Just whack it once; she wouldn’t mind….

Posted on April 2, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All you need is love.”

~~ Lennon/McCartney ~~

Gratuitous image by gigoid

As consciousness reluctantly returns, reality assumes its normal 3 AM look, a rather fuzzy, amorphous vision, darkly blunted. Stumbling up, heavy-lidded & dizzy, bumping into walls & doorways, the smell of coffee draws me inexorably into the kitchen, to meld sugar, milk, and brewed, crushed beans into morning’s ambrosia. The first sip, as always, brings the world into focus, sharpening the edges of my perception, until, finally, I can lift my eyes up, to look out the window at the darkness of the pre-dawn darkness, where amorphous shadows twist and dance, a silent, windy ballet.

Not too bad for a zombie, eh? Can’t seem to get my brain going today, no matter how hard I flog it…. Something MUST be done!…. I know, I’ll stop writing, and go get more coffee, the first cup having mysteriously disappeared. I could have sworn it was a lot bigger, but, I guess I just sucked it up as if somebody would snatch it away from me. Be back in a couple of nanoseconds…. Is there another kind, when on a computer?….

Okay, so, that didn’t work. Since over 5 million nanoseconds have passed since last typing, I can’t say I saved myself much time by taking a short break. Ah well, it’s just as well. Somebody was going to have to make an executive decision soon, anyway, or the rental on the overheads would have run out before we had a chance to pay the bill. Of course. all that’s on autopay, but, ya never know. I like to keep track…. No, I have no idea where ANY of that came from….

Ah, the hell with it, I can’t think of any more tricks, or delays that would help; it’s all going to turn to crap, more so than it already has, if I try. That does it…. Okay, ffolkes, we’re now going directly to the oyster beds, with no more detours. I’m using our most efficient, ruthless method, so, please make sure the splash-guards are in place. Hang on to your neighbor’s hand, and, if you have a god, you should probably pray to it…. Okay, Vinnie, take her down!….

Shall we Pearl?

“Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man.” — Klingon Soldier, “Day of the Dove,” stardate unknown

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

15112676-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-1756-1791-on-engraving-from-1908-one-of-the-most-significant-and-influential

There have been scientific studies made that prove the genius of Mozart’s music. Students who listen to Mozart while studying score significantly better than students who don’t; as well, if his music is played during a test, EVERYONE who takes it scores better than when it isn’t played. So, here is about 3 and a half hours of his best stuff; use the time well, ffolkes. Whatever you do, you’ll do it better…. No shit.

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

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphonies 38-41

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

https://youtu.be/MDjWbfbbNTw

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

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

Image from astrogems.com via Google stock images

Ffolkes…. Today, I feel like NOT ranting. Yes, there is much about which to rant in today’s world. For today, it can all go to hell, as far as I’m concerned. My brain is taking the day off to contemplate the workings of peace….

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

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

Anyone who comes here a lot will know this lady’s work. She is one of my favorite modern poets; I found her on WordPress very soon after starting to blog here….. Ever since, I am continuously astounded by the depth of her talent as a poet; she has an amazing connection to herself, and a unique vision; what more should anyone need?…. What she does with that is amazing…. I’ve included a link to her site after the poem, so you can check out her other work…. Enjoy, please; you will, if you have ANY taste at all….

Old Memories Of Paris, Café Au Latte

Old memories of Paris, café au latte,
iron wrought on a kitchen sink
where she slimmed her figure
on a butcher block.

She dangled like a wind chime,
toes on pointe,
testing the winds and
the Gods on
Wisdom of Love.

Pretty little music box, my doll,
bathing in sunlight
through reflections of The Tower at
dawn. I asked her what she saw.

Her answer was as black as a widow
living off space between sun flower seeds.
I turned to her soul and spoke
to her in cotton,
she understood,
souls always understand what is next,
and why.

I led her to confession.
She rattled all the way,
dangling eight unworthy legs –
shooting silk like
it meant nothing,
because that is all she had ever known.

By sunset, she had dried up.
Everything that she had devoured
had taken over
and spit her spirit out.

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/03/29/2271/

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

Okay, so…. this pearl is, well, I don’t know what this pearl is. It’s here. It’s done. That’s all I know…. We all will have to deal with that, now, won’t we? We’d best get to it….

“Reality is what bumps into you when you stand still with your eyes open.” — Solomon Short

“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.” — Buddha

“Stop thinking, and end your problems.” — Lao Tzu

“Virtue is the golden mean between two vices, the one of excess and the other of deficiency.” — Aristotle (B.C. 384-322)

“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” — Oscar Wilde

“He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.” — Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Happily may I walk.
May it be beautiful before me.
May it be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful below me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful all around me.
In beauty it is finished.

~~ Navaho Night Chant ~~

Works for me…. You may go on now….

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

What happened? Did we finish? Oh, okay, I see by the condition of the pilot (passed out in the cabin…), we have. I think it’s best if I stop now. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. Well, with the usual caveat, of course…. – if they don’t get me for this one….

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….

Switch over to the Itsy Bitsy network…

Posted on March 14, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

No slave is ever freed, save he freeth himself.

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Artist’s rendition of Mars One Colony outpost: picture from Space.com

It won’t do. It simply won’t do…. Unless, of course, it does, in which case, we have no opening…. SIGH. Well, ffolkes, I seem to have done it again…. Here I am, clueless as to how to begin, again, with a large amount of blank white covering the screen, and, my mind’s inner vision…. I wouldn’t want to put any blame for this anywhere it doesn’t belong, but, pretty soon, I’m going to have to assign a scapegoat of some kind, to get rid of all this angst; at least, then, I’d have something to feel guilty about….

I must say, though, I’m not much into guilt, having decided long ago it’s a pretty useless emotion, based generally on misconceptions of entitlement having nothing to do with the real world; only our own false ideas of how we DESERVE to be treated can cause us to ignore that which will not change at our command. Moreover, the whole deal becomes doubly useless when one considers one is experiencing guilt, anger, or other inappropriate frustration, over something we never had any right to demand in the first place….

Having thus far managed to avoid any such nonsense here on ECR, I think I’ll just use another facet of the human condition, one we ALL have practiced to some degree, to wit: total denial of reality in favor of one of our delusions…. It’s a common practice for us homo bozoidus’ to dump all the blame for what happens in our lives onto damn near anything, or anyone, other than ourselves; anyone who says they haven’t done this is, quite simply, a liar. We ALL have practiced such denial, at one point or another in our lives, if only to protect our own egos from the depredations piled upon it almost every day by our culture; denial of having done so is futile. It doesn’t make you a bad person, merely human….

And, goodness knows, we humans have our flaws…. But, the intro isn’t really the place to go any further into such matters. In fact, we’ve pretty much used up all the available space with my wandering around this concept, without ever really nailing it down. SIGH….. I suppose that’s what happens when I try to use the gestalt method of getting my thoughts down…. Sometimes it works; other times, not so well…. I will leave it to y’all to judge how it worked out, because I must now get us out of here, before we get stuck here for the rest of our allotted time…. In fact, look!…. It’s good ol’ #4, just sitting there, wagging its tail, waiting to take us out of here….

“Captain, I sense… a PLOT DEVICE!” — Smart Bee

Nah! Couldn’t be that!….. But, we’ll use it anyway, okay? Okay….

Shall we Pearl?

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

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

Photo from http://www.markknopfler.com/gallery/tracker/

Got a bit lucky yesterday…. I subscribe to Rolling Stone’s email newsletter, for just this reason…. Mark Knopfler, the virtuoso of Dire Straits fame, is about to mark the 30th anniversary of “Brothers In Arms” with the release of his latest album of new material. It’s called “Tracker”, as related in the Rolling Stone article interviewing him ahead of the new album’s release in a few days. They are allowing people to share it, so, here it is….. It is GRAND, to say the least….

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

Mark Knopfler: Tracker

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

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ1fPXv2cuEwRv6lCtWm2efm5LfuxkaOv

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

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

“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent- it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash, and in small bills.” — Lazarus Long

From 8/15/2012:

“It is not the possessions but the desires of mankind which require to be equalized.” — Aristotle

Life is tough, but not as tough as it used to be. It’s been a long time since we humans had to actually go out and be responsible for our own survival, a pastime that, up until about 2500-3000 years ago, was pretty much a full time occupation for the majority of people. Very few folks back then could be spared to sit around doing nothing, using up resources that were acquired by the others of the group; everybody had to pull their own weight, or they starved…..

But once the species figured out farming, and how to produce food more efficiently than having to go out to find it, life got a lot easier, at least from a physical standpoint. Farming kept folks from needing to move around so much to look for food, so cities began to form, and civilization began to organize into its various strata….. beloved ruling class, priestly hierarchy class, warrior class, and, of course, the patsy class, also known as the worker bees, or peons, depending on one’s particular degree of sliminess….

To look at what Aristotle says above, one might think it speaks to the upper classes, suggesting that, perhaps, if they wanted less than they have, which is more than they need, then there might not be as many folks who want only enough to survive, but can’t find even that. It isn’t as if they don’t have enough…..However, thanks to the priestly hierarchies, who act as the protector of the ruling class, the less fortunate are lied to, and are told that THEY are being tested, and not to want more…. The priests have them all convinced that all they should want is just enough, in reward for which they will be compensated IN THE NEXT LIFE! It’s one of the most egregious scams that has ever been perpetrated on the masses, and continues today….

“Most of the dogmatic religions have exhibited a perverse talent for taking the wrong side on the most important concepts in the material universe, from the structure of the solar system to the origin of man.” — George Gaylord Simpson

The problem now becomes this; almost all the available resources of the planet are used up… only by drastically reducing the total number of people can the species continue to survive…. and, we all know who is going to get the short end of THAT stick, don’t we? Once people realize that the available resources needed for the species to survive are being hoarded and manipulated by the powers that be, all to favor themselves, the unwashed masses are going to be, shall we say, less than happy with the beloved ruling class, and even less happy with the priestly hierarchies who prop them up. It will be Mother Nature’s way of saying “you wouldn’t play nicely with others, and now you’ll have to pay the price for that failure….” Of course, she would probably make it sound less pompous than I do….

Being able to control one’s desires is a very valuable skill, and one worth learning, for certain. But when the desire is the simple desire to survive, it is not one that either can, or should, be eliminated…. For many centuries, the beloved ruling class and the priestly hierarchies who are in league with them have been lying to the general populace for their own benefit; history, even when written by the winners, makes that very clear.

“History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.” — Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

Soon, they will have to come to terms with that treachery, as the planet’s resources, and its ability to support our form of life, are reduced to where we can no longer grow enough food, or breathe the air due to the addition of carbon monoxide…. When the general public realizes that the PTB are the assholes who have put us in this position, I don’t think they are going to be very happy about it…. and my only hope is that they don’t take so long to come to that conclusion that it is too late to make the needed changes…. which is a distinct possibility…. Small hopes are better than none…..

“Jesus is coming, everyone look busy.” — Bumper Sticker

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

It’s been a long while since I posted this poem; it’s always been one of my favorites, as has the poet himself….. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is humanity at its best…. Well, in the twentieth century, anyway….

À Bas Ben Adhem

My fellow man I do not care for.
I often ask me, What’s he there for?
The only answer I can find
Is, Reproduction of his kind.
If I’m supposed to swallow that,
Winnetka is my habitat.
Isn’t it time to carve Hic Jacet
Above that Reproduction racket?

To make the matter more succinct:
Suppose my fellow man extinct.
Why, who would not approve the plan
Save possibly my fellow man?
Yet with a politician’s voice
He names himself as Nature’s choice.

The finest of the human race
Are bad in figure, worse in face.
Yet just because they have two legs
And come from storks instead of eggs
They count the spacious firmament
As something to be charged and sent.

Though man created cross-town traffic,
The Daily Mirror, News and Graphic,
The pastoral fight and fighting pastor,
And Queen Marie and Lady Astor,
He hails himself with drum and fife
And bullies lower forms of life.

Not that I think much depends
On how we treat our feathered friends,
Or hold the wrinkled elephant
A nobler creature than my aunt.
It’s simply that I’m sure I can
Get on without my fellow man.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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

I didn’t mention it above, but, I AM rather late getting this done, so, you get another fine archive entry in lieu of a fresh pearl…. deal with it. And save the complaints; the judge isn’t listening….

From 10/1/2011:

Well, that took for-frigging-ever….I can’t remember the last time I had such a frustrating dive. But, then, since Murphy seems to live in my pocket, I should have known; I have lots to do today, & didn’t intend to spend so much time on the process of picking out today’s offerings. I was forced to make three separate dives, each one more barren than the one before. If I was doing this for pay, I’d have to dock myself. Ah well, s’okay, I’ll just pull out the old rescheduling software, as issued to me at retirement; all will be well.

Five minutes later, he came to his senses, after fixedly staring off into the distance, with that vacuous expression that tells you, for sure, something shiny has caught his meager attention. It was nothing, really, just another of those little trips to the edge of the universe and back to which I am prone, particularly when pressed for time. But, it has left me again without inspiration, and, it is too early to apply perspiration to the problem; I haven’t eaten yet. Poetry is out of the question, & it’s way too early for a conversation with James or John. I’ll have to resort to flaming bonhomie, then, hope for the best. Remember, ffolkes, it’s all in the timing, and the little twist of the wrist at the end…..

“Nobody ever complains that you are treating them like a child when you listen to their stories, encourage their dreams, and tell them how special they are.” — Callan Williams

“I bid him look into the lives of men as though into a mirror, and from others to take an example for himself.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Adelphoe, Act iii, Sc. 3, 61, (415.)

His head,
Not yet by time completely silver’d o’er,
Bespoke him past the bounds of freakish youth,
But strong for service still, and unimpair’d.

~~ William Cowper (1731-1800) ~~

~~ The Task, Book ii, The Timepiece, Line 702 ~~

“AAAEEEYYYAAAAAEEEEEYAAAAAA” — Johnny Weissmuller (And he means that literally…..)

One spring morning Descartes was strolling in a suburb of Paris. A local tavern owner recognized him and asked, “Would you honor me by tasting the new excellent wine I just received.” “I think not,” said Descartes, and disappeared.” — Smart Bee

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.

~~ Lao-Tzu ~~

~~ Opening lines, Tao Teh Ching

Sometimes, I amaze even myself. All in all, it came out splendidly, I think. Now I can get busy with a clear mind….y’all take care out there…..

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

Rather than make any egregiously idiotic comments here, I’ll use this sterling opportunity to rest on my laurels, withered though they may be….. I will also stop any further harassment for today, leaving you, not in the lurch, but, rather, in the nick of time…. 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….

Parable, anecdote, or propaganda?….

Posted on March 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He is the best of men who dislikes power.”

~~ Mohammed ~~

Creme Bruleé, Very Nicely Done

The Way that can be known is not the true Way. This is a Truth, so deep, so wide, so all-encompassing, it surpasses the ability of Man to fully comprehend, without a lifetime of study, and thought. In fact, finding the Way can be said to be the very meaning and purpose of Life, for those of us to whom such matters are important. I have sought to understand this principle for a very long time now, and feel I’ve made some progress, to the extent of knowing I still have far to go….

But, as Lao Tzu said, in another part of the Tao Teh Ching, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step; this means I may yet reach the point where it is possible to become aware of that which I seek, which is the same goal all of us have, in one sense, i.e., peace of spirit and mind. Finding that ultimate connection to Reality, for me, is the only goal for anyone who wishes to understand themselves, and their place in the greater scheme of things.

All that being said, I am making plans to help myself on the road to inner freedom, by placing myself in contest with the real world, to test my resolve…. At my age, and in my physical condition, it will, indeed, be a test of major proportion, with challenges on a daily basis that can only be met by becoming at one with the road…. a very different life than the one most of our society pursues…. I will be removing myself from the standard way of life, of having a home, and a job, and staying in one place…. Instead, I will be moving across the map of the world, from place to place, spending as much time in each as I wish, or require, then moving on to new sights, new sounds, new people, to test myself against the world….

I don’t know how long I’ll be on pilgrimage; I suppose I’ll know better once I have been on the move long enough to identify my own desires, to find what path I will take…. To begin, I will make hegira to see my oldest friends, now scattered around the country. Once I’ve seen them, then I believe I’ll go out of country for a time, to see how the rest of the world is getting along, from street level. I’ve been watching it now for a long time through the lens of TV, and the Internet; I imagine the real world is a bit different than what we can see there…. but, I can only KNOW by going there to see….

So, in about six weeks, this blog will again change, to accommodate the needs of the road; I’ll do my best to continue to post daily, but, it may take some time to establish a movable routine to get it done without the comfort of a home base. I know I’ll mostly be posting from Starbuck’s, or the like; wherever I can find a free wi-fi hot spot…. In the meantime, I’ll try to keep it light, or, at least, not completely dark…. Sure I will….

In any case, now I’ve let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, I’ll go see what I can find for today’s Pearl…. I think we’re legal by now, so, we’ll just take our leave here, without having to apply any emergency methods to get gone…. In fact, here we go now…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.” — Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

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

Prince Ea: http://www.princeea.com/

I reblogged this video yesterday; it is so good, and so relevant to today’s world, I am including it here again. I’m also including a link to the artist’s home website, because it is also worth checking out….. It’s very encouraging to me to hear a young man with such clarity of vision speaking Truth, in a voice his own generation can hear….

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

Can We Auto-Correct Humanity?

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

https://youtu.be/dRl8EIhrQjQ

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

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

I’m running late, again…. Rather than saddle y’all with an old rant, here is a short discussion of the Way, from 2012….

From 5/10/2012:

The path is the way.
The way is the truth.
It is found, but not held;
walked on, but not followed.

~~ Tao Teh Ching ~~

When I was 16, my father took me on a trip to visit the UC Berkeley campus, to see if I really wanted to attend there after high school. We drove up from our home near the Central Coast of California to the burgeoning megalopolis on the east side of the SF Bay where Berkeley sits, with my eyes and mind on overdrive, taking in a completely new landscape, one completely foreign to my naive mind, which had spent most of the previous years living in a town of 750 souls. In retrospect, I don’t think that I could have made any other decision, as I was in the throes of intellectual ecstasy, taking in vast amounts of new perceptions and experiences as fast as I could swivel my head.

One of the places we visited on campus was the bookstore at the student union. Having been a book addict since the age of 9 or so, it was like falling into heaven. My dad had a hard time getting me to leave to go look at other stuff, as I was entranced by all the books I’d never seen. On a table near the check-out stands, on a clearance table, was a slim book with a beautiful black and white image of a typical Chinese painting of mountains with bamboo shoots in the foreground, and some ideograms running down the side. The English title of the book, at the top, read merely, “Tao Teh Ching”. Visually, it was the most beautiful book I’d ever seen. Little did I know how much that simple tome would change my whole life, and the way I viewed the world.

It goes without saying at this point that I bought the book. On the drive home, I lost myself in Lao Tzu’s 88 verses that comprise the Tao Teh Ching, and have been lost in the beauty and truth they provide ever since. “The Way that can be known is not the true Way.” That is the first line of the book, as per that translation, and my mind was freed from all its previous restraints. It was as if I had been awakened from a long sleep, and awoke with eyes so clear that only the truth could be seen. My father, I’m sure, thought I’d lost all sanity as I read, gasped, and made little moans of awakening surprise at the things that the book showed me. It is a day I will never forget, and one that, in my mind, set me on the scholar/warrior’s path that I have walked to this day…..

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

Only one of my poems will do for today; it’s as close as I’ve come to a poem on such matters…. Please enjoy, simple as it is, it has a good message…. even if it doesn’t rhyme….

Early Observations

Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.

All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.

But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.

Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.

‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.

Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.

Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.

Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.

Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Today’s final pearl has a picture, which is unusual, I know. However, this one came together so magically, just the way you see it, I had to go with the magic cat…. This pearl is about as good as it gets, ffolkes…..

“All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

——————-

Manner is all in all, whate’er is writ,

The substitute for genius, sense, and wit.

~~ William Cowper (1731-1800) — Table Talk, Line 542 ~~

——————-

“Our care should not be to have lived long as to have lived enough.”

~~ Seneca ~~

——————-

Have in readiness this saying of Solon,

“But we will not give up our virtue in exchange for their wealth.”

~~ Plutarch (46-120 AD) — How to profit by our Enemies ~~

——————-

“Economy is of itself a great revenue.”

~~ Cicero ~~

——————-

“I don’t need a friend who changes when I change

and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

——————-

“It is wise to empty the mind & fill the belly”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

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

Well, there you go. It’s done, and with only minor cheating; kinda makes me proud, y’know? (Sniff, sniff….) At any rate, you don’t have to put up with any more until tomorrow, right? That’s always a good thing; sort of another metaphor for living, eh, what?…. See, ya, 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….

First the socks, THEN the shoes….`

Posted on March 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe ~~

Terry Virts, US Astronaut, in tribute to Spock, from the International Space Station

NASA picture, above Leonard Nimoy’s home, Boston, Massachusetts

Yes, thank you, I do know I’m late. Yes, there are things I can do to mitigate that. The question remains, should I? The next question, naturally, brings with it more responsibility, and, more inner conflict, arising out of the state of concrete, the substance my brain resembles the most at this moment in time, to wit: does this mean there won’t be any toast points?

Now, many of you, seeing such a demanding philosophical euphemism, will think I’ve slipped right round the bend for good. In that, you may be correct, but, it doesn’t preclude the need to find some sort of order, if we are ever to make it out of the intro section. If nothing else, we’ll need to find all the VR helmets, to provide the alternative reality you are entitled to, according to the small print on the back of your ticket…. If we can’t find them, I don’t think we’ll be able to float this boat today…. not that the Universe gives a good fuck….

If it did, it wouldn’t make me sleep so long, or feel so confused upon arising from the almost five hours I managed to put in pounding my pillow. Since it doesn’t, we’re going to fight fire with fire, and get pissed of right back….. Oh, wait. That’s probably not a good idea; we never did find that last group, from the last time this happened…. I almost forgot about that. Well, the insurance won’t cover another lost group, so, I suppose we’ll have to figure out something else today….

I know…. I’ll just give up. I haven’t tried that yet, so, it’s worth a shot….

Hmm…. I don’t know if I actually know how to do that; I can’t recall ever doing so previously. Okay, we’ll just play it safe, and use our ever-faithful emergency method #4 again…. Y’all know how this goes, right? Right. Hang on….

Shall we Pearl?

“Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it: men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts, we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we come to be brave.” — Aristotle

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

The Red Priest ~ Antonio Vivaldi

Google Images

Today, we will go for soothing…. This piece is, without any doubt, the concerto I consider my favorite of all the classical music I’ve heard…. This is the literal truth; I can spend hours listening to it, over, and over….. It’s one of those pieces of music one never gets tired of hearing…. Enjoy!….

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

Four Seasons ~ Vivaldi

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

http://youtu.be/GRxofEmo3HA

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

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

I am so late, cheating is allowed; it’s all part of the mitigation process, ffolkes…. No worries, this one isn’t too long, and is perfectly appropriate for this time of year, coming up on April 15, the date that lives in infamy…. Well, in this country, anyway….

From 12/22/2014:

“It seems a little silly now, but this country was founded as a protest against taxation.” — Smart Bee

This rant has been percolating for some time; the quotes you will see scattered throughout the text were collected over the course of several days, during Smart Bee sessions looking for other material to support different sections. These all had some connection to the same politireligirant, the same one I’ve been working on so long, my spell checker doesn’t even blink at the word any more….

The pertinence of the opening quote struck me with considerable force, as it coincided with receiving a bill from one of the huge corporate entities so familiar to us all today; the logo of this particular fake person closely resembles the Death Star, strangely enough, which is probably enough for you to identify it…. In this bill, I noted that the figures quoted to me, as pertaining to a service I ordered, had been inflated in the final tally by a number of taxes, from local, state, and federal agencies, none of which had been mentioned as part of the price…. This didn’t count the “surcharges”, or the mandatory “monthly equipment rental fee”, also added on to the price without mention.

I once read a blog post by another person which tallied up all the different taxes to which we, as American citizens, are required to pay at one time or another during our lives…. There were well over a HUNDRED taxes listed, such as Death taxes, (we get taxed for dying?….), Inheritance taxes, (a tax on the survivors of those who have died….), Sales taxes, Use taxes, from every level of government, and a host of others, some of which I’d never heard of, but, are on the books…. It’s astounding to see how we Americans have BECOME the very people our ancestors warned us against becoming, to wit: slaves of the corporations and churches….

“… men say the gods have a king because they themselves either are or were in ancient times under the rule of a king, For they imagine not only the form of the gods, but their ways of life to be like their own.” — Aristotle, Politics

Here we see, perhaps, part of the reason for the apathy most Americans display regarding the responsibility for governing their own lives; it is easier for them to just accept all the lies. Finding truth can be a difficult task, which most people learn to avoid early in life, thus giving control of those lives into the hands of any who will manipulate them…. Plus, there is a large percentage of our species who not only don’t like to think, but, spend a large portion of their time on this planet ensuring that nobody else does so, either….

“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

For the most part, though, people just don’t care, because they don’t have the time or energy to spare for anything other than the bare essentials of living; finding shelter, food, and companionship takes up 99% of their minds and attention, leaving little time to wonder about whether or not any of what they do is helpful, or will actually do anything to make their lives better…. So, they listen to anyone who will tell them what they want to hear, who will fulfill that need to have someone else do the worrying about the future…. This, of course, only gives the predators more control….

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 — U.S. 479 (1928)

I’ve been pounding this point for a couple years now, with little effect, beyond the release I feel for getting it out of my head. That’s a big help to me, but, it isn’t having much of an effect on the overall picture, nor will it, until human nature itself undergoes some radical changes…. If I weren’t such a realist, I’d hold out some hope for that, but, quite frankly, I don’t see it happening….

I’ve run out of steam; the combination of futility plus pain plus dying hope makes any further comments I might relate completely superfluous…. not that they were ever critical in any sense…. other than in their essential truthfulness. But, this is already long enough, so, I’ll just dump y’all right here, and finish off the rant with a short set of pearls to drive the point home…. IF it strikes y’all, feel free to spread the point around… It can’t hurt, and it just might help. One never knows, do one?….

“Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, so don’t kid yourself…’ — Frank Zappa

“A statesman is what politicians call themselves.” — Smart Bee

“No matter how often a lie is shown to be false, there will remain a percentage of people who believe it is true.” — Law of the Lie

“Will Rogers never met Rush Limbaugh.”– Smart Bee

“When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.” — Max Lerner

So be it.

gigoid has spoken

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

The following is not a poem, technically; however, it’s still poetry, in my book…. And, yes, I know the picture is Buddhist, and the quote is Taoist…. I don’t think either Lao Tzu, or Gautama Buddha will mind…..

Always we hope
Someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better
Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
You have the answer;
You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
For better seeing.
Rather abide at the center of your being
For the more you leave it
The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
the way to do is to be.

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

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

The following pearl is of a very special sort…. it chose itself. I have nothing to do with it, other than functioning as a pair of hands for my subconscious mind, working in close conjunction with Smart Bee, to produce a pearl of great obscurity, and great power, I suspect…. This is one of those pearls which will work on us unconsciously, in the dark corners of our minds, hiding the conclusions until the proper moment comes, then bursting into our awareness like a meteor across the sky….. Well, maybe that’s just me…. I think y’all will enjoy it, though, as long as you don’t try to fight it….

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

~~ Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky” ~~

“Tighten ’til it cracks, then back off half a turn.” — Mechanics’ Rule

“There’s something you don’t see every day.” — Ghostbusters

“Fear is the lock and laughter the key to your heart.” — Steven Stills

“I am not a number. I am an unbound variable.” — Smart Bee, speaking for gigoid

“When the wind blows, worship its roar.” — Pythagoras

“You cannot teach a crab to walk straight.” — Aristophanes

“In the jingle-jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you.” — Bob Dylan

And through the spaces of the dark
Midnight shakes the memory
As a madman shakes a dead geranium

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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

All things considered, today’s Pearl can be considered a victory. Now, all we need to do is find a place to hide the bodies….. While I do that, y’all can get on with your day, knowing we’ll meet here again tomorrow, as long as the authorities don’t catch on to what we’re up to….. See ya, 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….

Perilous dreams of safety….

Posted on March 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Never take a stone to break an egg when you can use the back of your knife.”

~~ Scottish Proverb ~~

They’re everywhere! They’re everywhere!

Picture by Hubble Orbital Deep Space Telescope ~ NASA

As is my unfortunately consistent habit, at the sight of this terrifyingly white, empty screen, I find my mind to be completely blank; not only blank, but, seemingly unwilling to even move away even a step from its chosen posture of resistance, to allow even the slightest glimmer of inspiration to shine. Alas, woe is me!….

Whoops! We’ll have none of that, young man!…. Okay, that will be quite enough, I believe; I’m not so cruel, or idiotic, to think I could get away with such a massively mundane expression of angst, even here, at the very beginning, where it could be buried in the general confusion of getting started…. I don’t know what I was thinking, except, perhaps, to say, I wasn’t…. thinking, that is. It may have seemed like thinking, but, let me assure you, no such process was going on in THIS head, not yet….

That being the case, I shall, once again, endeavor to get us out of here before it gets to the point we are trapped in a meandering, ultimately useless pile of blather, searching for some kind of sensible, dignified way out, without ever realizing such are only given to those who remain clear-headed. Naturally, this means y’all will be losing out on the post-intro refreshments, but, I’m sure you won’t mind, since we’ll be back in time for the buffet…. For now, allow me to use good, old #4, which, as you all know, works like this…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.” — Henry Ward Beecher

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

When I was a kid, Dragnet was the only crime show on TV; if there were others, I don’t remember them…. Even then, as far as I could see, Jack Webb had a stick further up his butt than anyone I ever saw, knew, or heard of…. no shit. But, the show was great fun, especially for those of us who looked on it as unintentionally funny; I’m sorry, NOBODY could be that stupid, or, refuse to allow ANY emotion to show, as Jack Webb played Joe Friday…. I don’t know what police detective he was trying to emulate, but, if it was a real one, I’m betting the cop was playing Webb for a fool, seeing him for the uptight dick he seemed to be, by all accounts…. No matter, it’s all in good fun, now…. Enjoy this blast from the past, ffolkes, then we can go on to bigger things…. Well, we’re hoping….

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

DRAGNET: “The Hammer”

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

http://youtu.be/nhFA3mnlYGE

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

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

I try to post this once a year, as a minor tribute to Noah, one of the best dogs I’ve ever known….. It looks as if I missed last year, so, here ’tis, early in this year, to compensate…..

Last posted on 8/26/2013:

R.I.P. Old Friend

Ode to Noah

Noah came to live with our family when he was about 10 months old; we rescued him from taking the long walk at the Humane Society kennel in Santa Rosa. It was my son’s fifteenth birthday; he wanted a dog, swearing up & down that he would take responsibility for its’ care. Pets were always part of family life when I grew up; our last dog had been gone for a bit over a year, so, we decided it was time to expand the family once again.

As Cory and I walked down the aisle between cages at the kennel, a large variety of dogs started a welcoming cacophony of different barks; shrill tiny ones, deep booming ones, polite yips, all blended together in an almost desperate frenzy, as each animal, many of them almost frantic, tried to get our attention. Some pawed at the gate, or, danced around in circles; others jumped up & down. Some looked nervous, or, suspicious; others looked friendly, but, all of them, it seemed, were making noise.

As we drew near the last cage in the aisle, we saw a slender, medium-sized, black and white dog, not barking, not jumping, just sitting down, leaning against the wall by the gate. He was looking me right in the eyes with an expression that arrowed straight into our hearts…. sad, sad eyes, with a long, mournful face cried out silently, “get me out of here, please!”. What could we do? He was obviously our dog; he realized it too, but, seemed afraid to hope. We told him we’d be right back, heading back to the desk in the front to announce our choice, and complete the paperwork.

The attendant brought Noah in to us just as I was handed the receipt. As he was led in by a standard choke-chain leash, he looked a bit nervous, but composed & curiously calm. That is, he was calm until I clasped his new collar around his neck, then snapped on his brand new leash. All of a sudden, when we stepped outside, he realized he wasn’t going back into the kennel; he immediately became a different dog, wagging his tail furiously, looking at us with his eyes shining, almost dancing and vibrating in his eagerness to go. As we walked back to the van, he walked proudly in front of us, tail and ears up at attention, almost prancing, looking back every few steps to make sure we were still there, a very happy dog…..

Noah settled into the family immediately. He proved to be very well-mannered, both with people, and, in his habits. When out on walks, he would stop to sniff, lifting his leg to leave his mark at every interesting bush and tree, just like any other male dog. But when he had to do his secondary business, he made it clear he preferred to go behind a bush, or somewhere out of the way, preferably out of sight.

If he felt he was not sufficiently hidden from sight, he would assume a very embarrassed expression, turning away as if he felt guilty. A very private, discreet individual, to say the least. On those rare occasions he had been overlong between walks, so much in a hurry he made a mistake on the sidewalk, he would act just like a cat, walking away with head averted, pretending it had never happened. “What mess? Who me? I don’t know what you’re talking about….. C’mon, let’s go!”

Noah was an extremely intelligent dog; I’ve known a great many animals in my time on this old planet, but, he was one of the smartest I’ve ever been around. When he came to live with us, at about 10 months of age, he already knew how to sit on command (both voice and hand), to lie down, and to stay.

Actually, he had a little trouble with the whole concept of ‘stay’; he didn’t like being left alone, and would often follow us after a minute or two; it was as if he just didn’t want to believe we really MEANT for him to stay. He figured he should be with us so he could do his job, to guard and act as scout. As long as he could see us, he’d stay where he was; if he couldn’t, he believed it was his place to find us….. We never came to terms over the matter; on this particular point he was firm.

We also never had to teach Noah any tricks, as he seemed to have figured stuff out on his own, and his way was definitely cool….The first time I ever gave him a treat (a milk bone), I showed it to him and told him to sit. He sat. I told him to speak, and he gave one quick howl. I held out my hand, & he offered his own to shake. I straightened up, then, tossed the treat a couple feet above his head, in the air….

He didn’t just catch it; he made a jump, making the in-air snag like a professional left-fielder. As he touched the rug, he immediately tossed it back up into the air. He timed his move perfectly; as the treat hit the floor, he dove on top of it, rolled over, & started doing a happy dance, by twisting his back and hips as if scratching his back on the floor. I swear, he looked just like Snoopy doing the Dance of Joy.

When he was done celebrating, he rolled over, snatched up his milk bone, to begin chomping with a big twinkle in his eye. I always wanted to video the move for posterity, or, to submit it for Stupid Pet Tricks on the Letterman Show. Sadly, he lived before the age of cell phone cameras, & I never seemed to have a camera handy when he performed his feat, so, Noah missed his chance for stardom.

Noah’s gotten old now; we just observed his 17th birthday in February of this year; as they say, in dog years, he’s going on 120 or so. He can’t hear anything but very loud noises, & can’t see more than a few feet, which I suspect is confined mostly to shadows and moving light. I’m afraid he will be passing on soon, as he can no longer get up without assistance, and, is having trouble controlling his bodily functions.

I sometimes feel like I should have him put down, to ease his pains, but he doesn’t act as if he is hurting, and I can tell he enjoys just lying around and sleeping, as long as he knows I am near. For his entire life with us, over 16 and a half years, he has been a true and loyal companion. He has observed with honor the pact made between Man and Dog many thousands of generations ago; taking care of him in his declining years is both a privilege, and, an honor. In my entire life, I have never known anyone more loyal, more compassionate, or more courageous in standing up to life. He was, and is, by far, the best friend that any man could hope for, and, also by far, the best person I’ve ever known……

Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
I’ve read that things inanimate have moved,
And as with living souls have been inform’d
By magic numbers and persuasive sound.

~~ William Congreve (1670-1729) ~~

~~ The Mourning Bride, Act i, Sc. 1 ~~

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

I measure every grief I meet
With analytic eyes;
I wonder if it weighs like mine,
Or has an easier size.

I wonder if they bore it long,
Or did it just begin?
I could not tell the date of mine,
It feels so old a pain.

I wonder if it hurts to live,
And if they have to try,
And whether, could they choose between,
They would not rather die.

I wonder if when years have piled–
Some thousands–on the cause
Of early hurt, if such a lapse
Could give them any pause;

Or would they go on aching still
Through centuries above,
Enlightened to a larger pain
By contrast with the love.

The grieved are many, I am told;
The reason deeper lies,–
Death is but one and comes but once
And only nails the eyes.

There’s grief of want, and grief of cold,–
A sort they call ‘despair,’
There’s banishment from native eyes,
In sight of native air.

And though I may not guess the kind
Correctly yet to me
A piercing comfort it affords
In passing Calvary,

To note the fashions of the cross
Of those that stand alone
Still fascinated to presume
That some are like my own.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

There are days when the making of pearls is justified in mere moments, with the creation of a single seven-star pearl, the most ordinary kind, which, seemingly, says it all… Today is one of those days….

36. Mind your own business. — Instructions for life

“Anyone who has had a bull by the tail knows five or six more things than someone who hasn’t.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Amusement is for the sake of relaxation, and relaxation is of necessity sweet, for it is the remedy of pain caused by toil; and intellectual enjoyment is universally acknowledged to contain an element not only of the noble but of the pleasant, for happiness is made up of both.” — Aristotle

“A shelf of classics for our young adults: Tolkien, Hesse, Casteneda, Kerouac, Salinger, Tom Robbins, and “The Last Whole Earth Catalog”.” — Edward Abbey

“If attacked by a lion thrust your arm down his throat. This takes some practice.” — Cyril Connolly

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” — Helen Keller (American Author, 1880-1968) — became blind & deaf at 19 months old

“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” — Marcus Aurelius

I’d say, if all of these can be said to be true of you and your life, if you have learned these lessons, read these books, by them learning to respect the most critical concepts of Honor, Compassion, and Duty, you win…..

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

Ah yes! I love the smell of burnt neurons in the morning!…. Another day’s Pearl has been created, and I am content. Later today, I will, for the first time in my life, or theirs, be able to see BOTH of my grandchildren in the same day…. Of course, the pair of them have only BEEN a pair for four days, but, hey, a first is a first…. It isn’t every day one meets their newest granddaughter, is it?…. See y’all tomorrow ffolkes, probably with pictures of the wee lassie who now has a piece o’ my heart….

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….

Thirteen disciples…. Isn’t that unlucky?….

Posted on February 22, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I can handle reality in small doses,

but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.”

~~ Lily Tomlin ~~

I think maybe we pissed it off?

It looks a bit upset….

It’s not every day we get a chance like this. Without spilling the beans, I’ll tell you it’s quite unusual, and not welcome; it is, however, convenient. That being the case, I think I’ll do something I’ve never, ever done before in this blog; not in my memory, anyway…. This section will now be tasked with performing only the most basic of functions, to wit; that of an introductory section. No further blathering, nonsense, ranting, or babble will be used to bring us to the appropriate opening to go on.

In fact, since we’ve reached that point already, we will now go on to the rest of today’s ~~mess~~, effort, saying, as is our wont, only this…..

Shall we Pearl?

“I’d like some JUNK FOOD… and then I want to be ALONE –”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

Whatever anyone believes about today’s world, especially concerning the surveillance powers being abused by every government in the world, most especially our own, one simple fact remains; it’s all true, in one respect, at least…. The world will NEVER be the same as the common man believed, ever again.

Below you’ll find TWO videos. The first is an interview with Laura Poitras, the journalist who was the first person approached by Edward Snowden, when he decided to relate the information he had acquired, absolute proof, revealing the incredibly illegal activities of the NSA, leading to the revelations we continue to discover today, about what an intrusively extensive, illegal, insane abuse of power our own government has committed, and continues to commit against its citizens.

The second video is a series of interviews with significant figures involved with the documentary film, CitizenFour, (already nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary), detailing the events leading up to the first meeting of Edward Snowden, Ms. Poitras, and Glenn Greenwald, the other journalist involved in the original stories, who also has written a book about the extent of his researches since the revelations he helped to bring out…. It’s the first time the world gets to see what happened in that meeting, and SEE Edward Snowden as he spoke the words that would change the world as we know it…. I only wish I could show the movie here, too….

This is all information we all should know, ffolkes, to get a better idea of the man who, in the future, will be viewed as one of the greatest heroes in all of mankind’s history, IF we manage to get the buttheads to cease and desist…. He meets ALL the requirements of those men and women who sacrifice their lives for the benefit of their fellow man, knowing full well the consequences of their decision…. Anyone who thinks differently is welcome to debate the issue with me, any time, any place…. and, leave your stupid at home, or it will only hurt worse, when you lose your treasured ignorance….

Edward Snowden

Citizen Four

A Hero for all Humanity

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

NYFF52: “CITIZENFOUR” Q&A | Laura Poitras (Full)

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

http://youtu.be/Op9CRU05llo

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

“Citizenfour” NYFF Premiere #InTheLab with @ArthurKade

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

http://youtu.be/Cnj7YBzH4n4?list=PLUs2-eEa4hdHEzvqrC0gNnK-A1maLWy0c

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

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

I’m lazy today, and, though that is nothing new, I’m going to pretend it is. Here is a shortish rant from about 3 years ago, while I was still living at the edge of poverty…. It will go along with recent rants of a similar nature…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s all the truth, as I see it…

From 5/17/2012:

“Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul.” — Mark Twain

“If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it if you have love, compassion, and tolerance. The clear truth of a person’s love of God is if that person genuinely shows love to fellow human beings.” — Dalai Lama

Same idea, as far as I can tell, just expressed differently. In the case of the Dalai Lama, clear, complete, and precise, naming the key elements. In the case of Mr. Twain, deceptively simple and humorous, yet equally broad in scope. One can often see the value of an idea by how well it combines with another, and in this case I think that works quite well, as we may then summarize the two to say, “Love, compassion, and tolerance make for a tidy soul,” which I think is an excellent lesson, and would make a very good koan for meditation. In practice, it holds up just as well, as I have yet to see any display of love, compassion, or tolerance that had a negative effect on reality.

Every religion, or religious philosophy, that I have studied over the years has these three ideas at their core; it is the one area where they all agree. Yet, the application of any of them remains limited to those times when expediency allows it, and very few others. In spite of the centuries of teaching these traits to their devotees, I can see very little evidence that the majority of mankind pays any attention to them outside church, unless it is somehow to their advantage to do so.

This observation of reality makes what the Dalai Lama said even more relevant, when he noted that one does not NEED a religion to act with love, because it is plain that just having the religious bent does not guarantee such behavior. In fact, it seems to make it easier for people to ignore it, as they know that any transgressions or failures on their part will be forgiven….

It would do very little good for me to further chastise us as a species for our lack of moral behavior, so I’ll not. But I will say that I would wish to see more love, compassion, and tolerance at play in the world at large before I will ever recommend religion, or even religious philosophy, to anyone as a cure for immorality, at least, not as one to use outside of the confines of their particular sect.

“I hate to advocate drugs, sex, alcohol, violence, or insanity for anyone, but, they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson

The real world wouldn’t know what to do if it were ever faced with a general outbreak of morality from mankind…. it could shatter the very bonds that hold Reality together, destroying the universe, and life as we know it, for all time…. Is it worth the risk?….. Well, no matter, I don’t see much chance of a huge outpouring of love, compassion, and tolerance happening in the near future, so the risk is small…..

“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

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

Today’s poem is one I wrote a couple years ago, on the same general subject as the discussion just above, in the ranting section. It seems long, but, it really isn’t; it just takes up a lot of space…. I won’t bother to point out the metaphorical significance of that in this poem…. I’m sure you’ll see it… If not, well, it’s a fun poem to read, aloud, if no other way….

Elemental, dear Watson….

Don’t worry,
it’s not
me
you hear
screaming.

It is
only
my bones,
giving in,
to
cowardly,
pathologically,
repetitive,
fucking,’
complaints
of
past abuse,
and
all the fun
we had.
playing,
hard.

I don’t mind
too much;
I can spend my
TIME
in another space
in my head,
pretending
my bones
don’t
exist….

It
is,
indeed,
a shame
they
always
come
back….

Fuck.

It
hurts.

More proof,
I guess,
either
God isn’t,
or,
He is.

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

He is?
Then,
I don’t fucking care
who
doesn’t like it,

I say,

He
is
a bully,
a coward,
a hypocrite,
and,
truly,
an enormous asshole.

I suppose,
God
is
what comes,
to,
and
from,
People,

because

they
feel
a need,
for
someone
to
blame,
for
a
Universe
they
cannot
understand
or
accept.

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

All I can figure is, Smart Bee feels neglected, or, is trying to make up for old failures, or something. I keep getting inundated with cool quotes, all together, each filling in a piece of a puzzle I find amusing, or compellingly insightful, or, at minimum, entertaining, if not instructive. For me, anyway; by this time, y’all know how to read a pearl, with each one leading your mind from thought to thought, until arriving at a pre-ordained conclusion, of one sort or another, usually about something more than just the mere sum of the parts in the pearl….

Or not. Maybe you just like to read a bunch of cool stuff…. Either way, you’ll enjoy this eleven-star pearl; it is also, I think, the first of it’s kind…. Hint: I THINK it’s about my feelings on modern life; I could be wrong. It could be just my curmudgeon training seeing everything as a nail, which I can hit with my hammer made of cynicism, which is actually what I like to call my optimistic skepticism about the nature of reality…. Don’t worry about the funny formatting; just playing around with symmetry, to see how it displays on the screen after getting coded…. No meaning implied beyond what’s already there in the metaphoric sense…

“Governing a large country is like frying a small fish.
You spoil it with too much poking.”

~~ Lao-Tzu ~~

“The “terror” of the French Revolution lasted for ten years. The terror that preceded and led to it lasted for a thousand years.” — Edward Abbey

“None but a fool is always right.”

~~ Hare ~~

“Nasrudin walked into a shop one day, and the owner came forward to serve him. Nasrudin said, “First things first. Did you see me walk into your shop?” “Of course.” “Have you ever seen me before?” “Never.” “Then how do you know it was me?” — Smarty Bee

“…I probably shouldn’t point at the word ‘reptiles’ when I say ‘businessmen.'”

~~ Rajeev Pandey ~~

“At least 75 times in your life, someone will tell you that something is “for your own good.” It will never be for your own good.” — Smart Bee, 1996, with the following addendum, added today…

“In today’s world, on TV,
someone will tell you something
“for your own good”,
three or more times daily,
in one form or another…”

~~ gigoid, the dubious ~~

“Our modern industrial economy takes a mountain covered with trees, lakes, running streams and transforms it into a mountain of junk, garbage, slime pits, and debris.” — Edward Abbey

“Crankiness….for me it’s just as natural as morning”

~~ gigoid, Sunday, 2015 ~~

“It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment or the courage to pay the price… One must abandon altogether the search for security and reach out to the risk of living with both arms… One has to embrace the world like a lover… One has to accept pain as a condition of existence… One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying.” — Morris L. West, “Shoes of the Fisherman”

“Piety requires us to honor truth above friends.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

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

“If I had had more time, I could have written you a shorter letter.” — Blaise Pascal

This quote from Mssr. Pascal is one I often think of when I’ve finished a Pearl; today is no exception to that rule. But, as they say on the streets, “Oh, well…. life’s a bitch, then, you die.” As you can see, they’re not very optimistic on the streets, no doubt, with good reason. Having spent some significant amount of time there, I can attest it isn’t easy to maintain a lot of hope for change. The masters of society have things pretty well in hand, and they’re closing that fist even tighter in the modern world, aided by the technology of computers, which has increased their ability to monitor those parts of society which could harm their control…. It’s not looking good for liberty in the future….

But, that’s a rant for another day. For now, I’ll take my leave, and go find some more evidence of their chicanery, to share with all my Gentle Readers, lest they be taken unawares by the scum of the earth…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. stay alert, and question authority, every chance you get…. If you don’t get any chances, make one….

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….

Hmm…. Soft pillow. Whose is it?….

Posted on February 20, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”

~~ Leo Tolstoy ~~

Home, Sweet Home

Home. We all associate home with certain emotions, most of which, if we are lucky, are good feelings. The picture you see is mine, taken not long ago, as I stood at the entrance to the Big Blue Room, that huge room outside the place where my computer resides. I can’t say the picture sends shivers of pleasure skimming up and down my spine, but, it does offer a fairly comfortable and secure place to write, so, I am content. Plus, since the picture is mine, no attribution is required….

Today, that’s a bonus…. I’m exhausted, I think. I’ve felt weird/bad/odd for a few days now, with pain a constant companion, thanks to Kaiser’s intransigent ignorance and corporate dispassion. Strange, unpredictable weather hasn’t helped my arthritis at all, and, in fact, is probably responsible for the unrelenting shoulder-ache I’ve experienced ever since the temperature dropped. However, I note I have entered a whining space, which is not on our agenda, so, we’ll move on to more productive blather, as soon as I can free myself from this paragraph.

Whew! Almost got stuck there…. I guess all of the above is yet another feeble attempt at levity in a pre-coffee state. Oh, I’ve had a few sips, but, these days, in such a constant state of fatigue and angst from fighting battles with governments, corporations, and my own body, it takes more than a few sips to get past the blurry stages into a relatively alert phase. In fact, if y’all will pardon me for just a few moments, I’ll deal with part of the problem…. Be right back….

There, that’s a little better….. No, you don’t want to know. Since I’m back, and relatively awake, if not competent and coherent, I think I’ll take this opportunity to get us out of the intro in a more timely fashion than is generally the case. I see an opening coming up just ahead, in an unusually rock-free passage; we’re going for it, while we have the chance. If y’all would kindly make sure you’re securely fastened into your seats, we’ll be on our way to the pearl beds, to begin today’s dive…. Hang on, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“Ah, gigoid, I see you’ve decided to go psycho. Godspeed.” — Oddly enough, this is all I remember of a dream I had last night….

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

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Funny look in his eyes, don’t you think?

Whenever I need a break, from almost anything, nothing works better than a session of listening to Mozart, to provide relaxation with stimulation, completely energizing, like a good session of yoga, or meditation, or performing a perfect kung fu form…. No matter how long it lasts, one has more energy afterward than when they began…. In my mind, it’s more proof than needed to show how important music is, as an essential part of our universe, to which we all have a direct connection, if only we allow it to remain open….

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

The Best of Mozart

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

http://youtu.be/Rb0UmrCXxVA

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

Yep. Him again.

Dresses a little funny, y’think?

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

“If Patrick Henry thought that taxation without representation was bad, he should see how bad it is with representation.” — Smart Bee

Today’s rant promises to be epic, I think. We are going to try to deal with some pretty heavy material, exploring subjects very personal to me, with some strong opinions and thoughts I can no longer keep to myself…. This one may cause me to have to pull a Houdini, (don’t fret, if you don’t understand, there’s no harm, and no foul…), but, it all needs to be shared with whomever will listen, because it concerns ALL of us in the modern world, in every country on the planet…..

You see, the assholes, whom I have lumped into a group I call the Beloved Ruling Class, (just a touch of irony, don’t y’know?…), have managed to extend their insane corruption of human institutions, ensuring those essential fields of endeavor are molded to serve THEIR needs and interests ahead of anyone else’s, to the one human occupation which cannot afford to suffer ANY deterioration in ethical standards…. We can no longer afford to trust DOCTORS, for they have been enslaved just as surely as everyone else not of the monied elite…. If you can’t trust your doctor to tell you the truth, to whom can we turn, but ourselves?….

First, to begin, please read the following article by an alert young man named Mike Adams, on The Natural News web site (the first link is the blog post where I found the article, the second is to the actual article…), to get a very clear picture of exactly what I’m talking about today…..

https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/backfire-how-the-vaccine-industry-lost-the-propaganda-war-alienated-the-public-and-stirred-up-suspicion-of-the-entire-medical-profession/

http://www.naturalnews.com/048665_vaccine_propaganda_public_suspicion_medical_profession.html

Excerpted from the article:

“In a document the A.M.A. warns cannot be cited by anyone without “written permission from the A.M.A.“, the organization warns about the disastrous consequences of the medical profession losing the public trust:

Withholding pertinent medical information from patients without their knowledge or consent may also have negative long-term consequences for the medical profession. The patient-physician relationship is founded upon trust, because patients must rely upon their physicians to provide the information needed to make a properly informed decision. Lack of candid disclosure can compromise this relationship if patients suspect (or later discover) that information is being withheld from them. Thus, individual physicians’ purportedly benevolent acts of deception risk undermining not only individuals, but also public confidence and trust in the medical profession.”

Gee…. ya think? It’s unfortunate in the extreme very few doctors seem to either comprehend this principle, or, use it as a guide for making decisions, especially since one would logically/reasonably assume they know the risk of lying to their patients, ostensibly having discussed it in medical school at one point or another…. If not, such a school of medicine is one whose graduates would not be high on MY list of doctors to trust. I tend to prefer to know all the facts, not just what someone else thinks I should know, tending to get irritable when lied to, whether by deliberate omission, or by ignorance of the truth. For anyone I will consider as MY doctor, either one is unacceptable.

As is usual, for me, this rant is being written in spurts of mad, furious typing, while my hands are still capable of moving, then a break to let them, and me, recover; after a bit, I begin to type again, once I’ve determined the point in my arguments I’ve left the missive…. It’s a bit hard to find the thread sometimes; today it’s almost impossible, as I awoke with numerous challenges to start the day, including a shoulder and arm completely numb from the elbow down to the hand, to go with the general malaise that afflicts me almost all the time now…. There are times when it all seems unlikely I will ever be free of it…. a feeling which, while not completely unfamiliar, is one I don’t particularly enjoy…..

That said, I’m going to have to abandon this rant in mid-shout, so to speak, as I simply can’t type any more today…. From this point, it will be all cutting and pasting, or short blurbs to fill in space. It’s just too hard to keep up a steady rhythm of typing when my left hand is half-numb, sitting at the end of the painful piece of wood that used to be my arm. I’ll fill in the last portion of this section with an old school pearl, to save my ass from feeling a complete failure….

Enjoy, ffolkes, and remember; your doctor is no longer a free person; they are enslaved just as thoroughly as are we all, so, it makes sense to keep an eye on them, as well as to use them as little as possible…. These days, going to the doctor could kill ya….

The hungry sheep look up and are not fed,
But, swoln with wind and the rank mist they draw,
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread.

~~ Milton, “Lycidas” ~~

“King Arthur and his armored goons of the Round Table functioned as the Politburo of a slave state: Camelot. Of all who have written on the Matter of Arthur, from Malory to White, only Mark Twain understood this. But Mark Twain was a great writer.” — Edward Abbey

“From the standpoint of any sane person, the present problem of capitalist concentration is not only a question of law, but of criminal law, not to mention criminal lunacy.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Case In Point, The Outline of Sanity

“Freedom is a hard-bought thing – A gift no man can give.” — Smart Bee

“All authority is quite degrading.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“Science transcends mere politics. As recent history demonstrates, scientists (i.e., doctors) are as willing to work for a Tojo, a Hitler, or a Stalin as for the free nations of the West.” — Edward Abbey

“Hence these tears.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act i, Sc. 1, 99, (126.)

——————————–

Just in case anyone out there was starting to feel comfortable about how things in the world are going, articles like this one appear to burst your bubble….

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/02/18/all-the-creepy-ways-big-brother-is-watching-you/

Now do you wonder why I’m dubious? I don’t….

“Is it any wonder that my mind’s on fire?” — gigoid, upon completing this pearl

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

SIGH…. It’s all so DAMN depressing, isn’t it? I guess we’ll go with a classic; nothing else works as well to dispel my ugly moods….. Of course, ugly is not something that will ever disappear from life will it? Ah well, at least we have poetry….

Solitude

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield shade,
In winter, fire.

Blest, who can unconcern’dly find
Hours, days, and years, slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day.

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mixed; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

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

Today’s final pearl is one I don’t really remember putting together…. It seems to be a collection of comments on either human nature, and the struggles with Reality in which it engages so often, or, a look at Life through filtered lenses, definitely NOT rose colored…. Either way, it works for me… Just don’t make any attempt to use this one for anything other than food for thought; any interaction with actual Reality may bring unintended consequences, not to your liking…. No worries, though, even THAT wouldn’t be too harmful, just embarrassing, and messy…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s pretty simple today, in truth….

“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

“When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with all other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.” — John Muir, American Naturalist (1838-1914)

“When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.” — from Peter Pan (1904) by James M. Barrie (1860-1937)

“One of the best ways to measure people is to watch the way they behave when something free is offered.” — Ann Landers

“With two hearts do people live; a small one of deep softness, the other of steel. And kindness is too often a shield, generosity too often a sword.” — Kahlil Gibran

“Is you first responsibility to yourself? The question is misleading; that is, it misleads the person who takes it to heart. It’s like asking, must you shift your weight in order to walk. Of course you must, but anyone who concentrates first on shifting his weight will not walk well.” — Hugh Prather

“Virtue is the golden mean between two vices, the one of excess and the other of deficiency.” — Aristotle (B.C. 384-322)

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

It is not without a bit of surprise I find myself at the end of today’s post. When I started, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish it in the style to which you’ve been accustomed to finding here each morning. I was right, too. But, it will have to do, because I am sure as hell not going to do it over. In fact, I’m dumping y’all right here, and getting on with my day, such as it will be…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. Well, I’m hoping, anyway….

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….

Sweet sorrow, my ass….

Posted on February 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Every day passes whether you participate or not.”

~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~

Another View Outside the Door Into Summer

“One of these things is not like the other…” — Numerous Sesame Street characters at various times

A few days ago, the opening picture was also one of my own photos, taken outside my back door, here in Northern California, this February, in what the rest of the world considers the dead of winter, almost two-thirds of the way to Spring. The East Coast has been pounded by massive storms; blizzards, hurricanes, all sorts of weather which, though seasonal, keeps breaking old records for the most massive storms in history. Today, as I write this, I’m sitting in my living room, with no heat on, a window and door open for ventilation, without a shirt, because it’s too warm to wear one indoors…. even for an old man who can’t take the cold like he used to….

But, hey, there’s no such thing as global warming, or unalterable climate changes taking place, so, why worry about it? It certainly isn’t snowing here, so, I guess I’ll go for a walk today in the sunshine, to take some more pictures of evidence of the world, trying to warn us of our impending doom….

Oops…. Sorry, ffolkes, I forgot. No ranting in the intro…. But, but, ffolkes, it’s just so bloody tempting! SIGH…. Ah me, so much for this attempt to open up with aplomb, or, even, coherency. Not that I care overmuch about coherency, so long as I can find it in myself to spout some nonsense, but, I’m not sure how I’d do at that today. I’m not feeling very silly; that generally means if I try to be funny, or apply silly to what I write, I end up displaying bozoid tendencies, more so than any wisdom, or style, or any other sort of communication to stimulate the slightest interest, beyond the expected snickering at my discomfiture….

Y’all should remember, though, anyone who can use the word discomfiture isn’t going to let a little thing like propriety, or mainstream morality get in the way of getting this Pearl done. No way. I’ve done this too long now to listen to the ignorant, any more than I ever did, other than to keep track of whatever they are babbling about, just for the purposes of intel…. Remember? “Keep your friends close, etc…..” Beyond the bare minimum necessary to keep them in my sights, I ignore them as much as possible…. It doesn’t mean I don’t know they’re there…. (Not bad… two of the three “there’s”, each used correctly…)

It does mean my paranoia is in good working order, though, so, perhaps it would be best now to get on with the making of today’s mess, so I can get back afterward in time to take the appropriate medication to keep me from going postal on anyone before lunch. Perhaps it would be best if you ducked now….

Shall we Pearl?

“A form of open-mindedness is the pathway to wisdom. Close your mind and you open the way for ignorance to flourish, but you will never even know it.” — Smart Bee

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

These two artists are responsible for a LOT of the tunes I grew up with in the 60’s and 70’s. Watching them play together after all these years was a more emotional experience than I’d imagined; I found myself tearing up at song after song. It was also fun to see the two of them having such fun playing together; they were feuding for many years, and it’s nice to know they’ve healed the breach…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this one is a real treat, a true walk through a gentler past…

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

Carole King and James Taylor Live at the Troubadour

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

http://youtu.be/3IMntLIgIq8

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

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

Le Penseur, The Thinker, Auguste Rodin, photo from The Rodin Museum web site

Sometime during my teens, I stopped trying to convince myself to give in to the pressure applied by peers, and well-meaning adults, to join the Presbyterian Church, where I’d been attending with my family for some years. I had begun a study of as many different faiths as I could find time to do, without ever getting so far into it as to call myself a religious scholar, discovering in those studies I could not bring myself to be hypocritical enough to claim belief in the credo they espoused. Any of them.

This decision was not because of a lack of spiritual feeling (I wouldn’t have bothered to look for answers, if that were the case), but, more of an acceptance of the rightness of my choice, to NOT pretend to believe what I could only consider a very complex set of dogmatic derivations, having nothing to do with reality, but, in truth, were deductively and erroneously based on specific delusions, regarding forces of nature we humans do not, as yet, fully understand. Ascribing those forces to be the result of supernatural causes seemed a bit specious, if not completely lacking in evidence to support such their existence, thus, highly unlikely.

I suppose I always felt what H. L. Mencken said in the third pearl below; everything I heard about how cool and special God, and religion were supposed to be, all seemed to me to be pretty improbable. Since this improbability was supposedly supported by what I found to be merely interpretations, and opinions of reality, not reality itself, I could never find any good reason to buy into any of it…. In short, I recognized what I heard as a made-up story, designed to soothe people’s fears about a universe they could not comprehend…. I always figured, if we don’t know, well, let’s find out. Why make something up? But, I guess that’s just me…. At the time, I’d never heard of Nancy Reagan, but, I’ve always been glad I “just said no.”

Below are seven pearls which, sort of, speak to how I view the concept of religion, as one of the primary reasons for a large part of the reason Mankind continues to act more like an brutish naked ape than an advanced, ethical sentient entity. The God of the Christians, as is apparently true with most Gods I’ve looked into, acts much like a wounded, maddened predator, insanely attacking all who come near. Almost all of the deities I found in my reading over the years, all had a common cruelty, a mercilessness completely antagonistic to human feeling, which, naturally, mirrors the trait in humans, thus giving divine attribution to our most base emotions…. According to what I read, most gods show the behavior of a spoiled child, a trait unfortunately reproduced in His followers….

HE, Yahweh, or Allah, all same/same, seemed, to me, always ready to use any cruelty or violence to achieve His ends, threatening Hellfire and damnation for the slightest disobedience, while claiming to be merciful. Have you seen some of the stuff God has had his followers do in His name? In today’s world, they all continue to act out their insane bigotry and ignorance…. but, now, there are billions upon billions of followers, of all sorts of vicious butthead gods, and they have shiny new toys to kill each other with, with increasing ferocity and destructiveness…. What a bloody mess….

Nope, God just never has been my kind of dude, for sure, much less what I’d be looking for a in a god…. But, even I could see, back before I had so much rational proof of how wise was my decision, it sure does make life easy for those who hang with God, using his ‘grace’ to either justify their actions, or remove the blame for any of them, as long as the conditions of membership in the club are met….

Ah, well, here, this is what I mean, more glibly, if not more clearly…. Sometimes, that’s how it works with metaphor….

Say first, of God above or man below,

What can we reason but from what we know?

~~ Alexander Pope — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 17 ~~

“Any system of religion which has anything in it which offends the mind of a child cannot be a true system.” — Thomas Paine

“Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.” — H. L. Mencken, “Prejudices”, Series iii

“Preacher to me: “A dollar for the Lord, brother?” Me to preacher: “That’s all right, I’m headed his way. I’ll give it to him when I see him.” — Edward Abbey

“Pray, pray very much; but beware of telling God what you want.” — French Proverb

“If the average man is made in God’s image, then such a man as Beethoven or Aristotle is plainly superior to God.” — H. L. Mencken

“…and remember you’re a Man, not just a god, and for you there aren’t and never will be any easy answers, only questions, and no reasons, only causes, and no meaning, only intelligence, and no destination and no kindly magic smiling down from above, and no fires to goad you from below, only Yourself and the Universe and what you make out of the interface between the two equals.” — Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_

Okay, so, it wasn’t all THAT…. Look at it this way. It wasn’t a rant…. Well, not much of one…. After all, I didn’t shout, not once….

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

“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” — Robert Frost

Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends

Whiskey, oh, whiskey, I’d forgotten thy balm,
thy loving spread of lassitude, and nature’s own calm.
Misery and pain flee in squalid disorganization,
leaving mirth, happily embraced, in just consolation.

James, old friend, thou has not abandoned me at all,
steadfast and loyal, ever ready to answer my softest call.
Ephemeral illusions of normality come at your instigation
blessed moments of peaceful joy, sans vilification.

Gasps of coherence pound at the door to conscious thought,
muffled explosive memories of battles already fought.
Malleable as the changeable airs of time and circumstance
plaintive calls to reason stand not a single, honest chance.

Sober again, reality’s cold reign brings a new day
ringing in old changes in a new-fashioned way.
To know true freedom’s release from our everyday pain
Is worth a bit of headache, even in the cold, pouring rain.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~ two sheets to the wind, and back ~~

“You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you.”

~~ Joseph Joubert ~~

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

It occurred to me the other day, as I sat to peruse SB for an old-school pearl, my greatest enemy is reality. I’ve fought it successfully for 64 years, now, finally reaching a point where I am relatively certain of the outcome; in short, I’m winning, mostly.

On the heels of such a perfectly egotistical proclamation, allow me to also say, in this case, given much of what history has taught me, a draw may be considered a win, so, don’t think I’m getting too big for my britches. I’m well aware of my bozoid tendencies; in my mind, that makes coming out dead even (so to speak) all the more an admirable, if not impossibly unlikely, outcome, to an what has certainly been an epic ordeal… and, it’s not over yet!

Hence, the following nine-star, sort of fresh pearl, which, you will note, is bookended by Zippy. That ought to give you a clue as to the meaning of the gestalt concept at which SB apparently took aim, with unusual precision; all nine came up one after the other, with only one extra, usable elsewhere… Pretty nifty, I thought…. and, so will you. Enjoy, ffolkes, and try not to hurt yourself falling out of the chair…

“I’m having an emotional outburst!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum — “I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

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

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” — Hunter S. Thompson

“But Aristarchus of Samos brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, in which the premises lead to the conclusion that the universe is many times greater than that now so called. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the sun remain motionless, that the earth revolves about the sun in the circumference of a circle, the sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.” — Archimedes, The Sand-Reckoner, Third Century B.C.

“Humorous or profound remark or quotation pending.” — Smart Bee

“When two goats met on a bridge which was to narrow to allow either to pass or return, the goat which lay down that the other might walk over it was a finer gentleman than Lord Chesterfield.” — Cecil

“All those things which are now held to be of the greatest antiquity, were at one time new; and what we today hold up by example, will rank hereafter as precedent.” — Tacitus

“Life is full of surprises when you’re up th’ stream of consciousness without a paddle…” — Zippy the Pinhead

See what I meant? Okay, I’ve been cruel long enough. You may go now….

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

Fortunately for me, most of this Pearl was already constructed, in pieces, which I only had to piece together today to get this done. I’m glad because I’m just not in the best of spaces, for unknown reasons…. I think I’ll take today off from dealing with anything at all complicated…. nothing more complex than, oh, say, planning my next nap…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can work up the energy….

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….

How DOES it feel Tehachipi?….

Posted on February 15, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Our subjectivity

Is a mirrored,

Spiked casket.

~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~

Redwood in the City

Boy! Deng Ming sure can be harsh sometimes, eh? I usually enjoy his take on Taoist philosophy in the modern world, but, some of his quotes seem to have suffered in the translation, whether he performed it, or someone else. This one just seems to be a bit more of a “written in stone” sort of approach to a concept which seems to me to call for more flexibility, more fluidity, as does any idea used to express some part of the Tao in a way that helps others understand.

Oh, well. I suppose they can’t ALL be great aphorisms. Much like the picture today, one of my own, taken while waiting for a bus. I’m not sure whether the light patches are normal, due to light reflecting off morning mist, or, just another indication my camera is going to die soon. It’s given me other clues to warn me I’ll soon need a new one, if I wish to continue to take pictures to share. These days, that isn’t such a budget breaker as it formerly was; a good digital camera today will go on sale for under $200, with all the features an amateur such as myself can use…. I already have a tripod, and a USB cable which is industry standard, so, all I need is the camera….

Now, the trick is to find one on sale for the best price… Oh, right. Duh. Like a friend keeps pounding into my recalcitrant memory, AMAZON. Or, some other online store selling at discount prices, like E-Bay, and the ilk. Okay. I guess now I’ll have to actually do it, or suffer the embarrassment of having somebody bring it up a week from now, asking me where all the new pictures are? Oh, joy.

Now I get to go shop. Even shopping online, the whole process exhausts me; there are just too many choices, and not enough time to see them all. Since I always have a good idea of what I want, and what I want to pay, I tend to go for the first example I run across around that price, snapping it up like somebody else was going to steal it from me…. which, these days, means I probably missed a deal somewhere else for half price, of which I’ll be notified by a rapid inundation of email notices, all with free shipping, a week after getting the one I bought, at double the price, and full shipping…..

SIGH…. Now do you see why I am in the habit of saying, in full agreement with Arthur C. Clarke, there is no concrete evidence available to prove intelligence has any value as a survival tool? Even though I possess all the tools and knowledge to obtain a new camera in short order, at a good price, my own bozoid nature prevents me from utilizing those tools, or knowledge, to their best effect. At the point in time when I have the right amount of money available, I forget to go to one of the sites where I can get what I need; as soon as the money is used elsewhere, an email arrives with a good deal, or I see a picture I like, reminding me of the shortcomings of the deal I made in haste…

Ah well, at least it got me through another intro section, without having to actually strain so hard, my forehead bleeds. I hate when that happens; it runs all over my mustache. Blood is hard to clean from hair without yanking on it. Not that I’m a wimp, or anything like that, but, hey, yank on YOUR upper lip a few times, & see how YOU like it, eh?

So, do I sound Canadian? I’m thinking of visiting…. It’s getting to be the right time of year, for us warm-weather birds; I hear the spring, summer, and fall is nice up there, as long as one stays within a few hundred miles of the US border. Beyond there, it’s anybody’s ballgame when it comes to weather and cold. I’m a California boy, born and bred, (well, actually, I never asked, but, I think I’d have heard if the family was out of state a certain number of months before I was born…. but, to be honest, that part I can’t swear to…. I WAS born here, for sure, if my birth certificate is telling the truth….), in my world, cold, for long periods, or with accompanying semi-frozen water, is NOT my friend, nor anyone I enjoy spending time with…. at all.

Okay. I think eight full paragraphs of not a damn thing worth writing home about is enough for one day…. I’m outta here, before I find something else to babble about….

Shall we Pearl?

“. . is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be.” — Frank Herbert, Dune

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

This lady has been one of my favorite comediennes since I first saw her, probably on Ed Sullivan, sometime in the 60’s. (Yes, some of us were there, and still remember it!) She’s fearless…. If you can’t find a smile watching her perform, I’m sorry, but, you are one of the seriously humor-impaired…. Enjoy, ffolkes, there’s nobody like Lily Tomlin….

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

Lily Tomlin as Ernestine the Telephone Operator

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

http://youtu.be/G0l9fE2RAj8

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

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

“Love withers under constraint: its very essence is liberty:

it is compatible neither with obedience, jealousy, nor fear.”

~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley ~~

Day before yesterday’s Pearl had the customary three suggested Pearls at the bottom of the page; I sometimes read them to look for appropriate pieces for those times I’m not up to ranting, as much of what I rant about are ongoing issues, still relevant in today’s world. This is one of them, from about a year ago… Since I am not particularly up for ranting today, I offer this in lieu of anything fresh, as a worthy substitute… I mean, after all, I AM the one making the judgment, right? S’okay, it’s allowed, it’s my blog…. I hope you enjoy it, depressing as it may be for those who continue to hold out hope the world will make any necessary changes, in time to save our sorry butts…

From 2/25/2014; Introduction section:

Terrible things could happen now…. they could, you know. And, we’ll deserve every second we experience of mind-numbing, soul-chilling, petrifying terror, because, hey, we’re the ones who left the door wide open, inviting it to enter our domain, bringing with it our ultimate doom…. Yes, it’s our own damn fault, and we will know the truth of the matter, because we have been warned, having previously been given wisdom such as this….

This is not new wisdom, that we’ve never before seen or suspected; history has provided us with innumerable instances proving the truth of this aphorism….. Time after time throughout our short span of existence on this world, we find examples of men or women who had prior knowledge of an issue, and, by their silence, allowed it to take place, to the detriment of all…. It doesn’t make it right, but, it is certainly not an uncommon issue for mankind…. Such issues are not, perhaps, of all those we are given by Reality, our favorite gifts, …. In fact, many don’t look on this, or any knowledge, as gifts, at all; THAT is a big part of the entire problem….

Our problem is a failure of spirit, one which has to do with a basic virtue, one that has been claimed as the basis for all other virtues; without this characteristic, none of our finer qualities are ever seen in the light of day…. That pillar upon which all other virtue rests, then, is Courage…. Yes, plain and simple, courage….

I have found, in my fairly long life, most of mankind, I’m afraid, are cowards…. I’m not an exception, though it IS something I’ve tried hard to mitigate…. Fear is a hard thing for most of us to admit, even though it isn’t considered abnormal; it’s strength, and the way it causes us to lose control frightens us… However, that power is also its saving grace; the guilt one feels, for having given in to fear, stimulates us to greater effort, whereupon we find that courage within ourselves, the next time we are in danger of giving in…. This is how almost everything we do, of an ethical nature, ever gets done…. because someone discovers they DO have the courage to act when there is danger to themselves, or to those for whom they care…..

That is what it takes, you see…. No virtuous act can ever take place, unless good people have the courage to act in the face of the Evil that exists, in spite of the fear they feel in the presence of that Evil. If they don’t summon, or find somewhere with themselves, the courage to act ethically, or morally, then, Evil has free rein to let itself out to play in human affairs, to the detriment of us all….

Each of us has to find our own courage, often deep within ourselves; the courage to put aside our fear, to carry on with what we know to be right, even though expediency and comfort are left behind in…. Living with honor and integrity is never the easiest path we can take; it is always fraught with danger, simply because it doesn’t avoid evil, claiming it’s too hard, but, rather, confronts it, endeavoring to deal with it in a straightforward, upright fashion…. thus, preserving one’s own honor, when one is forced to have truck with what always leaves us feeling a bit dirty….

All I have written above is true and complete, to the best of my knowledge. It constitutes a fairly accurate assessment of today’s situation here on planet Earth, as I perceive it…. Evil is out there, ffolkes; if we… that’s you, and I…. fail to stand up to it, look it in the eye, and tell it to “fuck off, you bloody sod!”, it will continue to manifest its existence, at will, causing untold pain and suffering for us all…. So, be brave, ffolkes…. Don’t let Evil have its way, without at least a token resistance, ‘kay?…. “Kay!…..

“Asked what he gained from philosophy, he answered, “To do without being commanded what others do from fear of the laws.”” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi

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

Ah well, what’s a Bozo to do, but, pull up his pants, pull down his shades, and smile, smile, smile? Why, he should use an old sort-of-love poem, only a day late for Valentine’s Day…. Well, that or bend over & kiss his own butt, which, at his age, is anatomically impossible…. thank goodness. Just read the poem, ffolkes, & don’t make me talk any more, okay? I’m losing it, fast…. But, I do hope you like the poem….

Time, and again….

Life, and/or love, will seldom fit
into any box we keep for them to sit.
Loose and limber, without any reason,
always somewhat out of season.

Surprise, surprise, they seem to say,
we can’t help it, it’s just our way.
If only you would learn, instead of know,
maybe you’d find yourself with one to show.

Deal, just the way it is, now and here,
follow the path, on the other side of fear.
Finding the future isn’t all blood, sweat, and pain,
far, far more than mere joy we stand to gain.

The sages all say not to try, just do,
sounds as simple as putting on a shoe.
I’d say we could really go places,
if we could but learn, to tie up the laces….

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Below you will find a quite nice pearl, of the standard variety, stretched into a nine-star configuration…. Smart Bee has continued to perform its duty with excellent dedication, so, there is no lack of good stuff to include…. You might wish to take notes on this pearl; ALL of these little gems could conceivably be on the Final Quiz we all must take one day…. If not, they’ll be of good use getting you by, in Life, until it’s time to sharpen your pencils….

“Well begun is half done.” — Aristotle

“Many things do not happen as they ought. Most things do not happen at all.” — Smart Bee

“The universe is not indifferent to intelligence, it is actively hostile to it. Death is a commingling of eternity with time; in the death of a good man, eternity is seen looking through time.” — Goethe

“All stressed out, and no one to choke.” — gigoid, the dubious, via Smart Bee

“The world is not to be put in order, the world is order incarnate. It is for us to put ourselves in unison with this order.” — Henry Miller

“I am only a rat in a maze, like you — only the dead go free.” — Smart Bee

“In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap xi

“Death the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening.” — Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

“What I like is when you’re looking and thinking and looking and thinking… and suddenly you wake up.” — Hobbes

See? Pretty good, eh? I keep telling you; it’s all in the wrist….

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

I’m not entirely sure what may have taken place here today. I’ve been up for over two hours, having somehow regressed into a strong episode of tardive dyskinesia, which I had hoped to be done with until the next med cut…. An hour in a chair, trembling oneself awake every few minutes, jumpy as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs is NOT fun, let me assure you…. Fortunately, I’d done a lot of this yesterday, so, it went smoothly enough; I’m merely unsure of how my brain is functioning. I can’t seem to feel it….

Oh, well. More proof we don’t really need our brains to get by, I guess. For now, I think I’ll just toss in the towel, and try to go back to bed, once the sun comes up…. Hmm… that’s completely ass backwards, isn’t it?…. Fuck it…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can’t talk myself out of it….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Off with their Keds!….

Posted on February 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Education is the best provision for old age.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

Supermoon over Germany, January 2015 (UK Guardian POTD Feature)

It’s nice to know I was already following Aristotle’s advice before I even read his quote. Sometimes, we get lucky…. In this case, I think what happened with me is the best, and most important piece of luck we humans can encounter in our lives, for it takes place before we have any real chance of understanding the bet, or the nature of the risk in gambling, much less the name of the game in which we are already involved…

Like all of us, we start out in the game without any idea of the rules, or who the banker/dealer might be, or exactly how we got into the game. We are playing a game with our very lives as the only currency, in a dark room, in a game with hidden rules, and a dealer who just sits there with his marked deck of cards, and most of the bank, smiling, smiling, smiling…. The game is rigged ffolkes, and most of us don’t know how to play anything more complex than 52 pick-up….. Even if we learn to play by whatever rules we can discover, the deck is marked, and the dealer has a mirror behind your chair. The odds are not good….

Cute, I suppose, but, hardly the way to life anyone’s spirits right off the bat, is it? It’s getting harder, each day, to keep from ranting here in the introductory section; the world has gone mad, mad, mad. I pride myself, generally, on being phlegmatic, when it comes to END GAME scenarios. An old scientific saying comes to mind a lot these days, as conspiracy theories abound; there is so much believable evidence of conspiracy, by the same group of people, over and over again, it’s hard not to bring to mind, to wit: “Never ascribe to evil what can be attributed to stupidity.” There are other variations, but, it is a concept that must be considered when coming to any conclusions.

Even that paragraph is probably too much for an intro, and, all it did was try to explain the paragraph before. SIGH, this sure can get out of hand quickly, can’t it? I’m not sure why; it must have something to do with writing left to right, and down… I think the “down” part influences reality in such a way that the first section of any piece tends to droop, as gravity pulls it down the page…. I don’t know for sure. but, that SOUNDS like it might be true, so that’s what we’re going with…. See, it’s not my fault!…. It’s gravity!

Okay, I apologize. That much pure, unadulterated silly is probably also too much. I guess I’ll give up again, and use #4 to get us out of here, before this goes somewhere we can’t get back from…. In fact, we’re bailing, NOW….

Shall we Pearl?

“In specifications, Murphy’s Law supersedes Ohm’s.” — Klipstein’s Law of Specification

Oh. No wonder, then….

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

I found this video the other day when I used the one about the Pool Party, with all the Labradors having a ball in the water…. This one is even cuter, if possible….. and very relaxing, to boot…. We all need plenty of that these days….

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

One Hour of Funny Dogs

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

http://youtu.be/Vi8VKaOi2nc

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

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

“Democracy is, by the nature of it, a self-canceling business: and gives in the long run a net result of zero.” — Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish historian — Chartism (1839)

“I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” — Thomas Carlyle

“Three elements of modern civilization: Gunpowder, Printing, and the Protestant Religion.” — Thomas Carlyle

At first, when I first heard the latter quote, (literally heard; I first encountered it in a BBC mystery movie, quoted by characters in Gaudy Night), I thought Mr. Carlyle was being completely straight-faced and serious, marking him as one of those who partake in all three, which are the tools, and the means by which the elite ruling class has achieved practically complete domination of the entire world. However, given the first two quotes, also attributed to the learned gentleman, it may be he was speaking in a rather more critical vein, as it should be.

Those three elements provide all that is needed to control almost every person in the world, in one respect or another. For those who subscribe to the philosophy of those in power, with their ability to rationalize any action to suit their own needs, regardless of the effect on ANY other entity, no act of cruelty, manipulation, or abuse of trust is unthinkable. In point of fact, all three of those qualities are rewarded; the more one is able to assume, and collect resources and power by lying, cheating, or otherwise breaking trust with others, the higher in the echelons of court sycophants they rise, becoming ever more removed from other people, and their own humanity.

Gunpowder to provide the physical means to intimidate, to abuse, to kill, in the name of the state, or a religion, or other principle which serves the purposes of those who make the money by keeping the world in conflict. The more wars that occur, the richer they become, because the own or control the armories, the manufacturing plants, the marketing to buyers of weapons of mass destruction. One small statistic: the US spent $750,000,000 per day to bomb the ISIS group in the middle east. That is the amount for ONE day, in ONE war, by ONE country to wage war, which sounds like a fair number to use as a base line cost for a day of war between nations, UN recognized, or not….

First, who got the money our taxes were spent on to buy guns, bombs, etc.? Why, the arms dealers, and bankers, of course. Second, multiply that huge, insane number of dollars by the number of days in the year, and the number of wars happening around the world, to get a number that will astound you…. That’s just ONE year….., and ONE day’s take. If more than one war is going on at once, well, that might add up even faster, now, wouldn’t it? Or, is my math off somehow? I was always pretty good at basic arithmetic, which is all this is…

Printing has helped the predators in our species without limit. You see, they know the power of a lie, and they know how gullible the average human is…. so, printing allows them to spread their lies farther and faster than they had ever been able to do before, in all of recorded history. Now, with the advent of computers, the misinformation and obfuscation of which they are capable becomes literally incalculable… In this process, their most favored, and most efficient, AND effective cadre of supporters, sycophants, and, quite simply, snake-oil salesmen, and shills have always come in the form of religion, of which the Protestant Religion has done more to enslave mankind than any previous organization of that nature, except perhaps the Catholic Church….

Need some proof? Hell, one of them gave us a pretty clear example of how they do it, about a couple hundred years ago. It is a statement almost everyone has read, in school, yet, nobody ever seems to remember it as it keeps happening, over, and over, and over, and over, and, well, you get the picture…. This asshole, the highest ranking member of the Church of his time, after the Pope, said once:

“If you give me six lines written by the most honest man,

I will find something in them to hang him.”

~~ Cardinal de Richelieu ~~

Uh oh…. I think I just heresied on several important religions. Oh well, such is Life. Onward….

The Protestants, though, were the strong right arm of the elite during the Dark Ages, then, continued their complete over-mastery of the public mind in the Renaissance, into the modern era; no church has ever been so strongly allied with the governments of the time, save the aforementioned Catholics… but, the Catholic Church concentrates on robbing the poor, in such a way they remain such their entire lives, all for the promise of Heaven in the next life. The Protestants do the same for the middle classes, as well as for those of the upper classes, who are directly under the spell of those actually in charge, who manipulate them all…

I saw an interesting graphic picture the other day on my buddy Lou’s site, (https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/impressive-vs-very-impressive-gates-and-rothschild/) showing the real story behind the story of the income gap we are hearing so much about these days; the monied classes, having secured as much power as they feel they need to secure THEIR future, are not hiding their machinations quite so much, (it has become a bit harder to do with the Internet available to so many people now, which can expose those pieces of clear evidence which indicate the true state of affairs).

Check out a rather scary piece of reality, ffolkes….

Click to enlarge, to read the fine print. You need to read it all.

I don’t know, what do you think? Is that obscene? Or nauseating? Maybe… No, most certainly, it must be BOTH obscene, and nauseating. As well as nauseatingly obscene. Obscenely nauseating also fits…. I swear, if either one of these assholes ever showed their face in my immediate vicinity, well, there wouldn’t be as MUCH of a problem left to deal with… except, I’m sure, the Baron, no doubt, has a relative or two that will also need to be evacuated from the gene pool…. The sooner, the better, if you ask me….

Enough for one day.Ta then, ffolkes….

“If it should become necessary to fight,

could you locate me some rocks to throw at them?”

~~ Riker, “Contagion”, stardate 42609.1 ~~

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

This isn’t a poem, in the traditional sense. But, knowing something about the Hopi, I would imagine the message is intended to be sung, in a ceremony over a course of time, with attendant sobriety and dignity. So, it probably SOUNDS like a poem, even if it isn’t exactly what we would think of in that way…. Of course, those of us who read this blog are, if not exactly all lily-white, we ARE English speaking; that does give us a handicap in understanding reality, from the Hopi/Anasazi/Aleuts/Apache/Chiricawa/Cheyenne/Cherokee, okay… a LOT of other tribes’. point(s) of view, which tend to be quite dissimilar to any Western European, or any other cultural point of view, from ANYWHERE else in the world….

Message from A Hopi Elder

Oraibi,Arizona

“You have been telling people that this is the eleventh hour.

Now you must go back and tell people that this is the hour!

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your Garden.

It is time to speak your truth.

Create your community.

Be good to yourself.

And not look outside of yourself for a leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing very fast.

It is so great and fast that there are those who will be afraid.

They will hold on to the shore.

They will feel that they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know that the river has its destination.

The elders say that we must let go of the shore,

push off into the middle of the river,

keep our eyes open,

and our heads above the water.

See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time we are to take nothing personally,

least of all, ourselves.

For the moment that we do,

our spiritual growth comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.

Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones that we have been waiting for.”

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

Strange. Very strange, indeed. I’m not even going to comment on this one, at all…. Just play it as it lies; don’t work too hard at deciphering the meaning, and, all will be well…..

“It is more than a crime; it is a political fault,” — Joseph Fouche (1763-1820) — Memoirs of Fouche

“Get off the cross, Bob. Somebody else needs the wood!” — Smart Bee

“A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes.” — James Feibleman, “Understanding Philosophy”, 1973

“Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry on.” — Steven Stills

“If you learn something by watching the mistakes of others, it just seems fair to make some effort to return the favor.” — Smart Bee

“Accomplishment is its own reward. Pride obscures it.” — Major Briggs, from Twin Peaks

“Every institution I’ve ever been associated with has tried to screw me.” — Stephen Wolfram

“I have found some of the best reasons I ever had for remaining at the bottom simply by looking at the men at the top.” — Frank Moore Colby

“Healthy mindedness is inadequate as a philosophical doctrine, because the evil facts which it refuses positively to account for are a genuine portion of reality; and they may after all be the best key to life’s significance..” — William James

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

One of my blogging friends sometimes laughs at me, calling me the champ of parenthetical remarks. Whenever she does, I think of this line:

“Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.” — Frank L. Visco, How to Write Good

I tell her, though, I’m not listening to someone who mangles English grammar & vocabulary so powerfully, (especially in ONE line), no matter how true the remark…. Also, I’m stubborn, (pretty damn serious about it, too….), so, no doubt, I’ll ignore it, and just plan on keeping her in stitches every time she stops by to read… So there…. Take THAT, milady!….

Now that I’ve completed the childish portion of the program, I’d best take my leave, before anything sillier comes over me. Y’all know how much Murphy enjoys spoiling my day. Before I become truly paranoid, let us be off, even further than we started the day…. Let us carpe that old diem!….. 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….

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

View Full Profile →

	katiemiafrederick on Are those Foster Grants to blo…
	katiemiafrederick on Funk-o-matic accessories are o…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on But…. but…. what a…

gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Aristotle

Just whack it once; she wouldn’t mind….

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: