Mmm…… Lizard gizzards in aspic!….

Posted on March 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Distrust interested advice.”

~~ Aesop ~~

Artist’s rendition of Mars One Habitat Hydroponic Farm

Image from Space.com

Having been up for almost an hour already, I am unusually alert and rational to begin. Nonetheless, here I sit, as I have for the last ten minutes, wondering what the hell to put in the huge, blank white space in front of me. It’s a scary sight, believe me, when my mind is as blank as the screen, but, with less definition to the blankness…. It kinda makes me wonder just what the hell I think I’m doing here. Even when I rant, with the most accurate, up-to-date information, and tellingly real indictments of real people, it doesn’t feel as if anyone who needs to hear it is listening….

Ah well, lack of readership isn’t any big deal for me; I don’t write for anyone else. But, it is nice to think that what I say isn’t completely wasted, in terms of effectiveness; we all like to make ourselves felt in this world, hopefully making it a better place. But, in today’s world, almost everyone alive, other than the monied elite, hasn’t the time to spare from the daily demands upon them to think about how enslaved they are; it’s not an easy thing to think about, anyway, so, most people never even try….

As a result, we have the world we live in, which does its very best to keep each and every one of us under the complete domination of a small group of psychopathic money grubbers, who believe in nothing but themselves, and their own desires. What more proof do you need, than to just look around, and see that 99.999% of the entire human race is too busy to even think about their own slavery? How many people out there in the great unwashed masses even knows they haven’t a single one of the freedoms our forefathers tried to secure for us? I’d say the number five would be about right…..

And, sadly, even those five don’t have the time to do anything about it, other than shrug and get back to work so they can eat tonight….

Having thus completely ruined a perfectly fine intro with a mini-rant, I think it would be best to just go on, & see if I can’t find a bit of inspiration by picking a video for today; maybe it will help me find a reason to keep going, other than the primary goal of maintaining a grasp of reality that won’t hurt anyone, except, perhaps, me…. SIGH….

I meant to tell you; I have a new method for getting past this sort of issue. Here’s how it works…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Human language is like a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, when all the time we are longing to move the stars to pity.” — Gustave Flaubert

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Image from Smithsonian Folkways via Google Stock Images

To sublimate the urge to rant today, as well as provide some musical counterpoint to your reading, here is one of the twentieth century’s most influential musicians, whose work and life were a throwback to the days of the troubadours in the Middle Ages, when music and songs carried the most powerful political messages from place to place…. It was not for nothing the court jesters of the time were considered the most dangerous courtiers of all who served the Kings…. Woody had his faults, like anyone, but, his music told the story of his time like nobody else…. Enjoy!….

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Woody Guthrie Library of Congress Recordings Pt.1

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https://youtu.be/dUiVRIuCOCY

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“It is only logical that the pauperization of our soul and of the soul of society coincides with the pauperization of the environment. One is the cause and the reflection of the other.” — Paolo Soleri

It may confuse you a bit to see the picture I use to grace the ass-end of these Pearls at the top of this section…. That’s okay, it’s supposed to do that, so, I win….

Today’s ranting section is to be devoted to a very simple lesson….First, assume the attitude expressed by Dozer, the bulldog…. Having achieved that state, keep the above quote in mind, as you think for a moment about the state of our world today, noting how accurate a picture of reality it paints…. Then, read the following Rules…. You may note that almost every problem we have in our world today can be directly attributed to the failure of some man to follow these rules…. It’s that simple, and the fix is just as simple…. Unfortunately, it can’t be applied, as each man must make his own choice to follow these rules, and there are too many who refuse, out of their own sickness of spirit….

Think about it; if just HALF the men in the world followed these rules, what sort of world would it be? I’d bet, a better one…. You tell me….

“My greatest fear in life is that no-one will remember me after I’m dead.”

~~ Anonymous ~~

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Image from Google Stock Images

I’m up early enough to search, so, you get a bonus today…. no poem from me…. Instead, we’ll go with someone known for their brilliance in this respect…. I hope you enjoy it, right before it chokes you…. just kidding! Us poets can be a bit emotionally unstable, y’know?….. This one was, but, hey, what’s a bit of psychosis between friends?….

Witch Burning

In the marketplace they are piling the dry sticks.
A thicket of shadows is a poor coat. I inhabit
The wax image of myself, a doll’s body.
Sickness begins here: I am the dartboard for witches.
Only the devil can eat the devil out.
In the month of red leaves I climb to a bed of fire.

It is easy to blame the dark: the mouth of a door,
The cellar’s belly. They’ve blown my sparkler out.
A black-sharded lady keeps me in parrot cage.
What large eyes the dead have!
I am intimate with a hairy spirit.
Smoke wheels from the beak of this empty jar.

If I am a little one, I can do no harm.
If I don’t move about, I’ll knock nothing over. So I said,
Sitting under a potlid, tiny and inert as a rice grain.
They are turning the burners up, ring after ring.
We are full of starch, my small white fellows. We grow.
It hurts at first. The red tongues will teach the truth.

Mother of beetles, only unclench your hand:
I’ll fly through the candle’s mouth like a singeless moth.
Give me back my shape. I am ready to construe the days
I coupled with dust in the shadow of a stone.
My ankles brighten. Brightness ascends my thighs.
I am lost, I am lost, in the robes of all this light.

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

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“If you are out of trouble, watch for danger.”

~~ Sophocles ~~

I guess, somewhere deep inside, I always knew I’d find proof of Murphy’s existence in other cultures; now, I’m sure. The quote at the start of this section, from Sophocles, to my mind, is absolute proof of this. I’d bet, if we had someone who actually spoke ancient Greek, we’d find the actual translation of his words were a direct match of the lyrics from the old Grateful Dead song, “Uncle John’s Band”, to wit: “…. and, when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door.”

In celebration, I’ve put Smart Bee at work to dig up some appropriate pearls to go with the idea of a deeper knowledge of the powers of Chaos and Entropy, and their Earthly manifestation, Murphy himself…. I’m not entirely sure about the results, but, hey, I’m the one who set it loose without supervision…. Here is what SB came up with; be careful, it’s a bit strange…..

“Ignorance can be cured, but, stupid lasts forever.” — Aristophanes

“If you pray hard enough, water will run uphill. How hard? Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of course!” — Robert Heinlein

“Should I do my BOBBIE VINTON medley?’ — Zippy the Pinhead

“If It doesn’t matter, and what if it did?” — Smart Bee

“How can I tell…that the past isn’t a fiction designed to account for the discrepancy between my immediate physical sensations and my state of mind?” — Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

“Ah, Louie, Louie….oh…me gotta go!!” — The Kingsmen

“I like smoke and lightning, heavy-metal thunder; racing with the wind, and the feeling that I’m under.” — Steppenwolf

“Dying is a wild night and a new road.” — Emily Dickinson

“Will I dream?” — HAL-9000

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Well, I’ve done it. As is normal for me, I’m not entirely sure exactly WHAT I’ve done, but, I do know it’s done, and, right now, right here, that’s all that matters…. Okay, so, it’s not ALL that matters; it’s all that matters to me, and, now, to you…. until you decide to go do something else. This might be a good time for that, as I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Quick! Smash that roach!…. Oh, it’s a politician?…. Smack it harder, they’re tough….

Posted on January 3, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

For fate has wove the thread of life with pain,

And twins ev’n from the birth are misery and man!

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ The Odyssey of Homer, Book vii, Line 263 ~~

From the National Geographic Pictures of the Year for 2014

‘Tis morning, but, I cannot truthfully add any positive qualifiers to the greeting. All of my patterns of sleep have successfully resisted any attempts on my part to develop any consistency whatsoever…. For example, having consumed what I thought was my correct last dose of medication at 1800, and, being exhausted from a day fighting both arthritis and diverticular symptoms, I went to lay down at about 1900 or so…. At 2300, or 11 pm, for those unfamiliar with military time, my eyes shot open to see the clock displaying the hour, whereupon I realized every muscle in my body was humming with electricity, jumping and shimmying to beat the band….

Sleep eluded me until about 0130 in the morning; I spent the intervening time pacing, wandering the house (it’s damn cold outside… about 31-34 degrees, according to the online weather folks), with the occasional run at this document’s draft, trying to at least get SOMETHING done, since I was up…. Trying to write distracts me, a little bit, though not for long…. I did manage, over two-and-a-half hours, to complete quite a bit of it, which has helped immensely… So, I lost half the night’s sleep, but, at least I accomplished more than simply suffering through the effects of my young paduan doctor’s foolish cowardice….

Arthur, the robot writer I use, did a good job yesterday…. A bit smarmy in spots, but, all in all, a damn good Pearl…. I can only hope I do as well myself today…. Not that it matters a whit, of course; it’s only in my head it really matters at all, and, there, I’m okay…. Tired, a little pissed at myself, but, all in all, not in too much pain, which always makes my day a little brighter…. until that changes, naturally, which, sadly, it alway does…. I just try to appreciate the few moment of true freedom I am given each day; true freedom, of course, exists in those moments when the pain is gone, always to return, but, whose absence I rejoice…

All that being said, to no real purpose, other than to get us to this point on the page, we will now move on to the next section, where you’ll find today’s video selection…. Since I have yet to review that part, it will be a surprise to me, too, as I let Arthur pick it out…. He’s a damn good robot, and very helpful…. though, I admit, he’s programmed to be that way. It’s fine; it works for me, and, whoever did the programming at least gave it a sense of humor…. Damn fine coding, I have to say…. For now, we’ll be on our way down the page, to whatever we find below….

Shall we Pearl?

“Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought.” — Matsuo Basho

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Yesterday, Arthur picked out some pretty good stuff, hitting the nail right on the head with Linda Ronstadt’s concert. The page where it is found also had some other great music by some of my favorite voices from my youth…. Here is, perhaps, the best voice of them all, as well as one of the icons of the twentieth-century peace movement, a woman who has devoted her entire life to singing for peace, in one way or another, with consistency, devotion, endless compassion, and a voice as pure as the music of the spheres….

JOAN BAEZ (full concert,1965)

http://youtu.be/qE4ywDFSR3k

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Before beginning today, (or, this morning, as I am writing this at 0115 AM….), I’d like to use the following pearl, a rogue, unattributed tagline, which I have claimed for my own; it explains, in a few short words, the reason for the presence of the section devoted to ranting, and other discussions from the curious mind of gigoid that are found at this point in the process of producing these Pearls of Virtual Wisdom. I won’t say it makes it entirely clear, but, anyone used to my way of expressing ideas should get the picture without any trouble….

“My mind is not for rent to any god or government.” — gigoid

It’s my estimation, which I make with reluctance at such presumption, but strong confidence in my reasoning, for 99% of the population of the world, the above statement is NOT true…. In one way or another, without ever really thinking about it at all, most people have given up their right to think for themselves to someone else, most commonly, one of the two institutions mentioned. Most often, both are found to be operating in conjunction, reinforcing the degree of control over that person’s mind, and actions, turning them into what can best be described as a fully-programmed robot slave, which doesn’t know it is a slave, or that it has agreed to be one…. I use the term “it” because, to my way of thinking, anyone who gives up the right to think for themselves isn’t quite all the way human…

“Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.” — Aesop

The American public, along with much of the adult world on this planet, are little more than trained consumers, who not only ignored this advice from Aesop, which ALL of us learned when little, but, have actually been trained to LOOK for the shadow, believing it to be more valuable than the reality it hides…. I will grant that the largest portion of that massive number of people were trained this way before they had any chance to resist the training; sadly, the parents of them all were mostly trained to believe the same lies, when they were small and vulnerable themselves. Those who control the world, through the auspices of religion and government know well the truth of what Adolf Hitler said, to wit: “Give me the mind of a child before age of five, and he will be mine for life.”

Some might think it crude to quote Hitler, but, ffolkes, he was trying to usurp the place of the elite monsters who control the world, (which, you will note, he was NOT allowed to do….). It is clear to me, as someone who does NOT fall into the category of slave, (not in my head, anyway…. they still can’t touch that….), Hitler was stopped, at least in part, because he was clumsily giving away too many of their secret techniques of control, though, he tended to use them more as a hammer than a scalpel….

I’m sure they also didn’t appreciate him trying to force his way with such mad rudeness into their private gig, which I am sure they consider to be the natural order of things; they prefer a quieter, less visible presence in achieving control of worldly events, than one that relies merely on brute force…. They use money, lies, and assassination, to much greater effect, by spreading ignorance, encouraging avarice, and rewarding those who cheat and steal the best…. Hitler was merely telling the absolute truth about how to control the ignorant masses of society, exposing techniques which have been used for millennia to fool them into carrying out the agenda of those hidden manipulators.

With that in mind, look at what Aesop said, then think about who DOES educate those children…. Until the age of five, it is, mostly, parents, who are, almost without exception, themselves under control, aided at this stage by the churches, (Sunday School, in all its incarnations…), who teach those innocent, unsuspecting young minds to fall for the ages-old scam, the same as they did, before most of the children are able to know better than to believe it….

Some, like myself, successfully resist the propaganda to which all children are subjected, or, are able to spot the flaws from the beginning, but, mostly, kids just accept what their parents tell them, part of which is strong training to believe anyone in a position of authority, such as preachers, police, or politicians…. Teachers, too, but, the techniques used in those areas are different, slightly, in approach…. All have the same goal, though, which is best highlighted by the following statement, from one of the ‘free thinkers’ in history, who sometimes try to warn the foolish how to see what they are missing….

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

Now, perhaps, y’all will have the answer to why I chose the user name and title I did…. gigoid, the dubious. Doubt is the beginning of reason, the womb of curiosity, and the spark that fires the imagination. Without it, we would still be sitting in caves at night, cowering in apparent, yet, illusory safety, from the fearful, unknown dangers of the dark….. Except, of course, some of us doubted the tales, and stole out at night to see what could be seen…. Yet, we teach our children NOT to doubt, not to question, not to want to examine all they see, hear, and perceive for truth, and whatever knowledge can be gleaned from those perceptions, knowledge to drive out ignorance, and worse, the fear that springs from not knowing….

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

This is, as I am fond of saying, for sure and for certain; of that I no longer have any doubt. But, we give the control of our minds, and our lives, to people who are either programmed, delusional slaves themselves, or are predatory sycophants, who will lie, cheat, and steal to achieve their own ends, no matter the cost to others, all at the behest, and under the control of a very small number of extremely powerful, completely selfish, paranoid, morally bereft excuses for human beings, who have been in control of society from almost the beginning of recorded history….

So, don’t expect it to change quickly, as these evil humans have learned how to take advantage of the flaws in human nature, which isn’t going to change at all, from without, unless slowly…. Well, that is true now, but, only until physical reality sets in. The physical laws these fools have been ignoring for a long time now are going to catch up to their ignorance, causing changes to the environment of this planet that even their vast wealth cannot halt, or prevent, or alter in any way. It will be interesting to see the outcome; I can only hope it comes before I’m gone, because, I worry about my kids, and grandkids, and how it will affect them….

“I believe the moral losses of expediency always far outweigh the temporary gains.” — Wendell L. Willkie

Now we see why Wilkie wasn’t allowed to win the election; the masters of society couldn’t allow such a man, with such beliefs, to gain any real degree of power or influence over society…. any more than they allowed such men as Eugene Debs, Adlai Stevenson, or either of the Kennedy brothers, to achieve any real power…. all of whom, even if flawed as part of the elite class, still displayed a lot of empathy for the masses, and promoted agendas not acceptable to the true powers that be….

Yes, that’s right, you’re hearing some conspiracy theories… Hell, conspiracies are at least better than believing that all this shit is happening by chance, or because people are TOO STUPID to see what is going on. At least, with a conspiracy, we are allowing that the people who are causing all this shit are competent and able to plan…. a damn sight preferable to getting taken out for no reason at all….And, if conspiracy isn’t the case, what the hell is going on?….

When I start down that road, I get very close to going out to buy a gun, or a cross-bow, and going hunting, just to try to find and eliminate as many of the master class as I could find…. SIGH…. I hate when I feel like that, though I know I’d feel better afterward…. Just like I’d feel guilty about it…. Sure I would. I’d get over it, but, I would feel guilty for a while…. Nothing would change, either, but, at least I’d feel better…

Can’t have everything, I guess…. I’m done now. I’m not sure just what that was all about, but, I feel some better, anyway….

Why, look!…. I found some pearls, all commenting on the Asininnies, in one way or another, whether from the direction of telling it like it is, or showing how it isn’t, while simultaneously implying how it is supposed to be…. Imagine finding these here!…..
____________________________

Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist.” — Edmund Burke

“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” — Edward Abbey

“Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.” — Henry Clay (1777-1852) — Speech at Ashland, Ky., March 1829

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” — Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

“Creative semantics is the key to contemporary government; it consists of talking in strange tongues lest the public learn the inevitable inconveniently early.” — George Will

“The rifle and handgun are “equalizers”–the weapons of a democracy. Tanks and bombers represent dictatorship.” — Edward Abbey

“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” — Bill Watterson, cartoonist of Calvin & Hobbes

Hmph. Onward….

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There are times when nothing but the best will do; here is one I consider to be counted among that exalted category….. Enjoy, ffolkes, this old favorite is a powerful poem, with a great deal of insight into human nature…. But. then, reading it will show you that; you don’t have to take my word for it….

The world is too much with us; late and soon

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune,
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

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Well…. This pearl took a long time, relatively speaking, and a lot of formatting, but, I think I’ve got it the way I want it…. This would be a suitable set of quotes for a poster, stitched onto material, or printed on a parchment…. Of course, it’s a bit abstruse and esoteric for any mainstream display; hell, it’s probably too much of that for even the avant garde crowd…. My suggestion is to just leave it be, absorb the symmetry, which I worked so hard to preserve, on every level of this pearl, all of which points at what it means to be Human…. or, at least, the kind of human I would like to be….

Wow…. It’s so symmetrical, it works even if you switch to reading it upside down!…. Try it! I dare you….

Oh, right…. I should say this…. By upside down, I mean, read them in reverse order, or, turn the order upside down…. not the words, or the computer, or you…. You don’t need to stand on your head to do this; just use your imagination….

“I Know A Joke”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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O happiness! our being’s end and aim!
Good, pleasure, ease, content! whate’er thy name:
That something still which prompts the eternal sigh,
For which we bear to live, or dare to die.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 1 ~~

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

~~Philoxenos ~~

**********

Of all the causes which conspire to blind
Man’s erring judgment, and misguide the mind;
What the weak head with strongest bias rules,–
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 1 ~~

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“Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through.

Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it.

This is a kind of death.”

~~ Anais Nin ~~

**********

A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 15 ~~

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“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” — Seneca

**********

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good;
And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289 ~~

**********

“HELLO, everybody, I’m a HUMAN!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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Considering my condition today, it’s a damn good thing most of this was done last night, during my enforced middle-of-the-night work session. So be it; I’m not one to look at horses’ teeth, gift or burden. I leave that to the county vet….. Any who, I’m outta here, in the vain hope of finding a bit of leftover sand, left by the sandman…. Wish me luck on that; I’ll need it…. See y’all, ffolkes…. maybe even tomorrow….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Okay, but, who takes the hindmost?….

Posted on September 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.” — Wilson Mizner

Since there can be no doubt as to exactly WHEN this was taken, (as long as we can trust digital appliances not to lie to us….) allow me to just say, it is one of mine, shot a few days ago, in a relatively futile attempt to get one good shot of the Super Moon,which took place at the date and time on the picture, as calculated by scientists at the Naval Observatory, & reported on Space.com. I intended to go out earlier, to find a spot to get a really good one, but, Murphy had other plans for my evening, as it turned out….

Approximately a half-hour before the moonrise was calculated to take place, I grabbed my phone, my stick, and the bagged garbage & recycling, to take it outside, downstairs, to the bins, which, I would then take out to the curb, for pick-up the next morning. Since I was still in quite a bit of pain, with some stiffness, too, it took me a few minutes, as I was moving, and, apparently, thinking slowly….

When done, I walked back up the stairs, with some difficulty, only to find the back door had blown itself shut in the breeze, while still locked…. Naturally, I didn’t have my keys on me, so, there I was, outside, no key, tired, in pain, and about two minutes away from A) biting myself, or, preferably, and, much more likely, the nearest human being I could find, and/or B) requiring the immediate use of articles only to be found indoors…. No, not what you’re thinking, but, well, ’nuff said… I had reasons to need to get in long before anyone would be able to bring m the means to do so….

Needless to say, I was NOT happy, first, with my bozoid failure to unlock the door, the first time I opened it that morning, as I almost ALWAYS do; nor was I happy with my bozoid failure to realize it would blow shut while outside, even though I am the one who opened the other door, the windows, & turned on the fan, so the very breeze that shut the door would be blowing, to cool off the house…. In short, my own bozoid nature gave Murphy the perfect opportunity to BURY ME in stress, in the course of a few short moments, a window of time into which I strode boldly, with full confidence that everything was fine…. the frame of mind that bloody Irish asshole LOOKS for…. I imagine he had a hard time containing his glee when he saw me go outside….

Since I had only moments to figure out how to get back inside, (remember, I had very GOOD reasons to HAVE to get in….), I tried to call one of the handymen my landlord employs, whereupon, of course, I found one out to dinner, and the other not answering… So, I made the only decision my executive nature was capable of under that sort of stress, proceeding to use my multi-purpose stick to break in the damn window on the back door, thus creating a HUGE FUCKING MESS inside my house, ten feet out into the middle of the kitchen floor, now COVERED with tiny pieces of breakaway glass, thus, necessitating a complete cleaning of the kitchen, and laundry room, which is where the back door is situated….

So, yesterday morning, (or, today, as I write this…. remember, I have a Tardis….), as well as overnight, I was completely unable to use about a quarter of my house, as it was covered in glass I had no way to pick up…. I have to wait until I can ask someone to come over, bring a real broom, (which has somehow disappeared….), and help me clean up, as doing it right is well beyond my current capabilities….

Now, is there anyone out there with any more questions about WHY I hate Murphy, even more so than your average Bozo? I am completely depressed now, because, in one swell foop, he has put me in a hole it will take days to climb out of…. the only thing that is currently serendipitous, as far as I can see, is the fortunate arrival in the bank of my monthly SS allotment. At least I’ll have enough to pay for repairing all the damages incurred in this episode, and, be able to obtain enough cannabinoids to knock down some of the severe pain that has been haunting me the last couple of weeks….

Plus, as you see, it provided enough material to complete another introductory section, with the ease of long habit in reporting the machinations of our planet’s least appreciated, most reviled icon, Jester to the Courts of Chaos, The Murphy, Most Puissant Asshole Supreme, He Who Has No Peer, Nor Ever Shall (because no other force of nature will have anyfuckingthing to do with him….)….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!”
“But that trick NEVER works!”
“This time fer sure!”

— Rocky & Bullwinkle, playing verbal ping-pong, with Metaphoric Balls, using Euphemystic Brand paddles, Hand-Crafted with ONLY the finest of Time Tested Cliches….

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“Aim at the sun, any you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.” — Joel Hawes

“Beginnings are such delicate times.” — Princess Irulan, from Dune, by Frank Herbert

Of late, the posts here at ECR have been, shall we say, epic in proportion. I know I talk a lot; a certain percentage of responsibility for that can be laid at the feet of my writing style. Spare, it is not…. (Though that sentence isn’t bad, in that respect…. but, you’ll note this parenthetical comment has added approximately 15-20 extra words. See how that works?….) SIGH….

‘Tis a conundrum, for much of my sense of humor requires the long build-up to the punch line so easily displayed by using the more formal approach I’ve chosen; I guess I’ve always loved a long, involved story that ends with a pun, or something so unexpected, the usual reaction is multiplied by the surprise factor….. (Now that I’ve pointed it out, the convoluted grammatical structure of my style seems to be part of the issue; a sentence such as the one previous to this could have been written in half the words…. See? It’s almost as if I can’t help it; it’s a sickness, I guess… Verbalitis maximus, or some such Latin perversion….)

Once, on a bus trip in high school, one of the other students told a story to the entire bus… He took about 30 or more minutes to tell the entire story, giving background, and describing the characters, dragging it out with repetitive actions by the characters that lent themselves to long, drawn out dialogue, and slow speech…. At the end of the 30 minutes, when the story wound around toward a resolution, the question being asked by the protagonist, which is the quest in the story, to find out WHY this person did something, is about to be answered… The entire bus was hanging on this student’s every word; even the driver was engrossed. At the crucial point, the father asks his son, who is dying, the question, “WHY, my son? Why did you…..?” The dying young man, struggling to speak, chokes out, “Dad, I did it because….”

Then he died…. The student telling the story, at the word, “because”, dropped his head, shut his eyes, and fell over, as if dead….

For about15 seconds, there wasn’t a word, not a sound, as everyone on the bus sat in complete shock…. Then, the entire bus erupted, with shouts of anger, groans of dismay (the loudest and largest number of responses were the groans….), and some actual animated growls directed at him, right before half the objects on the bus started flying in his general direction, as each victim grabbed the first item at hand & let fly, intending serious harm….

I’ve never, in my entire life, seen a joke better told, unless by a pro, such as George Carlin, or Bob Newhart, who loved that sort of joke… nor have I ever seen such a loud, universal reaction to a pun, up to this day…. It was, quite simply, the best joke I’ve ever heard, even though it isn’t even a joke, except on the audience listening to it…. Nor, for that matter, is it a particularly GOOD joke; stupidly thick is the best one can say about all the parties in the story…. The value is in the telling, with it a critical factor to have the audience on the edge of their seats at the crucial point in the story….

Y’all are probably wondering where I’m going with this, since I’ve wandered so far afield in my mind…. Easy…. I’m giving y’all a break from the usual sober, involved, ranting that is generally my choice for this section…. I figured out, reading my blog isn’t easy…. it takes time, involves no little amount of cogitation, (a habit many Americans don’t possess), all of which probably asks more of the reader than I am entitled to ask in a blog…. Most blogs out there are much shorter, in terms of content, unless they post less often…. But, not ME, no sirree, Bob, I must write and post about 2000- 4000 words EVERY DAMN DAY….. I suppose I’ve come to realize it may be a bit much to ask of ffolkes, even those who enjoy my writing…

So, this little personal reminiscence is to let y’all know, I will be attempting, to some degree at least, to shorten the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, to make them a little more palatable, and easy to swallow…. Perhaps, this will bring a bit more traffic to the site, because, even though I don’t write for the purpose of increasing my readership, as much as I do to stay sane, to try to hold off the mental calcification that may tend to settle in with us as we get older, decreasing our awareness, our cognitive abilities, and, ultimately, shortening our lives, by removing the pleasure of using our minds the way they were designed to be used…. which is hard, and often….

So, here is a single pearl, hopefully as cogent as I can make it, to seal the deal…. I can’t promise to succeed at this, but, I’ll promise to try, so, hopefully, you’ll see some less bulky Pearls, and a bit more dialogue in the comments, from increased traffic…. If nothing else, I’ll know I’ve lived up to the following aphorism, from one of history’s most prolific, and most accurately insightful moralists… Even if I don’t succeed, this tells me it’s the right thing to do….

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

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Today I will, once more, assume the ethical stance, to include a poem of mine in this section; you already know why…. This way, nobody else can catch any of the grief or blame for any of today’s missive…. Which, in at least one respect, makes it safer for me, as well; no fear of litigation is necessary…. Here is one written this year, in February, that fits in perfectly with the discussion in section one…..

Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, or teach us to truly know.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In order to assuage my own needs and desires, as well as to subdue, or at minimum, sublimate my urge to rant, today’s section three will assume its typical format, of an old-school pearl, but, with specific parameters, set to find ideas, quotes, and/or poems to show our disdain for the Asininnies, and our anger at the shadowy corporate slavers who have held society in thrall for our entire written history….

“Search men’s governing principles, and consider the wise, what they shun and what they cleave to.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 38

“Boldness is a mask for fear, however great.” — Lucan

“It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits that depend on them. Like a man who has worn eyeglasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away.” — Kenich Ohmae, The Borderless World

“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.” — Fran Lebowitz

(The above, on food, should be tattooed on the forehead of every one of the 455 men & women in Congress, the White House, and sitting on the SCOTUS; it’s something they tend to ignore, or forget, especially when forced to think about the ‘little people’….)

“People come o Washington believing it is the center of power. I know I did. It was only much later that I learned that Washington is a steering wheel that’s not connected to an engine.” — Richard Goodwin

“Our virtues are most frequently but vices disguised.” — Francis, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) — Maxims, Head

“And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.” — H.L. Mencken

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, there you go…. a reasonably fresh Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, (Required disclaimer: These are ‘virtual’ wisdom; any attempt to use them as real wisdom is the responsibility of the Gentle Reader; the author takes no part in that, for damn good reason….) with only the intro section written prior to this morning’s effort, and it needed to be edited, so, it’s all pretty up-to-date…. Not that freshness will make it taste better, but, hey, with Pearls, you never know…. time improves some of them, others are gems from the start, and, sadly, some cannot be saved by any power known to Mankind…. so be it. gigoid has spoken….

For today, it’s done, which will allow me to go on into the day with no lingering dross or drivel left in my head, just the way I like it…. I’ll need it today, as I go forth to contend with the bureaucratic forces of government…. with a buffering shield of drug-induced emotional space, in lieu of a force-field, (still can’t find one on the open market….), but, still, my hands and ears will require serious cleansing later on…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

I didn’t realize it would be so…. bulbous….

Posted on August 7, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.” — Robert Cody

After taking this picture, I stood looking at this little display on the street near where I live, attempting to deduce the reason for its being there… You have to admit, it isn’t the usual type of thing one sees walking down a street in a quiet neighborhood. Whatever these are, they don’t appear to be bowling balls, though they are the correct size, and colors… I could not, however, find any finger holes, unless they are on the underside, where I couldn’t see them…. I was thinking maybe they were seeds for planets, but, who’d have those in their front yard? And wouldn’t they need to be refrigerated?

All good questions, none of which were susceptible to answer, since nobody was around to ask, so, I took my speculations and guesses, and went home…. One of these days, I’ll go by again, & see if anyone is around to explain why they’re using planetary seeds for an art display in their yard…. and, what idiot in the government sold him the seeds, which, as far as I know, are not available on the open market (they were only developed successfully in the past year, and are not fully tested out yet…. To my knowledge, very few people even know they exist yet, so the next question that strikes me is…. are they safe, sitting there in the sunlight? Won’t they start growing?…. Interested parties wish to know….)

I’m done now, at least for the moment…. I couldn’t figure out why these colorful balls were sitting on the wall as I walked by, and, truthfully, no one was around, or I would have asked…. It wasn’t any big deal to me, but, I was curious…. then, when I looked again at the picture, I figured it would work for an intro, so, here we are, engaging in fruitless, imaginary speculation about nothing at all, save some random human’s urge to express some vague artistic impulse…. So, there is no need to sit there, wondering what the hell I’m going with this, as we’re not going anywhere…. at least, not on THIS bus!

Ah hell, ffolkes, I’m lost again…. I thought I had a good one going there, and it just sort of fell apart on me…. I guess that is what happens when one bases the material on nothing much; it requires some “punching up” to make it worthwhile for us to use, and, apparently, I just don’t have the power in my punches that would make it work…. Not surprising, given my state, which, rather than whine and complain about, I’m ignoring…. It doesn’t do me any good to fret and whine about pain like this, nor is it helpful to wake up the neighborhood with the groans and moans that escape me as I move about, pouring the coffee that will save lives….

Without going into TMI, we’ll just relate that my arthritic joints have decided to make today a day of celebration, so they are singing….. Typing is such wonderful fun, and so stimulating, it makes me want to bite….. Instead, I’m going to take a short break, then come back to try to finish this….

Well, so much for that idea…. I suppose we’ll just continue our policy of staying out of the way of anyone who might get bitten, consuming massive quantities of powerful pharmaceuticals, until they work, and generally just typing whatever comes to mind, such as THAT may be…. It’s not necessarily Art, but, it works for me…. I can see now, though, I’m going to have to get us out of here rather abruptly, or we won’t get out of here at all…. Hang on, ffolkes…

Shall we Pearl?….

“With the pride of an artist, you must blow against the walls of every power that exists, the small trumpet of your defiance.” — Norman Mailer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, since I’m not in a state where any kind of rational arguments are likely to be generated in support of a rant, I’ll use a trick I know…. Here are a couple of links to articles that I expected to rant about today…. The first one is yet another example of how the police forces in this country have become so para-military in their attitudes, they assume they can do whatever they want, and only admit to what they are up to when exposed…. After the article, and an excerpt showing the need for worry, I’ll provide a couple of pearls to drive home the point I wish to make…. then we’ll go on to the next link after that…. Let’s see how this works, shall we?….

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” — C. S. Lewis

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/San-Jose-police-We-regret-secrecy-about-drone-5670183.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea

“The purchase was approved by the City Council with no public debate and was not publicized until Vice’s Motherboard and MuckRock obtained public records on the drone.

“Another possible use would be for situations that threaten public safety,” the statement reads. “These could include dangers such as active shooters, hostage-taking, or other such tactical situations where lives might be in immediate danger.”

That troubled Nicole Ozer, an attorney who heads the American Civil Liberties Union’s Technology and Civil Liberties Project. “The City Council had been told it was approving a drone for hazardous material,” she said. “Now, in this statement, the SJPD says it wants to use it for any situation that will threaten public safety. As you can imagine, that can be very broad scenarios.” Ozer said the drone was “only approved because community members were kept in the dark. There hasn’t been any public debate about whether there should be drone use at all.”

— excerpted from the article

“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.

“The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his action.” — Confucius

(Note: By this definition, none of the SJPD can make any claim to superiority, can they?…. They acted, but, then didn’t bother to speak; when caught out, they sheepishly spoke, but, once again, lied about their motivation…. thus, removing any attempt they might make at justification for their acts from the realm of possibility….)

“Habit is the nursery of errors.” — Victor Hugo

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” — Plato

(Did you ever wonder why cops all wear those mirror shades now, or some other kind of eye covering? It seems like you never see a cop’s real eyes any more; they’re all wearing “safety” glasses of some sort or another…. which, as we see by Plato’s astute observation, is a dead giveaway as to their real personal world-views…. Remember of whom we speak, now….

Do you think, even for a minute, the average cop is some altruistic, gentlemanly, heroic figure who went into public service because of their huge heart and wish to be socially useful? Don’t make me laugh, ffolkes…. Most of them NEED the authority and entitlement provided by the job to feel as if they are in control of their life, which is reinforced by their successful use of intimidation and aggressiveness to accomplish their ends, to feel as if they have that control, which they so desperately seek….)

“A thing either is what it appears to be; or it is not, but yet appears to be; or it is, but does not appear to be; or it is not, and does not appear to be.” — Epictetus

(I hardly need to point out that this applies perfectly to the SJPD statement regarding their alleged drone… because it is what it appears to be…. pure bullshit….)

(Okay, I’m done commenting now…. sure is an easier way to rant, though, I must say….)

Next, we have an article that celebrates the current crop of comedians who are poking fun at the Asininnies, on a larger stage than I can ever hope to find here at WP…. Jon Stewart, Russell Brand, Steven (Stephen? I dunno….) Colbert, and a number of others, all of whom continue the good works of society’s masters of critical humor, as epitomized by George Carlin, who was so adept at putting the truth out there for people to see, while at the same time exposing the lies, and the lying liars who tell them, as they spread their slime from every podium in front of a TV camera, anywhere in the world….

This one isn’t so much a diatribe as a thank-you note to all these young societal gadflies, with some good links to some hilarious take-downs of some of today’s most ridiculous pundits…. This is one you can enjoy, guilt free… After, I’ll throw in a couple pearls to drive the points home, then we’ll be off to another section, just like we had some sort of routine….

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/08/05/fierce-comics-at-the-end-of-the-world/

“Politics, like religion, hold up the torches of martyrdom to the reformers of error.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

“An experienced, industrious, ambitious, and often quite often picturesque liar.” — Mark Twain

“Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth.” — Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout (1866-1975)

“Intelligence has nothing to do with politics.” — Londo Molari

Yes, many primitive people still believe this myth…But in today’s technical vastness of the future, we can guess that surely things were much different.” — The Firesign Theater

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a poem of mine, from , that goes fairly well with today’s apparent theme…..

Rhyming is better than lying….

It’s all too, too much, he cried
I can take no more!
It’s all crazy, my brain is fried,
battered, bloody, and sore.

Talking heads shout out hatred and fear
jam for my morning toast.
Pointing fingers far, middle, and near
enemies everywhere, almost.

Women, gays, and seniors fall prey,
easy targets, slow and weak.
Convenient fools, wanting only to play,
used, and abused, even as we speak.

It enough to drive me floridly insane,
or want to buy a gun.
I may end up in jail, or in massive pain,
but, oh, it would be fun….

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having explained above the justification for any cheating I may do today, I won’t bother to repeat it here…. Suffice it to say, I’m using an archived pearl, one from a little over two years ago, a specialty format pearl that works quite well, I think…. I hope you enjoy it….

From 8/1/2012:

What we have here is a failure to…. wait, that’s been done…. Okay, here, I found it in the script…. What we have below is an old-school Sesame Street style pearl…. Taken together, in the order given, and with a relatively open mind, these quotes will lead one to the Thought For Today. If they don’t, well, that’s okay, too…. Once again, as we are going old-school, this will not be on the test….

“But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State.” — Thomas Jefferson, [letter?] To S. Kercheval, 1810

“All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.” — Thomas Paine

“One sure way to determine the social conscience of a Government is to examine the way taxes are collected and how they are spent. And one sure way to determine the social conscience of an individual is to get his tax-reaction. Taxes, after all, are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt, campaign address, — Worcester, Mass., Oct. 21, 1936.

“The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.” — Thomas Babington Macaulay

“When I was made presidential press secretary my father sent me a telegram: “Always tell the truth. If you can’t always tell the truth, don’t lie.” — Bill Moyers

“What is left when honour is lost?” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 265

What, indeed….. on that note, onward…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have done my duty; enough is enough…. On that note, I will take my leave, sans the usual crap…. I’m in too much pain to worry about that, at all…. I’m gonna go somewhere and whimper a while…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I manage to keep from getting arrested for biting someone…. Hey, wait a minute, I just had a thought…. Now, where’s that cat?…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid the dubious

Subject to NSA review, it’s done….

Posted on June 1, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It might not be Ibsen, but, it’s Art.” Or, in the case of our situation here on ECR, it could be merely Art’s friend Joey, who, while nice in most respects, isn’t Art…. Of course, I never promised any damn roses, or gardens, or any other sort of horticultural display; I’ve been known to kill cacti, so I usually try to avoid that sort of plant genocide…. The easiest way to do that is to keep my black thumb away from anything that depends on my attention to stay alive; it’s safer for the plants, and I don’t get the evil eye from every gardener who happens by….

“Castles in the air — they’re so easy to take refuge in. So easy to build, too.” — Henrik Ibsen

How did I get onto my inability to deal with watering? I had intended to start off in an entirely different direction, but, it sort of got away with me before I even got out of the first paragraph…. Sometimes, I think this is getting to be a bit strange…. Oh, I don’t mean strange, funny, I mean strange, weird…. Any who, whichever strange it is, it’s starting t show more episodes of rebellious independence, haring off in directions that make no sense at all, especially since they aren’t connected to anything but normal prose, that just happened to be there when it made its bid for literary freedom…

Of course, that doesn’t account for the tendency of all independent literature to become revolutionary in nature, thus exposing itself, and, by concatenation, the author, to scrutiny from those friendly fokes (misspelled deliberately…. they don’t rate even ONE ‘el’….) at the NSA, who are deep into the process of becoming completely insane in their need to collect ALL the data in the world….. That 60’s rock song had it right, when it told us, “Paranoia strikes deep; into your life it will creep. It starts when you’re always afraid…..”….. and, boy, are they afraid!….

That is as deep into ranting as I’ll get today, ffolkes…. I’m trying to keep to my plan, to avoid so much ranting it puts me into a bad mood, before I even begin to think rationally…. It’s never a good idea to decide on one’s direction before drinking sufficient coffee to keep such considerations out of the decision-making process; we tend to end up with several thousand words, all sharply pointed, and jabbing at the BRC, or the preachers, or the Corporate Snakeheads, those assholes….

That’s enough of THAT! Before this turns on me again, I believe I will head out to the oyster beds…. I’m thinking it would be best if y’all came along, if only to keep from getting Murphy excited…. He doesn’t need the help, or the stimulation, believe me….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation.” — Thucydides

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here we go, off again into the wilds of a new-fashioned pearl…. let’s see if I can make this work today….

“He who endeavors to serve, to benefit, and improve the world, is like a swimmer, who struggles against a rapid current, in a river lashed into angry waves by the winds. Often they roar over his head, often they beat him back and baffle him. Most men yield to the stress of the current… Only here and there the stout, strong heart and vigorous arms struggle on toward ultimate success.” — Albert Pike (1809-1891)

To my way of looking at it, the picture is perfect for this pearl…. it shows us the river of which Mr. Pike speaks, as it appears to us BEFORE we jump in…. and, after we have reached the point in the river to which our struggles take us. Once the effort has been successfully spent, the road is smooth, and clear of traffic…. Well, it SOUNDS good, doesn’t it…. If reality doesn’t always cooperate, it can’t be helped…. or so they say….

“I think we’re all Bozos on this Bus!” — The Firesign Theater

There it is, ffolkes…. it’s the Bozo Bus, taking us all down to Reality, as long as we can pay the fare…. Actually, the picture is an example of amateur photography at it’s finest, or worst, which often happens at the same time…. I took it while in a sunny spot, on an overcast morning, which made it hard to see just how the zoom had worked, or not…. Hence, a picture that highlights the odd views we can get when we know NOT what we are doing…. in short, a perfect illustration of living up to our Bozoid natures….. Whether or not y’all know it, or believe it, Reality has the final word, and you may as well accept the facts, ffolkes…. We are ALL Bozos on this Bus…..

“‘Truth’ never set anyone free. It is only *doubt* which will bring mental emancipation.” — Anton LaVey

As further proof of the assertion made just above, in the previous pearl, (We are all Bozos, etc…..) this picture was taken, and included in this grouping, BEFORE I noticed the trash receptacle in the exact center of the photo…. I thought I was taking a nice, long view of a pleasant spot, (for a parking area….), showing how amenable even such stark buildings can be made….. while the whole time, the blunt nose of Reality was leaving a smear on the glass….. SIGH, oh well…. I guess even photography requires a bit of sharpness of mind, to achieve any real degree of competence…. That, or just paying better attention, which I’ll also try to work into the program…. SIGH…. It never ends, does it?….

Or, maybe it’s merely my just desserts, for using a quote by LaVey….. Even though true, one must remember to always consider the source; Anton LaVey, for those who are unaware, was the long-time leader of the Church of Satan…. so, it’s worth taking ANYTHING he says with a grain of salt, even when, like this one, it is so obviously correct….

“Stuckness shouldn’t be avoided. It’s the psychic predecessor of all real understanding. An egoless acceptance of stuckness is a key to an understanding of all Quality, in mechanical work as in other endeavors.” — Pirsig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”

I’m not sure just how the quote goes with the picture, except that the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance somehow goes together with the idea of palm trees, especially when they are completely out of their normal place…. Those of y’all who have actually read the book by Mr. Pirsig will, I think, be better able to understand that, though it isn’t guaranteed…. There are, I’m sure, some people who read the book, who still don’t understand how Zen comes into it, so, I can’t always expect people to catch my references, either…. but, that’s okay, too, because, hey, look! We got Art!…. Well, we’ve got pictures, anyway….

“No one loves the man whom he fears.” — Aristotle

You might be wondering about now just how this picture fits in with the pearl…. well, it doesn’t, really….. I picked the pearl just because it is good to remember, and it makes me hope…. that there are a number of men (or women, I’m not picky in my enemies…) sitting somewhere in a basement somewhere in Washington D.C., dredging through all the stuff they’ve pulled out of people’s computers and off the internet, to search out the nasty terrorists they KNOW are hiding among us, reading what I’ve created here, and scratching their heads, trying to figure out if it is treasonous, or merely subversive…. while, all the while, I’m hoping they are getting the clue, that I’m laughing at them….

Probably not, though…. I don’t think they’re quite that sharp, to ascertain when they’ve been insulted…. S’okay, I’ve got plans today…. which brings us to the picture, of the ferry I’m going to ride in a couple of hours, on my new daily quest for pictures, and some fun for me, participating in LIFE at large… Today, that means I’m taking the ferry to SF, with my camera in hand, to try to take a couple hundred or so pictures, so I’ve got a bigger pool from which to fish for this new format…. For now, though, we’ll just go on, & try to get this done, so I can get going…..

To close this section, here is a political cartoon, by a cartoonist who posts a lot on the UK Guardian, which is where I found this little gem…. enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s an Emily day, I can tell…..

A Book

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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In order to keep with the format we’ve held to for nearly two years, an old-school pearl will be appropriate in this section…. not that being appropriate is a high priority around here, but, we do what we can….

“It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.’ — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 780

“The real world is not user-friendly.” — Kelvin Throop

“Yield to Temptation … it may not pass your way again.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

“When two do the same thing, it is not the same thing after all.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 338

“Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) –Roman Apophthegms, Cato the Elder

Aw, but, where’s the fun in THAT?…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This seems to be working out fairly well…. and, if yesterday’s stats are any indication, the audience approves…. Of course, that is most likely some kind of anomaly, but, we’ll see…. For now, I’ll see you mañana, with a bunch of new pix…. See y’all later, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid the dubious

A schlemiel, or a putz?… Not an easy choice….

Posted on May 12, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

There are moments, when I sit to begin each day, when my mind wanders, into places that other people know not…. which is something about which they should be very glad…. But, in a real sense, that could easily be said of just about anyone’s mind, not just mine, so, y’all probably have an idea of the kinds of places I mean; I don’t believe for a minute that I’m all THAT different than the rest of mankind, even if a great deal of the available evidence says so….

This difference is one I’ve always tended to cultivate, actually, as the general run of ffolkes in the world are involved in stuff that holds no interest for me; they pay attention to people that I consider to be manipulative and self-serving, and spend a lot of time wasted, to my way of thinking, engaging in activities that don’t either improve their lot, or make them, and those they love, happy, both of which I see as our primary goals in this reality. Other ffolkes, I know, seem to think there are goals more worthwhile, but, to my mind, those two cover all of our REAL responsibilities in Life….

Anything else you hear in place of those activities is most likely something someone else told you, or convinced you to believe, in spite of how silly it sounds, or how much it doesn’t seem to help at all…. I know that all of my life there have been numerous silly asses who have tried to convince me of the rightness of their ideas (about God, about Life, about Government….), each of them more strident and more insistent than the last….

Fortunately, in my mind, I learned at a young age (4-5 years…) how to spot them, determining back then to NOT listen to them, as they were only trying to get me to do what THEY wanted, not what I thought I needed to do…. and somehow, what seemed right to me, with my young, unfettered mind, and no prejudices, was that what THEY were telling me was a bunch of bullshit; it was ALL so unbelievable, I couldn’t buy into it, so I’d just nod my head, and go my way without bothering to pay much attention…. I believe it drove several Sunday School teachers to drink….

I’m not sure what prompted this, except possibly the email I found in my inbox this morning…. Supposedly, it’s from Google, but, the link it wants me to connect to is suspicious, to say the least, (it connect to a private domain, with a dot.me suffix, so, I suspect it’s some hacker, phishing for whatever idiots he can find to click blindly on the link, just the way they are instructed to do in the letter, which threatens to close my account if I don’t click on it…. I didn’t, of course, and will check with Google later….. Somehow, I don’t think they’re sending out official emails at 0317 AM, to get people to verify their accounts….

But, because most people in this country are programmed to obey instructions from official sources, this guy will no doubt end up with a lot of fools who are giving them a clear path to steal their information, all because they never learned to use the crap detector their brain came equipped with when they were born…. They forgot, or got distracted, and never used or registered the software in their head that allows them to see the world with clear eyes, unhindered by the delusions/illusions that much of the world uses as their basis for belief…. I’ll say this, it’s a lot simpler when you can see the shit coming, ffolkes; it allows one the time to duck, thus saving us from getting hit in the face with that crap, or getting it on our clothing….

Okay, so, there you have it…. A complete, unbearably long, complicated, rant-like diatribe, right there at the front of the Pearl, where it can do the most damage, and serve as today’s excuse for an intro…. Six paragraphs should certainly be enough to satisfy any official myrmidons, and the unofficial ones aren’t armed, so I don’t pay them any mind…. For now, this will do, and, since my thumb and wrist are beginning to get rather painful as I type, it would no doubt be best to get on with today’s effort….

Shall we Pearl?…..

REVEILLE, n. A signal to sleeping soldiers to dream of battlefields no more, but get up and have their blue noses counted. In the American army it is ingeniously called “rev-e-lee,” and to that pronunciation our countrymen have pledged their lives, their misfortunes, and their sacred dishonor. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since my thumb is paining me, I’ll switch this intended rant about Ed Snowden, and the aftereffects of his heroic act of bravery, to a newer model Pearl, where I will provide links, then comment on the contents of the included articles, and the subject of those reports…. Let’s see what I’ve collected for us to poke at today….

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/09/westminster-may-have-to-concede-edward-snowden-had-a-point

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/10/the-battle-to-retake-our-privacy-can-be-won-in-the-halls-of-congress-really

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/guide-deceptions-word-games-obfuscations-officials-use-mislead-public-about-nsa

https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/wordgames

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/07/nsa_lexicon_how_james_clapper_and_other_u_s_officials_mislead_the_american.html

“First as to speech. That privilege rests upon the premise that there is no proposition so uniformly acknowledged that it may not be lawfully challenged, questioned, and debated. It need not rest upon the further premise that there are no propositions that are not open to doubt; it is enough, even if there are, that in the end it is worse to suppress dissent than to run the risk of heresy. Hence it has been again and again unconditionally proclaimed that there are no limits to the privilege so far as words seek to affect only the hearers’ beliefs and not their conduct. The trouble is that conduct is almost always based upon some belief, and that to change the hearer’s belief will generally to some extent change his conduct, and may even evoke conduct that the law forbids.” — [cf. Learned Hand, The Spirit of Liberty,– University of Chicago Press, 1952, The Art and Craft of Judging: — The Decisions of Judge Learned Hand, — edited and annotated by Herschel Shanks, The MacMillian Company, 1968.]

The five or six articles above are a series of reports on the NSA spying fiasco, complete with some articles that show us just how the assholes who run the spy agencies, and the politicians who are supporting them in their paranoia, all tend to use a different set of words than the other English speaking members of this country, having decided to assign new meanings to old words, so they can justify the lies they tell on a regular basis, merely pointing at their actual words, and telling us we didn’t understand what they actually meant by them….

I won’t belabor the point here, as the articles are pretty clear about how they do it, showing EXACTLY what words they have altered to suit their purposes, thus, in THEIR minds, making what they say the truth, not the lie it actually is, to anyone using the language in a normal fashion. They do it on purpose, to try to hide their chicanery, and, in many cases, they may actually BELIEVE their own lies…. which makes them all the more dangerous to the rest of us….

“Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” — William Pitt (1759-1806) speech on the India Bill, Nov. 18, 1783

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/10/judge-says-arkansas-gay-marriage-ban-is-unconstitutional

This one is here not because it is terribly controversial, (to me, this is no longer a question of anything but time until the laws of this country reflect reality more closely in this respect….), but, rather, because it is yet another example of the STUPIDITY displayed by so many in government….. Once again, because the Constitution is what it is, the illegal discriminatory laws are overturned by yet ANOTHER Federal judge who can read….

Yet, in spite of this, and in the face of EVERY OTHER decision that preceded it, in every case where such discrimination is challenged, the idiot assholes in the Arkansas Attorney General’s office are planning to appeal this, just as all the OTHER fools who keep trying to force their own beliefs on the rest of us keep trying to do, in the eight or nine states where this identical scenario has already been played out….

Talk about banging your head against the wall, to show your objection to having built it in the first place; it’s rather counter-productive to refuse to see what is real…. Sad to say, though, these folks are accustomed to believing many things which have no basis in reality, so I suppose it isn’t really surprising they would keep performing the same unreasoned response to an issue whose conclusion is no longer in doubt…. Stupid is as stupid does, as Forrest’s mama used to say…..

The Bible is true this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.

— Jordan Henderson

(Just for fun…. if you don’t already know it, look up the meaning of the Latin phrase, “ipse dixit”….)

“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Give a man religion and he’ll starve to death praying for a fish.” — Smart Bee

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/A-look-at-all-that-Benghazi-stands-for-5469335.php

I finally figured out this whole Benghazi issue…. After reading some of the historical perspective presented in this article, I can see that most of it, if not all, is just an argument between the two major political parties about who can lie the best, and when they’re allowed to do so…. It’s all a mass of pots calling each other black, the whole thing…. The whole mess apparently began because the elephantine idiots in the Republican Party thought they could make some points with the public by making a stink over the lies told by the other side, the donkeyites in the Democratic Party

(I find it interesting to note the two terms for these parties, one hundred years ago, were reversed in terms of party philosophy…. The Republicans were the party of the people, and the Democrats were the rich fat cats; now it’s the opposite, image-wise… Philosophically, of course, neither one resembles anything close to a democratic organization, not anymore; they’re both oligarchies, plain and simple….)

The Republicans, in their self-imposed image of “disloyal opposition” have created an unholy cacophony of accusations and allegations of conspiracy, most of which came straight from their own imaginary fears of things that MIGHT have been true, if reality were not what it is….

The Democrats, having been caught making a paper trail, of their attempts at spin-doctoring all the information about the incident, are naturally upset at the Republicans, who are the reigning champions of lying to the public without a qualm or quiver of guilt. The Dems are upset because the Repubs are accusing THEM of lying, which is actually, to me, rather hilarious….

I mean, talk about chutzpah! The Republican Party, calling someone ELSE a liar! It HAS to be one of the most egregiously arrogant, ignorant stances I’ve ever seen, having personally watched over 50 years of this circus called American politics. In the last national election, in 2012, I believe the average speech by their candidate, Romney, never passed 50% on the fact-checking done by several organizations…

This translates to mean the candidate they chose to represent them to the world at large was lying through his teeth, at least half of every time he opened his mouth to speak…. This is a statistic you may check yourself, but, I’m pretty sure of its accuracy, as I read the reports at the time; they all had him telling an untruth with every other statement he made…. I should add, most of the rest of what I heard was either wrong-headed, selfish, or completely lacking in compassion for anyone other than his own narrow group of supporters…..

Yet, these same liars are upset because the Dems lied to the public about this attack on an embassy, an attack that came as much of a surprise to them as it did to the entire rest of the world…. The attack wasn’t one of those big, planned events…. It was a clusterfuck of incompetence, all around, diplomatically, militarily, and intelligence-wise, on BOTH sides of the issue, and the war; nobody knew it would happen until it did…. Then, of course, the media and the pols get hold of it, and it becomes an issue for them to exploit in the public eye, for their own aggrandizement….

And people wonder why I don’t like ANY of them…..

Well, that’s certainly enough for one day…. even I can only take so much of the news before getting nauseous, so, rather than use up more of my anti-nausea meds, ( medications which double, fortunately, as pain relievers…. Cannabis is wonderfully flexible, sort of a multi-tasker when it comes to what it can do for us….) I’ll leave you with these final pearls, to send us on our way to the next section….

“The simple realization that there are other points of view is the beginning of wisdom. Understanding what they are is a great step. The final test is understanding why they are held.” — Charles M. Campbell

“In a state-run society the government promises you security. But it’s a false promise, predicated on the idea that the opposite of security in risk. Nothing could be further from the truth. The opposite of security is insecurity, and the only way to overcome insecurity is to take risks. The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side.” — Theodore Forstmann

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m going with whatever serendipitously throws itself under the wheels of this bus we’re on…. Here is a thought, and a poem, from two classical Chinese poets, to whose translators I offer my complete admiration, and thanks, for such excellent work….

“If you work on your mind with your mind, how can you avoid an immense confusion?” — Seng-Ts’an

Alone, Looking for Blossoms Along the River

The sorrow of riverside blossoms inexplicable,
And nowhere to complain — I’ve gone half crazy.
I look up our southern neighbor. But my friend in wine
Gone ten days drinking. I find only an empty bed.

A thick frenzy of blossoms shrouding the riverside,
I stroll, listing dangerously, in full fear of spring.
Poems, wine — even this profusely driven, I endure.
Arrangements for this old, white-haired man can wait.

A deep river, two or three houses in bamboo quiet,
And such goings on: red blossoms glaring with white!
Among spring’s vociferous glories, I too have my place:
With a lovely wine, bidding life’s affairs bon voyage.

Looking east to Shao, its smoke filled with blossoms,
I admire that stately Po-hua wineshop even more.
To empty golden wine cups, calling such beautiful
Dancing girls to embroidered mats — who could bear it?

East of the river, before Abbot Huang’s grave,
Spring is a frail splendor among gentle breezes.
In this crush of peach blossoms opening ownerless,
Shall I treasure light reds, or treasure them dark?

At Madame Huang’s house, blossoms fill the paths:
Thousands, tens of thousands haul the branches down.
And butterflies linger playfully — an unbroken
Dance floating to songs orioles sing at their ease.

I don’t so love blossoms I want to die. I’m afraid,
Once they are gone, of old age still more impetuous.
And they scatter gladly, by the branchful. Let’s talk
Things over, little buds —open delicately, sparingly.

~~ Tu Fu ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is going better than I’d hoped, so rather than push my luck, we’re going old school now; I’ll take my chances with the critics…. Enjoy, ffolkes, serendipity has been good to me so far today, so, I have high hopes for this pearl….

“All history shows that every man who has authority is led to abuse it; he does not stop until he comes up against limitations…Things must be so arranged that one authority checks another.” — Montesquieu

“Imagine me going around with a pot belly. It would mean political ruin.” — Adolf Hitler

“He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth.” — Goethe

“What a fool cannot learn he laughs at, thinking that by his laughter he shows superiority instead of latent idiocy.” — M. Corelli

“Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people.” — Jean de la Fontaine

“Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.” — Aesop

“Fear has its use but cowardice has none.” — Mahatma Gandhi

Hmm….. Sometimes, pearls can be dense, unfathomable, inscrutable…. This one certainly is all of those, even though the actual quotes are not…. I mean, hey, maybe the one by Adolf requires some thought, but, the rest should be pretty clear…. Together, though, it’s a bit of a poser, so, just flow with it; it will come, if and when it does, and not before…. Some pearls are like that….Yeah, they are….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No matter what anybody says, I’m NOT doing it over!…. Nope, no way! This is actually a good one, so, as John Lennon said, so aptly, “Let it be”….. See ya, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid the dubious

Your majesty’s attire smacks of deliberate irrelevance….

Posted on March 23, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

There are times when a good round of really gross, anatomically incorrect, yet innovative, viciously antagonistic cursing does one more good than anything less vulgar can possibly accomplish, partially because of that selfsame vulgarity….. And, of course, when one breaks down completely, morals-training-wise, stooping to the forceful, heartfelt use of that crowd favorite, the time-tested, universally applicable Anglo-Saxon euphemism for the act of physical love, otherwise known as the F-word, is our only viable recourse…. We all know how much better the mere voicing of this honorable incantation can make us feel, don’t we? Well, those among us who refuse to be hypocrites do, anyway….

So, what happened today that prompted such a long-winded way to say I feel like saying “FUCK”, at the top of my lungs? Well, let me tell you…. Here on Earth, some of us have agreed to live with other species, domiciling together in a form of mutual support and honorable relationship, for no other reason than our own compatibility and liking for each other’s company….

There are several species with whom we have made such an agreement over time, a group that includes some rather exotic creatures, such as snakes, rodents, spiders, and fish of all varieties, including dangerous ones, such as sharks and/or piranha, along with the more mundane mammalian choices such as dogs, horses, etc….. Myself, I’m not sure how I’d enjoy cuddling with a piranha, or petting a python, but, to each his own..

Then, of course, we have cats….. I’m not at all certain that the relationship we have with them is completely agreeable to either party at times; there are too many instances where our purposes and/or desires come into conflict for us to ever be fully at ease in each other’s company…. I spend as much time chasing the damn cat with a squirt bottle of water as I do petting her, and that is mostly at HER insistence…. She seems to enjoy pissing me off & having me chase here around the house, spraying her with the water bottle…. Well, until I catch her anyway…. then, she tends to learn VERY quickly, whatever it was we were tussling about…. funny how that works….

So, this morning, this 4 lb. furry black menace decided that 2 AM was just the right time for me to be up….. the fucking asshole. She probably heard me making plans to go see my grandson today, & figured she could help out the most by making sure I was up in plenty of time….. Sure she did…. I mean, seven fucking hours should be enough for me to get ready, don’t you think? Apparently, she thinks that’s about right….. bloody nuisance is what she is….. Plus, she KNOWS I’m a softy at heart, and won’t actually HURT her, even if getting her wet isn’t one of her favorite things….. Like most of us do when dealing with our fuzzy companions, I bluster at her a lot, but she knows it’s all bark, and no real bite….

I suppose in her own way, she thought she was being nice, so it’s hard to get too upset…. especially given the weird hours I’ve been putting in of late. Three in the AM isn’t particularly unfamiliar to me these days, so two o’clock is hardly a handicap, or much of a change, for that matter….. So, I guess I’ll let her live…. She DID not only get me up, but provided the material for this intro, such as it is, so, I suppose I should thank her…..

I will…. after I finish being pissed off about being up at this hour, and having so much of the day to fill up, on so little rest…. At least I have good stuff to fill it with; a visit with Zack is always a bonus for me…. I only have the one grandson, so far, so I tend to savor our time together…. and, since I only get to see him a couple of times a year, they’re marked as special days on my calendar…. But, that’s not until way later, so…..

Shall we Pearl?

Cat: “A small, furry beast resembling a meatloaf…” — Smart Bee (honest, it wasn’t me!….)
_____________________________

“The gods too are fond of a joke.” — Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

One only need look at the platypus to understand this sentiment…. or look at our current crop of legislators…. If you’re anything like me, when you think of one of them, you automatically imagine them wearing their natural coats, which either consists of a big, loudly colored ruffed collar, a harlequin suit, and huge red shoes, or will closely resemble the fur of a polecat, aka, a skunk…. Oh, I know, those are both ancient, cheap shots, but, generally, I’m so direct and insulting, I thought I’d try to slip by y’all with a bit of style and elegance…. No such luck, eh?….

Actually, when I planned out the above paragraph in my mind, it seemed a lot more….. everything…. more funny, more relevant, more gripping….. just…… more. Having failed in that…. miserably, I might add…. we should go on to something more lucrative, or at least, potentially more interesting…. But, damn it, I don’t like to give up on a good pearl…. I know…. I’ll find some others, that match the tone and direction of this one from Ari…. Maybe, just maybe, if I can find enough of them, I can turn this into an adequate old-school pearl, thus saving this Pearl from an immediate disaster…..

Not that there is much that can save it, at this point, but, we’ve got to try, Mr. President!…. It’s too young and innocent to go down like this!…. Let’s see if SB has what it takes to save the day…. again….

“Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.’ — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

“True artists scorn nothing.” — Albert Camus (1913-1960) — Nobel Prize speech (1957)

“For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.’ — Voltaire

“A bare assertion is not necessarily the naked truth.” — George Prentice

“Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, viii, 22

I suppose this just goes to show that sometimes you just have to dig deeper to find the jewels…. or, in this case, dive deeper to find the pearls…. Here they are, and they’re all from the deepest part of the ocean….. which may explain their relative elusiveness, as well as their esotericism….. Nonetheless, it does have a point, even if that point isn’t exactly scalpel-grade….
_____________________________

I have a feeling today is one of those days I’d best use something of my own here, so as not to bring harm to the reputation of anyone else by negative association…. So, here you go, with the first poem of mine that caught my eye, and my fancy, when I went to look for it…. It’s also one of the first I wrote in 2012, when I started writing poetry again, after a forty-some year hiatus…. This was written on 9/10/2012…..

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

“We ought never to do wrong when people are looking.” — Mark Twain

For a long time now, I’ve been immersed in the study of modern society, locking myself in to the close observation of what transpires in the public arena, using, for the most part, the same criteria to pick my subject matter as do the major news organizations…. Small wonder, they’re people, and so am I…. it only figures we’d do things in a similar way…. Unfortunately, as it turns out, this includes a strong preference for morbidity, seemingly, as 99% or more of what gets published in the major newspapers and online outlets is rather negative in terms of its subject matter….. Blood sells, as they say in the game….

When I have used articles from the news as the springboard for a rant, they generally fall into that same negative pattern; this, of course, is a natural hazard in ranting, and not entirely unexpected, or unwanted…. But, it does get old, as does any kind of negativity after a while, and it’s a good idea to occasionally give oneself a break from such anti-frivolity….

All of these contrary sort of thoughts occurred to me today as I went to look for something to rant about in the daily news…. I was pleasantly surprised to find the following article on what would be considered the front page of one of the news sites I frequent, SFGATE.com, run by the same folks who run the SF Chronicle newspaper…. It’s a charming little piece, not for its style or power of writing, but for the subject matter…. I cried, but, then, I’m a softy, with all my emotions right up near the surface, susceptible to babies, animals, & kids, and very partial to romantic interludes…. It’s such a heartwarming post, I defy anyone to read it and NOT feel at least a twinge of “Awwww”….

It also fits in with my own view on animals vs. humans as compassionate creatures….. I believe most animals on the planet to be far superior to any human, when it comes to essential morality…. Sure, they’ll obey their instinctual survival imperatives, to protect their territory, and to survive as either prey or predator, but, they’ll never do so out of of spite, or greed, or, ignorance, or sheer cussedness. (Okay, full disclosure… I HAVE known a couple of horses that were pretty fractious when it came to cooperating with people… but, they were anomalies for their species, I’m sure….I also knew this one blue jay that REALLY didn’t like people, too, but, hey, he probably had a reason…. We humans have a reputation for being assholes to other creatures….)

I have collected more than 2000 pictures from the internet over time, just for my own viewing pleasure…. A great many of them are examples of animals interacting between species, showing how the two, or more, species can get along with each other…. Also, I’ve observed animals all my life, and can state without hesitation that Man is the LEAST compassionate of ALL the mammalian species, and, really, hasn’t shown me any evidence that very many of them can be much much nicer than most reptiles, avians, or insects, in my experience (I THINK that covers the major phyla, doesn’t it?….) I haven’t studied the fish very deeply, in terms of interactive or relational skills, but, I know for sure and for certain that the sea-going mammals are ALL more intelligent, and more compassionate to other species, than is our own …..

So, I thought, for a change, I’d show a bit of compassion myself, and just give you the link to this uplifting post, then, follow it with some simple, easy-going pearls, with the only parameter being “nice”…. See? No rant, one of my poems, two old-schools, both light-hearted, and a “nice” link…. See how I can make nice when I try?…. At least as nice as a legislator, I think, and much more honest…. Plus, I don’t want anything from y’all, except your kind attention… Enjoy!…..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Giraffe-licks-dying-zoo-worker-5340478.php

“Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

‘He was once asked what a friend is, and his answer was, “One soul abiding in two bodies.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.

— The Buddha

“By the accident of fortune a man may rule the world for a time, but by virtue of love he may rule the world forever.” — Lao Tzu

“At the touch of Love every one becomes a poet.” — Plato

‘How pleasant then to be insane.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

“…just when I had you wriggling in the crushing grip of reason, too…” — Calvin & Hobbes
_____________________________

I’m not sure how to feel about this one…. It has taken somewhat over three hours to complete all of the necessary operations to get this done, interspersed with frequent breaks, and it still, as far as I can tell, could use some work, or something….. more…. But, since it’s already longer than intended (which is NOT unusual, I assure you….), I’m going to continue to demonstrate my compassionate side, and let it go the way it is….. Lucky you, eh?….

See you tomorrow, and, yes, I know I threaten you like that every day…. Y’all should be used to it by now…. I know I’m getting pretty calloused in that respect, so, maybe I’ll think about doing something about it, some day…. Sure I will…. Well, as they are fond of saying downtown, so be it…. Ta, then….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid the dubious

Seventy-seven reasons to sit shiv-eh in the nude…..

Posted on February 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I feel my immortality oversweep all pains, all tears, all time, all fears, – and peal, like the eternal thunders of the deep, into my ears, this truth, – thou livest forever!” — Byron (1788-1824)

To look at this inspiring quote from Lord Byron, one might think he refers to religion, and the afterlife so glibly promised by those who engage in that particular human foible…. I’m fairly certain, however, that would be a mistaken assumption…. This, I expect, was more the result of the same sort of attitude as displayed by Bob Heinlein when he said, “There’s no conclusive proof of life after death. There’s also no conclusive proof there isn’t. Either way, soon enough, you will know, so why fret about it?”

If I am not mistaken in my memory (a rare occurrence…) Lord Bryon joined Yeats, and Keats, his contemporaries, and friends, in the unusual insistence on NOT buying into the whole dogma fallacy, and, they weren’t shy in saying so…. proving they lived in a truly free society, because, though all of them burned out and died rather young, none were hounded or persecuted for their beliefs while they were alive….

This is as opposed to society’s eventual reaction to Oscar Wilde, whose homosexuality, or, as most believe, his bisexuality, put him in direct opposition with the forces of public morality of his era, whereupon they sent him to prison, where his health broke, and he died young, as did the three romantic poets…. But, not by fate, but, rather, by human folly.

I’m not sure just why I’m talking about Romantic Era poets, or about the victims of dogma, either…. I was staring at the screen, lost in contemplation, when I decided to use a pearl to get me started (my mind was, in a creative writing sense, quite empty….), so I went to SB and found the quote from Byron, which, acting on instinct, I brought over and used as a springboard for discussion….

A discussion, as it turns out, truly worthy of some nontenured research fellow at college teaching a boring English Literature class on a July day, in a boring monotone, that would put the most dedicated student to sleep, I’m sure…. But, even if I don’t have any idea how I got here, here we are, four or five paragraphs down the pike, and all warmed up, finger-wise….

See how that works? I write, you read, and we have fun…. Simple, yes? Now, why would you want to go anywhere else in the morning for your first dose of Reasoning, Ranting, and Rhyming, which is pretty much all we do here…. Oh, I remember why…. Hey, I can’t do anything about Murphy’s tender mercies, nor can I keep myself from ranting over the shenanigans, (to use a NICE word they don’t deserve…) of the Asininnies (The BRC, the Priestly Hierarchies, the Shadowy Corporate Masters, the Blue Meanies, and the Mundanes…. at least, those of the clan Stupid….) whenever I run across more evidence of how nasty they are….

In spite of all the minor handicaps under which we operate, I think we do a pretty decent job here at ECR, of staying sane, and spreading that sanity around as far as we can…. If people don’t want to use it, well, I can’t go out there and beat it into their heads…. (Well, maybe I could, but it might be hard to continue publishing this blog from a prison cell….) When the sky turns green, and we can no longer see the moon at night for all the carbon and methane in the air, I guess they’ll get the picture…. Until then, well, I’ll just keep on keepin’ on….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Excuse me, Worker, I’ll just be a nanosecond.” — a computer, from Firesign Theater’s I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus
_____________________________

Robert Heinlein called the latter half of the twentieth century, “The Crazy Years”, with good reason…. I have reason to believe that the period of US history to which he SHOULD have applied the term might better be placed in the beginning of the current century, instead….

As proof of that, below, I offer five links, to articles on ONE news site, all of which give a pretty good estimation of the depth of the problems we have in society today…. It’s a pretty good overview of some of the issues, but one should remember to remember the irony of having to read the words they’ve written, at all…. My comments will follow each link, in parentheses to avoid confusion….

“Two rules we should always have ready,–that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — In what Manner we ought to bear Sickness, — Discourses, Book iii, Chap. x

http://www.sfgate.com/raiders/article/2nd-Raiderette-joins-suit-over-wages-expenses-5203869.php

(In sooth, this one isn’t so crazy as sad…. In the massive pyramid scam that comprises the structure of the NFL, the bosses make billions, the players, basically a bunch of grown up kids, make millions, the lackeys (like cheerleaders, equipment managers, beer vendors, stadium workers, and all the other mundane drones working in the business somewhere…) make a few thousands, while the fans, who are paying in all of that gelt, pretty much get screwed… but, then, what would you expect of a business that engenders billions of dollars of revenue each year, while engaging in what is essentially a complicated game of tic-tac-toe, with live x’s and o’s….. Actually, the whole NFL scenario reminds me of the whole Religion scenario…. same scam, different clothes… Robes and collars in one, uniforms and helmets in the other….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sochi-city-hall-orders-killing-of-stray-dogs-5200318.php

(We all knew the Russian government was crazy, as often proven by their chief crazy, Vlad, the Bad boy, Putin….. and this little exhibition of the power of expediency over compassion is a perfect example of how the leaders of society take nothing but their own agenda into account when making decisions, regardless of how those decisions may affect another living creature, canine, or simian….. They don’t give a shit for anything but themselves, in essence, and this is more proof of it, to my way of seeing things….)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Senate-sends-farm-bill-to-Obama-5202152.php

(You know which farm bill this is, right? I’m pretty sure this is what they call the Farm Subsidy Bill, the one that distributes the BILLIONS of dollars, stolen by the government from taxpayers, to various American farmers, to supplement their income by paying them NOT to grow things…. Farmers, being PAID to NOT GROW food…. now, if that isn’t crazy, then I don’t know what the word means….)

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/television/article/Bill-Nye-defends-evolution-in-Kentucky-debate-5202990.php

(You know we’re in trouble, as a species, when a scientific theory that has been proven beyond all doubt is STILL being questioned in public…. The fact that the debate here is taking place in a Creation Museum is one of the more ironic parts of this….. Here, in one spot, is gathered all of the major points of ignorance that are held as true by Creationists, who believe the world was created 6,000 years ago, reportedly by some aged, white-haired, Caucasian Supernatural Being, with serious busybody tendencies, (whom nobody saw, other than a few minor prophets, where they had been in the desert, happily having visions from dehydration, and experiencing beautiful, inspiring visions from consuming the desert plants…), with the aid and collusion of some of history’s most accomplished con men, in support on the ground…. The mere fact that the matter under discussion here is still being questioned, by ANYONE, is the most ironic, and the saddest part of this one….)

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Slain-Napa-girl-kept-in-suitcase-freezer-police-5204040.php

(I’m pretty certain I don’t need to comment at all here, though I will; this story is infused with craziness…. The sheer insanity of this couple’s journey into methamphetamine hell, turned them from being human, into monsters….

I lay the blame for this death squarely at the feet of the BRC, as more proof of the failure of their “War on Drugs”….. Hell, from what I can see, everything the BRC has ever done to fight drugs has only worsened the problems that produce the drug use in the first place…. The drug use that is endemic in the lower reaches of the financial scale in our society is a direct result of the widening gap between the rich and the poor….

The sense of futility and hopelessness that goes with living in poverty, (and I know it’s real, having been there….) leads to despair, and drugs often seem like the only way to forget it all for a while….. Deal with THAT issue, the financial gap, and there MIGHT be some improvement in that area of societal behavior…. It’s obvious by the last 50 years that the current methods used to deal with drug use are NOT working….)

There you go ffolkes, a compendium of evidence that goes to prove how insane society has become…. I wish us all the best of luck in the coming years…. We are going to need it, badly….
_____________________________

I’m trying to make today’s Pearl a fresh one from beginning to end, so, here is one of my own poems, that speaks about society, and how it treats those who perceive the universe with greater clarity than the majority…..

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often, I stand to watch, in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy get left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Okay, I’ve EARNED this old-school pearl…. The above material, in section one, while not quite as tiring as a rant, still left me pretty tired from the effort to be both reasonable, and tactful…. It’s harder than you think to NOT bite people…. HARD!, whether figuratively, or literally….

Nonetheless, I think I’ve showed decent restraint today, as evidenced by the miniscule amount of bandaging material that we’ve had to use so far…. Also, I’m happy to report, there have been no injuries today that broke the skin!…. Hurray!….. So, I’m going to put together a classic, seven-star pearl, without any specific parameters, other than my own whimsy, and Smart Bee’s admittedly odd sense of direction…. Enjoy!…..

“I’m having an EMOTIONAL OUTBURST!! But, uh, WHY is there a WAFFLE in my PAJAMA POCKET??” — Zippy the Pinhead

“And it shall some to pass that idiots shall roam the earth, and morons shall rule the masses.” — Smart Bee

“[In America] we like our solutions quick, and we like ’em stupid.” — Bill Maher

“Distrust interested advice.” — Aesop

“I refuse to be intimidated by reality anymore. What is reality? Nothing but a collective hunch.” — Lily Tomlin

“A little learning is a dangerous thing but a lot of ignorance is just as bad.” — Bob Edwards

“DON’T go!! I’m not HOWARD COSELL!! I know POLISH JOKES… WAIT!! Don’t go!! I AM Howard Cosell!… And I DON’T know Polish jokes!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

I’m almost certain, without having even proofed this, or gone back to edit at all, that it will do some real damage, if it gets into the right hands…. In that respect, all I can do is hope, because I’m too lazy to go promote it myself…. C’est la vie, mis amis! No soap, radio! See ya….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Save those false pretenses for the coffee cake….

Posted on August 25, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Okay, so what’s the deal here? I get up, all sleepy and grumpy, hoping to find that all is well, and I can get on with the day, only to find that nothing has changed….

There were supposed to be dancing girls! Yes! Right there in the parlor. And, they were supposed to be wearing matching caftans! But, no, what do I find upon arising? A parlor full of dancing engineering students, wearing togas! Boy! You just can’t depend on anybody these days!…. Since we’re having to forgo the dancing girls, we may as well get started on today’s Pearl….. I suppose I also should come back into a more realistic voice, to make sure everyone ends up on the same page, so to speak….

Hi there! Good morning, sort of… We’re here in gigoid’s parlor, dodging the guys in horn rims dancing around, and waiting for inspiration to show up…. The muses are a bit edgy when they come here, due to Murphy’s uncomfortable habit of including them in his machinations, so I like to have them met at the door, and made welcome…. I had word that they, or, at least, one of them, would be showing up here about now to deliver what I left with them some time ago….

Oh, don’t worry, it’s not anything dangerous… at least, not any more so than the usual stuff we handle here. No, it’s merely some subject lines, a matched set of aphorisms, some platitudes, and a few choice phrases I left in their office when I was there a few days ago; I’ve got others, but, they were out this way today for deliveries anyway, so… I’m almost certain that there was definitely one item they’re bringing that I can use today, but, I don’t remember exactly which stuff got left there, so I have to wait to see it before I can go any further with today’s post…..

Does this mean we’re going to be forced to listen to more of my blathering here in the intro section?…. Well, yes, sad to say, it does mean that…. State law and internet etiquette requires me to provide you with some form of mental stimulation during these episodes, so, let’s see what kind of nonsense I can come up with today…. I mean, it’s not like we’ve already wandered around with our thumbs up our….. oh, wait, yes we have. In fact, that is what we seem to be doing right this very moment, if I’m not mistaken…

No, by heavens, I’m not! We HAVE been wandering around with SOMETHING up our…. well, somewhere, anyway. And, look! We’ve done it again! If you will note, there are five legal sized paragraphs above, all of which are pointing in the same direction, if not with any clarity of purpose. The law governing such things says this is enough for an intro, and around here, we pay close attention to that law…. we have to, due to gigoid’s lack of talent in this section…. Now that my covers are completely on the floor, we’d best get on with it…

Shall we Pearl?…..

Delivers in such apt and gracious words
That aged ears play truant at his tales,
And younger hearings are quite ravished;
So sweet and voluble is his discourse.

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Love’s Labour’s Lost — Act ii, Sc. 1

(I know, terrible rhyme, but, it fits, sort of….) (Now you know why you don’t see Will’s work here very often….)
_____________________________

Of all the causes which conspire to blind
Man’s erring judgment, and misguide the mind;
What the weak head with strongest bias rules,–
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 1

Now, THAT’S a poem!….

Yesterday, I had a bit of time with reduced pain, so I went to cruise the net, heading off to a few WP sites to catch up with some of my favorites, and check out a couple of new ones… I ended up going to quite a few blogs, compared to my normal inability to get anywhere. In my cruise, though, I noted something I hadn’t previously been aware of, regarding the demographics of the ‘Net, in terms of the stand that people take in political matters…

What I noticed is that there is a fairly wide array of opinions, wider than I had known, and certainly wider than anticipated…. But, I also noted that there are way too few of them who seem to be aware of just how badly they are being fooled by those whom they are following in their political pursuits…

On both the right wing, and the left, there seems to be a common ignorance of just how often the BRC lies to the public, and of how little they really care about the people who are behind them on the wagon they are driving…. Not only is this the case, but, there are a LOT of people out there who either don’t care, or don’t have the moral courage to express an opinion about any of what is happening out in the real world. In fact, this latter group, those who choose to ignore the world as much as they can, is the largest group by far…..

“Stupidity may be masked by sincerity, but it is still stupidity.” — Smart Bee

This means, not only are those who are involved in the issues ignorant of the actual truth, but nobody else, aside from a few curmudgeons like me, who hate EVERYBODY, (joke… we just don’t discriminate against anyone when it comes to being critical…. in my mind, they’re ALL fuck-tards….), has any idea of how little integrity, or real knowledge of what is truth, or, for that matter, common sense, there is loose in the world today…. All three of those items, essential to a healthy society, are lacking in our current world culture…. In point of fact, all three of those ideas are not only not loose, they seem to be totally absent from our reality…. much to our chagrin….

SIGH…. This is a rather amorphous rant, isn’t it? I’m railing against human nature again, which is such a huge, slippery concept, it’s difficult to confine it to one or two simple ideas for discussion…. Suffice it to say, my picture of humanity, even that part of it that is tech-savvy enough, and independently-minded enough, to have their own blogs on the ‘Net, fails to show me any of the qualities that will ensure our survival for much longer, and, actually, shows a lot of evidence that supports our extinction within the next 100-200 years….

Once the atmospheric levels of oxygen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and the other elements that make up what we breathe, have been altered to the point of no return, (which happened two years ago….) it will not take long for us to succumb, as the process of degradation acts in a parabolic fashion, faster and faster the longer it goes on…. The ice will continue to melt, the seas will continue to rise, the air to get dirty, the weather to get stranger, and the people will continue to hide their heads in the sand….

It’s a sad commentary on our race, to my mind, when we, as a species, can’t even seem to pull it together long enough to make a concerted effort to stop those who have destroyed the environment we inhabit, as they have for millennia, and continue to do today, all out of their insatiable greed and utter inhumanity, aided and abetted by the ignorance embraced by most of the rest of humanity .

Hell, most of humanity isn’t even aware there is a problem, or any danger…. How does one overcome that level of ignorance?….. The BRC is a lot better at the carrot and stick routine than are the more honorable people in our world, and aren’t going to allow anyone to take away their privileges and perks; they’ve been at it for centuries, and are so good at it, most people never even realize they are slaves….

Okay, so I’ve ranted…. now I’m gonna go old-school… just because I can….

“A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.” — G.C. Lichtenberg

“What the hell, go ahead and put all your eggs in one basket.” — Smart Bee

“You cannot believe in honor unless you have achieved it. Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.” — George Bernard Shaw

Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet
— Act iii, Sc. 4

[A small difference of opinion on the U.S. Supreme Court in ‘Texas v. Johnson’ 491 U.S. 397 (1989)

“If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.” — Justice William J. Brennan, writing for the majority

“Surely one of the purposes of a democratic society is to legislate against conduct that is regarded as evil and profoundly offensive to the majority of people; whether it be murder, embezzlement, pollution or flag burning.” — Chief Justice William Rehnquist, dissenting

(The question that occurs to me on reading this is this: how can a supposedly intelligent person, with a law degree and everything, have misunderstood the Constitution so badly?….. Astounding, not to even mention how stupid it is, to even TRY to rationalize the legislation of morality, which, in Mr. Rehnquist’s mind, or what passes for one, is confused with custom…. In spite of what many religious fundamentalists, and both right and left wing politicians, would have us believe, morality cannot be legislated, or, for that matter, influenced in any way at all by anything outside the person whose morality is under question…. Nor should morality be confused with custom; they are not the same thing…. nor should they be….)

(The second thing that occurred to me upon reading this was: Does it physically hurt to be that stupid?….)

😆

“Late in the night, we realize that the acts of our lives have not been shadow-free, that we are shadowed by curses and sins –not because we are cursed and sinful by nature, but because with the very origins of the world, one half of which belongs to night, come fearful figures who demand we know them.” — James Hillman

“What GOOD is a CARDBOARD suitcase ANYWAY?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Oops…. sorry, went a little off the rails there at the end; Zippy’s lines can do that, usually without conscious effort on my part…. But, it does rather fit, don’t you think?…. Just think of morality as the suitcase…. go ahead, it’s really not hard, and doesn’t hurt much, once you’re past the initial shock….
_____________________________

Having awakened in a “mood”, I’m trying not to let that spill over into this…. how’m I doin’?…. Oh…. Well, I’m trying, and will continue to do so, so, that’s worth something, right? Right…. Maybe this will make up for it…..

Apollo And The Graces

APOLLO

WHICH of the fairest three
To-day will ride with me?
My steeds are all pawing at the threshold of the morn:
Which of the fairest three
To-day will ride with me
Across the gold Autumn’s whole Kingdom of corn?

THE GRACES all answer

I will, I – I – I
young Apollo let me fly
Along with thee,
I will- I, I, I,
The many wonders see
I – I – I – I
And thy lyre shall never have a slackened string:
I, I, I, I,
Thro’ the golden day will sing.

~~ John Keats ~~

_____________________________

Well, gosh…. I’m not sure what to do now…. I’ve already supplied a fresh, newly minted rant, put together an old-school pearl with some great pearls, and found a great poem…. It’s not often I’m a tough act to follow, but I seem to have put myself in that position, so, we’ll apply some cosmic judo to the issue…. Here are pearls in a bunch…. not grouped, not chosen, just bunched up, into sort of a bouquet… Let’s see what happens….

“Fleas can be taught nearly everything a lawyer can.”” — Smart Bee

The Three Stooges, the sinking ship, and the lone lifeboat:

Ronald Reagan: “Maybe we should save the women and children.”
Richard Nixon: “F**k the women and children!”
Bob Packwood: “Gee, do you really think we have time?”

— the Stilt Man

“Ever notice that ‘what the hell?’ is always the right decision?” — Marilyn Monroe

Q: “How many lawyer jokes are there? A: 3, the rest are true stories.” — Smart Bee

“Among the rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

LIFE, n. A spiritual pickle preserving the body from decay. We live in daily apprehension of its loss; yet when lost it is not missed. The question, “Is life worth living?” has been much discussed; particularly by those who think it is not, many of whom have written at great length in support of their view and by careful observance of the laws of health enjoyed for long terms of years the honors of successful controversy.

“Life’s not worth living, and that’s the truth,”
Carelessly caroled the golden youth.
In manhood still he maintained that view
And held it more strongly the older he grew.
When kicked by a jackass at eighty-three,
“Go fetch me a surgeon at once!” cried he.
Han Soper

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
_____________________________

“The sixties were good to you, weren’t they?” — George Carlin

Why, yes, George, yes, they were…. which should be moderately obvious to even the most casual observer…. Now you’ve done it… You’ve uncovered my secret plan, to confuse everyone with so many words, that make such little sense, you don’t know which ones to pick for use, and the little easter eggs I’ve strewn throughout the pages can work their clandestine, subliminal magic….

Oh, well, it couldn’t last forever…. I’ll just go back to the old way of doing things, and bore everyone to tears, but, get just as much done…. For now, though, this will have to do, so I’d best see if it’s worthy…. Be right back….

I must say, after going through it, THIS is a Pearl!…. Somehow, in spite of all Murphy and his myrmidons have conspired to foist upon me, the poor lad will be forced to consider today a major fail…. This ain’t bad at all…. It’s good enough to post, anyway, so, I’m going with that….. In fact, I’m going to get out of here, while the getting is good…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole…
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

That’s one cantankerous clown….

Posted on August 4, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

As I sit down today to begin, the expected blankness that fills my mind is broken only by the few pathetic words and letters piled in the corner, laying there in a jumbled pile, dusty, and unwanted. I swept them all up, put them in a bag, and am now utilizing the poor, sad, little things to write this, hoping that by doing so, inspiration will strike, without drawing blood, I trust. The auspices for a good day are enhanced thereby, though certainly not guaranteed to bring anything worthwhile…. While we’re sitting here, waiting to see what will happen, would anyone else like some coffee? No? I make it strong, so it’s pretty good, I think; it will certainly wake you up, even if you’re mostly dead….

When I was a breakfast cook, many years ago, I would always make a pot of coffee for myself, before any of the waitrons came in, and before any patrons were served. I made it to suit myself, and, normally, the waitrons would either finish it themselves, or toss it out before opening, as it was (literally) twice as strong as their normal brew, and not acceptable for serving to the customers of the resort…. One morning, they forgot to toss it, and it got served to about 6 or 8 senior citizens who came in right before their tour bus left to go home to Fresno…. Two days later, the driver of their bus, on a return trip, asked the waitrons what had happened, because, on the trip to Fresno, these 8 seniors were the life of the party, laughing, singing, and traipsing back and forth to the toilet for most of the three hour bus ride….. It was the most life he’d seen in one of those groups in his twenty years of driving for them…..

Okay, well, I suppose an anecdote from the past is an acceptable way to open up this kind of blog, especially on a Sunday….. Not that Sundays are much different than any other day in my life, but, the rest of the world pays a lot of attention to that kind of thing, so I must at least acknowledge it. Not doing so probably wouldn’t cause a lot of problems, like losing money or anything, but, it has been known to cause angst, in others, when I forget to pay homage to the (delusional) connotations of this day of the week, in a congregational sense…. A lot of Americans ignore the imperative to be in church today, or to, at least, confine one’s activities to church-approved events or tasks, like gardening, or working around the house….. A whole bunch of them engage in sporting activities, generally while seated in a chair with their beer of choice, observing others play the sport on the babble-box…..

Me, I’m retired, don’t suffer from delusions, and I don’t have a TV, so none of that affects me, other than to remember that everyone else is paying their homage to their programmed tapes, the set of instructions instilled in them from the time they were small, and defenseless…. It makes me sad for them, but, at this stage of history there is very little I can do, other than encourage them to try new things, to think new thoughts, and throw off the dark, stifling, delusional beliefs that have held them in thrall for their entire existence…. and that’s mostly as effective as pissing into the wind & expecting to keep your pants dry….

Hmph…. sorry, didn’t mean to go all graphic, but, you get the idea…. Any who, look! We’ve gotten five paragraphs in to this error of judgment, which is legally an intro, so, I’m going to take advantage of that little loophole in the law, and get on with the rest of today’s nonsense, or sense, depending on what I find to chew on, and spit back out…. Maybe I’ll go look for a headline to discuss…. yeah, that’s the ticket… Okay, that’s enough of this….

Shall we Pearl?….
_____________________________

You know, normally, when looking through the headlines in the morning, I suppose, like everyone, I tend to skip over stuff that doesn’t seem to catch my attention. Today, I examined those teasing first lines for stuff to demonstrate a point, to wit: society is plain crazy, and the end is near…. Well, maybe not today, but, it’s getting closer all the time…. Any who, when I did so today, I found that things are, perhaps, both worse, and a little better, than I had thought…. In lieu of a pearl, here, then, are some of today’s actual headlines for news from around the US, the Bay Area, and the world at large….. I don’t think I need to point out just how crazy it all is, but, this stuff is pretty crazy…. for a purportedly normal Sunday…..

BART strike bad for all sides.

1 dead,11 hurt in rammings.

210 arrested at Chevron refinery protest.

Man shoots duo that abducted him, his wife.

KGO-TV news team robbed in Oakland.

SF protesters condemn Russia’s anti-gay laws.

OpenTable gobbles up Urbanspoon’s RezBook.

Twitter tries to curb abuse of female users.

Column title: Who is the Knucklehead of the week.

All of these were pulled fresh from the news on 8/4/2013, and were all found on the SFGATE web site, an outlet connected to the SF Chronicle. Do I need to point out the implications of each? Or, should I point out the points that connect all of them, and, together, point out the path we have taken toward the future? No, I didn’t think so…. It’s pretty obviously crazy, all of it….

“America!! I saw it all!! Vomiting! Waving! JERRY FALWELLING into your void tube of UHF oblivion!! SAFEWAY of the mind –” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

Since I didn’t rant, I’m too lazy to go find a poem, and I don’t have one ready to write, y’all will just have to deal with one of mine from the archives…. I did try to pick one that fits in with today’s themes, sort of…. Enjoy!

Geezer to Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though they talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.

“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.

Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
we take careful aim, and piss.

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

There I was, cruising through Smart Bee, looking for one type of pearl, so, of course, SB has to start throwing all sorts of useful stuff at me, without coming close to what I was looking for…. Naturally, I went with the flow, because otherwise it just gets worse. I stuck the random quotes in other, future pearl sections, to be used at a later date, and collected the ones that came up that seemed to hang together. Once more, serendipity has stepped in, and delivered a strong seven-star pearl, aimed directly at a common subject of ours here at ECR, to wit: government, and those sociopaths who engage in it….

“Success and failure are equally disastrous.” — Tennessee Williams

“You can always get the truth from an American statesman after he has turned seventy, or given up all hope of the presidency.” — Wendell Phillips

“Appearances often are deceiving.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

“The intelligence of any discussion diminishes with the square of the number of participants.” — Adam Walinsky

“The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.” — William Hazlitt

What Congress means by ethics is best explained by the tailor’s story: “Suppose I sell a suit to a young man for $200. He tells me that his family is footing the bill and that if I give him a receipt for $400 to give to his parents, he will pay me $100 on the side. The question of ethics is: Do I keep the extra $100 myself, or do I tell my partner and split it with him?” — Smart Bee

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” — Rom 3:10
_____________________________

“Being a pain in the ass is a prerogative of the creative mind.” — Smart Bee

Alright, you don’t have to shout; I’m right here….. I know, the last line is a bit egotistical, isn’t it? I can’t say I’ve ever had a problem with mine, but, if you say so, well, I’ll accept that. I won’t do anything about it, but, I accept it….. That being said, let’s see how all this came out….. All things considered, not bad at all…. If nothing else, it is NOT normal, so, it will do…. and, since I can’t think of any further damage I can do without getting fully dressed, I’ll bid thee adieu…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Aesop

Okay, but, who takes the hindmost?….

I didn’t realize it would be so…. bulbous….

Subject to NSA review, it’s done….

A schlemiel, or a putz?… Not an easy choice….

Your majesty’s attire smacks of deliberate irrelevance….

Seventy-seven reasons to sit shiv-eh in the nude…..

Save those false pretenses for the coffee cake….

That’s one cantankerous clown….

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