Tag Archives: Allan Sherman

Simply bursting with indifference….

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Ffolkes,

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.”

~~ Chinese proverb ~~

aurora-australis-iss-virts

Aurora Australis, seen from the International Space Station

NASA Image by Astronaut Terry Virts


Good morning… let’s keep it that way….

Shall we Pearl?

“Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors and miss.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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beethoven2

Ludwig von Beethoven


Image from library.ucf.edu via Google Images


Those who don’t know this artist, or, for that matter, this symphony, are the unhappy possessors of some serious gaps in their cultural education…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. Da da ta DA!….


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Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

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Dont keep calm

    Once more, I find my level of angst not up to a full, fresh rant, though I found several good openings… Instead, I’ll use what I’ve found to create an old-school pearl, with some comments about those who would rather prey on their fellow man than make any attempt to live with honor… In other words, Asininnies of every variety…. Polly pundits, Dogma Dogs, Corporate Snakeheads, Pimps, Uniformed Myrmidons, Mundanes, and all the others who make life a misery for others, simply because they are ASSHOLES!… Sorry for shouting….

“All cruelty springs from weakness.”

~~ Seneca ~~


“What would happen if the President, the Supreme Court, and all members of both houses of Congress were stoned out of their gourds twenty-four hours a  day? The chilling truth is, it might be an improvement.” — Allan Sherman

“Humility is a virtue all preach, none practice, and yet everybody is content to hear. The master thinks it good doctrine for his servant, the laity for the clergy, and the clergy for the laity.” — John Selden (1584-1654) — Humility

“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” — Virginia Woolf (Alternate definition of a politician…)

“A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A man can’t get rich if he takes proper care of his family.”

~~ Navajo Proverb ~~


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Comedy_Tragedy

    Maggie Mae has done it again, ffolkes; sometimes, the poems she writes are so powerful, I have to include them here, so everyone who comes here will know about her poetry…. Enjoy! This one is special….

Caterpillar

Ink is raining again.

Stan, on the radio, rapping tattoos
onto white-trash girls,
sitting, spinning on bar stools.

The highway is moving ninety miles
back, to late August madness,
cars are splashing

into phone booths
left over from big cities
and light houses.

But ships don’t come in
like they used to.
The calm of the sea
isn’t the color of God’s
angry finger anymore.

Caterpillar!!
Across the back of my shoulder!
“To rob.” “To pillage.”
“To suck the ink out of every living thing.”

My name is not what matters.
The alphabet is random.
My fingers have no pattern.
I’m bound to and wrapped around each syllable
like a piece of cabbage.
An appetizer. A long, soft caterpillar
eating my way into you.

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/05/18/caterpillar/


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lao

    A simple little pearl, this one speaks of how to live your life with courage and compassion, guided by reason….

“Safety is on the shore, but the pearl is in the ocean.” — Chinese Proverb

“A good philosopher is one who does not take ideas seriously.” — Edward Abbey

“It is human nature to think wisely & act foolishly.” — Anatole France

“Take hope from the heart of man, and you make him a beast of prey.” — Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramee)

“The light is reached not by turning back from the darkness, but by going through it.” — Leonard Roy Frank

“To be alive is to take risks; to be always safe and secure is death.” — Edward Abbey

“I am free, no matter what rules surround me.   If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them.  I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” — Professor Bernardo de la Paz

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Without even looking it over, I can tell it’s done. Or, maybe it’s me…. Yep. That’s it. I’m done. Since it would be fruitless, not to mention pointless, to continue, I’ll cease torturing y’all, and take my leave, stage center rear…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless my imagination quits working overnight…. Not bloody likely….

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

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
A cornucopia of digital abundance….

			
						

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Ffolkes,


Some days are tougher than others…. we all know this….. However, the knowledge of this doesn’t seem, somehow, to make it any less hard to get up on those tougher days. It’s supposed to do so, but, it doesn’t…. Also, I have to say, I am still somewhat disgruntled over being disabled; having been athletically active most of my life, up to the age of 45 or so, it’s tough to swallow having to maintain the policy of spending my time, virtually ALL of it, thinking of ways to AVOID making my pain worse than it always is…. It’s lowering, less than dignified, and, worst of all, makes me grumpy….


That being said, today may be classified as one of the tough ones…. As I type, my pain level is slowly rising from where it was when I awoke, at about 5 or 6 on the usual scale of 10….. I keep shifting, as I can, to relieve it, and get up every couple minutes to stretch a bit…. but, I don’t think it will matter much today; it’s just going to hurt. So, I’m going to try to concentrate long enough to do this, while consuming all the extra drugs I can tolerate without killing myself…. By the time I’m done with this, I should be fairly oblivious, or, even better, unconscious….


Ah well, such is life…. thankfully, axiom # 2 of Peruaosophy, (“The Nature of the Universe is Change, etc…..”), provides me with sufficient reason to keep from falling all the way into despair; this WILL change, as the Universe moves along its path to wherever it is going…. The pain, if I can keep from doing anything to make it worse, WILL get better after a while, and life will go on, perhaps with a bit more aplomb than I’m able to appreciate just now. All I have to do is hang on to that little fact, and all will be well, in the end…..


With that in mind, I’m ending this here, well before I usually do, so I can get on with the meat of the matter…. Also, I can’t think of anything else to say for this, other than, enjoy whatever comes today, ffolkes… it cost me a lot to post it….


Shall we Pearl?….


“I can read your mind, and you should be ashamed of yourself.” — Smart Bee


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Ranting today, while indubitably going on uninterrupted in my mind, as long as I am awake today, is pretty much out of the question; sitting long enough to type a thousand words in a row isn’t going to happen…. This means today you’ll have to settle for old-school pearls…. I’m going so far as to make them random, harlequin style, to make it faster yet….. Let’s see if Smart Bee is in a good mood today….


(I know, it’s software, but, like everything in this universe made by the hand of Man, software tends to display a number of humanity’s more obvious characteristics, such as random emotional outbursts, occasional serenity, unpredictable responses to given stimuli, and a whole lot of nonsense…. After all, the code is written by people who refer to the planet Earth as the Big Blue Room…. which is defined as everything on the other side of the door where their computer lives…..)  Enjoy!


“Dionysius the Elder, being asked whether he was at leisure, he replied, “God forbid that it should ever befall me!”” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Dionysius


“Those who cling to the untrue doctrine that violence never settles anything would be advised to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it.  The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon.  Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst.  Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.” — R.A. Heinlein


“Truth is a river that is always splitting up into arms that reunite. Islanded between the arms the inhabitants argue for a lifetime as to which is the main river.” — Cyril Connolly, “The Unquiet Grave” 1945


Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.” — Peter Drucker, American business philosopher and author


“What would happen if the President, the Supreme Court, and all members of both houses of Congress were stoned out of their gourds twenty-four hours a day? The chilling truth is, it might be an improvement.” — Allan Sherman


“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin — real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way.  Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.  Then life would begin.  At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” — Fr. Alfred D’Souza


“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire


Well, it’s a bit choppy, but, it works…. Onward….


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Today, you get one of my old poems, simply because I don’t have to go look for it anywhere else, so it’s faster…. I hope you enjoy it….






Making Room


Our souls, they say, are like shapeless, infinite bags

in which we put all our pain, all our joyous wonder.

Broken hearts and thrilling love, riches to rags,

endless perceptions of serenity, and thunder.


‘Tisn’t simple, this spiritual journey to peace

memory is fickle, easily led astray;

darkness, ever lurking, without surcease

turning innocence to harm, from simple play.


Balance is the key.


Timing is everything.


Good can change bad, bad can change good.


Pain makes room for more joy in our souls.


The only power we need is the power to change ourselves.


~~ gigoid ~~




That went so quickly, I’m going to be really egotistical, and do it again…. Here is another one of mine, that seemed appropriate, somehow…. Okay, full disclosure…. I couldn’t make up my mind between these two, and THAT is why you are being subjected to them both…. Hah! As if poetry is a burden to you, or anyone…. Enjoy, please….






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 ~~




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This is another time saver, with the added message that I hope to be able to pin down the Wise Old Pine Cone today for a photo session; he did commit, but, has been a bit flaky of late…. funny how that works, eh? Any who, here is an article from the London Daily Telegraph you really should read, not to be informed about something wrong in the world, but, something right…. It’s a report about a man who, after a life of self-induced trouble and pain, found his way to an inner peace that is a beacon of hope for all of us….. In other words, in contrast to the usual fare here, and in most media venues, it’s a happy tale…. I’ll follow with the document I found on Facebook one time, that defines the parameters of the place this gentleman inhabits within himself….


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10875975/The-train-dispatcher-who-defines-what-it-means-to-be-a-gentleman.html




A Gentleman Is


     To my mind, the most critical characteristic, and the one the gentleman in the article obviously knows, is number 5, to wit: “A Gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.” It is one I hope will be said of me when I’m gone…..


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In the movie Robin Hood; Prince of Thieves, Morgan Fairchild, as the Moorish warrior Hasim, kills the evil witch during the final, climactic battle, by heaving his scimitar at her across a room, just in time to save Kevin Costner, playing Robin. His line, as he stands there, feeling much as I do, on his wounded, bleeding leg, is, “I have fulfilled my vow.” That is exactly how I feel at this moment…. I’m going to hurry now, to send and post this, as I want to go deal with my pain, with the application of hot, pulsating water beating on it for a time…. I’ll be back tomorrow, which is not intended so much as a threat, as it is an informational bulletin, of note only to those who have any interest…. On that note, which has a certain bureaucratic ‘look and feel’ to it, I take my leave….. See y’all around the campus, 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


Featured Image -- 2780





		
	
					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
An unfortunate tendency to wobble….

			
						

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Ffolkes,

I hope everyone who visited yesterday took a moment to register their disapproval of SOPA and PIPA to Congress and/or the President. We’ve already lost the Bill of Rights, we can’t afford to lose any more of our freedoms. It already has a cost which it never had before the NDAA was signed…….Today’s version will seem somewhat disjointed, I should imagine. It’s the only way it could be, considering the state of mind I’m in this morning, which might best be described as funky. In it’s exact medical definition……I have been funkified;  no quarter will be given, and none will be sought…..

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“You can’t legislate morality. We tried to outlaw consumption of alcoholic beverages. We found that violation of the law led to bigger crimes and bred disrespect for the law.” — Jimmy Carter, 1976.


“The cure for capitalism’s failing would require that a government would have to rise above the interests of one class alone.” — Robert L. Heilbroner


“What would happen if the President, the Supreme Court, and all members of both houses of Congress were stoned out of their gourds twenty-four hours a day? The chilling truth is, it might be an improvement.” — Allan Sherman


The United States Supreme Court has handed down the eleventh commandment, “Thou shalt not, in any classroom, read the first ten.”


“Whether you have an abortion, what you put in your own body, with whom you have sex – these are not the affairs of the state.  A government does not exist to control the citizens.  When it does, it is a tyranny, and must be fought.  The tree of liberty, Jefferson warned us, must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants and patriots.” — Gore Vidal


The conclusion here is left as an exercise for the gentle reader….. think about the effect of the age-old battle of entropy versus will, and avoid underestimating the power of human stupidity…… it’ll come to you in time….

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The silent snow fell relentlessly, unceasingly, mercilessly from the sordid, sullied surreality of the sky as if some enormous, ethereal diner were shaking grated parmesan on the great, soggy meatball that was earth. — 1988 Bulwer-Lytton bad writing contest, runner up


This doesn’t require explanation or discussion. I just liked it. And I think I probably would like the first place winner, too. This one is what we like to call “pure crap”, and deserves all the scorn it garnered, and more…..

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“The Internet may fairly be regarded as a never-ending worldwide conversation. The government may not, through the [Communications Decency Act], interrupt that conversation… As the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed, the Internet deserves the highest protection from governmental intrusion… The government, therefore, implicitly asks this court to limit both the amount of speech on the Internet and the availability of that speech. This argument is profoundly repugnant to First Amendment principles.” — U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell, 1996


Two bills currently in Congress are making another attempt to curtail free speech on the Internet. These two bills (SOPA and PIPA, by acronym) want to have the authority to shut down any American web site for having on it a link to another site that pirates music or movies, even if that site is in another country. It would also limit what people could say or do on the internet, and in conjunction with the NDAA (the latest version of the Homeland Insecurity Act) means that almost any citizen of this country can be taken to an undisclosed location, without benefit of lawyer, to be tortured according to law, and without the agency doing the kidnap having to justify why to anyone (there is no oversight written into the NDAA; they don’t have to even tell anyone they are doing it).


It is now possible for this kidnapping to be done because someone writes an article criticizing the government, or advocates protest, and posted it on the Internet. In other words, freedom of speech, freedom from unjust accusation, freedom to address our grievances, freedom to do any damn thing, all have been eradicated. You no longer have those rights. And now, they will try to completely shut down any opportunity for anyone to disagree with their new policies.






Sure, they say they are doing it to protect intellectual property, but what they are really doing is making sure that no one takes away any of their profit margins. I’m seriously considering moving to another country, where at least the government is honest about what they keep from the people. Our own government has lied us right into slavery, and we let it happen…..fuck ’em!….fuck them all! I want my rights back, and not tomorrow, today…..who else is down with that?……..Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

— William Butler Yeats, “The Stolen Child”

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SCRIPTURES, n.  The sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”


The saddest part of this definition lies in the fact that most of the people who see it will think it makes perfect sense, and completely ignore the irony of the statement. It never ceases to astonish me to what depths the power of deliberate ignorance can take us. It always produces a sense of amazement in me to realize that not only do most folks never question what they are told by others, they actively reject any kind of interaction that would cause them to either change their minds, or one that merely asks them to consider another opinion as a viable subject for discussion….






Boy, I sure wish I could see some hope for us, but every day brings news that clearly indicates how grim the situation is, and doesn’t leave much room for hope…..intolerance and deliberate ignorance are winning the day just now, and look like a lock to continue in that vein……SIGH…… let us lift a toast, in memoriam. R.I.P. US Bill of Rights…… it was all a dream…..Hope, of all ills that men endure,

The only cheap and universal cure.

— Abraham Cowley (1618-1667) — The Mistress, For Hope

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DISCLAIMER — I said it. I must’ve meant it. There is nobody else to blame.


There is a bit less here than normal; chalk it up to the discordant state of mind I mentioned above. This will have to do, ‘cuz it’s all I’ve got today…. y’all take care out there…..






—

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.gigoid


Dozer
Kowabunga!