California's corpse flowers in bloom (LIVE)

Corpse Flowers at The Huntington 2026, Los Angeles

Corpse flowers at The Huntington 2026

(The Huntington) Started streaming at onset of anticipation of bloom on July 6, 2026: Join us as we watch and wait for two unpredictable corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) plants to bloom. The Number 1 question: What does it SMELL like? This is very easy to answer and experience without a visit. Scratch your bum. Cup hand. Breathe hot breath on it. Now take a short whiff. WARNING: Do not attempt if living in Boil Heights or experiencing intestinal parasites such as the dirty fruit bug (cyclosporiasis) currently overtaking the U.S. or if under a heat and humidity alert. Learn more: huntington.org/botanical-...

Legal prostitution in Las Vegas? Scam

(JacobslifeinVegas) What Las Vegas prostitutes REALLY do to you

• Prostitution in Nevada (does not include Las Vegas or non-rural counties)

Will Chris or other boys be going there?

Viva Las Vegas. Nevada is the only U.S. state where prostitution is legally permitted in some form. Prostitution is legal in 10 of Nevada's 17 counties, although only six allow it in every municipality.

I'm the bouncer! I work here! - Unhand me!

Six counties have at least one active brothel, which mainly operate in rural, isolated areas [1].

The state's most populated counties, Clark (where Las Vegas is) and Washoe (which contains Reno), are among those that do NOT permit prostitution. But they do permit "escorts" that may trick tourists into believing they are accessing legal prostitution.

It is also illegal in Nevada's capital, Carson City, an independent city. The vast majority of prostitution in Nevada takes place illegally in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno.

About 66 times more money is spent by customers on illegal prostitution in Nevada than in the regulated brothels [2]. More

Sick New World 2026, was it worth it?

(Karl Rock) What's Sick New World Music Festival? Wiki

• Sick New World Festival, Las Vegas, 2026
• Fieldy, original member of Korn

Why did Fieldy leave Korn?

(Batch 89 Studio) Fieldy finally speaks out on why he left Korn

Why did Head leave Korn?

(Rock N' Roll True Stories) Why Brian 'Head' Welch left Korn: daughter, God

The ladyboys of gay Buddhist Thailand

(Max Stoli) I found out WHY there are so many "ladyboys" (katois, kathoeys, kathoys) in predominantly Theravada Buddhist Thailand (and it's not what one would expect).

• Travel Guides and Travel Inspiration (Lonely Planet)
• Pattaya Beach (Thailand's Santa Monica/Venice Beach)
• Bangkok, capital of Thailand: "One Night in Bangkok"

Russian redhead treks top secret Siberia

(Eli from Russia, Jan. 31, 2026) Inside Siberia's secret mountain range that Russia kept off maps: the Taiga. Two years earlier, Eli EXPOSED Russia: Did you know this about Russia?

• Buddhism in Russia and Siberia?

On Safari: Wife Hunting Tours for $$ Men

(60 Minutes Australia) 'Love Tourists': Single white men travelling overseas to find a bride?

• Would Americans approve of mail order bride tours? (Rebel Alliance News via KPFK FM Los Angeles)
• (Agent Nesty) I was a mail-order bride (my personal experience)

[Buddhist] World Surf League Finals (8/25)

What is 'Buddhist' about the practice of surfing?

Get back on and ride the waves.

There are many ways in which surfing, which seems to have been "invented" in the Pacific -- in Peru and Polynesia, with important contributions from Buddhist Japan (which at that time included a cultural hold on what is now part of Hawaii in the Imperial USA), tracks with the best elements of Eastern philosophy.

That philosophy, distinct from Western philosophy we are all generally familiar with, is a syncretic blend of Buddhism, Zen, the Vedas, Hinduism, Taoism, Shinto, and indigenous shamanism. (British Californian Alan Watts explained it very well to Westerners).

• Mindfulness (fully absorbed in monotasking)
• Absorption (undistracted doing temporarily freed of discursive thinking)
• Letting go (non-clinging, as in "Let Go, Let God," with "God" understood to be Nature, the Universe, things just as they are at this moment, more Brahman than a brahma)
• Going with the flow rather than struggling against it (entering flow states familiar to poets, rappers, artists, and persons able to enter trance states at will)
• Skillful allowing and accepting rather than shoving, muscling, and efforting (radical acceptance as understood by Buddhist teacher and psychologist Tara Brach)
• Riding the wave (internally of emotions, externally tolerating and skillfully adapting to the "Eight Worldly Winds"):

Practicing at home in the Deep South, USA

Theravada Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg elaborates on the Taoist idea of “the ten thousand joys and the ten thousand sorrows.” Our lives are constantly changing, sometimes in the space of a minute. The Buddha taught that the “Eight Worldly Winds” are:

1. pleasure
2. and pain,
3. gain
4. and loss,
5. praise
6. and blame,
7. fame
8. and disrepute.

Taoism and the Tao Te Ching (Book of Changes)

They (and all things) are constantly arising and passing away, beyond our control. We suffer when we cling to pleasure, gain, praise, and fame or hold the expectation that they will always be present.

When instead we get pain, loss, blame, and disrepute, we feel that something is terribly wrong, or that we’ve done something wrong... More

• Well, what should we do when everything sucks? Surf.
• Whether that means ride the waves of life constantly coming at us like Eight Worldly Winds or vicissitudes or actually getting out on the water, waiting for the swells, and riding them back to sure with the practiced skills of balance, poise, allowing, persistence, and mindful awareness.

Lexus WSL Finals Fiji 2025 | World Surf League

Map shows Fiji cluster of islands in center

What to know: The paradise and power of Cloudbreak | Lexus WSL Finals Fiji. At the Lexus WSL Finals, the WSL Final 5 will face off at Cloudbreak, one of the most powerful lefts on Earth. It's a wave that demands total commitment and punishes hesitation. With a world title on the line, this is the ultimate test of talent, mental acumen, and pure surfing instinct. The stakes have never been higher, and there's no room for error. History will be ridden, and World Champions will be crowned: Paradise and power of Cloudbreak (WSL)

Where is Fiji?

Where in the world is Fiji? It is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean (between Hawaii and Australia). It rests about 1,300 miles (1,100 nautical miles or 2,000 kms) north-northeast of New Zealand.

Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 7,100 square miles (18,300 sq kms). The most outlying island group is Ono-i-Lau.

• DETAILS: Lexus WSL Finals Fiji 2025 | World Surf League

Mexico's Baja California in upper right, Fiji in center, Southeast Asia on left, Africa at far left

.

About 87% of the total population live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in the capital city of Suva, or in smaller urban centers such as Nadi (where tourism is the major local industry) or Lautoka (where the sugar-cane industry is dominant). The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain [13]. More

• WorldSurfLeague.com/events/2025
• VIDEO: 1,700-year-old city hidden beneath Pacific Ocean
• WSL 2025; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist Thailand BANS cannabis

Thailand legalized non-prescription cannabis sales in 2022 but has reversed (Reuters/Jorge Silva)

• Buddhism in Thailand

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand is further tightening control of cannabis by banning sales of the plant to those without prescriptions. Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis in 2022, in a move that boosted Thailand’s tourism and farming, and spawned thousands of shops. But the country has faced public backlash over allegations that under-regulation has made the drug available to children and caused addiction. Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin signed an order Monday that bans shops from selling cannabis to customers without a prescription. It also seeks to reclassify cannabis buds as a controlled herb. Thailand further tightening controls on cannabis sales (AP News)

• Thailand, the first country in Asia to legalize cannabis, is re-criminalizing recreational sales (ABC News)
• The best cannabis dispensaries in the Bay Area | local-favorite weed shops

No car needed to get to or out of LAX

40 Inspiring Travel Quotes (Castles & Carpools)

It used to be that as a world traveler, no matter how cheap the flight, how inexpensive the lodging, how tasty and trivial the fee for nutritious far was, they'd get you at the airport. The redeye into Los Angeles was a giveaway, but the taxi fare from LAX to the part of town where anyone other than travelers were was more expensive. The same for New York, Boston, and the major hubs. Even toting a copy of the trusty Lonely Planet, it was hard to get a straight answer on how to get out from under the planes for cheap. It could be found. It did exist. But nobody knew about it, and no one was telling anyone, and no one knew where to ask or get answers. Pressing, there was always a way, even from LAX. But the limousine bus, hotels, and taxi companies all conspired to keep it secret. It used to be that to get out of LAX, one had to find a free bus out of the octopus of busy streets and to a station. From there, one could cheaply (for pennies) get to downtown and from there anywhere else. It was never necessary to get a ride to the airport to fly out or to get picked up when coming in. It was a nice luxury, however imposing it was on the relationship (revealing who was a dependable friend or family member). But now it's easy. Starting today it is clear to anyone, and Uber and Lyft must be nonplussed. How did the Yellow Cab Company keep the scheme going for so long? Now there's a new station and a clear and easy way to get out of and back to LAX, Los Angeles International. Let this be a message to all shoestring travelers with big backpacks on their way to Asia or Europe: there is always a way out of the airport and into town without getting rolled by a taxi or tuktuk driver/company. See Lonely Planet | Travel Guides & Travel Information or wait at the airport until morning and ask the concierge. It's as if someone has told them not to tell anyone, but they will if pressed. There's always a way out, even if it means walking out of the airport to another battalion on independent taxis who do not want to pay and pass on airport fees.

Travel, who needs it?

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”

—Maya Angelou

“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves.

—Euripides

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”

—Jawaharlal Nehru

“It is probably a pity that every citizen of each state cannot visit all the others, to see the differences, to learn what we have in common, and come back with a richer, fuller understanding of America – in all its beauty, in all its dignity, in all its strength, in support of moral principles.”

—Dwight D. Eisenhower

“A great way to learn about your country is to leave it.”

—Henry Rollins

“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.”

—William Least Heat Moon

“We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us.”

—Anonymous

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”

—Mary Anne Radmacher

• KTLA.com; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly, Castles & Carpools; Lonely Planet

Climbing Mt. Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles

Beloved monument was frequently vandalized by clever artists/activists until a fence went up.

Los Angeles Hamalayas hamming it up for the Hollywood cameras with LA as Katmandu

.

Mt. Lee with antenna peak, sign on upper left

It's odd how similar Los Angeles, the capital of the world, and Kathmandu, the capital of Buddhist Nepal, are. Both are buttressed against a great range snowy.

Behind Los Angeles to the north is Angeles National Forest, and LA County seems to continue behind this great forest, headwaters, and occasionally snowy peaks. Just like the view of the Himalayan range north of Kathmandu, it's not possible to tell which one is Mt. Everest.

Wow, that's Everest from below? No, on the left.

Old timey Hollywood Land sign (circa 1930)

That's odd since, allegedly, it's the tallest mountain in the world. It's actually probably about the fourth or fifth tallest, behind Mt. Sumeru (which may have sunk and become the current tallest) Mt. Mauna Kea, K2 above ancient Gandhara (the Buddha's country Afghanistan-Pakistan), and one that allegedly bulges at the equator to be the tallest when measured from the center of the planet.

List of mountain peaks by prominence. The iconic Hollywood sign rests on the scrub brush slopes of Mt. Lee in Hollywood along Beechwood Canyon, the street the first Theravada Buddhist temple in Los Angeles was set up by the Sri Lankan community (farther south right next to Hollywood Blvd.)

The name of the mountain (Mt. Lee) separating Hollywood from The Valley is not "Mt. H Sign," and Mt. Everest isn't the name of the peak in Nepal. Its actual name is Sagarmatha ("Goddess of the Sky") in Nepal and Qomolangma ("Holy Mother") in Tibet.

Bonkers history of (and treacherous journey to) both sides of the Hollywood sign

.

Griffith Park Observatory's clear view of the sign

(Wonderhussy Adventures) Sept. 18, 2024: Welcome to Wonderhussy Adventure #827. Date of adventure: 8/1/24. Wonderhussy's friend Mike Z promised to take het up to the world-famous Hollywood sign — "but wouldn’t you know it, he brought me to the ass end" (rear entrance)!

"Which one's Everest?" #1 question on flight to summit

Website: wonderhussy.com Support: wonderhussy. Help fuel her next trip: paypal.me/wonderhussy or

Griffith Observatory with sign to the northwest

cash.app/$Wonderhussy. Buy her dinner: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls... Bitcoin link: 3H4kzyPxMEwNGNgntSpCQGDEj6xMADUUYC. Merch: wonderhussy-merchandise.myspr...

Recommended gear: amazon.com/shop/wonderhus... Calendars: createphotocalendars.com... CREDITS: Theme song by Michael Saint-Leon switchyardstudios.com. Hollywoodland sign: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, waterandpower.org and hollywoodsign.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons Blockbuster Video: Coasterlover1994, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses..., via Wikimedia Commons Neil Diamond at the Greek: Larry Bessel, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses..., via Wikimedia Commons.

Covert Affair - Film Noire by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/... Fluffing a Duck by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses... Doh De Oh by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses... Fig Leaf Times Two by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses... wonder hussy, wonderhussie, wonder hussie, wonder hussey, wonderhussey

Secret California caverns open up (video)

Mystery mountain: cave find and spelunking

A privately owned California cave, kept secret for decades, now shares its mysteries

Enter if you dare. Live in a cave tiny home.

(SF Gate) A visit to Black Chasm Cave promises history, rarities, and maybe a spider. Look inside this privately owned site in Volcano, California.

SF Gate Managing Editor Katie Dowd, June 16, 2024: The first person to peer into the 18-inch crack in an Amador ["Lover"] County hillside got quite the surprise. The gap swallowed the sunlight, exhaling sweet, cool air.

• Prehistoric art in a mysterious South American cave is a lot older than science once thought
• VIDEO: Ancient technology at Karnak, ancient Egypt, with UnchartedX and Bright Insight

They're better in Buddhist Asia (Chiang Mai)

Translucent pillars flushed orange in the glow of weak candlelight. Deeper inside, the cavern held secrets, treasures, and creatures that would be found — and forgotten — over the next 170 years.

Black Chasm Cavern is one of Earth’s rarest creations full of gems. Although the Indigenous people of California likely stumbled onto it long before, the first recorded sighting was in the 1850s when the hills around Volcano, a hamlet about an hour east of California's capital, Sacramento, were crawling with gold miners.

What did cavemen do in caverns? Dream?

One of them stumbled onto that 18-inch crack. After the disappointment that it held no gold subsided, he saw a new opportunity: tourism. [Why should everyone be limited to Calabasas Caverns?] 

• Early goldminers became tourist guide, giving candle tours for a "pinch" of gold. But it was a scam: Midway, deep in the cave, they would blow out the candle and demand another pinch to guide adventurers to the exit.

Guides at Black Chasm Cavern today tell visitors the story of how the first chamber ended up in its present state. After descending a tight, steep set of stairs, explorers find themselves in a space filled with blunt stalactites.

The best European archaeology is in Spain.

Each stalactite takes thousands of years to form as water slowly drips down [depositing minerals in their wake]. In a moment, gold miners destroyed them, chipping off the tips to take home as souvenirs.

Those stalactites will never grow back [not even in millions of years]. Privately owned California cave, kept secret for decades, shares mysteries (sfgate.com)

• YOU can fix the planet and save the world. When and how? What can one person do? History shows that one person is the only one who has ever done anything. Everything starts with one person, idea, impulsive volition (karma): planetwild.com. When? Now
• Giants? '10-foot-tall people' discovered by archeologists in Nevada cave

Explore natural cave, Black Chasm in Volcano, California | A Bartell's Backroads Pit Stop

(ABC10) Sept. 27, 2019: National Natural Landmark Black Chasm in Volcano, California, is a great pit stop to make during a road trip. An hour east of Sacramento, go caving – known as spelunking – at this natural cave. ABC10's John Bartell visits this underground wonder on at journey to the backroads.

Destination California: Back to Black Chasm Cavern

(FOX40 News) June 14, 2022: Fox40's Melanie visits Black Chasm Cavern in the woodlands and wine country of Amador County, northeast California, Land (and Underworld) of the Miwa Tribe.

Mom and me in Boyden Cave, California

Boyden Cavern and the wild cave exit in Kings Canyon National Park

(Through My Lens) Nov. 29, 2020: Boyden Cavern is located deep in the heart of Kings Canyon National Park. We got a chance to visit the cave in 2020, and it was a really fun experience. The cave is only open seasonally but make sure to do the tour if you get the chance. Read more about it here: californiathroughmylens.com/b...

• Archeologists find the lost remnants of the Mexican Maya civilization hiding in the jungle

Hawaii: Paradise turned to Hell (video)

Hawaii: Paradise Turned to Hell

(Tyler Oliveira) Aug. 7, 2024: Get 20% off DeleteMe US consumer plans at: joindeleteme.com/TYLER and use promo code TYLER at checkout. DeleteMe International Plans: international.joindeleteme.com. Join Patreon for $5/month: tyleroliveira. Gonna start uploading more extended/uncensored cuts, early access to all the videos watched here, and exclusive content YouTube will not allow anyone to watch on YouTube. Thanks for watching elsewhere! Special thanks to David & Jaimin, YouTube: @davidmariusofficial, Uncle Walter: @walterkanamu8597.

Let's visit the real Los Angeles (video)

Los Angeles: The City of Broken Dreams

(Tyler Oliveira) July 16, 2024: This documentary video is completely demonetized. To support the channel, subscribe to the Patreon: patreon.com/TylerOliveira,

Hollywood is woke AF, so try to fit in.

There's a place in LA to go to get dreams broken more quickly than anywhere else. It's called Sunset Boulevard. That's where the musicians congregate and before long end up working at Guitar Center selling equipment they can play but can't get anyone interested in paying them money to see them play. It's called the music business. So bring some of the right k karma, showmanship, and business savvy, or stay home. This very same street, which leads all the way west to Santa Monica Beach from the Hollywood Hills just above it, is the former site of a lot of above ground prostitution. Now turning tricks has moved to the Valley and, apparently, Figueroa and other seedy street. And while visiting Hollywood, why not try your hand at acting? This very street has lots of little restaurants where screen legends were allegedly discovered. One never knows who's watching, so dress up, the flashier the better.

DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational and documentary purposes only. It contains material that may be disturbing or offensive to some viewers, but it is presented in a truthful and non-exploitative manner. The views expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views of the creator or YouTube or Wisdom Quarterly.

Visit to Turkmenistan, Central Asia (video)

There is a Gateway to Hell, a major tourist draw in Turkmenistan (Darvaza gas crater),

The dictator upstairs is limiting tourists to the entrance, I hear. Here he is. Let's ask him.

• 

  World-famous Afghan Buddhas of Bamiyan

  Buddhism in Central Asia may sound strange, but Buddhism really began in Central Asia (a place some might call the Stans), where the Buddha was born and raised: Scythia, Saka, Gandhara. While legend has him in Nepal, Dr. Ranajit Pal and archeology corrects that notion.

• 

  Ancient Gandhara is some modern Stans

  The largest Buddhist monuments and monasteries in the world are in modern Afghanistan, and they did not arrive there via the Silk Road transmission but had already been there even as Bihar was populated with so many Vihar's that it got its name as an Indian state. They were celebrating their native son, who returned seven years after he set off on his quest. There was no "India" at that time, only Magadha and other independent kingdoms that were united two centuries later by Buddhist Emperor Ashoka. In these strange and little-known countries there are Buddhist artifacts that make little sense until one places "Scythiamuni" Buddha in his proper context, in a land from in and around Indo-Saka-stan.

Traveling to the strangest country on Earth

(Yes Theory) Where in the world is Turkmenistan, and is there really a door to hell there? Thanks to Young Pioneer Tours for taking us on this incredible trip. Links to their details here: youngpioneertours.com 🙏🏼 Thanks for making these videos possible through support of Seek Discomfort ⚡️ Support that work: seek-discomfort.com/yes-theory.

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ABOUT: Who are we? We believe that life’s greatest moments and deepest connections exist outside of our comfort zone. Ask us a question: Tweet us @yestheory.  Hosts: Thomas Brag, Staffan Taylor, Matt Dalhia. Editors: Thomas Dajer, Cam Peddle, Harrison King Producer: Melida Berton Production Assistants: Beatrice Longo, André Quintão.

• Yes Theory, 11/12/23; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly