The least lamentable alternative must suffice….

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Ffolkes,

“It is not the one with many possession  who is rich, but the one who has no needs.”

~~ Philoxenos ~~

Memories of Spring

Memories of Spring


Good morrow…. Today we will be once again, truncating the normal process, as I slept more than 8 hours for the first time in recent memory. I’m still feeling under the weather, altogether, recovering, I think, from the physical ordeal I’ve been going through for over a year now, thanks to the lack of compassion and ignorance of the modern medical model, which has its head so far up its ass as to be, well, quite a ridiculous picture to contemplate. Ugly, too.

Any who, the upshot of all this is, I’m up very late, without a Pearl ready. So, to sublimate sufficiently to assuage my misplaced sense of duty in this matter, I’ll give you what I’ve got, and let it go at that, saving what little wherewithal I do possess to make the attempt again for tomorrow morning. For today, this will have to do. All you get is one skinny, seven-star pearl, and that’s it. We’ll all have to deal with it the best we can.

In order to get that accomplished, I’ll stop this meandering blurb here, and go directly to the rest of today’s mess. Enjoy, what little there is, is all there is. I hope it will do for the nonce….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest.” — Robert G. Ingersoll (American lawyer and orator)

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pearls_3

    As you see, it’s not the most robust of pearls; it will do, even if the meaning is a trifle obscure. I’m operating under some rather severe handicaps at the current time, so, I’ll offer my apologies, with the caveat that tomorrow, and the remainder of Pearls to come, will be back to their former size and content…. SIGH…. I hate feeling weak…. Ah, well, this too, shall pass….. Enjoy!

“The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.” — Confucius (B.C. 551-479)

“There are fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is surely yours is the present, hence this is the time to speak the word of appreciation and sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault of a thoughtless friend, to sacrifice self a little more for others. Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed, and to use your God-given abilities for the enrichment of someone less fortunate. Today you can make your life –  significant and worthwhile. The present is yours to do with as you will.” — Grenville Kleiser

“If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled?” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxv

“Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Return of the Jedi”

“Perish discretion when it interferes with duty.” — Hannah Moore

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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Th, th, that’s all, ffolkes. I’ve shot what little wad I had, so, I’ll be on my way with no further ado, to try to put myself back together. It will be good to feel good, I think. I’ve missed that….. See y’all tomorrow; count on it…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Maggie, I swear that penguin winked at me!….

			
						

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Mornin’, ffolkes,


I’m still not up to a Pearl, though things are showing some improvement, as my plan is executed. Hopefully, I’ll have a fresh Pearl by tomorrow. In the meantime, this is a damn good one, so, enjoy!….


gigoid


gigoid's avatargigoid


Ffolkes,

And then, I woke up….. wobbly. That’s wobbly, in the Doctor Who, Tardis-like sense, as regards Time and Space, not the old, rusty bicycle wheel type, that has only to do with one’s progress down the road….. In this sense, wobbly assumes new meaning, much deeper and more relevant to reality than its previous incarnation as a word of note. In this case, wobbly means….. well, wibbly-wobbly.



I know, it’s early for silliness, but, what else can one do when one awakens all giddy and bemused, from having slept to a decent hour, indicative of a number of positive life-events?…. I was so rested and relaxed, I was able to get in a full-body stretch, without falling into a paroxysm of back spasms and leg cramps, for the first time in recent memory, recent being defined as about five years….



Since the universe seems to be in such a…


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Uncertain signs of capitulation….

			
						

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Ffolkes,


Bad day, worse night, and not over yet. I didn’t have the wherewithal to complete anything, much less a Pearl, so, here’s a good one from 2012… Enjoy!..


gigoid's avatargigoid


Ffolkes,

Well, I’ll tell ya…. there is nothing quite like being shot from sleep into instant wakefulness by a leg cramp. It’s not too pleasant, either, to spend the first couple moments of that wakefulness screaming in pain while trying to ease off the cramp. Fortunately, it was in the calf, rather than the thigh. I don’t know if I could stand a thigh cramp…. how do you get it to stop? With the calf, you can grab the toes and pull up hard… this will usually stretch the cramping muscle enough to cause it to stop. But, a thigh? How are you going to remember how to stretch it while screaming in pain?  Gotta be worse ways to wake up, but, I’m not aware of them….. thankfully….



Well, now that I’m up, and while I’m waiting for coffee to brew, whom should I assassinate, character-wise? The curmudgeon in me…


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Chicken bones for dessert….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




Xenophanes said, 


“I confess myself the greatest coward in the world,


for I dare not do an ill thing.”


~~ Plutarch ~~


~~ Of Bashfulness ~~


PK Leelu


A Storm on the Horizon



Leelu in full PK mode




Hajime…. For any Gentle Readers who are wondering why I’m continuing to use the Japanese opening for today’s Pearl, well, I’ll tell ya…. It’s like this: As I write this, it isn’t morning. It isn’t even evening, really, as it will be, in a short time, what is best described by Eric Clapton in his song, “After Midnight”…. That’s pretty clear, right? It’s the fucking middle of the night, again, and, here we sit, me & Leelu, working on a Pearl instead of sleeping, as my body/mind would REALLY like to be doing.


Why I’m up again isn’t important, though it’s probably relevant. But, any sort of discussion would just set me off again, I’d start ranting, and we’d never get out of the intro. So, I’m passing on that, and we’ll go straight to something more fruitful, or, at minimum, less offensive and rude. We do like to avoid rude, whenever possible. Mom wouldn’t like it if we were rude…. We don’t like to disappoint Mom, do we? No, of course not….


The question now, however, becomes once more problematic, as we are proscribed from using the same trick twice. My box of literary tricks is rather empty right now; what with all the recent time spent finding my way back from Hell, I haven’t had a lot of time to read, or study, or, for that matter, think as much as I’d like. Though we are both body and mind in one, the body’s complaints sure seem to take precedence when they occur; this makes it hard to use the mind to balance whatever is happening…. One can persuade one’s self Reality isn’t actually happening for only so long; at that point, Reality switches tools, from a scalpel to a sledge hammer. and has its way, regardless of whether we can fool ourselves, or not….


I’m pretty good at fooling myself, as are most of us human types. This doesn’t mean I like it; I can just accept it…. Now, where were we? And, where were we going? Oh, right, intro. Okay, it looks as if we have enough to satisfy the licensing board, so, why don’t we let Luigi have some more fun, and use the turbo booster? Everybody strapped in? Okay, Luigi, it’s all yours…. (Don’t worry, ffolkes; if we crash, we’ll just switch over to the Tardis, travel back to this instant, & start over….)


Shall we Pearl?….




“Skeptics laugh in order not to weep.”


~~ Anatole France ~~




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tom_waits_stencil_by_theMIVC-1262




Tom Waits ~ Stencil by The MIVC


Image from 8tracks.com via Google Images




Unique. It’s the only word for Tom Waits; his voice, his musical talent, his lyrics, his persona. Another of mankind’s treasures, to my way of thinking. You can decide for yourself…. This was his debut album, released at age 24; on the page listed below, you can find all of the rest of his body of work, with extras…. Enjoy!….




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Tom Waits

Closing Time


















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We the People...




~~ Bruce Sterling ~~




Though I’m afraid he’s right, Mr. Sterling’s assertion does require some definition of terms; “moral relativism” just BEGS to be misinterpreted, in the sense that each person will filter the concept through their own moral viewpoint. So, in order for us to discuss it wit any degree of confidence, I’d best delineate why my own opinion runs, if not parallel, at least in the same quarter of the compass as his statement. Why don’t we do that? I dunno, why not?


Okay. I believe it, moral relativism means exactly what I described above. Each of us has our own moral code (hopefully); we view the world, and its activities, with that code coloring our perceptions. For example, a person who holds the belief they have the duty to help others will view a business transaction entirely differently than one who feels they are entitled to do unto others, first. One will sell their products at a fair price. with service given to each customer. The other will consistently overcharge for cheap products, and act as if they are doing a favor to sell at all.


You see, to me, that’s what moral relativism is; when people make a decision about how to interact with others, for whatever purpose it may be, a certain percentage of our species tends to think it is just fine to rationalize ANY sort of behavior, if it leads to them getting what they want. They can justify lying, stealing, even killing, in the pursuit of their desires, without any compunction, or, really, any thought at all about how others might be affected by their actions. Moreover, many of them are canny, and have learned how to manipulate others of their kind, who have a tendency to be violent, to do their bidding…. They call them ‘police’ these days….


“Our legislators are not sufficiently apprized of the rightful limits of their power; that their true office is to declare and enforce only our natural rights and duties, and to take none of them from us.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1816


As Tom’s observation from the early days of the Union show, the problems we face today have their origins in that very same beginning, as those who serve only themselves worked their lies and manipulations to gain control of government almost before the ink was dry on the Constitution. He recognized in this, and other writings, how the bankers and preachers had conspired, naturally, as is their nature, to pervert the legislators from day one of the first Congress, lobbying to have their own wishes made law….


And they’ve done it. Our world today is under attack by large corporations, and their owners, who number far fewer than many might believe. They wish to control everyone’s habits, and finances, and health, and every other aspect they can seize. They have made sure the laws favor them over any other member of society, and now have almost free rein to attempt to order everyone’s lives, so we all live in the same houses, watch the same TV shows, eat the same poisonous foods, go to the same doctors who feed us more poisons, then send us to church on Sunday to celebrate our slavery, by worshiping a delusion who promises us our next incarnation will be better.


Bah, humbug! Not for me, thanks…. I’ll take it the same way it’s laid out in the Constitution of this nation, as written. Period.




    gigoid, the dubious, has spoken.


    So be it.


“When, in the course of human events,…. etc.” 


~~ Declaration of Independence of the United States of America ~~







Dont keep calm




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Comedy_Tragedy




    For some reason, this one, though recently created, seems to fit in with today’s rant; since I can do what I want, here ’tis….




Mad Dogs at Bay


Wicked, angry, red scenes of imminent demise

haunt my dreams each night.

Fearful visions of destructive surprise

leave me sweating in terror, as well they might.


Small, mean, ugly, with beady little eyes,

pundits gather like maggots, bloated and vile,

grunting, snuffling, mumbling outlandish lies,

enslaving the ignorant with patience and guile.


Society’s denizens exist as volunteer slaves.

Living and dying by script, completely blind.

Never allowing any resentment, no making waves.

Never knowing joy, nor any peace of mind.


Free men will not be controlled, ’tis said;

No coercion, no illusion can cloud their sight.

No threats, no pain, no fear they dread;

their only duty to keep to the right.


Dreams are mere reflections of our inner fears,

whispering, close against doors shut fast.

Mocking our mostly  irrelevant tears,

clearly marking the future as our sordid past.


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 7/15/2015.


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pearls_3




    What follows is what I would call a true pearl of virtual wisdom; in fact, in this case, it approaches the real thing. Most of it will definitely be on the Quiz, so, if I were y’all, I’d take notes, at least…..




“Reality is a group hunch.” 


~~ Frank Zappa ~~

———-

“We do not perceive reality. We conceive it.” 


~~ Oskar Haeml ~~

———-

“If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” 


~~ Native American Proverb (Minquass) ~~

———-

“Never pretend to be something you’re not.” 


~~ Things We Can Learn From Dogs ~~

———-

“Be and not seem.” 


~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

———-

“Truth never tranquilizes. 

The defining property of truth is its ability to disturb.” 


~~ Solomon Short ~~

———-

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” 


~~ Erich Fromm ~~

———-

“When someone loves you for a long time, 

really loves you, then you become Real. 

Generally, by the time you are Real, 

most of your hair has been loved off, 

your eyes drop out, 

but this doesn’t matter . . . 

when you are Real you can’t be ugly.” 


~~ The Velveteen Rabbit ~~

———-

“Do not go gentle into that good night

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”


~~ Dylan Thomas ~~




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Some of you may have noted, or, not, I failed to actually tell y’all why I used the opening word; it shows how easily we humans can be distracted by them, adding more evidence to yesterday’s discussion of Socrates thought on the use of language, and how it can be evil when used improperly. Which is, again, a digression. Each Pearl you’ve seen, and continue to see, has been a fight to produce; I’m in sad shape, in a lot of ways, and the mere fact it’s getting posted at all is a victory, in a way. It means I survived another fight, which, at times, is the only possible way to win at all.


Since it’s been such a daily fight, we begin as every Judo, Karate, and Japanese martial art of any sort begins a match…. The irony, of course, is we are done now,  but, it does mean I’ve survived this far, at least. Now I post, then, begin the fight to survive to do it again tomorrow…. Considering my record so far, the odds look good again…




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

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, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








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À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
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Ffolkes,




“Misfortune shows those who are not friends.”


~~ Aristotle ~~


Last of Eire 2015 012


Leaving Galway on a Train




Hajime…. There are times, such as today, when I wonder why I push myself to do this. Then, I just do it. That’s what we will have to do today, ffolkes, thanks to some physical issues demanding attention, and, the realization that Reality is about to step on me, big time. I’ll let y’all know if I live through it.


In the meantime, I got most of this done last night during one of my insomniac periods during the night; even so, some of it is rather truncated, due to well, taking on more than I was prepared to handle. So be it. I have no more to say, until the end, so, let’s start working our way down to that end….


Shall we Pearl?….


“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 4/19/30


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flintstones




Out on the town in Bedrock


Image from free-extras.com via Google Images




Yesterday, I made a slip of the fingers, typing ‘Fred and Wilma’, when I meant to type ‘Fred and Ethel’, referring to the Mertzes, of course. Since it reminded me of this show, which I had not used previously, I figured it would work today, which, oddly enough, it does. Enjoy!….







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The Flintstones


















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socrates




“The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.”


~~ Socrates ~~




Today’s rant will be more of an ‘exploration’ of an idea than our usual ‘explanation’ of how an idea functions, and the resultant angst that function creates in me. If you think about it, a rant is more of the latter, and thinking is what I’d like to encourage with this particular piece, in myself, and in the Gentle Reader, if you acquiesce. Otherwise, it may get a bit boring, or, at least, uninteresting, two related, yet, not equal states. The second is not necessarily a choice, the first always is…. but, once again, I digress. The idea Socrates brings up in the above quote is our focus, so, let’s examine it while I have the wherewithal, and the urge….


In this assertion, Socrates echoes an opinion I’ve seen expressed by other sages, to wit: the language we choose to use in our speech influences our thinking, thus affecting our behavior, equally as much as the process works the other direction, with our thoughts influencing speech. When we choose, as we often do, we humans, to allow our feelings to guide what we say, rather than what we may think, it tends to roughen our language; it becomes simpler, perhaps, and plainly expressive, but, with such feeling attached, often negative, it becomes vulgar. This can lead to allowing feelings to dictate behavior as well, so, the common use of vulgarity tends to encourage that indulgence. To maintain a rational level of sustainability for all in our interactions, upon which our behavior is such a vital factor in the outcome, we must learn to detach ourselves from the feelings involved, and that is best encouraged by using language that does not retreat into either excessive passion, or vulgarity.


Not to say vulgarity doesn’t have its place in language; anyone who DOESN’T cut loose with some serious vulgarity when a carbon-steel hammer comes down unexpectedly on their finger is missing out on the best way to release the frustration, if not the pain. And, if they HAVEN’T done so, well, quite frankly, I’d put down serious money to bet they’re lying about that…. We all have our secrets, especially those who deny ever having evil thoughts, or having never made a moral or ethical mistake i.e., a bad choice, of words perhaps most often…. Since much of the language I hear in the mainstream culture to which I’m exposed is pretty vulgar, as a whole, when not merely perverse and ignorant, I would say Socrates’ point has been made rather graphically.


So, now we know evil is rampant in the world, as evidenced by the language you can hear any/every day, in the news, movies, on TV, on the radio, on the net, all of it together makes up a picture of culture, and, by all I can tell, this one is pretty well fucked. I mean, just look at religion, and the stranglehold it has, and has had on society for practically forfuckingever…. I’m  not the only one to have noticed you know; just read some of the lesser known passages in the Bible, describing the victories the ancient tribes had in their wars to spread the word of Yahweh, the bloodthirsty asshole… Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to get vulgar…. Let’s see what somebody else has/had to say on the subject….


“Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane — like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell — mouths mercy and invented hell — mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!” — Mark Twain, _The Mysterious Stranger_


I’m afraid this rant has gone a bit south on me; I keep finding pearls which, though they fit in with the overall theme, exploring how society has gone wrong over time, also seem to want to go all over the map to find those responsible for much of it…. For example, while thinking of how to next demonstrate the principle we’re dealing with, i.e. how our language reflects our attitudes, and thus, our reality, Smart Bee gave me the following pearl, defining another class of people who have caused more than their fair share of damage to others…. our old friends (NOT!…), solicitors/counsel/officers of the court, to wit: lawyers, or as most of us here on the streets call them, fuckheads in suits…..


Q: What do you call 5000 dead lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A: A good start! — Smart Alec Bee


Lawyers, of course, once they have rotted on the vine for a while, generally become politicians, so, Smart Bee came up with the following pearl to show his diverse talents….


“Anyone can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.” — Cicero


Gee, does this remind y’all of anything you may have seen/heard before about the post-larval lawyer class? For example, in the news lately, we see how the US government, at the behest of, and in collusion with the Big Pharmacy companies, have conspired to keep the knowledge of how powerful a cancer drug cannabis is, for more than 40 years. The FACT that cannabis cures cancer has been withheld from the American people and the world for all that time, the secret held by a few traitorous politicians and their pet scientists. In short, all of the more than 20 million people in this country who died from cancer since 1976, when the research was classified, have been, essentially, murdered by their own government….


http://www.naturalnews.com/051881_cannabis_oil_cancer_treatment_Big_Pharma.html


Okay, I’m sick of talking about those assholes, the scum of our species, the oligarchs, politicians, preachers, pimps, police myrmidons, professional military assholes, and especially lawyers, who prey upon their fellow man… To finish off this now epic diatribe, let’s go 180º, and find some pearls to show us how things COULD be, if we just kicked their asses to the curb….


“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” — Greek Proverb


“The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.” — Henry L. Mencken


“It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes, and not to suffer passion to interfere with our interest and public good.” — George Washington


“Let us face a pluralistic world in which there are no universal churches, no single remedy for all diseases, no one way to teach or write or sing, no magic diet, no world poets, and no chosen races, but only the wretched and wonderfully diversified human race.” — Jacques Barzun


That’s all, ffolkes. I’m done, having bitten off more than I can chew. At least I spit it out….


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Comedy_Tragedy




Fine and Good, Good and Fine


A pig in a poke’s got nothing on me,

cuz I’m as confused as a man can be.

This ol’ world’s got me spinnin’ around

cussin’ and spittin’, a penny for a pound.


Forty ‘leven times since I was a kid, well,

I’ve fallen in love, ‘least too close to tell.

Every damn time, it all went to crap,

Forty ‘leven times I’ve felt like a sap.


‘Course, each time it happens, I forget the last;

why not? I’m havin’ such a blast….

Livin’ in each moment, filled with joie de vivre,

’til it’s all gone away again, nothin’ left up my sleeve.


Don’t want y’all to think I’m sad or blue,

life’s full of sorrow, lots for me, and/or you..

T’other side of that coin, we can be glad,

is joyful love, and that ain’t at all bad.


My road’s been littered with parts o’my heart,

each one colored with trust, which ain’t always smart.

Yet, long as I don’t lose my connection to joy,

I’ll find my own true love, and be a happy boy.


It’s been some kinda fun, even when I’d take a fall,

and doin’ it over makes no sense at all, at all

Day after day, I keep on keepin’ on, as it’s said;

Guess I’ll keep on doin’ that ’til I’m dead.


‘Nuff said….


~~ gigoid, tongue firmly in cheek….




Written 3/23/2013.


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About Hopi Indian Symbols


    


    It’s a pearl, and that’s about all I have to say at this point. It does have a meaning; I’m just not up to explaining it. Enjoy, anyway, please….


“Some people are, through no fault of their own, sane.” — Smart Bee, talking about gigoid again


“A dead man cannot bite.” — Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey)


“Fortune is unstable, while our will is free.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Epicurus, xxvii


“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne


“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” — Doug Larson


“A man makes no noise over a good deed, but passes on to another as a vine to bear grapes again in season.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations, v, 6


“Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Antigone, 706


“It’s not what we don’t know that gets us into trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.’ — Will Rogers


“Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.” — Charles William Dement


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It’s done, and that’s the best I can say of it. Moreover, it’s all I SHALL say, for I am, for once, out of words. See y’all tomorrow…. I hope.




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

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, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








Featured Image -- 2780




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Bill them for the bastardized version…

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”


~~ The Beatles, The last lyric of their last song ~~


Galway memorial to famine victims


Memorial to the Famine Victims, Galway, Ireland






Boy howdy, ffolkes…. Life, in all its glory, can be a bumpy ride at times; I guess that’s what drugs are all about. Of course, such a smarmy, sardonic statement so early in the day indicates a somewhat less than perfect status of the mind to take as a good sign, but, I think we can overcome any objections anyone might have, by merely saying, if you ain’t tried it, you don’t have nothing to say. Or, as Lily Tomlin, I believe, once put it, “Reality is for those people who can’t handle drugs.”….


All controversy aside, it’s a decent morning, thanks in part to the magic of cannabis, along with a bit of marginally risky application of a thaumaturge disguised as a cabbie, I’m alive, awake, and typing. Who knew? But, again, I digress, out of sheer relief and gratitude for a job well done, if not fully completed, or documented. This completes your morning dose of prevarication tempered with real-time compassionate intent, all for the amazingly low price of (FREE)!. What a deal!


And, hell, I’ll throw in the nonsense for nothing, too. We’ve got plenty in stock, believe me. By the way, the Pearl you will find below is not merely an odd one, it was unique, in that none of it was particularly vituperative, or even very snarky. It is, however, complete as I can make it, and that will have to do, as always. We don’t have any contracts right now, anyway, so it’s all part of the service we provide in these slack times for everyone. Besides, that way, we can keep up your dependence without having to spend anything extra…. bonus!


I can’t think of anything more for this section; I’ve emptied out my bag of BS already. I guess we’ll just give Luigi his head again, and get on over to the oyster beds, before we get into any deeper water. Hang on, ffolkes, he’s getting a little rambunctious these days…..


Shall we Pearl?….


It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them.” — Mark Twain


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Lucy




Lucille Ball


Image from ebay.com via Google Free Images




Lucille Ball was one of the most powerful women in Hollywood during her day, long before powerful women were even seen as such. She lived her life exactly as she wished, and for that, if nothing else, deserves our respect. She’s also one of the greatest comediennes to ever trod the stage or screen. Enjoy ffolkes, as we all did as kids, for a half-hour to an hour a week, when Lucy, Desi, Fred, and Wilma (oops, Ethel….wrong sitcom) joined the entire USA in their living rooms….







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I Love Lucy





















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le penseur-rodin




Le Penseur, The Thinker, by August Rodin




I don’t feel like ranting today; so be it…. Here instead is some self-revelation, all of which still applies…. Damn! Too much consistency enters the realm of hobgoblinship, so to speak. Oh, well, I like me, mostly, so, we’ll go with what Brother John told us, and “Let it be”…..


Last posted on 7/21/2014:


From 11/30/2013:


A man who can fool chiefs, and even gods, must still face the monsters he himself created.” — Old Maori saying


Introspection has always been a hobby of mine, but, since turning the ripe old age of 63, (note from the future; made it to 65…) it seems to have become even more of a time-consuming process for me than has been true for most of my life….


I can remember laying on my bed in the state of Washington, when my father was stationed there at Fort Lewis…. I would stare at the bottom of my brother’s upper bunk, and imagine all manner of things, including about myself, and my place in the universe…. Even at the tender age of 8 or 9, as the son of an Army sergeant, I had been many places, and seen more of the world than is usual for anyone other than Army brats…. our proud designation for ourselves…. The quest to maintain one’s personality in the face of all the changes going on around us gave me the impetus to perpetually be aware of more than is the norm for kids of that age; at least, it always seemed so, from what I can tell from my knowledge of others of that age….


Now that I’ve reached an age that completely got skipped in my earlier musings of what life would be like, I seem to be thinking back and forth more often, making connections with the past that explain certain elements of my own persona as they manifest today…. My hair, for example…. (I know, I know, my hair isn’t generally the subject of a rant, but, that’s not really what this is…. this is more of a…. a retrospective, yeah, that’s it…. a retrospective…. so, calm down, I’m not going to get all graphic, or gloomy, or pick at anyone in particular, other than myself…. ‘kay?…. ‘Kay!….)


So, I was looking at my picture on my About page, and can only say that, well, there I am…. My hair is even longer now, (a bit grayer, too….). as I see no particular reason to cut it…. which is the root thought that stimulated this entire subject today…. A little while ago, I was standing outside a moment, with my hair not yet tied back into the usual ponytail, and the wind was blowing it around a bit…. I started to get annoyed, then realized I could only blame myself for it getting in my face, because the solution to that problem is right over there in the drawer, where the scissors live…. I thought to myself, how many times has someone asked me, “why don’t you cut your hair?”, and realized I couldn’t count that high….


My own reaction to that particular query is to think, (again…), to myself, “Well, actually, the question that occurs to me to ask is, why don’t I NOT  cut my hair?”…. It seems to me, when I stop to consider the matter logically, and reasonably, that if the hair grows, as it has always done, it must have some sort of evolutionary purpose for doing so, right? It seems logical to me…. Therefore, it seems logical to ask, as well, “who am I to fuss with evolution?” This line of reasoning, naturally, tends to piss of most of the folks who make the original statement to me…. but, I figure that sort of anger is a personal problem, don’t you? I can’t go around taking the heat for what other people don’t like about me, when their anger is based on THEIR beliefs, not mine….


In a way, I suppose it’s the old hippie in me…. Aha, you say, now we’re getting to the meat of the matter! And, typically, I am supposed to say, at this point, “Just what do you mean by that? I don’t know what you’re talking about….”   Then, I smile, and get on with what I was doing, which is explaining why being a hippie is not what most people would think…. I mean, there were a lot of popular misconceptions floating around all during the 60’s (Believe me, it was a very confusing time…. I know, I was there….), when there were a lot of people who thought that there was something wrong, or even evil, about being described as one of those misunderstood knights of the sub-culture….


Yes, I said knights…. Jedi knights, before they were the iconic, eternal, peaceful warrior as made popular in later years…. Hippies were the knights of the 60’s and 70’s, diligently tilting at all the windmills we could find, poking our noses into the business of the military-industrial complex, which I now refer to as the BRC, until they were sick of the sight of anyone with long hair…. Back in the day, even the most rigid of conservative hawks understood that they were witnessing a change of culture, and there was nothing they could do to alter the course that history was taking…. The power of love, and compassion, and freedom swept through the entire world, as well as refreshing American society, with repercussions still being felt today….


One of the most important characteristics of hippies that I don’t think most people understood is that we were only interested in revolution in the sense that revolution means change; no hippie worth the name ever wished to violently overthrow anything that didn’t threaten violence first…. But, it is also true that real hippies have no objection to using violence to defend themselves, a fact which always comes as a big surprise to those who would try to oppress them. As with any tool, honor has to be the regulatory agency for determining which tool should be used, and how…. This, sadly, is a concept that those who prey on other people, who seek power over them, can never truly understand, as it is not a part of their perception of reality….


I see that I’ve reached a point where this must either get very pointed, or fade into the background for the time being…. I’m feeling mellow, due to re-connecting with the halcyon days of my youth, so I’ll show mercy here, and opt for the latter…. Besides, I’m all out of introspection for the nonce, and there’s no telling when it might drop back by…. I’ll leave y’all with one final pearl, to seal the deal….


“Oh, how we fear the metamorphoses through which we truly become fledged humans, real mensches of the species homo sapiens. Yet even if we do not willingly undergo them, changes pursue us just the same. The woman who never bears a child metamorphoses in different ways. We may dig in our heels and dare life never to change, but, all the same, it changes under our feet like sand under the feet of a sea gazer as the tide runs out. Life is forever undermining us. Life is forever washing away our castles, reminding us that they were, after all, only sand and sea water.” — Erica Jong: Parachutes and Kisses


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Comedy_Tragedy




    This one goes with the above treatise, as it was last posted on the same date last year…. Enjoy!….




Roses for Noses








I have a bozoid personality, of the first degree;

 nobody, I mean nobody, knows that better than me.

I often wonder, as the world goes around, and around

 how many others have realized just what I’ve found….


I know for a fact, I’m not the only bozoid one;

 too many people laughing out there, having fun.

Is their laughter, though, at themselves first?

 Or is it some other impulse, like purple liverwurst”….


I’ve always loved to make others laugh and giggle,

 since my tender youth, when my ears began to wiggle.

 The world is full of humor,  but not always easy to find

  so laughing at myself I learned never to mind….


We bozos know each other, here, there, and everywhere

 there’s no hiding such joy, it just wouldn’t be fair.

We all have one feature, our great bulbous nose,

 and there’s no doubt at all, cuz it just grows….


There’s nothing like a good, big mistake, a disaster,

 to show us the folly of living life faster and faster.

Nothing in the world can ever take the place,

 of seeing in the mirror, a happy, smiling face….


Don’t be shy, just let it all hang out;

 we bozos have more fun, there’s no doubt.

Life’s too somber and gray if we let it get on top

 if we don’t stay loose, the pain won’t ever stop….


My advice to all of you, out there in the world,

 let noses grow round & red, keep hair tightly curled.

Find a way to let your spirit out often to play,

 you’ll never once regret any price you pay.






~~ gigoid ~~




Written 1/27/2013.


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pearls_3




    I’d call this an Advice on Life at Large pearl, if I had my way. Oh, wait. Right. My blog. Okay, it’s an advice pearl…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s got some good stuff in it, which, if utilized, can make your life, well, better…. Try it, you’ll like it….


“Sleep is the best meditation.” — Tenzin Gyatso, XIV Dalai Lama


“Do not speak harshly to any one; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way.  Angry speech is painful:  blows for blows will touch thee.” — The Dhammapada (c. BC 300)


“Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy.” — Lazarus Long


“Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.” — Clarence Darrow


“You cannot run away from a weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand.” — Robert Louis Stevenson,  _The Amateur Emigrant_


“A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.


“Only that in you which is me can hear what I’m saying.” — Baba Ram Dass


“Why should we take advice on sex from the Pope? If he knows anything, he shouldn’t.” — George Bernard Shaw


(Oops! Sorry, that one slipped by me…. but, it’s funny as hell, isn’t it? I guess, it fits, if one looks at it with the right eyes…. Okay, one last good one, to make up the difference….)




He that will not reason is a bigot.

He that cannot reason is a fool.

He that dares not reason is a slave.


~~ William Drummond, “Academical Questions” ~~




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Leelu is lobbying HEAVILY for the application of her morning cuddle & scritch, so, we’re done, as she INSISTS it happen NOW! See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as the sun comes up. Odds are good on that.




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

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, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








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À bientôt, mon cherí….



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Pugilists do it with padded gloves….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“Why doesn’t everybody leave everybody else the hell alone?”


~~ Jimmy Durante ~~


Abbey Court


Abbey Court B&B, London




Hajime…. ‘Hajime’, (Hah gee may) is the Japanese word for “begin”, used at the start of all martial arts matches…. I figured, since I have to go through a fairly brutal fight to get most of these done, it’s appropriate. And, if not, well, it gave us something to put at the top, right? Right. Now we can go on to even bigger, and, no doubt, better things…. I’m a natural optimist, you see….


I’m also a natural Bozo, though, so, it balances out, as all things must in the end. One must, after all, take such matters into account when deciding how to approach our Life at Large; otherwise, it all seems too complex to bother with. Trying to make sense of what we see, especially when it concerns the behavior of our own species, is usually more effort than the result is worth; that’s probably why we end up with all these religions, and governments, and other forms of unnatural bullshit. If nothing else, it’s a grand distraction from what we SHOULD be doing with ourselves….


Everyone, of course, has their own idea of what that SHOULD entails, which is why is gets so complex. Ah well, I guess we’re not going to make any sense out of it here in the intro; if ten thousand years of history hasn’t brought us any order out of the chaos, it’s certainly not going to happen in three or four paragraphs, especially paragraphs such as these seem to be, or, at least, were meant to be. Whatever THAT may mean….


Yep…. It’s pretty clear, isn’t it? I’ve lost it, completely. This means I’ll have to take a short break here, after wrapping up this section, to go find what’s left of my mind before continuing on…. For now, we’d probably just let Luigi have his head again; it sure is saving us a lot of time, and, around here, that’s a good thing…. Let’s do this, okay?….


Shall we Pearl?….


“A child is a person who can’t understand why someone would give away a perfectly good kitten.” — Doug Larson


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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573




    We’re having a bit of trouble today, which isn’t unusual…. Rather than fight it, we’ll just fall back on several centuries of classical music to find a bit of listening pleasure….. Enjoy!….






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Classical Music

















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We the People...




    Today’s rant is from the archives, written during the period before the 2012 election here in the US. I like it, but, then I wrote it, which is more than I’m capable of today…. Enjoy!…


From 4/19/2012:


“Ignorance can be compounded, made denser, until the light of our spirits is smothered.” — Deng Ming-Dao


As I read this pearl, my immediate thought was that it is a very clear, very accurate take on the 2012 election process that is currently unfolding before us in the daily news. The end of the political scale that is represented so raggedly by what is left of the Republican Party, and the mislabeled liberal end of the scale who claim to be Democrats, are both engaging in ongoing battles to see who can display the deepest ignorance.


The leading candidate for the “loyal opposition” to the party in power, Mr. Romney, seems to have a proclivity for alienating the very people from whom he is trying to win votes; women, immigrants and Hispanics, animal lovers, seniors, teachers and students, all have been told, in no uncertain terms, that they matter not at all to him. His plan? We’ll stop taxing the rich altogether, and that will fix everything…. Sometimes I wonder if he is getting all of his information on voter wants and issues of importance from old newspapers from the 1980’s, because he certainly hasn’t a clue as to what is happening out in America in this decade….


The other party, led by our first Black President, is busy hiding what the left hand is doing by distracting everyone with the tax and healthcare issues, to keep them unaware of how few of the Bill of Rights are left to us. “Executive Orders” signed by the POTUS this year, beginning on New Year’s Eve, while the voters were all busy celebrating the advent of the new year, include provisions that allow police to stop, search, and arrest any citizen of this country whom they suspect of any form of terrorism, or even of protest against the provisions of those orders.


These same police are not required to tell ANYONE that they have arrested and imprisoned a citizen, nor are they ever required to provide any evidence of their suspicions in a court of law. Even though there may be no evidence, they can subject these CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY to torture to obtain a confession, or whatever it is they are after. There is no oversight to these orders; they don’t go before Congress to be approved, nor are they reviewed by the courts. Both of those particular checks on the power of the Executive Branch are completely out of the loop on this…. and they aren’t even complaining about it!


Does it physically hurt to be that stupid? — Smart Bee


My guess at the answer to this is, No. It can’t hurt very much to be that stupid, as we continue to go out each time there is an election and vote these same lying, cheating, avaricious assholes back into the same positions from which they have been oppressing the American people for oh, a hundred or so years now. I’d say that around the time of the Depression was when the first real strangle-hold on the national throat was first achieved…. the pure bullshit the government was spewing back then can be seen to have been the first real time that the government’s outrageous lies were swallowed whole by a reluctant public, who had nothing else to eat, and thus nothing else to risk…


“He was born stupid, and greatly increased his birthright.” — Samuel Butler


So, how does it feel? Does it physically hurt to be so stupid as to be part of the crowd that continues to buy into all the bullshit lies that our own government heaps upon us every day? To keep going to the polls, just as if it really matters who gets elected? Get real, folks. You will not find a name on the ballot that belongs to someone who is not a willing tool of the powers of oppression, the money-changers who are the power behind the scenes of every government in the world. Not going to happen; they’ve been the real power in the world for centuries, and they’re not about to give up all they have, just to be nice, or because they’ve all of a sudden grown a heart.


I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty fucking tired of being lied to, and cheated, and looked at as just another idiot for them to shit on….. and I’m not going to put up with it for much longer, without some kind of return fire….. believe it…. I don’t think I am alone in this, either…. No way to tell for sure, but I find it hard to believe that EVERYONE is falling for all of it…. but, even if I’m alone in this, I refuse to knuckle under any further, and can only say that I will do all I can to see things turn in a direction that will return my Rights, and those of the rest of the American people…. or at least those not stupid enough to hand them over without a fight….


“He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.


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Comedy_Tragedy




Gently Came a Wounded Child


But you shall not escape my iambics.


Soft, sinuous patterns of unearthly beauty 

blithely commune with sinking stars, 

as pale shadows of former virtue hover 

near, ever clean, ever tolerant. 

These unbidden habits are worn with age and care, 

ready now for dissolution, 

welcoming gladly the kiss of Death’s handmaiden. 


Unknown to all, the child stands aside, 

weeping for the lost days of youth, 

days that now shall never be, 

nor yearned for ever after. 

Only darkness shall lay upon the landscape, 

cold, hard, eternal. 


Such then are the signs and portents 

as we enter into the unknown future, 

they are grave indeed. 


Uncertainty will be our sole companion, 

as the search for hope yields no result. 

The lamentations of the gods 

shall sound the elegy for Man, 

who never learned to see the gift that was made, 

so many echoes ago, in the hopeful past; 

thus will we pass this plane of existence 

as we came, baffled and afraid….


~~ gigoid ~~




written 2/2/2012.


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pearls_3




    Today’s final old-school pearl is what I’d call an Emily pearl; quiet, plain, unassuming, but, powerful and elegant, in its way. Oh, I do hope you like it!….


“All the knowledge in the world is not wisdom.” — Albert Einstein


“Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


“Words are the physicians of a mind diseased.” — Aeschylus (525-456 BC) — Prometheus, 378


“Virtue knowing no base repulse, shines with untarnished honour; nor does she assume or resign her emblems of honour by the will of some popular breeze.” — Horace (B.C. 65-8)


“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.” — Marcus Aurelius


“Action should culminate in wisdom.” — Bhagavad Gita


“…life is long enough if it is well-spent.” — Erasmus


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Done. As such, nothing further needs be said, or done, beyond this final outburst. Which, today, will be brief. How brief? This brief. See ya….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

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, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








Featured Image -- 2780




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Saved by the smell of a bell….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion


 — i.e., none to speak of.”


~~ Lazarus Long ~~


The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of NGC 7049 in the constellation of Indus, in the southern sky. A family of globular clusters appears as glittering spots dusted around the galaxy halo. Astronomers study the globular clusters in NGC 7049 to learn more about its formation and evolution. The dust lanes, which appear as a lacy web, are dramatically backlit by the millions of stars in the halo of NGC 7049.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of NGC 7049 in the constellation of Indus, in the southern sky. A family of globular clusters appears as glittering spots dusted around the galaxy halo. Astronomers study the globular clusters in NGC 7049 to learn more about its formation and evolution. The dust lanes, which appear as a lacy web, are dramatically backlit by the millions of stars in the halo of NGC 7049.


Constellation Indus, NGC 7049



Click to see enlarged image




Buenos dias, gente…. In my most egregiously avaricious dreams, I’ve never really wanted much; to live about 200 years, and, to see my kids happy is about what it has boiled down to. Beyond that, I’m pretty content with what I’ve got, and what I’ve always had…. Money, other than as a tool, has never entered into anything I’ve wanted. It’s probably due to having heard, somewhere from someone, before the age of 11, “If you wish a life of trouble, fill your house with treasure.” For some reason, that struck a chord in my young mind, so, I thought about it pretty long and hard, considering. The result was a firm conviction to never seek treasure, or possessions, or more than I needed to survive relatively comfortably.


Of course, I didn’t think it quite that way at 11; some of that evolved over time, as I learned to apply it to my life over the years…. Now I’m an OOF, I can look back, and feel pretty good about it all; you see, other than those times I’ve made bad internal decisions, same as any human, I’m happy with all I’ve done, and have now…. In looking back over HISTORY (all caps intentional, giving it oomph, to imply ALL of it….), I can honestly say I’ve lived my life at least as honorably as I could, (not to mention, a good deal more honorably than many of histories more famous figures) given the handicaps implied in having the unfortunate luck to have a Human nature, which pushes us all to find and take the easiest way much of the time, rather than the right way…. It’s a basic flaw in all of us; male, female, skin color, whatever, we all are inherently lazy(*), and, it’s gotten us in trouble for centuries now….


(*) About the hard stuff in life, anyway…. stuff such as physical work, morality, ethics, emotional growth, cultural growth…. You know, nothing most folks can’t do without, as long as nobody asks them to be responsible for anything.


Gosh. That’s sort of heavy, isn’t it, for an intro? I don’t know exactly what happened, other than to say, sorry, if appropriate, for engaging too many neurons right off the bat, especially after the light-hearted feel to the opening line from Lazarus. It all just flowed out; even Leelu was entranced…. Well, for a while…. She came up, sat & watched intently as I typed all of the above; she got up then, walked directly in front of my face, and went to lie elsewhere, a clear clue to change direction, I’d say. Especially since it’s NOT morning, nor is this even today’s Pearl I’m working on (I think; sometimes I can’t always remember where the Tardis has left me, especially when I’m writing….)


There. That should do it. We’ve successfully disengaged from the serious vein with which I started this mess; now, we can really start fucking things up, as is our usual habit this time of day. You know, we’ve had some good results from letting Luigi indulge his love of speed; I think we’ll try it again today. That means restraints are now optional, but, we insist you put your beverage in the holders provided…. Thanks…..


Luigi! They fell for it; take it away!….


Shall we Pearl?….




“What is life?

It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”


~~ last words of Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator [1890] ~~




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itzhak




Itzhak Perlman


Image from palmbeachpost.com via Google Images




I tried to download the entire playlist, consisting of 98 videos, but, apparently, they’ll play, but not follow. Ah well, just let the music play; anything this man plays becomes better than originally intended by the composer. I first saw him play when he and I were both children, on the Ed Sullivan show, where I was astounded at the talent he displayed, playing some classical tune I don’t remember, but, with such obvious joy, it impressed me very strongly…. Witness now possibly the finest violinist of the twentieth century, and beyond, one of mankind’s treasures, and a testament to the power of the human will, to not merely overcome his handicaps, but, to show how truly insignificant they are in comparison to the human spirit…..




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Itzhak Perlman

Tango


















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Morning muse




Morning Muse




I’m having a bout of insomnia, thanks once more to my lovely personal physicians, may they always be infested with fleas…. Normally, or, as close as we ever come to normally, that would/could produce a rant of its own; tonight/today, however, it has stimulated merely some mild annoyance, and a wish for a bit of peace (some sleep would be nice, too…. SIGH…. Ya never know what you’re gonna miss until it’s gone, do ya?). We’ll deal with that in our default manner, with a short, meandering little pearl from 2012. Enjoy, please, or suffer the consequence, to wit: a short period of severe boredom….


From 9/8/2012:


“It is popularly supposed that between those who use the word “God” and those who do not there is some great gulf.  But the gulf lies elsewhere.  It lies between those who dogmatize, either positively or negatively, and those who recognize in great humility that something within them bears witness to realities which may be momentous in our lives, but which lie beyond the grasping net of our categories of thought.” — Smart Bee


Yet more proof of Murphy’s presence in Life…. or, in my life, anyway….. Yesterday I wrote about this subject, expounding as I am wont to do with no little enthusiasm, trying to bring some clarity to a naturally murky subject (it’s hard to pin down anything solidly when the subject under discussion is a matter of conjecture, not physically present to be examined….). Then, later in the day, I come across this one short paragraph, that summarizes my 3-400 words succinctly in three lines, and very clearly, for all its brevity. SIGH….. So much for originality, eh? Though I don’t know who said it, I salute them….


“In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that our Universe is simply one of those things which happen from time to time.” — Edward P. Tryon


Once more, I have to agree with the author, especially as it gives a sort of pat on the shoulder to the paragraph above, as if sharing an obvious point. Serendipity, I say, and well met….


“When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.” — Bernard Bailey


This one, when viewed in light of the previous two quotes, made me smile, big….. now, why is that? Because when he says a lot, he means, A LOT OF PEOPLE!…..


“And don’t tell me God works in mysterious ways, Yossarian continued There’s nothing mysterious about it, He’s not working at all. He’s playing. Or else He’s forgotten all about us. That’s the kind of God you people talk about, a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling, brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed. Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of Creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatological mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements? Why in the world did He ever create pain?” — Joseph Heller, Catch 22


Funny how people under stress always get so close to the truth; it makes the one who hears it more nervous and upset than he who said it…. or it that just me? Of course it is…. Why shouldn’t it be me? What’s the matter with me? Don’t you like me?….. Sorry…. any who, let’s see what else the magic can find….


“Every sensible man, every honest man, must hold the Christian sect in horror. But what shall we substitute in its place? you say. What? A ferocious animal has sucked the blood of my relatives. I tell you to rid yourselves of this beast and you ask me what you shall put in its place?” — Voltaire




Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets

And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes

Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?…


I should have been a pair of ragged claws

Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.




~~ T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” ~~


I’m not sure why, but this excerpt from T.S. Eliot seems to be the perfect finishing line for the above meandering treatise…. and it is as close to a verifiable point as we’re going to get today, I can tell…. so, best leave it be for now, and go on to something else…. Or, in this case, to something the same….


********************************





Comedy_Tragedy




    On 9/8/2012, when I wrote and posted the above treatise, I also used this poem as the choice for the day. It still fits, and makes perfect sense, given the ending of the above section…. Enjoy!….




Portrait of a Lady


Among the smoke and fog of a December afternoon

You have the scene arrange itself–as it will seem to do–

With “I have saved this afternoon for you”;

And four wax candles in the darkened room,

Four rings of light upon the ceiling overhead,

An atmosphere of Juliet’s tomb

Prepared for all the things to be said, or left unsaid.

We have been, let us say, to hear the latest Pole

Transmit the Preludes, though his hair and fingertips.

“So intimate, this Chopin, that I think his soul

Should be resurrected only among friends

Some two or three, who will not touch the bloom

That is rubbed and questioned in the concert room.”

–And so the conversation slips

Among velleities and carefully caught regrets

Through attenuated tones of violins

Mingled with remote cornets

And begins.

“You do not know how much they mean to me, my friends,

And how, how rare and strange it is, to find

In a life composed so much, so much of odds and ends,

[For indeed I do not love it . . . you knew? you are not blind!

How keen you are!]

To find a friend who has these qualities,

Who has, and gives

Those qualities upon which friendship lives.

How much it means that I say this to you– 

Without these friendships–life, what cauchemar!”


Among the windings of the violins

And the ariettes

Of cracked cornets

Inside my brain a dull tom-tom begins

Absurdly hammering a prelude of its own,

Capricious monotone

That is at least one definite “false note.”

–Let us take the air, in a tobacco trance,

Admire the monuments,

Discuss the late events,

Correct our watches by the public clocks.

Then sit for half and hour and drink our bocks.


T. S. Eliot




I don’t care what anyone says…. this is some good stuff….. a worthy goal to shoot for, wouldn’t you agree?…… Not in hope of exceeding, but merely to equal the power of this man’s work is worthy of any effort…..


********************************





A-laughing-girl-and-her-camel




    You may wonder why the girl is laughing, and, sure enough I’ll tell you…. She’s laughing at me, for my emotional investment in how these come out; while this one was processing itself, I went through all sorts of mental contortions trying to decide what it meant, and, getting all worked up at HOW it came together….


It seemed at first as if it would go on forever; I had the first seven gems in place in no time. It then took a strange turn, and the pearls became rare as their counterparts in reality. Eventually, it sorted itself out, sort of; I still am unsure of exactly what it’s trying to say about Life at Large, beyond the obvious advice to use one’s mind to one’s best advantage…. Perhaps that’s enough…. Either way, the little girl had fun, and so did the camel….




Xenophanes speaks thus:–


And no man knows distinctly anything,

And no man ever will.


~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pyrrho, viii ~~




“Better be ignorant of a matter than half know it.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 865


“Doth perfect beauty stand in need of praise at all? Nay; no more than law, no more than truth, no more than loving kindness, nor than modesty.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, iv, 20


“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne


“He who knows best knows how little he knows.” — Thomas Jefferson


“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” — Benjamin Franklin


“Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, viii, 22


“It is not length of life, but depth of life.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson


“Death never takes the wise man by surprise, he is always ready to go.” — La Fontaine


********************************


Some days this process sort of runs itself; much of today’s post fits into that category easily. But, it has that one distinctive characteristic for which we constantly strive, to wit: it’s done. As such, we’ll go post it, and start on tomorrow’s mess, to get a running start at it, so to speak. Until then, y’all be chill, and good to each other…. I’ll be back, and we all know who said that….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

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, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








Featured Image -- 2780




À bientôt, mon cherí….



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Baleful stares, tinged with envy….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate.”


~~ Euripides ~~


day2 London 012


Trained consumers on Portobello Road




Another day dawns, bringing with it the promise of change, as it does each morning…. How we meet that possibility can determine not only how goes the day, but, lest we find some alertness quickly enough, for many days to follow…. It would be swell if I could figure out a way to recapture the feeling of power and hope with which it has been my wont to greet the day; these days it’s more a feeling of resignation combined with the will required to actually move my aching bones out of bed….


Fortunately for me, and, quite frankly, for everyone else who may come into contact with me today, there is coffee. Also quite frankly, on the day anyone tells me I would have to give it up, or die, well, I’m afraid that’s the day I’d die, even if it were true. Harsh, maybe, but, true as the day. But, I digress….


Not bad for trivial, eh? How else to start such a grand day at the office. Oh, wait. Never mind. Well, the triviality part is true, so, we’re good, even if we don’t have to go into any office any more. Hey, look, it’s a literary device! What will he think of next to get out of actually coming up with a real introduction? Easy, duh…. Anything at all will do, since the only way to find out is to keep coming back to see. Hah!


Whoops. No teasing the GR’s, dude, or I’ll take away the time you’re allowed to access the keyboard. Who am I talking to? Why? Does it matter? It COULD be one of my alternate personalities, ala The Belle Jar. It could be robot I once used to write, the day I didn’t feel like it. Or, it could just be another device, which, for those of y’all who’ve been here before, is the surest bet for any real money. But, again, I digress.


Why look, ffolkes! It’s an intro. It’s of legal length, has been in and out of reality at least three times in four paragraphs, and is still at a point where it could fall into a mini-rant, had I less discipline. As it is, I’ll once again bow to the one fatal flaw we humans share, our tendency to go for what is most expedient, by using this as another plot device to get us the hell out of here, and, on with the slow, er, show…. What did you expect at these prices, eh?


Shall we Pearl?….


“Don’t be confused by surfaces; in the depths everything becomes law. What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. Walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours–that is what you must be able to attain.” — Rainer Maria Rilke


********************************





Divine Miss M




The Divine Miss M in Flight


Image from wsj.com via Google Images




Okay, so, the recording quality on this one isn’t the best; You Tube can be inconsistent, depending on the age of the recording and the skill of the recorder. But, Bette’s laser voice is in clear evidence, and that’s good enough for me…. Enjoy, ffolkes; she’s one of the best performers ever, in my opinion, with one of the most expressive voices I’ve ever heard.




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Bette Midler

Kiss My Brass Concert

2004


















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We the People...




    Having been offline so long, I’m still getting caught up to what’s been in the news of late (I don’t watch TV or listen to radio anymore….), my rants have little upon which to fix their focus, so, we’re dipping into the archives to sublimate…. Here’s one about the wealth gap, and the Asininnies, which I think remains relative…. Enjoy!….


From 1/31/2013:


“A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.”  — Johann L. Uhland (1787-1862) — Speech, May 27, 1836


Mr. Uhland is correct in his observation, if a bit slow in making it. In truth, most likely, the usurpation of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights began within moments of its adoption as law, and has been continuing on a daily basis ever since. In the fight against that usurpation, a major battle was lost sometime around the middle of the 19th century, around 1836 or so, when a corrupt federal judge, at the insistence of his corporate masters, approved a legal decision that gave corporations the same rights as people, opening the door to further machinations by which the banks and corporations could, have, and continue to, steal from the public without consequence…..


Today, there is a new push to reform some of the laws that enable the moneylenders to control society as they do; the concept of corporate personhood is under fire by an enraged public, tired of the endless cycle of working to try to get ahead, only to find that there is no path visible to go anywhere but down. As that astute social philosopher, George Carlin, pointed out, they (the bankers and corporate rogues) don’t want a populace capable of critical thinking; they just want workers smart enough to operate the machines, but not smart enough to wonder why they are doing so for so little compensation.


Modern technology has, thanks to the Internet, made keeping this issue out of the public eye impossible, and the corporate stranglehold on society is being challenged much more often. In one sense, this newfound spread of information is holding back the needed changes, as a lot of energy is dissipated in the public discourse that might otherwise build up into the kind of frustration that leads to revolution, and societal upheaval. But, it is also making it much harder for the miscreants who want to control everyone else keep their machinations out of the public eye. There are too many holes for them to plug….


The power these self-serving assholes hold over the rest of us is accustomed to being able to hide from public scrutiny, and I’m sure there will be attempts made to curtail some of the information they are concerned about making common knowledge. In fact, according to some of my latest email updates from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), there are a number of bills trying to get forced through Congress, without public discussion when possible, that are intended to limit the freedom of speech that is currently unrestricted, for the most part. A recent setback occurred when an honest judge (i.e., one that stayed bought….) rewarded his corporate masters with a decision regarding cell phones that is a serious threat to a number of technological freedoms…. In other words, the fight continues today, and it is just as important today as it was back in 1776, and 1836, when the battle was joined…


The Beloved Ruling Class, and their corporate owners, will do all they can to limit the public’s awareness of what they are doing, and they will continue to try to erode the rights of the common man. They have, by their historical behavior, and their current actions, indicated their intent quite clearly… and that intent is to arrange matters so that what they want is law, and the rest of us can go fuck ourselves silly…. because they don’t care. These people are not concerned with anything that does not serve their own ends, and will lie, cheat, steal, and kill to maintain their power…. This is not supposition, this is fact, based on history, and on observation of current events….


I guess the only real question to be answered is, how long are the rest of us going to allow them to have their way? They are killing us all with their indifference to anything but their own purposes, and we are letting them do it. Myself, I’m getting a bit tired of it, and would like to see society become a bit more active in the resistance shown to the chicanery toward the rest of us, all perpetrated by the Powers That Be… up to and including revolution…. But, then, that’s me…. I’m a bit impatient, and I’m tired of their shit….. I’m hoping more people are getting that way, as our only hope of survival in the long run is to kick the bastards out…..


“All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes.” — William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898)


********************************





Comedy_Tragedy




Old/New Glory


Political truth…

Oxymoronic, and trite.

Politics is crap.


~~ gigoid~~

 

written 7/29/2014


********


Confidentially Paranoid 


Only when the bright sunlight of dreams draws nigh

can the dark glass of reality factor true value..

Destiny’s horses run in fear as time goes dry,

for grappling with fate in such traitorous venue.


In pallid costumes made of graven cast-off tales,

fallen angels and demons show the measure of faith.

No sad transactions should escape these well-marked trails, 

no angry relatives cast insults to a sedentary wraith.


Meaning can always hide in literal cold intent, 

yet show mere facets of honor to perishable youth.

Sincere contentions leave with sorrowful bent,

while bastardly arguments fill in poorly for the truth.


Gone are moments filled with florid blasts of rhyme

left to moulder on the shoulders of unreasonable hope.

Only courage can save these measures of unspoken time

to gather new issues, powerfully broad, painful in scope.


~~ gigoid ~~


written 2/25/2015




********************************





pearls_3




    This is what I’d call a pearl of destiny… Oh, not because I believe in destiny, naturally; way too constricting, especially if one attempts to account for reality. But, I digress. I call it that because it just sort of found its way to where it needed to be, all on its own. All I did is keep hitting the correct key to examine the next random oyster to find the right pearls. At first, it seemed to head one way, then veered off in another, finally settling in the form you see before you. Actually, I like the way it turned out, a lot; it has, if I may say so, a certain elegance, which can be a good indicator of the quality of the results…. You tell me, and, please, enjoy the exercise…..




“knowledge is a polite word for dead but unburied imagination….


think twice before thinking.”


~~ e.e. cummings ~~




“What kind of conflict do you like? Where will you jump in and fight the good fight — body, heart, mind or spirit? If you say you don’t like conflict at all, then you have stopped growing, because it is only through engaging differences to find common ground or to triumph that we become new and invigorated. Pick your battles, but always have some place you embrace conflict.” — Callan Williams


“In charity there is no excess.” — Francis Bacon


“Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become.” — Brooke Foss Westcott


“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet


WARNING:  The Meaning Of Life Is Subject To Change Without Notice. — Classic Smart Bee


“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein


“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them… Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592), 1580




“My life is light, waiting for the death wind, 


Like a feather on the back of my hand.” 


~~ T.S. Eliot ~~




********************************


Well, we’re up a bit late, so this is a bit late getting posted; oh, well…. Such is life in the blog world, so they say; of course, nobody listens, but, hey, they said it, and it’s got to count for something!…. Enough, she said. I’ll see y’all tomorrow; as I’ve noted previously, nothing seems to keep me from doing it, so, why not, eh? See ya…..




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

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, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








Featured Image -- 2780




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
A mostly charitable banana….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“Coarse and violent nudity.  Occasional language.”


~~ Disclaimer by gigoid ~~


Leelus fave pose


Leelu’s favorite sleeping pose….






But, of course, it is morning, yes? It will be a good one, yes? Yes…. To be a bit more provincial, let me say, howdy, as they say in many other places, including, apparently, here. It should probably be said: this intro has been pre-written, to prevent any security issues, due to its incendiary nature. (Don’t worry, you’ll see….). All of this material has been certified as non-threatening, non-critical and non-interesting by several trained bureaucrats, which I had to pay, by the way, at the court’s direction….


At this point, you may ask yourselves, “Has he slipped around the bend again?”. No. Try again. “Well, maybe he really IS in trouble, and the court’s orders have to be followed.” Those are both a big no, as well. What the hell am I talking about then? Hell, if I knew, I wouldn’t be this far into THIS paragraph, and still have no idea where it should go next. I’m about to throw up my hands in surrender, if anyone were watching…. Shit, I’ll be lucky if anyone ever reads any of this one; by the time we get out of the intro, we’ll be mired in litigation….


But, that’s only if our screening procedures fail, and a lawyer gets through. Otherwise, they have to at least wait until we’ve landed, and, everyone’s been cleared as being free of virus exposure. But, as it says on your ticket, you’re not liable anyway, so, no worries, right?


You know, I’m thinking maybe it’s time to get on with the rest of today’s mess; this is starting to fray a bit around the edges. Okay, we’ll do this….. Luigi! Let’s get going!…. Perhaps y’all should sit down, and fasten your belts…. Since setting the new speed record yesterday, he’s had this wicked gleam in his eye…. Oh, and, please, use the cup holders….


Shall we Pearl?


“How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life, wouldn’t you say?” — Kirk, “The Wrath of Khan,”  stardate 8130.3.


********************************





jimmy_buffet




Jimmy Buffet


Image from billboard.com via Google Images




Jimmy and the Coral Reefer Band have entertained me a LOT of times, both live and at home. I’ve been to see the Coral Reefers play in more states than any other, save perhaps the Dead. Here’s a good concert (they ALL are; he has such fun the audience cannot help but ride along….) from a few years ago…. Enjoy!….






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Jimmy Buffet

Live at Anguilla


















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Dont keep calm




    Bad juju precludes a fresh rant today; it’s a bit after 0330, and I’ve again been awake much of the night with physical issues. Suffice it to say anything fresh I write at this moment is liable to approach homicidal in tone, so, we’ll go with one from the archives…. Here’s one from early last year…..


From 1/3/2014:


“It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error.” — Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954), U.S. Judge


It took long enough, but, what I have been expecting to happen has actually come true…. The media, deeply in debt to Eric Snowden for the new life he breathed into their existence, has finally stepped forward to exert itself on his behalf…. The two major papers, The New York Times, and the Guardian, in the UK, who originally printed his revelations, are finally coming out publicly with editorials, strongly calling for clemency for him…. Here are two of the reports, one from Yahoo, one from SFGATE, the Chronicle news outlet online…. Together, the two articles give a good picture of the history, and the current state of the situation with Mr. Snowden, currently living in exile in the USSR….












What does one say about this? What is appropriate? What is important? Well, to be honest, ALL of it is pretty important, but not for the reasons most would believe, or, for that matter, understand…. That’s not being condescending, (well, maybe a little…),  but, the majority of people who read about all of these issues regarding the spying are only capable of comprehending what they read at a fourth-grade level…. This is a commonly known fact, and is the reason newspapers, magazines, and the internet outlets that disseminate information do so at varying levels of complexity…. Most newspapers are written to a fourth grade level, and magazines usually write to the level of their targeted audiences….


My point here is, these are complex issues, and there are a LOT of lies being bandied about, mostly by one side, but, not necessarily ONLY by them. The ability to comprehend the cloud of information that is spewed out by a lot of readers is NOT up to the task, so, they end up picking out the easiest opinion for them to understand, and going with that, no matter what it might say…. This is how the BRC, the PH, and the SCMs keep control of the masses…. They pitch their story to the level of the people they address, and make it appeal to their most basic desires, (which process chiefly involves saying things that will reduce the level of diffuse anxiety, and the fears about the future that the masses feel…. those being the unrealistic, imaginary fears created by the ruling classes to begin with…..), thus establishing trust and belief on the part of the masses, making them willing to believe any further misinformation that is relayed….


“A man who carrys a cat by the tail is getting experience that will always be helpful.  He isn’t likely to grow dim or doubtful.  Chances are, he isn’t likely to carry the cat that way again, either.  But if he wants to, I say let him!” — Mark Twain


So, anyway, it’s good to see the usual carriers of the administration’s manipulative lying doing a bit of their own fighting back, against the tide of über-control sought by the BRC, et al. As the largest information gathering and reporting companies in their respective countries, these two news outlets have the influence, both in the government, and with the public, to make a significant difference in any issue, and having them publicly come out with this particular expression of interest is not only unprecedented, (to my knowledge…), but extremely welcome….. It’s hard having most of the control over what gets into the media reports under the control of those who are in control of the government and banks; we, the public, NEED the media to work on our side, at least part of the time, or, there is no hope at all of ever making any changes, and, our doom would be sealed ever more tightly…..


“If people were required to know the law rather than to obey it, the government would be overthrown the next day.” — Smart Bee


There, how’s that for a fresh rant? Boot the assholes out, or make them straighten up and fly right, that’s what I say; I don’t much care which, but one of those two things are going to have to happen, if we are to have any chance at all to survive the upcoming events so graciously created for us by those same assholes. If we don’t get them, and their self-serving, selfish, ignorant, EVIL natures, out of their positions of control over the rest of us, they’re going to end up killing us all, and I am not being dramatic…. The evidence is all right out there to be seen, if one isn’t afraid to put the pieces together to form the picture….


It’s an ugly picture, ffolkes, and not much of a future to put our faith in…. Guess what, though? Like it or not, it’s the only future we have, if we don’t change…. and it’s just that simple…..




Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield!

Against stupidity the very gods

Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,

Resplendent daughter of the head divine,

Wise foundress of the system of the world,

Guide of the stars, who are thou then, if thou,

Bound to the tail of folly’s uncurb’d steed,

Must, vainly shrieking, with the drunken crowd,

Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.


~~ Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller, The Maid of Orleans ~~




********************************



Comedy_Tragedy


Haiku


3/12/2012


Poetry


Flashing, bright words create

inevitable pictures;

truth consumes.


~~ gigoid ~~


Revised version, 3/28/2014


Poetry


Sharp, bright words create

inevitable pictures

of consuming truth.


~~ gigoid ~~


***********


Honorable Request


Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass

dimly into memory, bit by combative bit,

ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,

only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.


Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply

as they must, never given a reason,

somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,

dancing on to greet each bright new season.


Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage

proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown,

clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,

past an infinite future, already flown.


Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps

flowing with currents, strong and fairly found,

love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,

seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 10/13/2012.


********************************





ankh




    Here’s a sweet little pearl, a bit odd in spots, but, all in all, pretty damn squiggly; Life at Large may never be more clearly outlined, or, for that matter, understood. Enjoy, even if you don’t get it; I didn’t at first, but, it grows on ya….


“It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.” — Kant, Immanuel (1724-1804)


“What is the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-conceit. For it is impossible for any one to begin to learn what he thinks that he already knows.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — How to apply general Principles to particular Cases, — Discourses, Book ii, Chap. xvii


“Don’t confuse the water with the pump.” — Tom Wolfe


“We should have a great many fewer disputes in the world if only words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves.” — John Locke


“Listen to the colour of your dreams.” — John Lennon 1966


“Truth never hurts the teller.” — Robert Browning


“Even a single hair casts its shadow.” — Publius Syrus — Maxim 228


“For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember these two points: first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle, and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time; second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ii, 14


“A grave, wherever found, preaches a short and pithy sermon to the soul.” — Hawthorne


********************************


After an ordeal such as this has been, I should be tired; in fact, I’m not. But, then, it’s not now, because I’m writing this late yesterday. Now we’ve completely lost track of where in time we may be, or, THINK we may be, we’ll leave, and come back to it tomorrow, whenever that is. See y’all then, if I can figure out these Tardis controls…. Oh, right; it’s TIME TRAVEL! DOH! I’ll always be on time, because, I’ll just wait in whatever time I’m in until I DO figure out the right way to set the controls…. THEN I come back to the correct spot on the sliding time scale…. Sorry for the confusion; anomalies can be dangerous to the Continuum, you know….


I’ll stop now. Bye….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

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, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








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À bientôt, mon cherí….