June 29, 2007
by Steve Hammons

There seem to be many good reasons to check out the new HBO series "John from Cincinnati."

Some of these reasons were revealed when the show premiered last Sunday, June 10. That episode introduced viewers to the Yosts, a family of surfers and residents of Imperial Beach in far southern San Diego County.

We also met other "IB" residents and surfers who go about their daily activities just north of the Mexican border.

The Yosts are a troubled family and we see in their difficulties the similar human pain and challenges that our own friends and families often face.

When a mysterious guy named John shows up in their midst one day, things start to get more interesting. For example, one of the members of the Yost family suddenly levitates. What is John's connection to this phenomenon?

Indications from the first show and information that can be gleaned about upcoming episodes point to many interesting elements that merge and emerge.

Show creators David Milch, Kem Nunn and a top team of directors, writers, actors and crew seem poised to delve into topics that are now triggering significant interest from people in all walks of life.

BORDERS, BOUNDARIES AND DIMENSIONS

We know that the characters in this show are living on many borders: land and sea, the United States and Mexico, San Diego and Tijuana, and suddenly, our "normal" reality and an altered dimension that John apparently is associated with in some way.

For those familiar with San Diego, as I am, having lived there for 15 years, Imperial Beach does not exactly have the sex appeal of the La Jolla, Coronado Island, Pacific Beach or Mission Beach areas of San Diego County.

The beaches of IB are not quite the international vacation destination like those more desirable areas of San Diego.

Yet, IB is very much like the rest of San Diego County in terms of a near-perfect climate, outdoor- and ocean-loving people and very much connected to the Pacific Ocean, the southern California culture and the communities of the US Navy and Marine Corps that have been a major influence on the region since World War II.

And since WWII, people from all over the US have been drawn to the beauty of the San Diego region. It is a melting pot of Americans and people from around the world.

This area is a major jumping-off point for men and women who go to sea, who live and work in that vast and untamed world of the Pacific Ocean.

One of the two major Navy SEAL bases in the US is just up the coast a few miles. The Navy's Marine Mammal Program that trains dolphins and other marine mammals is also just north of IB.

(Article Continues Below)

Navy SEALs, Navy dolphins, surfers and the beach lovers of San Diego County all have many things in common.

What do these elements have to do with the interesting stranger John and the people he meets? More boundaries, more secrets, more than meets the eye.

Metaphysical mysteries are very much a part of the surfing culture as well as current investigations by the US military and intelligence services. "Anomalous cognition," "remote viewing," "weird physics" and many other kinds of unusual phenomena are being looked at very carefully.

There are many who believe that these kinds of phenomena are linked to emerging natural developments. That is, they are part of Nature. They are part of our everyday lives now, and they will continue to manifest in more significant ways. In good ways.

HEART AND HEARTLAND

Ed O'Neill, who plays one of the main characters, when asked about the character John, is quoted as saying in part, "We know he's not from Cincinnati."

O'Neill should know. He attended Ohio University, my own alma mater, which, like Cincinnati, is located in southern Ohio. Cincinnati is located in the southwestern corner of the state, Ohio University at Athens in the southeastern corner.

Ohio is often referred to as the "heartland" of America, and it has a rich and more exotic history than many know. The ancient and mysterious "Serpent Mound" lies about halfway between Cincinnati and Athens. Shawnee Indians held Daniel Boone captive in the area. And lately, crop circles have been showing up in southern Ohio.

We might remember that in APOCALYPSE NOW, Army Special Forces Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) talked at some length with Army Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) about southern Ohio and the Ohio River.

It is not yet clear what the creators and writers of "John from Cincinnati" had in mind regarding the show's title and that identification for the enigmatic fellow who appears in Imperial Beach, California one day.

But, we do know that the mysterious and fundamental factors in play in the natural world, in hidden dimensions, in the past, present and future are what physicists are now calling "non-local." That is, space and time do not always mean exactly what we think they do. Things are connected in unusual ways across boundaries and borders.

This is the way of Nature that we are now discovering through quantum physics, research into anomalous cognition and other kinds of exploratory endeavors.

So, John might actually be from Cincinnati, and from many places, spaces, dimensions and times.

We all might be.

We can only hope that the team creating "John from Cincinnati" will become a part of these discoveries and tell a story that will resonate within us.

For more information, go to: www.hbo.com/johnfromcincinnati

If you enjoyed this post, please consider the following:

1. Make a donation of $1 or more to help keep this website active.


   click here

2. Click Here to Subscribe to the Free Populist Party Newsletter

Steve Hammons [send him email] has worked as a journalist, editor, counselor, juvenile probation peace officer, public safety urgent-response specialist, teacher, instructor and US Government researcher. He graduated from Ohio University with studies in communications/journalism, health education/psychology and pre-law. Hammons's two novels, Mission into Light and Light's Hand, tell the story of a US joint-service military and intelligence research team investigating emerging special topics. Visit the novels' home page at: www.navyseals.com/community/members/ohio52