some try to argue that a lousy form of mental engagement is better than the lack of mental engagement regarding the driving task. In that sense, they would assert that driving while distracted is better than getting into the driving hypnotic state of mind. Others would counterargue that highway hypnosis is less threatening than the distracted driver.

We can add more fuel to the fire by including the drunk driver. Presumably, a drunk driver has a mental state that is totally messed up and unable to process properly the world around them. Almost everyone would likely tend to agree that a drunk driver poses a much greater threat than a distracted driver or a highway hypnotized driver. These comparisons though are problematic since there are varying degrees of each kind of mental overtaking.

Lets agree to something that we can all seemingly concur with, namely that driving ought to be a task that has the devoted and undivided attention of a fully cognizant and expressly unencumbered mind of the human driver at the wheel.

Period, full stop.

Arguing over which of the corrupted mental states is better or worse is akin to the famous saying that this is tantamount to trying to move around the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

Now that Ive dragged you through the morass about highway hypnosis, one aspect that might have come to your mind is that this driving without awareness is not worthy of discussion since the person is still at the wheel and presumably driving the car. In essence, there is the classic so what that needs to be addressed.

Why does this all matter?

Because a person that is embraced by highway hypnosis, if there is such a thing, can become dull in their driving and ergo have a delayed and potentially life-ending reaction to a sudden roadway mishap.

Take for example that while on that long stretch of highway there is a sharp piece of piercing metal that perchance is laying on the roadway (ominously awaiting your tires). It is not immediately obvious to the eye. The size, shape, and color allow it to blend into the overall appearance of the highway surface.

A driver that is engulfed in highway hypnosis might have a delayed and incorrect reaction to striking that tire ripping piece of debris. Whereas a driver that was mentally engaged might react with some surprise and concern, they would at least be likely aware that they must have struck something that was on the highway surface. Their mental processing would lead them in that mental calculation, very quickly. And, as such, they would react with a pre-canned mental template that tells them to gradually slow down the car and try to safely pull off the highway.

Someone that was zoned out via highway hypnosis would presumably be shocked back into awareness by the sounds and sudden response of the vehicle. This would get them back into the game. But their mind might be at wits end about what just happened. Did they hit something? Did the car itself fall apart or have some egregious problem?

They wont likely be able to recall where the car was before the incident. Did they miss something about the roadway? Their mind might begin to play tricks on them. Perhaps a deer entered into the highway and they were so zoned out mentally that they didnt even see it. The deer was somehow invisible to their mind.

At this juncture, the suddenly re-engaged mind might prod the driver to do something entirely inappropriate for the situation. This could be due to the mind not having a clue about what has just taken place. As a result, some semi-random choice of emergency driving action comes to the forefront of their thinking. This can make a bad situation turn into a deathly one.

Various claimed documented cases of drivers in car accidents that said they had highway hypnosis are at times seemingly reinforced by the forensic evidence at the scene of a crash. This might include the fact that no skid marks were indicated on the highway. Had the driver been aware and mentally engaged, the assumption is that they would have immediately hit their brakes and therefore there would be skid marks.

You have to be careful when trying to employ roadway evidence to support a contention that highway hypnosis was the culprit. There is usually a multitude of viable explanations. The tie between what the roadway evidence showcases and the true mental state of the driver are somewhat tenuous and altogether usually quite speculative.

There has been an off-and-on spate of scholarly research about highway hypnosis. One focus of the inquiry is that perhaps the biomechanics of the eyes is a contributor to the road hypnotic trance. It could be that the non-movement (or minimal movement) of the eyes are generating signals to the brain that somewhat lead to the brain going into this trance zone.

The research remains ongoing and continues to seek a better understanding of what makes driving without awareness (i.e., highway hypnosis) occur and how to resolve it.

Harking back to the days of learning about highway hypnosis while in driver training, you might recall that there were several pieces of handy advice about how to try and avert this seemingly temporary and possibly deadly mental condition. One proffered action entails moving your eyes back and forth to scan the roadway. This might seem to keep your eyes engaged and correspondingly your mind engaged.

More pieces of advice include creating your own engaging stimuli. Turn on the radio and listen to something that keeps your mind active. Chew gum. Open a window of the car to get wind whisking into the interior. These are all potential ways to keep highway hypnosis at bay. That being said, there is a fine line between seeking to remain mentally engaged and yet pushing you over into the distracted driving mode.

Lets slightly shift gears.

The future of cars consists of AI-based true self-driving cars.

There isnt a human driver involved in a true self-driving car. Keep in mind that true self-driving cars are driven via an AI driving system. There isnt a need for a human driver at the wheel, and nor is there a provision for a human to drive the vehicle. For my extensive and ongoing coverage of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and especially self-driving cars, see the link here.

Heres an intriguing question that is worth pondering: Is it conceivable that AI-based true self-driving cars might somehow suffer from highway hypnosis, and if so, what can be done about this?

Id like to first further clarify what is meant when I refer to true self-driving cars.

Understanding The Levels Of Self-Driving Cars

As a clarification, true self-driving cars are ones that the AI drives the car entirely on its own and there isnt any human assistance during the driving task.

These driverless vehicles are considered Level 4 and Level 5 (see my explanation at this link here), while a car that requires a human driver to co-share the driving effort is usually considered at Level 2 or Level 3. The cars that co-share the driving task are described as being semi-autonomous, and typically contain a variety of automated add-ons that are referred to as ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems).

There is not yet a true self-driving car at Level 5, which we dont yet even know if this will be possible to achieve, and nor how long it will take to get there.

Meanwhile, the Level 4 efforts are gradually trying to get some traction by undergoing very narrow and selective public roadway trials, though there is controversy over whether this testing should be allowed per se (we are all life-or-death guinea pigs in an experiment taking place on our highways and byways, some contend, see my coverage at this link here).

Since semi-autonomous cars require a human driver, the adoption of those types of cars wont be markedly different than driving conventional vehicles, so theres not much new per se to cover about them on this topic (though, as youll see in a moment, the points next made are generally applicable).

For semi-autonomous cars, it is important that the public needs to be forewarned about a disturbing aspect thats been arising lately, namely that despite those human drivers that keep posting videos of themselves falling asleep at the wheel of a Level 2 or Level 3 car, we all need to avoid being misled into believing that the driver can take away their attention from the driving task while driving a semi-autonomous car.

You are the responsible party for the driving actions of the vehicle, regardless of how much automation might be tossed into a Level 2 or Level 3.

Self-Driving Cars And Highway Hypnosis

For Level 4 and Level 5 true self-driving vehicles, there wont be a human driver involved in the driving task.

All occupants will be passengers.

The AI is doing the driving.

One aspect to immediately discuss entails the fact that the AI involved in todays AI driving systems is not sentient. In other words, the AI is altogether a collective of computer-based programming and algorithms, and most assuredly not able to reason in the same manner that humans can.

Why is this added emphasis about the AI not being sentient?

Because I want to underscore that when discussing the role of the AI driving system, I am not ascribing human qualities to the AI. Please be aware that there is an ongoing and dangerous tendency these days to anthropomorphize AI. In essence, people are assigning human-like sentience to todays AI, despite the undeniable and inarguable fact that no such AI exists as yet.

With that clarification, you can envision that the AI driving system wont natively somehow know about the facets of driving. Driving and all that it entails will need to be programmed as part of the hardware and software of the self-driving car.

Lets dive into the myriad of aspects that come to play on this topic.

First, consider what could happen if a self-driving encountered a human-driven car that was being driven by someone that had succumbed to a presumed dose of highway hypnosis.

The concern in this scenario is that the human driver might not adequately react to a roadway anomaly. Furthermore, the driver might inadvertently do something untoward during any ordinary driving task because they are mentally zoned out.

Theres not particularly anything extraordinary that the self-driving car can do about such a circumstance.

Allow me to explain.

By and large, there are no outwardly evidentiary means to ferret out whether a human driver is driving with a full semblance of mental alertness versus whether they are in an alleged mental trance. About the only clues would be that the conventional human-driven car in question might seem to be driving without any apparent reaction to the roadway status.

For example, suppose the AI driving system detects via the self-driving car sensors that there is a large boulder in the roadway up ahead. The AI driving system might begin slowing down the self-driving car, anticipating the need to come to a stop before reaching the boulder. Meanwhile, imagine that the human-driven car nearby and traveling along at a tad ahead of the self-driving car seems to be making no overt indications of slowing or intending to stop.

This could be an indicator that the human driver of that car is incurring highway hypnosis.

Of course, it could be that the driver is distracted by watching enchanting online videos of a baby gurgling and fussing while eating some scrumptious baby food. Or the driver might be drunk and just barely able to keep the car moving forward and has not yet realized that the boulder is going to be a problem. And so on.

Since any of those are real possibilities, there are no immediate means to assume that the human driver is consumed necessarily by highway hypnosis. The AI driving system could either merely wait and see what happens to the conventional car or might take some proactive action to try and alert the human driver. For example, suppose the AI driving system opts to honk the horn of the self-driving car or perhaps turns the headlights on and off, attempting to gain the attention of the human driver.

This takes us to a brief but valuable side tangent.

Most people assume that AI driving systems are being programmed to focus exclusively on the well-being of the self-driving car. That could be the case. As such, the AI would not be exploring any concerns that are bereft of any specific bearing on the outcome of efforts entailing the self-driving car per se. If the crashing of the human-driven car into the boulder would not have any distinct impact upon the self-driving car, there would presumably be no cause for the AI driving system to do anything about the predicted catastrophe.

This is a somewhat vexing and ethically open question about whether we would expect or want self-driving cars to go further and try to assist other traffic, such as nearby human-driven cars. Ive discussed this matter at the link here. We would likely expect that other nearby human drivers would attempt to act in a good Samaritan fashion, and as such we might hope to have self-driving cars do likewise (as programmed by the AI developers to do so, not because the AI divines to do so).

In any case, there isnt much more to be fruitfully said about the use case of a human driver in the hypnotic highway haze and the overarching role of a nearby self-driving car. Generally, the AI driving system needs to be observing other nearby cars always and the AI programming needs to try and anticipate what those other cars are going to do, especially when those actions pertain to the driving of the self-driving car.

Moving on, we get the crux of this matter.

If you believe that there is such a thing as highway hypnosis and that it can overtake the mental acumen of human drivers, we can give some consideration to the curious possibility that AI driving systems might suffer the same potential fate.

Id like to emphasize that one big problem with trying to make such a claim or connection is that it tends to imply that the AI driving system is sentient.

As mentioned earlier, none of todays AI driving systems are sentient. I would also easily win a wager that we wont have such AI in any near-term future and unlikely in any later-term future. I am not asserting that we will never have sentient AI, which some would argue is in fact never going to happen. Ill settle for now on the simpler notion that sentient AI is not in the cards for the foreseeable future.

Lets leave things at that for the moment.

Okay, if the AI isnt sentient, we would seem on the safe theoretical ground to proclaim that the AI driving system will decidedly not become a victim of highway hypnosis.

You see, we can be clear-cut about the undeniable aspect that the AI driving system does not have eyeballs (not now). It has video cameras and other sensors such as radar, LIDAR, and the like, but it doesnt have human eyes. Plus, AI does not have a brain. AI of today has various computer processors and other electronic circuitry, which is assuredly not a brain and should not be falsely compared to a human brain.

Heres why that is significant.

For those that are sticklers about the meaning of highway hypnosis, they would fervently say that to experience highway hypnosis you must have human eyes, a human brain, and your eyes and brain are the elements that would become ostensibly hypnotized by the highway driving. Weve just stated that AI driving systems arent composed in that manner and therefore strictly speaking could not be labeled as susceptible to highway hypnosis.

Case closed.

Wait for a second, lets be a bit more flexible about this.

If you are willing to agree that highway hypnosis is more so about driving without awareness, and if we are willing to also define awareness in a more logically pliable fashion (even in the absence of sentience), we can constructively take a gander at seeing how this all applies to self-driving cars.

Excerpt from:

Could That Dreaded Highway Hypnosis That Puts Human Drivers Into A Trance Befall AI Self-Driving Cars? - Forbes