One might surmise, given the relatively advanced age I’ve reached today, I might just be able to show a degree or two of restraint, and keep from ranting first thing. On the other hand, I find it encouraging that, at this age, (I’m 63 today, an age I NEVER contemplated reaching when I thought about it in my earlier days….) I still have the wherewithal to expend energy on ranting at all. I find it to be quite positive to be able to bring my experience, and my extensive knowledge of the English language, to bear on the issues I see around me, and hope I never give up my sense of activism, at least as far as ranting goes… I might not join in too many more demonstrations out on the streets, but, I’ll keep writing as long as I have a venue from which, and in which…
One more day spent slipping into the mire…. Here’s another blast from the past, from a time when ranting was de rigeur…. Enjoy!… Some of y’all did the first time this was posted; is it still relevant… You tell me….
Ffolkes,
“O frabjous day! Oh, joy! I am filled with exuberant good will! Come, join me in greeting this fabulous new day!……”
There…. we’ll see how that works….. I thought I’d try something a bit new and different today, since I’ve been complaining to myself so much about the intro section. These words, stolen piecemeal from a Dorothy L. Sayers novel, coupled with a bit of doggerel that was laying about in me head, have but one purpose, and that is to distract and confuse Murphy long enough for me to at least get started on this Pearl. I don’t know how it will work, but maybe if he sees that I’m already up, started writing, and in a good mood, he could get a bit discombobulated by my apparent cheerfulness. Just about anything is worth a shot, if it means less hassle from him in the long run…..
Ffolkes,
Damn it! I knew this would happen! If I had listened to my own advice, I would have put it away somewhere safe…. But, nooooo….. I had to carry it around in my pocket like a book of matches or something, and now, it’s gone. Poof! Disappeared from my front left pocket, sometime between the time I put the pants on in the morning, to when I wanted to use it later that afternoon. My Dad always told me, if you want it safe, put it in your pocket; he forgot about holes, obviously, because that’s what happened here. Or, that’s what I assume, anyway, as it certainly wouldn’t have jumped out of the pocket, and there happens to be a medium sized hole, right at the bottom. Well, the size wouldn’t matter anyway, since it can assume almost any shape, and adjust its size as needed…..
Ffolkes,
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a word! It’s a train of thought! It’s…… Bloggerman! Faster than a speeding thought, able to leap tall metaphors in a single bound, this mild mannered writer for a large internet blogging community, risks humiliation and embarrassment on a daily basis, bringing to the reading public the views and opinions they won’t see on TV…. Join us today, as he once more joins battle with the forces of evil, cleverly disguised as normal priests and politicians, whose wicked agenda makes them seek to harden your water, frighten the baby, poison your cat, and make your whites dingy….. Now, that’s evil….
Obviously, it’s time for coffee…. I’ll be back…. The above paragraph sort of wrote itself, as I sat waiting for the coffee to finish, so I let it have its way, and since it came out in an acceptable form, we’ll let it…
Vertigo is ruling my universe; no relief in sight, so, I’m retreating into the past… Here is a pearl from earlier this year, written while in a similar state, so, it works just fine… I hope you enjoy…. I’ll be back tomorrow….
A man so various, that he seem’d to be Not one, but all mankind’s epitome; Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was everything by starts, and nothing long; But in the course of one revolving moon Was chymist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon.
~~ John Dryden ~~
~~ Absalom and Achitophel, Part i, Line 545 ~~
Mars Rocks ~~ NASA
Have y’all figured out the mystery of dejá vu, mentioned in yesterday’s Pearl? If any attention at all has being paid, you’d be able to answer in the affirmative, because the feeling is directly tied to the opening sights here at ECR, as well as the stimulus for the discomfort we feel at finding out we aren’t as attentive as we supposed…. Perhaps, it is more accurately described as a feeling the Universe is fucking with us in some unknown way…. which, in this case, is perfectly true…. Look…
I don’t often reblog, but, this is a video you MUST watch!…. Possibly the most brilliant comments on modern culture available today…. Clear, to the point, and frigging brilliant….
Since I never learned to speak, or read, or write in Latin, the soothing release of creating a poem in Virgilian hexameter is denied me; this is too bad, since I could use the bleed-off of some of this internal pressure. Beset on all sides, (for how does one escape one’s own memories?…), I have been withdrawing from the outer world, partly for my benefit, but, mostly to keep from inadvertently dumping on those who don’t deserve it, a nasty little habit to which just about everyone alive falls prey, at one point or another in Life. At least I’m old enough to see it coming, isolating myself until the danger passes….
My mind is being stubborn, though, and even staying away from the public as much as possible isn’t doing the trick; waves of dark memories keep assaulting me at odd moments, bringing with them the same passions they held when current, thanks to the now seemingly permanent stripping away of all my distance from them, a distance hard to build, and harder to maintain, apparently… It’s been a couple years since I felt this unstable…. and, I want to go on record as saying I don’t much like it…. a perfectly natural reaction, by the way….
That is my main problem, you see…. One of the psychiatrists I saw for a time told me once that I wasn’t really insane, so much as having a sane reaction to insane conditions in my life…. Not terribly helpful, other than as a directional pointer, but, it does make it a bit easier to accept, as being the only course of action available to keep myself sane…. It’s just that the sanity I’m experiencing resembles too closely the insanity I’ve also seen… more’s the pity….
So, I’m subsisting through each day, minute by torturous minute, trying desperately to find my center again…. It is an old, familiar search, but, sadly, needs to cover new ground each time I have to go looking for it… so, any maps or techniques I’ve managed to keep are not valid, or particularly useful in completing the search…. All the answers are to be found buried in new ground, which I first must find…. It sounds complicated, and, to an extent, it is… but, it’s also very simple, once I find the key, which is knowing not so much what to stop, but, where to look for something to distract me from the insistent remembrances that plague my waking hours…. i.e., finding that distance, between me and the pain, whether physical, or mental….
Ah, the hell with it, I’m just whining, so, fuck it…. I see a place we can break loose here, so, let’s take advantage of it while we can…..
Shall we Pearl?
Let us begin with a pearl that puts a very fine point on a core reason for the state of the world today, concerning how those who prey on others can bring themselves to do so, seemingly without conscience, or empathy of any kind….
“Alienation without must be accompanied by alienation within; that is the law for every social level, even individuals. To harm one’s fellows, even one’s enemies, harms you, takes away some essential element from your self-respect and self-image.” — Greg Bear
Or, as someone said, long ago, in a simpler time….
“It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.” — Tacitus (54-119 AD) — Agricola, 42
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Having spent the last few days in conflict with myself, I accept there is no rant in me just now; one must be confident to spew….. As part of the battle, here is a piece from shortly after this blog was begun, with some words about some of what I’m dealing with…. You could easily skip this section today, as it is chiefly here to assuage my own needs…. But, it’s not a bad little pearl, so, read on, if you’ve got the time….
From 9/24/2011:
Ffolkes,
I once read an article or essay somewhere that made this claim: when we cry or feel deeply sad over the death of a loved one, we are really crying for ourselves, not for the departed. In at least one respect, that is true; the person who has passed away is no longer suffering, and presumably has gone on to a better place, so in truth we ought to be happy, not sad. But we are sad, because it hurts to know that one in whom we have placed our trust and love will not be around anymore for us to be with, to talk to, to enjoy. So in that sense we are crying for ourselves, in lamentation for lost love.
But, unlike the author of the piece I was reading, I believe that is okay. It is, if nothing else, a completely human reaction to feel pain at a loss, and to a certain extent our reaction may be called selfish; no one can deny that selfishness is purely human. But it is more than merely selfish, because humans are never just one thing at a time. We also feel our loss in other ways, and with other feelings.
There is relief, for the ending of whatever pain the loved one may have been experiencing. There may be guilt, too, for taking the presence of the loved one for granted, or for not telling them they were loved. All of these differing reactions, and the many more I haven’t mentioned, only prove our humanity more, for in spite of what some would have us believe, we are not simple creatures. The relationships we build throughout our lives are held together with a myriad of feelings, all relating to the other person and the time we have shared with them. Our feelings don’t occur alone; there are always more than only one, for when they occur, they engender other feelings, which will then cause another, and another, and so on.
These thoughts, and a million more, have been circling around in my head for about a day now, since my brother called yesterday to let me know that our mother had passed away at about 1:00 pm. It was not unexpected; she was 90 years-old, and had been in the hospital for a week after suffering a massive stroke. I am sad, of course, and will miss her very much, but in truth, I don’t think it has really hit me yet.
When my father passed away, 20 or more years ago, the full reaction didn’t come until weeks later, and I have the feeling that in this instance, it may be some time before I can grieve fully. It’s just so hard to accept their absence; there is never any real belief they are gone until one day, all one’s feelings just crash in at once. So, I have that to go through yet, which is okay by me. I have enough problems just now, and can’t really afford to fall apart at present.
Today’s Pearls were picked out before I heard about my Mom, and so have no particular point in light of that. They are. however, well able to make their own point…..
“A ‘No’ uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“He who is most slow in making a promise, is the most faithful in the performance of it.” — Rousseau
“Here I am in the POSTERIOR OLFACTORY LOBULE but I don’t see CARL SAGAN anywhere!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
“If you never assume importance you never lose it.” — Lao-tzu
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total oblivion. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me and turn my inner eye to follow its path. When the fear is gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” — The Litany Against Fear (Frank Herbert, -Dune-, 1965)
“Before you speak, just remember that you will not be asked to explain what you did not say!” — Smart Bee
Such a fine group of Pearls really deserves some witty or profound remark in response, but I’m afraid that may be asking too much of my Muse today, so we’ll have to make do with this…..y’all take care out there….and don’t forget to tell the people you love that they are appreciated. Ya never know when they might not be there any more to tell…..
Note from 2014: Okay, grieving for today is done…. let’s go on, shall we?…..
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I picked this out days ago; if you’ve never heard of this artist, I’m not surprised, but, am also disappointed, as he was a legendary performer, and songwriter, perfectly voicing the beliefs and feelings of the time he was performing…. He also is one of the very few artists to give it all up when he started to become famous; he didn’t like the way it was changing his life, so he retired, to a private existence, only re-emerging recently to give us a bit more of his music… This was one of his few live performances, before he retired….
One thing about angst; it can make me bleed words….
Tempered Flesh, with Blood
Tiresome, the darkness, sitting in the sun,
submissively balancing over the pit.
Quiet as old terror, each brick one by one
building crescendo, sans music, sans style, sans wit.
Shadows thrown offer speculative fiction,
earning respite from burgeoning miscellany.
Light’s presence offers potential benediction,
if not divine, perhaps, then, beautifully zany.
Hours pass in days, minutes in a week,
challenging Reality to argue, adding a subtle smirk.
One humbly submits in hope of grace, small respite to seek,
in spite of prescient insistence ’twill never work.
Wave upon wave crash against the bloodied shore,
wearing down all natural defense.
All light is extinguished, darkness evermore;
if preserving life and love, sin no more.
~~ gigoid ~~
I’m not certain it’s done, but, that’s all there is for now…. I have a feeling it will grow further; for now, it’s all I have in me….
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Now we come to the freshes part of this pearl…. picked out yesterday, in the midst of the cacophony in my head, I cannot vouch for how it came out, though I do accept responsibility…. Try to enjoy it anyway, okay?….
“What then in the last resort are the truths of mankind? — They are the’ _irrefutable_ errors of mankind.” — Nietzsche
“Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” — Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense (1946)
“Human Kind cannot bear very much reality.” — T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton”
“To see what is right and not to do it, is want of courage.” — Confucius Analects
“We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.” — George Bernard Shaw
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” — Aldous Huxley
Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
“Brahma”
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Before I forget, today’s first photo, of the beaver family, is another shot from the London Daily Telegraph Animal Pictures of the Week series. This one had a nice story: A young couple started observing two beavers in the wild, watching from a distance as they built their dam, had a baby, living their peaceful lives… After a couple years, the beavers became so accustomed to their presence, they allowed them to approach closer, to the point of greeting them whenever they came to visit, and posing for this picture…. It’s nice to see a story about something other than bombs, and rape, and police aggression…. hence, the inclusion here, as a reminder of something good in the world….
Thus far today, I have abused a surly security guard, two smarmy lab technicians, and one way-too-perky nurse, who dared address me prior to having coffee, but, I didn’t kill anyone while I was out, in spite of being caffeine-challenged…. Even when the sunshiny little perkette smiled at me & gave out with a classic cliche, (She actually said, “you’re alive!”, when I growled at her), I managed not to hit her with my stick, though sorely tempted. I did, however, reply to that statement with “Yeah, and not real f__ing happy about it, either!”, so, she went away with a bit less of a shine on her day…. I was sorry for it, but, it was her own fault for talking to me after I’d already growled a warning….
On that note, I’ll be leaving now, before I dump on somebody else…. See y’all tomorrow…. maybe…. I might have fled the country by then….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, “Strike, if you will; but hear.”
~~ Plutarch ~~
(46-120 AD) — Life of Themistocles
I’d be willing to bang a few folks over the head, if only they would listen…. Sadly, ’tis not to be, and I am consigned to forever give my warnings, important to all as they are, to only a few diehard readers plucky enough to take my curmudgeonly style. It isn’t as if I’m saying much of anything that hasn’t been pointed out before; that is the whole problem, in a nutshell… The knowledge needed to save ourselves has been within the grasp of our hands all along, but, as the stupid, grasping, self-centered creatures most of us are, it mostly gets ignored, in favor of chasing after the latest fantasy held out by the corporate shills, which is guaranteed to make them happy….
It is as another blogger pointed out so accurately yesterday, people tend to put aside those things that aren’t palatable, or that don’t fit into their preconceived notion of how things must be, as not being real…. They believe completely in the foolishness they espouse, and will not usually even examine any evidence to the contrary; to do so they must first admit they were wrong in the first place, which is not going to happen…. ever. So, they continue to travel through their lives with blinders on, never realizing how little in their life they actually control, or that they are slaves, only living according to rules set up for them by others….
For some reason, I still love the idiots…. People are dumb, mostly, and blunder through life without much of a clue; it’s painful to watch, when I know they would have an easier time if only they would use their brain….. even just a little bit would help them make life better…. but, mostly, people ignore me, too, and go about the foolishness they’ve been accepting as truth all their lives, thus cementing further the hold the asininnies have over society, and ensuring we all will go down together, when our bill for services is presented, oh, day after tomorrow, or so….
Ah well, doing this helps a couple ways, if no others…. First, it makes me feel better… I stay saner, and that means fewer people per day are in danger…. always a good thing, right? Second, it does throw out there a lot of evidence, which, if they ever forgot, and looked at, well, it COULD do some good, if it happened to catch them in a weak moment, of which they have plenty…. I could get lucky, and one or more of them could have an epiphany, break the chains of mental bondage, and join the actual fight for survival going on out in the real world….
But, all that, no doubt, is a picture of me, fantasizing how it could, or should be, an occupation always fraught with danger, of believing any of it…. In truth, I’m fairly resigned to spouting off mostly to myself…. I have a couple of ffolkes with whom I can talk about this stuff…. Plus, there is a certain satisfaction, small though it may be, in preaching to the choir, who, at least, appreciate one’s thoughts, and for the most part, agrees…. It would be better, all around, for everyone, if the fools and idiots out there not paying attention to what is happening right in front of them would begin to pay some attention, and take some responsibility….. but, if I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath….
Enough whining for one day; maybe there is a Gentle Reader out there waiting for today’s music, to which I can say, well, why wait? Today’s is a long concert, so, go turn it on, & listen while you read…. The rest of us can listen, as well, while I take us through some rather esoteric places today…. I also can say this….. LOOK! It’s a plane! It’s a bird! No, it’s just a pearl, waiting for us to pick it up….. It looks like a really good one, too, all about the depths of folly explored by Mankind….
Shall we Pearl?…..
IMPALE, v.t. In popular usage to pierce with any weapon which remains fixed in the wound. This, however, is inaccurate; to impale is, properly, to put to death by thrusting an upright sharp stake into the body, the victim being left in a sitting position. This was a common mode of punishment among many of the nations of antiquity, and is still in high favor in China and other parts of Asia. Down to the beginning of the fifteenth century it was widely employed in “churching” heretics and schismatics. Wolecraft calls it the “stoole of repentynge,” and among the common people it was jocularly known as “riding the one legged horse.” Ludwig Salzmann informs us that in Tibet impalement is considered the most appropriate punishment for crimes against religion; and although in China it is sometimes awarded for secular offences, it is most frequently adjudged in cases of sacrilege. To the person in actual experience of impalement it must be a matter of minor importance by what kind of civil or religious dissent he was made acquainted with its discomforts; but doubtless he would feel a certain satisfaction if able to contemplate himself in the character of a weather-cock on the spire of the True Church. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
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From 12/20/2013:
“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man. The reason is not far to seek. It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken
With this statement, Mr. Mencken has put his finger on the pulse of America, that is for certain. It goes a long way toward explaining why so many people in this country are so willing to believe the outright, egregious lies that are told to them every single day by the officials they elect every year at the polls that characterize our alleged republic…. They do lie, you know, with almost every statement that comes out of their mouths…. They begin with the most important lie they tell, from which all the others spring, and that is the lie they tell when they tell you that they want to be elected so they can work for YOU! Each and every politician learns early in their career, if they are at all to be successful, they MUST portray themselves as a public-spirited, honest, and tireless worker whose only purpose is to make life better for their constituents….
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth…. NONE of them are at all concerned with any of that nonsense; they are there to carry out their own agenda, which has very little to do with what is good for the general run of mankind…. No, they are there to serve the interests of the men and women who pay them, those lobbyists and special interest representatives who run the businesses of the corporate masters. The people on the street cannot provide them with the perks, or the cash, that the clandestine rulers are able to come up with, other than peripherally, by electing them in the first place…. Once elected, their true colors come out into the light of day, and it can be easily seen how their actions are never congruent with what they have promised to the people who elected them….
It’s all about power and money to these folks, not service. In my entire life of observing politics around the world, I have yet to see a single elected official who could be shown to be honest, not at the national level. The one who came the closest was Jimmy Carter, and his presidency was marked by how little got done, because he was so honest that the true politicians in Congress blocked every reform he tried to institute during his time in office. His actions during that time showed him to be the exception to the usual rule for politicians, which is why, I believe, he was so ineffective as a legislator….
“Invest in America — Buy Japan!”– Smart Bee
Other than Carter, I have seen concrete proof that EVERY President of this country has lied to the American people, not just once or twice, but continuously, about nearly everything. Time and time again, public outcries are heard or seen in the news about some new revelation regarding something some politician lied about, just like it is breaking news or something, when it is actually the normal state of affairs….
I don’t know why it is, but if a man on a TV set, wearing a suit and tie, makes a statement to the public, the general public will believe it, sometimes fanatically, without ever examining it for whether or not it is true…. Then, when it turns out they were lied to, they get all upset and vocalize their displeasure, never once admitting it was their own cupidity that allowed the lie to occur in the first place…. It makes me wonder what happened to people in this country, to make them go soft in the head….
“Doctors are the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.” — Anton Chekhov
Did you ever notice how many politicians were lawyers, first? Most of them, as it turns out, for the simple reason that learning to be a lawyer gives a politician two advantageous types of training…. One advantage is that law school teaches the student how to lie in every imaginable way, in order to ascertain which kinds of lies are legal…. The other advantage is their primary motivation….
If asked, a very large percentage of lawyers will tell you their reason for becoming a barrister in the first place is that it is a good way to get rich, (without mentioning, of course, that this is true only as long as one doesn’t give a shit about other people, and what that might do to them). In other words, they make their money by taking advantage of people’s misery, holding them as hostages against their own destiny, in order to gain resources, i.e. money, and its sidekick, power….
Then the lawyers realize that their training is perfect for politics…. The ability to lie with facility comes in very handy to anyone who wants to be in the public eye, as that is how one gets elected in the first place…. Tell people what they want to hear, and they will vote for you, every time, coming back to the same trough to eat, even though they get screwed, time after time…. Having the facility to ignore what happens to others, due to their own actions, is the other skill so important to the political set, and the training one receives as a lawyer fits right into that category….
“Watching the democratic party in a presidential contest is like watching a washing machine with a defective bearing: It starts up smoothly enough, but soon, it begins to wobble and shake, jumping violently from place to place, until it tears itself to pieces, spewing dirty laundry all over the room.” – Smart Bee
Some people will say that there ARE some good lawyers out there, and I won’t argue that…. but, they’re still lawyers, not politicians, aren’t they? They’re doing what they can to help ffolkes find their way through the morass of our legal system to get what they need, even occasionally finding some justice…. But, they aren’t going further, and going into public service, are they? They’re still in place, where they can help, but, they are so few and far between, they are hard to find, and so are very busy, seldom having the time or resources to work against their less honest colleagues. Plus, they really are very few in number, as altruists seldom become lawyers in the first place….
I can see that this has evolved into a full scale rant, and we’ve just begun the day, so I’ll call a halt here. I often feel as if I’m preaching to the choir, anyway, when I go through this stuff again…. It’s all familiar material around here, so it isn’t as if I’m presenting new ideas for your examination…. No, this is all old stuff, and, sadly, doesn’t seem to ever create the outrage that I feel in very many other ffolkes…. which is too bad…. I forget who said that “if you keep on doing things the same ways as you always have, things will always be the way they’ve always been….”, but, they were absolutely correct…. We are on a path to our own destruction, clearly, but, nobody seems to care.
Nobody, that is, who seems able to DO anything about it, and they are the ones who will need to make the changes…. The people in authority over the rest of us are wearing blinders in this respect…. The idea that what they are doing is wrong, and will eventually kill us all, doesn’t fit into their world-view, so they won’t believe it, and will continue to refuse to make any of the changes needed to re-direct our steps onto a path less dangerous.
It is up to the rest of us to get it done, and that may entail overthrowing the current crop of rulers, either by the vote, or by the less agreeable option of using the necessary force, while making sure the new crop will act in OUR best interests, rather than their own…. If it does happen, it will be the first time in history, which is fine with me…. just as long as it is not the LAST time in history….
“… democracy is not something you believe in, or a place you hang your hat, but it’s something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles and falls apart.” — Abby Hoffman
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Welcome to the second day of music on ECR…. Today’s video is an EXCELLENT recording of Cream, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, their first concert in 36 years, since the band broke up in 1968…. This video, over an hour long, comprises the first half of the concert…. the second half will be aired on tomorrow’s blog, right here at Exploring Consensual Reality….
I know, it’s a lot to ask of y’all… to have to listen to three of the best rock musicians to ever play, both individually, as solo instrumentalists, but, also, as a group acknowledged one of the best ever, able to blend their talents seamlessly…. In this video, they play for well over an hour of live, brilliant, improvisational music from our past…. but, somebody has to do it, so, you’ll just have to do the best you can with it, okay?….
Enjoy!…..
Cream Live at Albert Hall Part 1:
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It’s one of those days I should probably use my own poetry, so nobody else suffers by association…. Since, of late, I’ve been beset by misery for much of each day, here is one I wrote back in 2012, about that very subject…. It usually helps, if I can focus on the last lines….
Raging at Aging
As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.
The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.
As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.
Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.
Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.
~~ gigoid ~~
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Here is a fresh, random pearl, plucked from the current bed of oysters in SB’s newest version…. Enjoy!…..
“But my dear man, reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.” — Alan Watts
“One of the most important parts of being smart is the ability to let go of what you thought you knew so you can understand the way things are in a new way.”
— Esther Dyson
“Morals today are corrupted by our worship of riches.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
“It’s wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope.” — Elrond
“By a tranquil mind I mean nothing else than a mind well ordered.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 3
“How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one’s culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse.There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light.” — Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams
“The Osmonds! You are all Osmonds!! Throwing up on a freeway at dawn!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
Why Zippy seems to be our finishing pearl so often is a mystery to me, but, it probably shouldn’t be…. he is, after all, the work of one of the twentieth century’s finest social critics…. go figure…..
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Some mornings this process goes more smoothly than others… such is the case today. It’s long, but, it’s done, and I can get on with fighting my daily battle with my bones, and, now, my inner ear…. I’ll be back tomorrow, ffolkes…. this is the only thing keeping me going just now…..
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Never commit yourself to a cheese without having first examined it.” — T. S. Eliot
Okay, so, you can see the expression on the baby’s face, right?…. It’s a bit hard to identify just what is going through the baby’s head, other than the obvious bit of confusion, and the apparent disbelief… To me, the face says, “What is this, and why is it looking at me like that?”, or something equally quizzical, but, much funnier…. The baby owl doesn’t look any more confident of what is happening, although it’s hard to tell with those faces owls have, just MADE for poker…. The picture, by the way, came from the London Daily Telegraph picture section, from a group of animal pix they ran a week or two ago, with the theme something to do with unlikely friendships…..
The expressions, though, are what drew me to the picture; neither of them is quite sure of how to deal with the other, and it shows…. You can also tell there is no issue of fear, only curiosity, and it’s nice to see that, especially in very young creatures…. It means they feel safe in their environment, and are not threatened by each other’s presence…. Creatures that suffer abuse lose their curiosity very quickly, I’m afraid, so it is easy to spot….
We aren’t going to spoil this by speaking of abuse; that’s a subject for another time; this picture is far too CUTE to be used to create such a volatile diatribe, which I’m sure it would turn out to be…. Nothing infuriates me more than those who abuse the weak, who take advantage of those who cannot fight back…. but, in light of the rather more uplifting nature of this shot, we’ll forgo any such ranting for now, in favor of just enjoying the nice feeling that accompanies such a picture….. It’s just too cool for words, in my estimation…. Of course, I’ve managed to use it as the basis for several hundred words, but, that’s me, and it’s what I do, so, back off….
Not too far…. hey! Watch out, you’ll back right off the wing, and fall out of the plane…. My insurance dude would be furious with me, so, please, remain in your seats until all the cocktails have been served, okay? Thanks….
As you may be able to tell, this is starting to unravel on me….. That’s what happens when we take off in one direction, only to find it’s a one-way, dead-end street…. S’okay, though, that’s why we have four-wheel drive; we just take off cross country when that happens, and usually are able to find our way back to our appointed reality…. It’s those rare occasions we DON’T make it back to the correct reality that tend to drive up the insurance costs…. But, what can we do when reality alters itself like that? Sheesh, it’s not as if we’re all Time Lords, is it?….
No, of course not, but, the assbites who sell insurance don’t care about all that…. Don’t get me started on THAT whole scam industry…. Insurance is one of the more egregious institutions foisted upon the average man by the monied elite, a completely unnecessary, unwanted, and unethical industry that takes advantage of people’s fear, to have them betting on their own death or misfortune, so that the insurers can make a huge profit…. If y’all think there is any OTHER reason for that industry to exist, please, tell me…. I’d LOVE to hear THAT set of euphemisms and logical dead-ends…. Sure I would…. I LOVE hearing bullshit until my ears bleed….
Okay, now it’s getting completely away from me, heading fast toward rant-city, so I’d better take advantage of the ending point I see…. right HERE!…. C’mon, ffolkes, we’re jumping off here, so we can get on with the rest of today’s Pearl…. Whatever this is right here, is heading for the trash heap, so, we’d best be on our way….
Shall we Pearl?…..
“The man who sees the consistency in things is a wit, the man who sees the inconsistency in things is a humorist.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
If I hear a single one of you ask, “So, what does that make you?”…. I swear, I’ll make you regret it….
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“A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.” — Buddha
I am full of piss & vinegar this morning; it’s probably a good thing nobody else is around except Murphy…. Even HE is giving me a wide berth today, as the signals I’m giving off are no doubt being picked up intergalactically, thus keeping all and sundry at a safe distance from my person…. That’s safe for them, not for me…. The only danger I’m in is from my own intransigence, and if I have to explain that, well, you should just go on to the poetry section, because you’ll never catch up otherwise….
Below I’ve placed three article links, with a small excerpt from each article added just below the link, to give an idea of the thrust of the issues involved…. I’m using the R.A. Heinlein technique of gathering headlines to show just how CRAZY everything has become in our world…. For some reason, headlines seem to give the best overall picture, as they give us the highlights of the picture, thus showing the breadth and scope of the issues under discussion without having to burden people’s minds with such unnecessary items as fact, figures, or details…. A purely American invention, as is patently clear…. Any who, here are a couple of recent articles from today’s (actually, yesterday’s…) news, after which you’ll find a fine, seven-star pearl, based on the parameters implied by the articles….. http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Michael-Copps-former-FCC-commissioner-on-net-5626535.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bustech
“This deal should be dead on arrival. We have no business doing this after Comcast 1,” Copps said. “To take this footprint that Comcast has developed over so much of the rest of the United States and impose it on so many other subscribers and so many other areas … is totally inimical to the public interest. I don’t see any conditions that would be ameliorative of that, that would make it acceptable to the public interest.”
“The drought is real. A federal meteorologist named Brad Rippey recently predicted, in an interview with Wall Street 24/7, that California would run out of water in two years. The El Niño forecast for the fall is now described as weak, with minimal effect on rainfall. Droughts don’t just last for a nice tidy two years – heck, Nevada was once an ocean…… Rippey said that the average reservoir recharge rate between 2011 and 2013 was 70 to 79 percent, while the withdrawal rate is between 126 and 140 percent of average.”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/18/nurse-guantanamo-boycott-force-feed-prisoners
“One Navy nurse at Guantánamo had refused to force-feed detainees anymore and declared the practice unethical: I have come to the decision that I refuse to participate in this criminal act, Dhiab told me the nurse said…… The nurse, Dhiab tells me, is the first staffer at Guantánamo to choose medical ethics over military logic. Like all staff assigned to force-feed detainees, this Navy nurse was initially a volunteer. But when he arrived on base this spring, he told Dhiab, he encountered something different from what he expected: The story we were told was completely the opposite of what I saw.”
There, now, don’t you feel better, just for knowing all that? I thought you would….. Here’re your pearls….. enjoy, ffolkes….
“Lamachus chided a captain for a fault; and when he had said he would do so no more, “Sir,” said he, “in war there is no room for a second miscarriage.” Said one to Iphicrates, “What are ye afraid of?” “Of all speeches,” said he, “none is so dishonourable for a general as ‘I should not have thought of it.'” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Iphicrates
“He is the best of men who dislikes power.’ — Mohammed
“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
“Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.” — Edward Abbey
“The world holds two classes of men – intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence.” — Abu’l-Ala-Al-Ma’arri (973-1057)
“Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.” — Eric Hoffer
“Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.” — Edward Abbey
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Not much can be said about Charles that hasn’t been said, so, I’ll let his poetry speak for itself…. I find him to be even more honest than most poets, who are about as honest a group as can be identified…. That is what makes them poets….
Pull a String, A Puppet Moves
each man must realize
that it can all disappear very
quickly:
the cat, the woman, the job,
the front tire,
the bed, the walls, the
room; all our necessities
including love,
rest on foundations of sand –
and any given cause,
no matter how unrelated:
the death of a boy in Hong Kong
or a blizzard in Omaha …
can serve as your undoing.
all your chinaware crashing to the
kitchen floor, your girl will enter
and you’ll be standing, drunk,
in the center of it and she’ll ask:
my god, what’s the matter?
and you’ll answer: I don’t know,
I don’t know …
~ Charles Bukowski ~
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Here’s the deal…. Above, I came close to ranting, with a twist, then created a fresh pearl, which covers most of what we do in a day…. Rather than spend a long time searching out a fresh old-school pearl, on a day when Smart Bee has already proven to be somewhat balky, I’m dipping into the archives for a religirant, one of which I have not created in some time…. Can’t let them feel as if I’m not paying any attention to them, can we? Nope…. That would be cruel….
From 7/1/2012:
Fundamentalism: an effective form of mirth control. — Smart Bee
Smart Bee is almost always right on the money, and this one is one you could take to the bank. Have you ever noticed this? It seems that in order to be ordained as a fundamentalist minister, one must lose or destroy their sense of humor. This lack of funny bone is one of the primary characteristics by which one may recognize this fortunately rare beastie; it is often accompanied by a very strong sense of hypocrisy, and a sense of entitlement all out of proportion with Reality….. and they get all upset and frothing at the mouth when someone (like me…) points out their hypocrisy, especially if the proof is obvious.
“I see little divinity about them or you. You talk to me of Christianity when you are in the act of hanging your enemies. Was there ever such blasphemous nonsense!” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), The Devil’s Disciple
This hypocritical nature is shared with the fundies by politicians, bankers, and lawyers. Of course, the fundies dress differently than the latter three categories, who all dress the same, in power suits with white shirt and power ties. You can differentiate one from another by the type of accessories they wear. Politicians usually have an American flag pin on their lapel. Bankers, of course, have a diamond stick pin for their ties. And the lawyers will usually add a vest to the suit, or wear the scales of injustice on their lapel…… Although each claims they are different from the other, all of them are adept at lying with great facility…..
“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” — H.L. Mencken
This insight is quite powerful, and very true to Reality. This characteristic of the American voting public has always fascinated me, in the same way that a poisonous snake is fascinating to study…. they’re beautiful, but very dangerous to one’s health. I suppose the public’s calm, even resigned, acceptance of the lies they hear from the beloved ruling class and the priestly hierarchies is a natural outgrowth of the hypocrisy inherent in each of them individually. In other words, because they’ve chosen to believe in a certain set of lies, ie Christianity, they are only too willing to accept being lied to by their ruling class. It’s kind of pathetic, if you ask me….
“Instead of striving to be like Jesus most Christians would rather presume that Jesus was just like them.” — Callan Williams
I guess the most ironic part of all this is the absolute cluelessness of those who choose this path. They really have no idea how insane their beliefs have become; they refuse to look at any evidence that doesn’t agree with what they have chosen to believe, other than those (often erroneous or irrelevant) passages from the Bible that they will toss out with such finality. It cracks me up when someone quotes the Bible; they act as if just referring to that book denies the truth of any other source, like once they have referenced scripture, no other answer is acceptable…. when in fact, what they’ve quoted often has no relation to reality at all. And the colors they turn when this is proven to them are fascinating…..
“I don’t mind being screwed, but the government thinks I’m a nymph.” — Smart Bee
Okay, I’ll stop harassing the poor churchies now. I know it’s dishonorable to have a battle of wits with people who are unarmed, but some days I just can’t help it. I look at all the damage that churches have perpetrated on society, and my blood boils, my brain ignites, and my fingers start typing accusatory dross and ironic drivel, without conscious volition. Besides, they certainly have it coming, and they’ve had lots of practice, at deflecting accusations, and at outright lying about their motivation. So, fuck ’em, as we like to say downtown…. they’ve been doing it to me, and us, for a long time; now it’s my turn….
Man, n.: An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth and Canada. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
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I suppose it would be fruitful, not to mention the whole “acting with foresight” thing, if I went back over this, to see if it floats…. “Okay, be right back,” he said with misplaced confidence…
“Well,”, he said with alacrity, “I’d say it will not only float, it will swim…”…. Where it might swim TO is a question I don’t believe any of us have ANY interest in pursuing…. It would serve no purpose for any of us at this juncture to speculate, and might even cause a spontaneous fire…. I think it would be best to just to let it go, and see what transpires….
So be it….. gigoid has spoken…. such as THAT may be.
See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. Even if, like yesterday, only ONE person drops by…. It’s a good thing I’m writing to protect the world, or it might just get me depressed…. Since I write to stay sane, which is the protection I spoke of, it’s no big deal…. Ta, then, luvs…..
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid 