Flibbertigibbets for sale or lease….

Posted on June 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Instead of being born again, why not just grow up?”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Emma

Good morning. We meet again…. What? Who is Emma? Oh, just a lovely young cat I met, while off playing in the BBR this last week…. She’s a peach, for sure. But, since we have much to do, we’ll leave Emma to go chasing her lizards, and get on with our business….

Shall we Pearl?

“Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. . . . the human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive.” — Frank Herbert, Dune

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Today’s video selection is a concert, from 1991, by two string instrument virtuosos, who played for a long time together. Their first album together, called Old And In The Way, which is what they called their two-man group for a while, changing it to Grateful Dawg later on. Together, they gave us some of the finest music of the twentieth century…. Enjoy!….

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Jerry Garcia & David Grisman

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https://youtu.be/PJl-zvWLitY

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“The effects which follow too constant and intense a concentration upon evil are always disastrous. Those who crusade, not _for_ God in themselves, but _against_ the devil in others, never succeed in making the world better, but leave it either as it was, or sometimes even perceptibly worse than it was, before the crusade began. By thinking primarily of evil we tend, however excellent our intentions, to create occasions for evil to manifest itself.” — Aldous Huxley — The Devils of Loudun

I’ve seen, and probably used, this quote previously, to act as the centerpiece of a rant…. I’m not quite ready to write any fresh ones, so, again, here is the piece created for the first time this situation occurred here on ECR…. Don’t fret, ffolkes, it’s a short, but, pithy one, not a long, passionate one….. No drama today…. Well, no huge drama, anyway….

From 9/15/2012:

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

See? There, now, I’ve been saying this for years, and here’s old Marcus Aurelius, that Roman cogitator extraordinaire, putting it straight out there way back around the time of J.C.’s failed attempt at societal reform. A very cogent, yet poignant description of human nature and the preponderance of Ego that drives most of humanity to act out of their own ignorance, rather than consider the veracity or usefulness of someone else’s ideas. This format for stating this answer to one of the great questions is one that all the best philosophers choose when creating aphorisms; clear, simple language and brutally honest self-examination provide us with true wisdom, like it or not……

What particularly gets me about people at large is the high percentage of folks who fall into the trap that Ego sets; for some reason, people seem to prefer the cozy blindness with which ignorance can cover them to the cold, harsh light of self-knowledge. The very ego that sets them apart from the rest of the animals who inhabit this planet becomes also the greatest threat to survival, when it is allowed to dictate how one views reality.

The state of society in today’s world rests on the brink of total collapse; any number of issues currently in play in the world can lead us to upheaval unseen since the last Ice Age. Pollution, created by mankind, is pumping tons of carbon monoxide into the air every minute, and all those precipitates are eventually bound to cause changes to climate that we will have no power to stop, or reverse.

The economy of the world is constantly on the verge of collapse in these times, due mostly to the unacknowledged crimes of the 1% of mankind who controls 99% of the money and resources. These crimes arise, again, out of Ego, as the elite of the world believe that they are “different” from the rest of humanity, and deserve to make all the decisions, which oddly enough, are only beneficial to themselves….. again, the power of Ego trumps virtue…..

I’m a smart guy, pretty much, but this is a problem for which even I cannot find a solution, other than the age-old, time-worn, and always ineffective war between the classes. That solution has been tried innumerable times throughout history, and each time the same structure of society re-settles into the same old shape, with a few people at the top, making all the important decisions for the rest of humanity. All because we, as individuals, and as a species, cannot learn to control our ego, to persuade it to act for the benefit of all, rather than just looking out for itself….. I figure that whatever happens will be what we deserve, and I can’t say that I think it will be very pretty, for the species….. or for a lot of individuals…..

Maybe there is a solution…. as a matter of fact, there is one that has been around for as long as mankind has been writing stuff down…. and it’s always the same little piece of advice, a little idea that can change one’s entire life and world-view….. but only if it is accepted, and believed, and applied to reality…… Everybody knows this, but, how many actually live it?…..

“Do unto all as you would wish to have done unto you, and reject for others what you would reject for yourself.” — Mohammed

That’s right, the Golden Rule…. a basic tenet of EVERY philosophy that Mankind has ever formulated; even most religions will acknowledge the wisdom of this, though it doesn’t serve their interests as well as they would wish. But, throughout history, we have always known what is the right way to act…. we’ve just always chosen not to apply the principle in interacting with others…. Instead, we allow our ego to dictate how we behave, thus bringing us to the current world, with all of its problems and dangers…..

SIGH….. It’s really quite easy, and it’s the only answer that will work, in the long run. It really is too bad that most of humanity isn’t buying into it, isn’t it?……

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Visible life

Forty-two days of pressure and internal rain,
leave marks of salvation, often in pain.
Such sharp reminders of yesterday’s remorse
fight heavily to keep a straight course.
Rash moments, bright, and routinely immense
Give us pleasure, bereft of common sense.

Still the night comes soft and eternally dear
to bring out wishful dreams so vitally clear.
Life’s myrmidons give freely in protest
lifting with skill, soul pieces first to infest,
Loudly brash, with no such voices to remain
Sealed in infamy, branded ugliness all too plain.

Now come brave signs of chapter and verse
Shielded by ignorance, irritable and terse.
Gravid portions of in-between retaliation
leave only pale marks of initial gestation
With hope even pallid warriors grow brave
Leading all humanity, to a warm, stale grave.

Hope never falters, nor leaves any trace
Yet lingers forever in a welcoming space.
Cheerful faces yet shine out of time
for tricking and fumbling sweet melody sublime.
Fill in the spaces with a long, strong retort
life is ever visible, if only as last resort.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/15/2012

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The very first time I failed to post a Pearl, after beginning in August of 2011, was on 9/14/2012. Since I missed a few days here in 2015, (though yesterday was not one of those…), I went back to find the pearl I first created back in the day, on the occasion of my first failure to post…. This is one of the offerings from that day’s Pearl…. It’s a good one, so, you won’t be missing out on anything you might otherwise have seen today…. Got that?…. Good, because I’m totally confused…..

From 9/15/2012:

Here is an old-school pearl, using quotes from fairly famous people….. and some not so famous outside SF fandom. All of the quotes, when co-mingled and mixed up like a smoothie, will give you a really good philosophy of life, and lots of good advice for living with a serene mind….. good luck!….

“He who knows does not speak, He who speaks does not know.” — Lao Tzu

Water wears the rock — Smart Bee

“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.” — Buddha

“Human beings do not survive on bread alone … but on the nourishments of liberty. For what indeed is a man without freedom … naught but a mechanism, trapped in the cogwheels of eternity.” — Harry Mudd, “I, Mudd,” stardate 4513.3.

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

“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men.” — Joseph Conrad

“Yeah, but you’re taking the universe out of context.” — Smart Bee

There, see how painless that was? You’ll never even know you’ve been enlightened, until you wake up in the middle of the night, mumbling something about “he who speaks….”….. Onward into the fray!….

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Gosh! Will you look at that? It’s a Pearl….. Moreover, it’s done. Wow, Moms, look what I found….

Okay, I’ll stop. But, it’s all true, so, we’ll fly with it. Besides, what else can I do with a finished Pearl, but, post it? Nothing, that’s what. So, I’ll go do that, and, when you’re done reading all this nonsense, you can do that, too…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should the Universe decide to give me one more break….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Terror in the breakfast food aisle…

Posted on June 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I had a hunch something like this would happen.”

~~Written on grave ~~

Image created by Europa’s Ice Wolf Herself

https://europasicewolf.wordpress.com/2015/05/29/let-us-go-you-and-i/

Good morrow…. Today is the day, he said, cryptically…. Change is in the air….

Shall we Pearl?

“If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there.” — The Cowboy’s Guide to Life

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David Bromberg

Image via pbs.org via Google Images

This artist is one many people have never seen, or heard of; during the late 60’s and early 70’s he was a favorite of the counter-culture of the time…. His music is a blend of rock, folk, and bluegrass, with a side of damn silly at times…. His song, “I Will Not Be Your Fool” remains one of my all-time favorite versions of the talkin’ blues…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this one is a hidden gem….

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David Bromberg

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https://youtu.be/MNzSMdGINyQ

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“Our main task for the coming era is… a radical renewal of our sense of responsibility. Our conscience must catch up with our reason — otherwise we are lost. It is my profound conviction that there is only one way to achieve this: we must divest ourselves of our egotistical anthropocentrism, our habit of seeing ourselves as the masters of the universe who can do whatever occurs to us. We must acknowledge what transcends us: the universe, earth, nature, life, and reality. Our respect for other people, for other nations, and for other cultures can only grow from a humble respect for the cosmic order and from an awareness that we are part of it, that we share in it, and that nothing we do is lost, but, rather, that what we do becomes part of the eternal memory of Being, where it is judged… It is also essential that the Euro-American cultural sphere– the one that created this civilization and taught humanity its destructive pride– now return to its spiritual roots and become an example to the rest of the world in the search for a new humility.” — Vaclav Havel, address, Harvard University, June 8, 1995

Václav Havel, (born October 5, 1936, Prague, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic] — died December 18, 2011, Hrádecek, Czech Republic), Czech playwright, poet, and political dissident, who, after the fall of communism, was president of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and of the Czech Republic (1993–2003).

I thank Mr. Havel sincerely for this quote; it’s a pretty good summary of the root message I have been trying to get through to anyone who reads my work. Having concluded the same root cause to the problems we now face as a species, a culture, and as living creatures, to be found in the lack of willingness of almost every human to take responsibility for their actions. Far, far too many of those who live in today’s world have no idea of their own connection to Life, or the Universe, nor do they have any idea of how they fit into either one….

How did we come to this? Why are there so many people in the world with a sense of entitlement unlike any other creature of which we have any knowledge? Why do people think they have the right to do whatever they wish to make themselves happy, no matter what sort of effect it may have on the world around them, whether other people, animals, or the world at large…. All of it is the property of Man, as seen by these arrogant, hairless apes, who can’t even, most of the time, figure out by themselves how to keep from shooting themselves in the foot.

Well, I can explain…. But, it isn’t a popular concept; not surprising as it is diametrically opposed to most of what you, or anyone has heard all their lives…. There are those who have seen the truth; they’ve tried their best to tell people what they have seen, but, for the most part, people don’t want to hear things that don’t fit in with their longest-held beliefs… Thomas Paine, one of the founding fathers of this country was one such man… He pointed out the culprits as clearly as he could, with words such as these…

“Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the bible is filled, it would seem more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.” — Thomas Paine — The Age of Reason

Just a few days ago, this country sold some Billions of dollars worth of arms, in the form of rockets, bombs, ammunition, and supporting technology to Israel, and another of our allies currently waging war somewhere around the world…. Now, it may surprise you to know that we, the USA, are the single biggest dealer of arms in the world; there are people in every corner of the world being killed by our weapons every minute of every day…. Yep, us, the peace-loving, freedom-bearing, rapacious businessmen from Amurica, who will sell anyone the means to fight wars, or, merely oppress their own people….

At the same time, as I read just today, here at home, in Amurica, our own police are killing two citizens, on average, every day, according to statistics gathered by the Washington Post, while video after video hits the news, and You Tube, showing actual crimes committed by police, with no charges ever brought…. My father, who fought in the Pacific Theater during World War II, for four years, would have been appalled at the state of affairs today, in this land he loved.

I can see him sitting at his desk, after having a talk about the material not in the news during the Vietnam War, writing to the Department of the Army, as a retired veteran of that service, asking for explanations for some of what he was hearing…. He got a runaround, for the most part, and became an active letter-writer to the service voicing his concerns…. I can do no less…

But, how many people do YOU know who are willing to say that? Not many, I’d wager. If there were, the world would be different than it is…. No, the corporate snakes, the pundits, the preachers, all have the public, for the vast majority, completely bamboozled, into believing an entire pantheon of delusions, and lies, all of which are intended to keep them ignorant of the truth, and, to keep the money, and the power, in their hands alone….
Let me show this another way…. If I were to read the following verses to the Congress of the United States, how many of them do you think would A) understand half of it, B) agree with ANY of it, or, C) look confused, then angry….. Moreover, how many of them would NOT lie to anyone who asked them about the arms deal with Israel? Okay, I know, I switched horses too fast; I even lost myself with that one…. But, my point remains…. the people who make up our government, all 455 of them (that’s all!!!…), who have almost complete power over the rest of us, do NOT believe ANY of this is true….

Arms are instruments of ill omen… .

When one is compelled to use them it is best to do so without relish.

There is no glory in victory, and to glorify it despite this is to exult in the killing of men… .

When great numbers of people are killed, one should weep over them with sorrow.

When victorious in war, one should observe mourning rites.

~~ Lao-Tzu ~~

Note, please, Lao Tzu does not say “if great numbers of heroes are killed”, or, “if great numbers of enemies are killed”. He just says “people”.

Now, how many of our Beloved Ruling Class have you ever seen, or heard, express their SINCERE regrets over the losses incurred in our wars? Especially for those valiant defenders of their own homelands, when we have bombed and invaded them, to bring them the “advantages” of democracy and freedom (read: “new markets for our corporate masters”), whom we call insurgents, or rebels, or the current bogey-word of choice, terrorists…..

“The greatness of every mighty organization embodying an idea in this world lies in the religious fanaticism and intolerance with which, fanatically convinced of its own right, it intolerably imposes its will against all others.” — Adolf Hitler, “Mein Kampf”

Right…. None.

I’m done. The reason for that is simple. I’m getting nauseated, thinking about those fat cats, sitting in D.C., thinking they are all that, and deciding for everyone else exactly how they are going to screw them next….

Remember, ffolkes…. you only have the rights you can defend….

“The army commander of a large State may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken from him.” — Confucius

gigoid has spoken, and, he’s pissed off.

So be it.

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“Poetry is the journal of a sea animal, living on land, wanting to fly in the air… Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable… Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away…” — Carl Sandburg, “Poetry Considered”, Atlantic Monthly, March 1923

I’m fairly certain very little of my poetry quite lives up to Carl’s description; I do my best, though, and, I like this one…

Retrospective, defined in folly….

Yesterday
I wrote a poem.

It bled out of my head,
like I’d been struck with
an axe,
right through the artery,
in the neck,
spraying blood around
everywhere,
like a pulsing garden hose….

It hurt, at first,
then came the feeling,

of quick relief,
of timeless beauty,

of pain avenged,
of lust aroused,

of outrage aflame,
of deep compassion,

of endless empathy,
of truest love….

Now it’s gone, cast away
like pearls before twine.

(Grin…)

You thought
I was going to call you
a pig,
didn’t you?

Hah!

Well, you’re not.
You’re a person.

I know, because
you’re reading this poem…
if that’s what it is.
I think it is,
so,
maybe it is.

Or, maybe,
it will be,
someday, when it
grows up,
and learns to rhyme.
Whew…
Just in time…..

That’s all.
Reality often sucks wind,
y’know?

S’okay, though….
It keeps us busy,
and out of some of the
mischief,
so much part
of our
nature.

We all can do
only what we
do.

Or, don’t.

Two sides, one coin.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 8/31/2014

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If you want happiness…
For an hour – take a nap
For a day – go fishing
For a month – get married
For a year – inherit a fortune
For a lifetime – help someone else.

~~ Chinese Proverb ~~

“Drop the question what tomorrow may bring, and count as profit every day that fate allows you.” — Horace

“Speak in silver, reply in gold.” — Ancient Swahili saying

“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleges, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.” — Leo Tolstoy

“The glory of riches and of beauty is frail and transitory; virtue remains bright and eternal.” — Sallust (B.C. 86-34)

“A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.” — Japanese proverb

“Truth comes as an enemy only to those who have lost the ability to welcome it as a friend.” — Smart Bee

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Okay, so, I’m not entirely sure what happened here today, but, as far as I can tell, it’s done. So be it…. though I hate to repeat myself. Ah well, it’s a day for changes, so, we’ll all just have to deal with it…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, from a new locus…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Mayo, peanut butter, & pickles… Yum!….

Posted on May 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“One’s mind is like a knife.

If you don’t sharpen it, it gets rusty.”

~~ Nien Cheng ~~

Doh! NOT Downwind, Leo! You’re supposed to stalk upwind!

Image of Dumbest Lion in Africa from UK Guardian Animal Pictures of the Week

Good morrow, Gentle Reader…. Not to worry; today’s intro is being returned to its most efficient format…. Watch and learn….

Shall we Pearl?

“Don’t teach your children what to think; just teach them to think.” — Tannenbaum

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free-vector-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail_080696_monty-python-and-the-holy-grail

Image from 4vecter.com via Google Images

As I sat to think of a video for today, I had an inspiration, stimulated by a random thought. I had thought to use videos today for the ranting section, so, in this section, I thought to go with something a bit silly…. When I thought of what group, or character might fit the bill, only one name came to the surface… I wrote the name dutifully into the proper area, and will now proceed to go find the proper video to give y’all a proper taste of the group of characters who have laid claim to the word “Silly”, to such good effect, they are the first to come to mind…. I give you the inventors of the Silly Walk, the legendary British Improvisational Group…. Monty Python….. I’ve started y’all off with their opus magnum, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in the full movie version… Plenty of other choices to see by visiting the You Tube page link below….

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Monty Python

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https://youtu.be/tW3Se4WDcXE

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Today’s ranting section will be a bit different…. I always like to try new stuff, so, here is a video rant, using the almost perfect mini-rants (though, in reality, they’re not so mini….) by John Oliver, on his weekly show, Last Week with John Oliver…. To cover the subject completely, I decided to include a rant against four groups of Asininnies, to wit: Corporate snakeheads (Wealth Gap), Myrmidons, (Police Militarization), Poly Pundits (Elected Judges), and, Spies and Lies (Government Surveillance). Each one will also provide any number of other fine mini-rants to choose from, by visiting the You Tube page where the video lives…. Enjoy, ffolkes; it’s bound to be an improvement over listening to me rant….

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Wealth Gap

https://youtu.be/LfgSEwjAeno

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Government Surveillance

https://youtu.be/XEVlyP4_11M

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Police Militarization

https://youtu.be/KUdHIatS36A

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Elected Judges

https://youtu.be/poL7l-Uk3I8

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Last posted on 6/22/2013, this is a somber poem, but, has always been a favorite of mine…. The author, naturally, needs no introduction….

There’s a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.

Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings, are.

None may teach it anything,
‘T is the seal, despair, —
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.

When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, ‘t is like the distance
On the look of death.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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The old-school pearl for today turned out to be a fairly good one. Parameters were set for more silliness, with a side of good advice on Life at Large…. This is what happened…. Enjoy! Oh, and, take notes. Some of this will be on the Quiz….

“Once when Phocion had delivered an opinion which pleased the people,… he turned to his friend and said, “Have I not unawares spoken some mischievous thing or other?” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Phocion

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

“The universe is intractably squiggly.” — Charles Suhor

“The silence depressed me. it wasn’t the silence of silence that bothered me; it was my own silence.” — Sylvia Plath

“It’s a good idea to obey all the rules when you’re young just so you’ll have the strength to break them when you’re old.” — Mark Twain

“The wisest man is generally he who thinks himself the least so.” — Boileau

“You may not be responsible for falling down, but you are for getting back up.” — Smart Bee

” What then in the last resort are the truths of mankind? — They are the _irrefutable_ errors of mankind.” — Nietzsche

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

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I’ll take it. I have to, it’s mine. That being said, I’m outta here…. Two and three-quarter days to lift-off, and the details are in the devil. Whatever that means…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if only in your dreams…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

If yes, then, no. Otherwise….

Posted on May 29, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“When in doubt, tell the truth.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

Artist’s rendition of EUSA Mars Lander “Insight”

Due to land on Mars in 2016, recorded by two satellites soon to be in orbit around Mars.

Image from Space.com

Good morrow, mon amis…. Today’s Pearl is somewhat special…. It was created mostly yesterday, with some from even the day before. Parts of it are from the archives, including the following intro section from a Pearl a couple years ago that speaks of some recent discussions here, and, in my opinion, is quite good, if your standards aren’t strictly Puritan…. It might not be Ibsen, but, it’s art, to paraphrase a character in a book…. (Go figure….)

The rest is, I think, also pretty fair, all things considered, though not necessarily in the same order as all things.

Huh? What did he say?

Ah well… Don’t fret; we’re going to just go on ahead as if it never happened. Two minutes from now, I promise, you’ll have forgotten this moment of disturbance in the Metaphorse completely….

Alright, Luigi; they’re as ready as I can get them. Take it away….

From 6/22/2013:

Ffolkes,

‘Tis a sad commentary to note one’s entire life boils down to one moment, particularly when, in that moment, one realizes the greatest skill one has developed is the ability to dither, or blather, or, as they used to say, to speak piffle….. Disheartening, to say the least; I had hoped for something a bit more dignified, or at least more useful. Piffle, as it was called in the previous century, is only useful to those who speak it, or, to those who understand and appreciate it; it’s a very small number…. The rest of society views piffle somewhat askance, as they have no idea either what is said, or what it may mean…. which, ultimately, is their loss…..

Of course, I can’t claim to be anywhere near as good at it as, say, Lord Peter Wimsey, from Dorothy L. Sayer’s novels; her books tend to intimidate as much as educate, as I believe she wrote with the Oxford Dictionary at close hand (seldom having to open it, I would guess…). Every page she wrote was filled with brilliant demonstration of a writer who loved the English language, one who seemed to use ALL of it in her writing. In my most egotistic dreams, I write only half as well as she did, for I don’t ever expect to be able to match her expertise, or her originality. Only someone with such a strong love, and full understanding, of the language could use it in such a way as to make it ironically humorous, while at the same time, pointedly insulting, laughingly charming, thrillingly suspenseful, or scathingly brilliant.

SIGH…. To my everlasting regret, I can’t do that, not as well as I’d like. It is a constant disappointment to me that I cannot; it’s one of the few skills in my life that I can say truthfully that I have been unable to master, once I set my mind to its acquisition. Perhaps, before I pass on to the next dimension, or whatever happens after we die, I’ll get closer to writing better piffle; I hope so. If not, well, I can always go back and read more of Ms. Sayers’ work, though I believe I’ve already consumed all of her Lord Peter stories…. They are the kind of books one can read over and over, finding something new every time….

All of the above is what could be called a distraction. I wrote it as a sublimation of the desire to whine about the intro again, hoping to distract both y’all and myself from the fact that this section once again is filled with material that has no real connection to anything, other than as a means to pass the time until my brain kicks into gear sufficiently to start writing something more nourishing to the mind. There may be those among you who would point out the lack of ANY material here that meets that standard, but, I don’t expect them to speak up; they’ve been threatened about doing so, and have assured us of their silence in this matter….

Of course, I can’t expect that threat to hold them off forever, so it’s probably better to just get on with the business of the day…. According to the stats I’ve seen recently, very few readers will see this anyway…. My number of followers keeps growing, but the number of Likes per day continues to drop…. I’ve averaged about four Likes per day for over a week now, though stats indicate my following is up to 270….

I don’t much care if ffolkes don’t always Like what I write, but, it’s a bit disheartening to think that no one at all cares to read it…. But, it doesn’t really matter, since I don’t much care one way or the other about fame, or money…. only about sanity (my own…), and sanity is the reason I write…. Not that what you see here is particularly sane by normal standards, but those aren’t valid here without permits anyway…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat.” — Robert A. Heinlein

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

All us hippies are getting old…. Here is the fourth band who is celebrating their 50th anniversary as a band this year; the Stones, of course, decided to go on tour, I suppose to show they’re not too old to rock…. If their music is any indication, they’re definitely not too old…. Enjoy, ffolkes… I do suggest not looking too closely at the boys; the tour date I’ve included was just last year, and they’re looking a bit worse for wear….

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The Rolling Stones

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https://youtu.be/a3KJg8qw47E

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“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.”

~~ Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne ~~

OCCIDENT, n. The part of the world lying west (or east) of the Orient. It is largely inhabited by Christians, a powerful subtribe of the Hypocrites, whose principal industries are murder and cheating, which they are pleased to call “war” and “commerce.” These, also, are the principal industries of the Orient.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Recently, the Supreme Court, or one of the higher Federal Courts below them, made a decision which vindicated Edward Snowden completely (though you couldn’t tell that by the actions of the current administration, who continues to seek to prosecute him to literal death…), ruling the collection of data performed by the NSA was just as illegal as everyone knew it was…. I’m a bit under the weather, enough to preclude a fresh rant today, so, here is one of the better politirants from 2013; in fact, from the same day as the introductory section used above… Go figure…

From 6/22/2013:

“The rights of one are as sacred as the rights of a million.” — Eugene V. Debs, US labor leader.

(Note: Debs received one million votes in 1920 as candidate for US President, while serving a 10-year jail sentence for having said in June 1918: “Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder…the master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.”) — Smart Bee

This has been sitting around for a couple of days, since I found it in SB. It’s the perfect beginning for a politirant, and the news of late has provided a number of interesting side notes to this idea, so I find myself in the position of being compelled to rant, which is the best attitude to start with….

The recent news has shown a number of items concerned with the revelations just released a few weeks ago, when a former NSA contractor spilled the beans about how the US government has been spying on its own people, collecting personal data from phone records, mercantile records, and from review of emails and other data mined from the internet… The revelations, of course, are in the process of being denied and/or devalued by that government, who are trying to convince the public that the spying is “transparent”, and that the information is NOT being collected to investigate American citizens…. This, of course, is a bald faced lie, and anyone who believes it deserves anything that happens to them….

The government of this country is in the hands of people who are controlled by the corporate masters of society, sometimes willfully, most times without their complete knowledge. They (the corporate masters…) don’t give a SHIT about the rights of anyone else, so the above statement that got Mr. Debs in trouble is shown to be perfectly true. The people who control society don’t believe in the sacred nature of rights, for anyone who isn’t them, so it can be said that the rights of one are as sacred as the rights of a million, because to the 1% (a number that is actually far larger than the number of real masters of society…. that’s probably closer to .001%…..), neither one is sacred at all….

What disturbs me a lot of the time is that there are still a lot of people who believe that, of the choices available in the political spectrum, one side or another is better, and showing support for one of them will direct matters to a more favorable (for the people) resolution…. The fact is, neither the Republicans, nor the Democrats, nor any of the Independents who are in office, or trying to get into office, have any interest at all in doing anything other than establishing their own agenda as the one used by society. Those agendas have nothing to do with helping the general public; they are designed to benefit only those who ascribe to the correct philosophy. No matter which political party or entity you choose, you’re going to get screwed, in the final analysis.

“The art of government is the organization of idolatry.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

If you still think that Barack Obama is going to help the common man, well, I suggest you listen to the crap he is putting out right now about this surveillance. Remember, too, that he signed the law that killed the Bill of Rights, on New Year’s Eve of 2012, the infamous National Defense Authorization Act, which makes it legal for the government to arrest citizens without a warrant, to hold them in an unknown place, without any oversight or review of rights, and try them in a secret court, without legal representation. It authorized the use of drones in a domestic fashion (which they continue to lie about, and say they aren’t using them…. when reports from all over the country provide relatively incontrovertible PROOF that they ARE using them….), and, most assuredly, authorized the illegal wiretapping and internet data mining that is currently going on, even though it has been exposed.

We may as well begin referring to the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution as the Bill of Former Rights, because, face it, ffolkes, you don’t have them anymore. I’ve heard it said that they are not rights, anyway, as a right is something nobody can take away from you…. More accurately, you have no rights that you are unable to defend…. and the government has slyly convinced most people that they don’t want those rights anyway…. Look how many formerly intelligent people are jumping on the bandwagon about gun control, forgetting all that our forefathers cautioned us about, when they warned about the possible encroachment of big business and the churches into the workings of government…. Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Mason, Franklin, all of them mistrusted the corporate interests and the preachers, having suffered much at their hands, and they tried to warn us against listening to them….

But, what happened to Eugene Debs back in 1919, when he was sent to prison (in direct violation of the right to free speech….) was not the first indicator that things had regressed, and the trend toward government takeover of the rights of US citizenry has continued right up to today. The recent revelations about spying, you will see, will be quashed, and ignored by those in power, as there is now nothing we can do to stop them from doing whatever they want…. According to the laws we let them slip by us, it’s all legal ffolkes…. We are screwed, and the only good thing I can see about it, is that, due to global warming, climate change, and the imminent destruction of the human species by our own pollution, we won’t have long to put up with it….

Books are burning
In the main square, and I saw there
The fire eating the text.
Books are burning
In the still air
And you know where they burn books
People are next.

~~ “Books Are Burning”, XTC ~~

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This poet needs no introduction; as well, you’ve seen him frequently on these pages…. Here is one I’d never seen until today; it confirms my opinion of Ogden’s poetry, as the work of a genius, who like to hide his talent behind silliness… and did it very well….

The Bargain

As I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with seven lives;
Seven lives,
In seven sacks,
Like seven beeves
On seven racks.
These seven lives
He offered to sell,
But which was best
He couldn’t tell.
He swore with any
I’d be happy forever;
I bought all seven
And thought I was clever,
But his parting words
I can’t forget:
Forever
Isn’t over yet.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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The pearl for today’s final section was created ahead of time; I managed to find a period of space yesterday morning while trying to distract myself from physical issues, combined with the near constant hunger that goes along with dieting, as a matter of course…. So, it’s a little different, not in the quality of the pearls, or of the message it somehow imparts rather well…. It’s just…. different…. I think you’ll enjoy it, and, if not, well, you can always get your money back…. Just ask the laughing Buddha for it…

There is a time in the tides of men,

Which, taken at its flood, leads on to success.

On the other hand, don’t count on it.

~~ T. K. Lawson ~~

“In the dark colony of night, when I consider man’s magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.” — Leo Rosten

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” — Winston Churchill

“Freedom is a hard-bought thing – A gift no man can give.” — Opening lines, Settler’s Song, by Jessamyn West

“He that respects himself is safe from others; He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.” — Henry Wordsworth Longfellow

“It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say ‘I don’t know’.” — W. Somerset Maugham

“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.” — Abraham Lincoln

“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.” — Mohandas ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi

He who knows man is clever;
He who knows himself is enlightened.

He who conquers men has force;
He who conquers himself is truly strong.

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

See? Told ya…. different. Now, maybe you’ll listen…. You can trust me. I’ve never been elected to anything….

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

Done…. and, amazingly smoothly, too. It makes me a bit suspicious…. Ah well, we’ll trust the Universe, for once, though my experience tells me to have caution; a lot of times, when deciding to trust, it turns out badly. But, since my hands are going numb this morning, we’ll have to go with it…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can feel my hands….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Richter or no Richter, that’s no earthquake…

Posted on May 28, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.”

~~ H.L. Mencken ~~

The La Gonda Has Launched

Screenshot capture from the BBC Movie, “Have His Carcase”

Good morning…. As we join our protagonist, he sits at his computer, madly typing, as if the demons of hell had him on deadline. The early morning light throws his face into sharp relief, revealing the tight, tense features of a man in dire stress…. Not for nothing have we come to this juncture; no, that’s not correct. We ARE here for nothing, for that’s what we do…. nothing.

Well, I suppose that’s not accurate. This isn’t nothing. It’s something, even if exactly what kind of something has never been made clear. Not that it has ever BEEN clear. But, I digress…. In fact, I dither. And blather. And piffle…. In fact, I do that on demand, but, since there’s no particular demand for it, I think maybe we ought to try to find something a bit more constructive, before the Relevance Police come to haul us away for massive crimes against literature…. Instead, let’s try this….

Shall we Pearl?

“The question was put to him, what hope is; and his answer was, “The dream of a waking man.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi

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

The Firesign Theater

In 1970, I heard this improvisational comedy group for the first time, laughing myself breathless many times during my initiation to their madcap comedy. The album I’ve included for your pleasure today is the album I heard then, their fourth as a group…. Brilliantly funny, and fast moving, you’ll need your funny bone to keep up… Enjoy!…. and, please, don’t break the precedent….

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The Firesign Theater

I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus

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https://youtu.be/lmWFrMq3qNY

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

Although this is the ranting section, I don’t have a fresh rant to give today; too much sleep, I suppose…. I did find an article which stimulated my dubiousity, though in a good way. We recently observed Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor the fallen heroes in our nation’s armies, who fell in battles to protect the country. It’s been observed since the mid-nineteenth century, and has lost much of its meaning, since we have been in numerous, almost numberless wars, police actions, or “engagements” where some of our soldiers have died…. not always in a place or way that was particularly heroic, or even moral….

One man, identified in the article you will see, and hopefully read, wondered what day we had set aside to honor all the fallen VICTIMS of war; the innocent children, women, and men who were not involved in the fighting, yet got their homes destroyed, or their families killed, or their cities bombed, dying in countless droves, all for the glory of war…. He thinks we should set aside a day to honor those people, who far outnumber the so-called ‘heroes’, by a factor of A LOT…. and I agree with him…. In fact, I’d be willing to forget the original, and replace it with this one, which shows a much more civilized set of beliefs than honoring men tricked into killing for their country’s capitalist agenda….

Read the article, ffolkes, it makes a lot of sense….. Since what you see above is the extent of my rant for today, we’ll fill in afterward with an old-school pearl, with some comments on the issues under the scope today…. Okay, go cogitate now….

When is Memorial Day for the Innocent Victims of War?

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/05/26/when-is-memorial-day-for-the-innocent-victims-of-war/

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

He that will not reason is a bigot.
He that cannot reason is a fool.
He that dares not reason is a slave.

~~ William Drummond, “Academical Questions” ~~

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

“A pacifist who calls the police isn’t one; hired violence is still violence.” — Clayton E. Cramer

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

“Conservative Definition of Compassion: I got mine, Jack.” — Smart Bee

“He didn’t say that. He was reading what was given to him in a speech.” — Richard Darman, director of OMB, explaining why President Bush wasn’t following up on his campaign pledge that there would be no loss of wetlands

“A nation’s advance as a civilized society can be properly gauged by the manner in which it treats the poor and the elderly – often the same people.” — Smart Bee

“A society that lacks the patience to read, and loses the ability to do so, is rendered defenseless against its most profound stupidities. As an example, consider the ease with which Americans came to regard a president known for his inaccuracy and imprecision as the great communicator, and by the tendency of American elections to give victory to the candidate who can afford the greatest number of 30-second TV spots.” — Mike Schmoker

“It is courage the world needs, not infallibility… courage is always the surest wisdom.” — Sir Wilfred Grenfell

“Nuff said…. That’s all you get today, ffolkes…. gigoid has spoken. So be it….

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

I’m lazy, as you know. Hence, yet another poem from the archives, this one written with tongue planted firmly in cheek….

Fine and Good, Good and Fine

A pig in a poke’s got nothing on me,
cuz I’m as confused as a man can be.
This ol’ world’s got me spinnin’ around
cussin’ and spittin’, a penny for a pound.

Forty ‘leven times since I was a kid, well,
I’ve fallen in love, ‘least too close to tell.
Every damn time, it all went to crap,
Forty ‘leven times I’ve felt like a sap.

‘Course, each time it happens, I forget the last;
why not? I’m havin’ such a blast….
Livin’ in each moment, filled with joie de vivre,
’til it’s all gone away again, nothin’ left up my sleeve.

Don’t want y’all to think I’m sad or blue,
life’s full of sorrow, lots for me, and/or you..
T’other side of that coin, we can be glad,
is joyful love, and that ain’t at all bad.

My road’s been littered with parts o’my heart,
each one colored with trust, which ain’t always smart.
Yet, long as I don’t lose my connection to joy,
I’ll find my own true love, and be a happy boy.

It’s been some kinda fun, even when I’d take a fall,
and doin’ it over makes no sense at all, at all
Day after day, I keep on keepin’ on, as it’s said;
Guess I’ll keep on doin’ that ’til I’m dead.

‘Nuff said….

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 3/23/2013.

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Today’s final old-school pearl is another concerned with our favorite subject, being, naturally, the closest to our hearts, the ever-popular Life at Large…. I suppose it’s what Smart Bee knows best; me, too, for that matter. In this particular case, the group our joint efforts gave us is a bit eclectic, in terms of the historical spread, over time, of the various authors, ranging over a span of approximately 2500 years, from about 600 BC to somewhere in the early- to mid-twentieth century…. They also cover quite a bit of ground in terms of the variety of issues upon which they would like to encourage y’all to ponder… So, go on, now, think about it…. and, enjoy the process. Once thinking becomes a joy, you’ll want to do more of it…. See? Where else can you find free lessons?….

“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?

Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

“The hour which gives us life begins to take it away” — Seneca

“How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.” — Thomas Jefferson, “Writings” Vol. XVI

“Death is all in the mind. Once you’re dead you forget all about it.” — Jack Storey

“”He means well” is useless unless he does well.” — Plautus

“A desire not to butt into other people’s business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom… and the other twenty percent isn’t very important.” “You butt into other people’s business. All the time.” “Who said I was wise? I’m a professional bad example. You can learn a lot by watching me.” — Jubal Harshaw, from Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein

“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.” — Irish proverb

“Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.” — Aldous Huxley

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was duty.
I acted and beheld that duty was joy.

~~ Rabindranath Tagore ~~

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Whatever degree of quality may exist in the above is purely a matter of chance, and can be ascribed to the power of routine, and the ever-present, ever-fruitful power of the Metaphorse. Me, I just channeled it. Now I’ve done so, we can get on with our day… Ain’t Life grand? See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if’n the feds don’t catch me….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Boy, that is one sick puppy….

Posted on May 27, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.”

~~ Lord Peter Wimsey ~~

~~ Dorothy L. Sayers, “Gaudy Night” ~~

Mars Rover Curiosity ~~ May, 2015

Image from Space.com, via NASA Images

Good morning….

Today’s opening quote is a jab of irony at myself; quotations are lifeblood to me, and my mind…. For some reason, using quotations seems to make the wisdom they impart more personal, and more understandable to me, and, hopefully, to others…. It’s also damned entertaining, and a memory workout, to come up with the appropriate quote to cover any situation in real life…. In fact. that is where the irony exists…. Socrates, Aristotle, etc., all were noted for proclaiming their own ignorance, in order to deliver the lesson that only then can one be open to learning….

In the book, and in the movie, Gaudy Night, when Lord Peter makes the statement you see re: quotations, he is speaking at dinner, to the Warden and Fellows of Shrewsbury College, a fictional women’s College of Oxford University, during the investigation of a mystery there. The Warden, one Dr. Baring, says in reply to his statement, “I think you are excessively modest, Lord Peter. The apt quotation is no mere intellectual sleight-of-hand. It’s a form of wisdom.”

I like that sentiment, for it confirms my own thoughts, in a way which helps me justify this entire process… if only to myself. Lord Peter, bless him, added another reason, for reason, to wit: “The only kind of wisdom that has any social use, Warden, is the knowledge of one’s own limitations.”, thus paraphrasing Socrates, Aristotle, and other ancient and modern sages.

It also tells me, though I won’t go into it now, WHY doing this helps me stay sane…. which I am quite thankful for, to be sure…. For now, we will leave this little introspective discussion, for two reasons. One, I’ve no doubt bored some of y’all to tears, prompting the second, to get on with the business of the day, i.e., pearling our little hearts out….

Luigi, my good fellow!…. Would you be so kind as to hit it!…. Follow me, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe.” — — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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

Best Friends Forever

While looking at a story on this blog, https://makingsenseofcrazy.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/worlds-first-phodographer-dog-wears-heart-rate-monitor-with-camera-that-takes-pics-when-he-gets-excited/ , I found the video below, as one of the choices after the video in the article. The picture you see of the BFF’s is one I found several years ago on sfgate.com, but, could never find out anything about the two animals involved in the picture. Finally, I found them, and the story of their friendship is one that can melt the hardest of hearts…. Enjoy, ffolkes, these two show us all what life is all about….

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Suria and Roscoe

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https://youtu.be/MDStH49W5Hk

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“Nature does nothing uselessly.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

Today’s idea for discussion seems, at first glance, to be either too vague, or, too simple. However, a bit more consideration provides the meaning a bit more clearly, when one realizes he is speaking only the simplest of truths; everything that happens does so, for, and with, a purpose, whether known to us, or not…. Our own understanding of what that purpose might be doesn’t seem to have any real effect on the ultimate truth of the assertion; when we act as if we believe it, bending our efforts to make it true, or, act as if we don’t believe it, working against it, the end result is the same, to wit:

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

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

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

Unfortunately, a large number of people can’t deal with such ambiguity; it makes them uncomfortable, as it requires effort, especially in the direction of learning, to use the mind, and to understand as much of what we perceive as we can…. For many, that is as frightening as any other fear they have, for it means they must always be dealing with the unknown. In short, they find using their own mind tedious, difficult, and uncomfortable….

The resultant vulnerability arises from one simple fact; the Universe, and Life at Large, are ambiguous, by their very nature. As you see, a conflict at the most elemental level is generated, compromising their intelligence, and their ability to be anything other than what they are told to be…. Freud, who tended to think in terms of diseases of the mind, identified it this way….

“Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity.” — Sigmund Freud

These unfortunates, clueless to understand themselves. or the world around them, thus, without ever realizing it, become vulnerable, to anyone with the boldness to assert their own ability to mitigate those fears, if only the fearful ones will accept what they say as the truth…. This willingness to trust, to believe what is told to them, fearfully driving them to act against their own self-interest, firmly fastens a slave collar on every person alive who gives in to gives in to their fear, without ever realizing they are fully capable of learning to cope with life themselves…

One of the ways those with no ethics, or compassion, who ignore any such niceties as justice, or equality, sublimate their fears into bending all their efforts to control others, to get them to believe in what THEY tell them… To accomplish their ends, they form rigid systems of belief, often offering supernatural protections, or rewards of immortality in exchange for implicit trust, and the surrender of will… These systems reflect the fears of their creators, in their own inability to tolerate ambiguity, i.e, the REAL nature of reality… Another author noted this most succinctly this way….

“Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality.” — Theodor W. Adorno

Then, of course, we may find classic social commentary, cleverly disguised as whimsical fairy tales/children’s stories, such as The Wind in The Willows, a short animated film from the early twentieth century, produced by one Kenneth Grahame, in which one of the story’s characters, quite famous in his own right, observes….

“To the small of brain, Ambiguity is pain.” — Mr. Toad

The only hope many people have of ever breaking their collars, to learn to learn, as it were, to use their own minds to find their own truths, is with the help of a teacher, or, at minimum, some sort of personal epiphany, either of which may convince them they CAN learn, and, more importantly, they CAN control their own lives…. Though hard to find, such teachers still exist, not only in books, but, as hidden gems, often not in schools, though one may find more of them there; at least those in that field are people committed to learning, even if their own beliefs may hinder the complete liberation of their minds…. There are even those who try to teach other teachers how to help, as demonstrated by this:

“Part of teaching is helping students learn how to tolerate ambiguity, consider possibilities, and ask questions that are unanswerable.” — Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, “In a World of Ideas,” 1992

Staying free isn’t as simple as it may sound by our discussion; I’m not implying people can be free just by wishing it, or by suddenly becoming more aware…. A certain degree of courage, and will, is also required, which many people never find within themselves, though it it there, in all of us. Sadly, a great number of people never do find any sort of freedom, not the sort they have never known, as there are a number of people in the world who actively work to prevent the masses from ever realizing their own slavery….

Bankers, preachers, politicians, even many educators, all victims of the same asinine beliefs in supernatural entities who will protect them, all are controlled by a few, insane, sociopathic oligarchs, masters of deceit, who, for millennia, have hidden behind the scenes, manipulating others for the sole purpose of fulfilling their own personal agendas, all of which are based SOLELY on their own wishes and desires, with absolutely no connection to their shared humanity.

Of the wisdom that is the legacy of all mankind, these assholes (no better word to describe their true nature…) pick and choose from the highest sounding, to justify their own selfishness, using their own expertise at psychological manipulation, and lying with a straight face, to achieve their own, perverted ends…. For example…. the following piece of wisdom, though perfectly innocent in its intent (to share knowledge of how to make oneself safer), provides them with the perfect excuse for their behavior, based on lies….

“All warfare is based on deception.” — Sun Tzu (ca. 500 BC)

What is really a shame is that far too many Westerners, especially those of a financial or political persuasion, seem to have read a mistranslated copy of the Art of War, wherein this line was translated as, “All life is based on deception.” It’s the only explanation for how a perfectly good concept, an essential truth, can be perverted and taken to its logical extreme, all for the loss of meaning in one word…. In this case, here on Earth, which we see around us today, nothing seen, heard, or read can be trusted; the truth is considered a weapon of last resort, only to be used as a distraction from the ‘true lies’….

“There are some remedies worse than the disease.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 301

SIGH…. I’m getting tired, and I need to finish this off before it gets away from me, so, we come to this final idea…. To get rid of the oligarchs who have been oppressing the majority of humanity for centuries, the most obvious, and quickest method, is to become like them, showing no compassion or concern for the rights of anyone but themselves. The numbers would be, patently, on the side of humanity in such a conflict, but, to use their own methods of violence to usurp their power can only mean, ultimately, we will become the same as them, thus, turning any attempts at achieving liberty into a mere transformation of power. from one sociopathic entity to another….

So, what is the solution? Well, at this point, at (unfortunately) 2:23 AM, on an unseasonably cold night in California, after hours of sleepless tossing and turning, I can’t say I have one, other than, possibly, my own, which involves me, a large supply of arrows, and a map to the oligarch’s houses. I’d be willing to sacrifice my own honor, in that way, to save humanity, and wouldn’t even mind dying afterward…. It’s the stain on my soul I don’t think I’d care for….

I’m working on it, though. It’s a tough problem, to figure out how to get rid of the assholes without becoming one…. I guess I could spend my time watching reality TV….. But, since I don’t much care for TV, I guess I’ll figure out something else…. When I’ve got something workable, I’ll get back to you…. Until then, let me leave you with one final thought, one which points up the ultimate solution for our difficulties, provided for us by Reality. It is also one which everyone, masters, slaves, and rebels, must eventually come to know….

There is a reaper whose name is Death,
And with his sickle keen
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flowers that grow between.

~~ Henry W. Longfellow ~~

~~ The Reaper and the Flowers ~~

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Walt Whitman ~~ 1875

Image and poem from an article at: https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/dismiss-whatever-insults-your-own-soul/

What is there left to say in admiration of this man. One of the Great Souls, Walt Whitman was an example of the best of mankind. If a solution to our problems can be found, it could well start by beginning with this man’s views on how to live…. We could do worse….

Dismiss Whatever Insults Your Own Soul

Love the earth and sun and the animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
Stand up for the stupid and crazy,
Devote your income and labor to others,
Hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,
Have patience and indulgence toward the people.

Take off your hat to nothing known or unknown,
or to any man or number of men,
Go freely with powerful uneducated persons,
And with the young, and with the mothers or families.

Re-examine all you have been told
in school or church or in any book,
Dismiss whatever insults your own soul;
And your very flesh shall be a great poem…

And have the richest fluency, not only in its words,
But in the silent lines of its lips and face,
And between the lashes of your eyes,
and In every motion and joint of your body.

~~ Walt Whitman ~~

~~ Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855 edition ~~

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Okay, so here’s the deal…. Today’s final old-school pearl is kind of silly, but, it’s still a good pearl…. Moreover, at the end, you’ll find a method whereby you, and only you, can make it the perfect pearl for YOU…. Enjoy, ffolkes, whether it seems so, or not, it’s a pretty good set of ideas about Life at Large to consider, even if they’re without the usual degree of sobriety…..

“There is no opinion so absurd that some philosopher will not express it.” — Cicero

“Half of the people in the world are below average.” — Smart Bee

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

“There is no difference between theory and practice in theory, but there is often a great deal of difference between theory and practice in practice.” — Chuck Rei

“These days, the wages of sin depend on what kind of deal you make with the devil.” — Kara Vichko

“There are worse things than dying.” — Kalas

“Most of all, I’ve learned that a good time to laugh is anytime you can.” — Linda Ellerbee

“Take everything you like seriously, except yourselves.” — Rudyard Kipling

As a bonus, for today’s final pearl, YOU, the Gentle Reader, get to choose the final entry for this section… Choose one of the following; all have been cleared as perfectly appropriate finishing pearls for this pearl…. If you’re so inclined, tell us in the comments why you made the choice you picked…. Choose wisely, young paduans….

Z #1) “GOOD-NIGHT, everybody.. Now I have to go administer FIRST-AID to my pet LEISURE SUIT!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Z #2) “Hold the MAYO & pass the COSMIC AWARENESS…” — Zippy the Pinhead

Z #3) “I feel better about world problems now!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Et Voilà…. I keep telling you, and telling you, and telling you…. It’s all in the wrist….

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It’s hard to tell at this point, but, I’m pretty sure this one turned out pretty well. Or not. Since it’s still shy of 3 AM, and, I’ve been in misery for hours, frankly, I could care less, because it’s done, and, now I can try to get some sleep. Y’all have a good day, I’m gonna be busy sawing logs, I hope. Until tomorrow, then, I bid thee a fond, if somewhat sappy, adieu! Or, as we used to say on the streets…. well, no, I’d better not. I will, however, be back tomorrow to try this again….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

No tango tonight for you, Mortimer….

Posted on May 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man’s happiness, — to do the things proper to man.”

— Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ~~

~~ Meditations, viii, 26 ~~

Just as if they had been dotted on top of the myriads of glowing suns in the Milky Way, this image depicts some of the brightest stars of the southern sky: on the right, in a rhomboidal shape reminding that of a kite, are the four stars of the constellation Crux, the Southern cross; in the lower left part, instead, shine the two most brilliant stars of the constellation Centaurus, the Centaur.

The Southern Cross

Image from Space.com

Good morning…. It’s a big world out there, and our last outpost of sanity is under continuous attack, by the forces of Entropy and Chaos…. This…. whatever this is, keeps them at bay in my little corner of Space/Time, as it has for close to four years now…. Join me now, as I once again take up the gauntlet, to do battle with every ounce of reason and rationality I can find…. Often it isn’t much, as is patently obvious…. But, we, or rather I, persevere, though there are times when we wonder why I bother….

Then, I look in the mirror, and see the dregs of sanity lurking there, and I am content…. It’s still a long road before me, so, I’d best get started…. As you might be able to tell from the state of this introductory section, it could be rather an uphill journey today…. Luigi, tell the tower we’re taking off, and not to worry about the fighter escort today. I’m feeling MEAN….

Shall we Pearl?

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” — C. G. Jung

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Image from radiofreeamsterdam.com via Google Images

Yesterday we visited the days of old; today we’re returning to the same era, to listen to another all-time great…. Fats was the MAN, when I was young…. Nobody did it quite the same…. Enjoy, ffolkes; Fats is another cultural icon worth remembering….

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Fats Domino

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https://youtu.be/Z4vbSKOw-0g

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Last year, in 2014, I came up with some pretty decent rants…. Here is one from August of that year, simply because I can, and I’m lazy today….(Whattyamean, today?….)(Oh, hush…) Enjoy, ffolkes….

From 8/31/2014:

“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mama Gump

Yesterday, during a rant in section one of the Daily Pearl, I made a comment, wherein I accused Bill Clinton of being an idiot, and a husband, in the same breath…. While his persona exhibits elements of both adjectives, neither one fits completely comfortably; if it was a suit, you’d think it was poorly tailored. He IS an idiot of course; letting one’s lust control their actions while in the White House as the President, is kind of a give-away on that…. and he IS a husband; it says so right on the license available for anyone to see somewhere in what, oh, yeah, Arkansas, or Alabama, or wherever it was they got married… Who knows, maybe it was in D.C. after they left Little Rock, or whatever… But, obviously, he isn’t terribly good at either one….

Any who, I wanted to clarify that, while also acknowledging that, in truth, Bill is a VERY smart guy…. I don’t care who you are, you don’t get to be a Rhodes Scholar if you don’t have a few neurons to bump together… He also plays a pretty mean sax, which is also an indicator of superior, or at least multi-talented, intelligence…. All of which goes to prove that intelligence alone has little, if any, survival value. Possessing a high IQ does not give one the ability, necessarily, to USE it in a way that helps one advance, in any respect….

Ethically, morally, or in terms of worldly success, as in being rich, famous, or celebrated in some fashion, smart guys don’t always win against the mundanes, simply because they are often not paying attention to what is important to those with less on their minds… In Bill’s case, he tried to take his multi-tasking to a new level, and failed, miserably…. Common sense often escapes the most intelligent members of this species; they tend to be a little less balanced out on the fringes of the bell curve…. too much going on in their heads, that ends up distracting them from what they’re doing in the real world, and that they are being watched, always…

That’s all…. just sayin’….. Smart don’t mean smart, if you know what I mean…. Sometimes, a little bit of street cred, a little low animal cunning, as it were, can go a long way to being more useful than having a degree, or being able to quote poetry…. Unfortunately, when someone like that learns the law, then turns to politics, there is no end to the harm they can cause…. Witness just about every president in my lifetime…. Most of them weren’t the most intelligent, though smart enough to get through law school; they are definitely the most corrupt, and the most vicious sociopaths, that is for sure and for certain, but, overly intelligent, they were NOT…..

Sorry, but, I just calls ’em as I sees ’em, ffolkes, and that’s the way it’s been for my life; I can count, on fewer than the fingers on only ONE of my hands, the number of presidents I respect, at all, and only one of those is still alive…. That one will go down in history as an ineffective president, because he had the unfortunate quality of possessing both intelligence, and integrity, not to mention compassion…. which are three qualities that no other president since 1962 has possessed. to any appreciable degree, and definitely not together in the same man, other than the one…. If you disagree, fine…. comment, and tell me why, so we can discuss it…. But, please, make it worth my time, because there isn’t a lot of evidence I’m aware of for you to choose from..

Any who, that’s it…. just wanted to make clear why I thought Bill was an idiot husband…. I’ll avoid any comments as to WHY he is uncomfortable as a husband, married to a woman who is just as sociopathic as he is…. a woman completely lacking any sort of real compassion for others, because it is subsumed in the vast furnace of their ambition….

There is no room for compassion in one who wishes to lead a nation, especially one with the power and resources of this one, along with the historically traditional imperative, and true national pastime, of proselytizing democracy, and our twisted versions of Christianity, on anyone in the world who doesn’t have them…. whether they want them, or not….

Sometimes, that interference in the lives and interests of other nations in the world in the guise of business, to spread our capitalist markets, which require constant expansion to prevent collapsing under their own weight…. Or, our insistence on playing busybody is justified with the pretense of humanitarianism, with rationalizations ranging from saving them from godless communism, to fighting the evil of “muslim extremists, and/or rebel insurgents” who are fighting terrorist civil wars, “killing their own people, including, gasp, children and old people!”

These wars, though being fought over what seem to me to be all-too-familiar sounding, minute, yet firmly idiotic differences of interpretation of scripture, are still CIVIL wars, even if religiously motivated …. I won’t comment on this scripture, allegedly also “divine” in origin, in the book of collected dogmatic delusions that were left to guide them by their version of a mortal, yet, somehow, also immortal, and, thus, divine, (by the time-tested use of “ipse dixit” reasoning) prophet of the ONLY god, or Allah, or Baha’u’lah, or whomever they worship/idolize/follow/are enslaved by…. Well, I wasn’t planning to comment, but, I suppose I just did….

However, my point remains valid, despite my opinion of Islam, or Christianity, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or any other religion…. As far as I’m concerned, they are ALL the possessors of a SMALL piece of the Truth about Reality in this Universe, but, they have erroneously chosen to misinterpret the meaning of their piece, and have beaten their dead horses, killed by that error, into a sad, bloody pulp, unrecognizable, and useless for anything other than making everyone’s life more difficult, and divisive…. I can’t say it much clearer than that, about religion, or politics, either….

Instead I’ll say that it’s a shame there is probably no one to run against Hillary who can win, because she’ll be, unfortunately, as cruelly self-serving, as dishonest as, well, a politician, as unaware of, and as little concerned with the plight of the common man, and as falsely “transparent” in their actions and words, as any man who has ever held the office…. including Tricky Dicky and LBJ, who were about as underhanded, and corrupt as any politician who ever lived….

The scary part of that, if not the scariest part of the whole shebang we call the future? If there IS anyone who can win against her, things in this sad old country, and, no doubt, the rest of this sad, old world, will go from bad, to very much worse, in a very short time…. Think about it….

Just watch…. I hate being right in these cases, but, my track record is, sadly, practically unblemished, as I have called just about every election at the national level, for all those years of repetitive foolishness I’ve witnessed….

“It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noel Coward

“…there are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data
available to the so-called normal mind. This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” — The Illuminatus! Trilogy — Robert Anton Wilson

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Three final notes on this subject from 2015, as it becomes more relevant each day:

“If you ever see me getting beaten by the police, put down the video camera and come help me.” — Bobcat Goldthwait

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

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in a letter to William Smith

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As noted in the previous section, I’m feeling a bit lazy today; hence this antiquated poem from the archives…. Enjoy, for what it’s worth… Written sometime in 2013, it’s one of my favorites, such as they are….

Accentuated Lessons

Bold statements of calculated intent
Become common rule of the malcontent.
Avarice assumes such attractive wear
Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.

Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands
Legally proper in all the signatory lands.
Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul
Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.

Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards
Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.
While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor
Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.

Escape from reality is illusory at best
Often we falter and fail its daily test.
Only when focused on inner strength
Does peace stay with us for any length.

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Today’s final old-school pearl is a tricky one…. All of the following are observations on Life at Large, in a manner of speaking…. At least one of them is a trick pearl…. It looks okay, and sounds okay, but, when one stops to look more closely at the concept, it turns silly on you…. which, somehow, doesn’t detract from its rightness…. Go figure, and, of course, which pearl that may be is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. You should KNOW you never get out of here without having to use at least three neurons!…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

“Fear always springs from ignorance.” — Smart Bee, paraphrasing the Bhagavad Gita

“Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626) — Apothegms, No, 247

“It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” — Goethe

“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

“I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there.” — Richard Feynman

“You’re never too old to learn something stupid.” — Smart Bee

“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost

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Today’s process of creation felt a little choppy, but, hey…. we’re done. Y’all know what that means right? You’re on you own again…. Go do something constructive, or, at minimum, patently explainable in small words, of three or fewer syllables. Wouldn’t want to confuse anyone, now, would you? No, of course not…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can dodge the bullets….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Can you say “salivating for dollars”? Sure you can….

Posted on May 25, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.”

~~ Publius Syrus ~~

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Bucolic Romantic Picnic Site

Just add someone to romance…

California Delta

Good morning. Today, just for y’all, we have a Pearl with no ups, and no extras…. Don’t worry…. you’ll see.

Shall we Pearl?

“Learning builds daily accumulation, but the practice of Tao builds daily simplification. Simplify and simplify, until all contamination from relative, contradictory thinking is eliminated. Then one does nothing, yet nothing is left undone. One who wins the world does so by not meddling with it. One who meddles with the world loses it.” — Lao-Tzu — Tao Teh Ching

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Picture from apkmodgame.net via Google images

Today, let’s go back to our beginnings, to listen to the artist I consider the driving artistic force behind modern music. This man had a very short career, interrupted by his death in an airplane crash before his 30th birthday. He left behind a legacy of music that will not be forgotten, and remains some of the best rock & roll ever produced…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this one is special….

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Buddy Holly

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

https://youtu.be/ZVM51PJzrSM

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As I’ve iterated recently, ranting seems to have become a fairly rare occurrence around here, due to a number of altered circumstances, and my own lack of angst build-up…. Today, it’s okay, because I managed to put together a pretty good old-school pearl, with parameters set to take some shots at the Predator Class, aka, the BRC, or Beloved Ruling Class….

These are mostly pure, with a couple of pearls which COULD be used for those other Asininnie category members, the Dogma Dogs, but, the characteristics of both are the same…. Any one of these will give y’all an idea of what is going wrong in this country, and why it probably isn’t a fixable issue…. I won’t say enjoy, but, I will say, THINK! I mean, think about it ffolkes…. As our first pearl demonstrates, even a blind person can see what is going on…..

We, the people, are not free.
Our democracy is but a name.
We vote?
What does that mean?
We choose between
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

~~ Helen Keller ~~

“There is no force more potent in the modern world than stupidity fueled by greed.” — Edward Abbey

“The more I study the religions of the world, the more I am convinced Man never worshiped anything but himself.” — Sir Richard F. Burton

“It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Cleveland Press, 3/1/21

“Faith, n: That quality which enables us to believe what we know to be untrue.” — Ambrose Bierce

“The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.” — Robert Frost

“Patriotism is pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy.” — George Bernard Shaw

“A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither. — Thomas Jefferson

1. No matter what they’re telling you, it’s not the truth.

2. No matter what they’re talking about, they’re talking about money.

~~ Todd’s Political Principles ~~

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Today, we are again going with one of mine, simply because I want to… So there…. Try to enjoy it anyway, ffolkes….

A Few Words of Note

In place of ranting and raving about assholes every day
maybe I’ll try something more fun.
Rather than throwing words at all the assholes on public pay
I’ll switch to shooting at them, with a gun….

Should I actually hit one, purely by mistake,
maybe it would wake them up.
Maybe, if they had to think, or actually cut us a break,
we’d see a chance to win at life, to take a step up.

Our nation, such as it is today, was founded by men who told the truth;
that morality disappeared long ago.
Simple ethical strength so bright, so prevalent in our country’s youth
was soon corrupted, corporate interests now run the show.

Nothing would please me more than to fire off some rounds,
if only to gain their attention.
But, I can no longer run, I’ve gained too many pounds;
so, my keyboard and intellect must serve to fulfill my intention.

I won’t stop, of that you may be sure
I love my freedoms, and the philosophy from which it springs.
Tom, and Ben, and John, and Pat, those patriots pure
gave me their example, and the inner peace it brings.

If bullets won’t persuade our elected liars to toe the ethical line,
I’ll throw my most powerful words…..
If nothing else, it will make them wriggle to escape, or voice their pitiful whine,
thus exposing themselves for what they are…. plain and simple turds.

~~ gigoid ~~

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This one is about Life, and some of the concepts which can make it worthwhile living….

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.
Sometimes we visit your country and live in your home.
Sometimes we ride on your horses, sometimes we walk alone.
Sometimes the songs that we sing are just songs of our own.

~~ Robert Hunter ~~

~~ Eyes of the World ~~

“Truth never hurts the teller.” — Robert Browning

“A person’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“He who has the courage to laugh is almost as much a master of the world as he who is ready to die.” — Giacomo Leopardi

“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” — Albert Einstein

“A man’s true wealth is the good he does in the world.” — Mohammed (570-632 A.D.)

“Men are used as they use others.” — Pilpay (or Bidpai) — The King who became Just, Chap. ii, Fable ix

“Character is that which can do without success.” — Emerson

It is the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It is the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.
It is the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.

~~ Bette Midler ~~

~~ The Rose ~~

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It may sound self-serving, but, ffolkes, that’s the best I can do today, so, like it or not, we’re done here…. I promise, tomorrow will be… well, maybe not better, but, it WILL be different. On that uplifting note, I shall bid the a fond farewell. Adieu, adieu! Until we meet again…. Tomorrow, if I have anything to say about it…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Vilification process begun, sir. Add fries to that?….

Posted on May 24, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“If you make a mess, clean it up.”

~~ Mom ~~

Stolen from ThumbUp and Buddha9

@ Live, Laugh, Love ~~ http://livelovelaughdotme2.com/

Good morning. These are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise, whose mission, should she condescend to accept it, is to seek out new worlds, and new civilizations, whether they want us or not….

Actually, this is gigoid, fooling about with the intro again…. I think I’ll cut myself short, with good reason, too… Let’s do this, instead, eh? (Feeling a bit of a Canuck this morning… don’t fret, it’ll pass…)….

Shall we Pearl?

“A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that balances are correct.” — from “Manual of Muad’Dib” by the Princess Irulan

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I’ve been an unabashed Dead Head for more than 47 years now. Each year, the Dead Net, a loose conglomeration of all Dead Heads who are online, holds an informal event called the Dead Covers Project. Fans who are also musicians make videos of themselves covering Grateful Dead tunes, from across the entire spectrum of music the Dead played, and still play, 50 years on, though their creative icon, Jerry Garcia, passed a few years ago….

Here is a concert by a band that specializes in covering Dead songs. The two lead guitarists are masters, and I would LOVE to have heard them play a set or two with Jerry, or the rest of the band…. The lead female singer is a real, honest to goodness torch singer, and does great justice to the spirit of the band’s music…. This is one I’ve downloaded, so I can play it whenever I please…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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Cubensis

Playin’ In The Band

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https://youtu.be/LDPJcTThiWw

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

“It takes all kinds of people to make a world, but did you ever think the percentages were wrong?” — Smart Bee

To answer the question posed, certainly I have; there are far too few of the people who make up today’s world who have any concept of the words Honor, Duty, Loyalty, or for that matter, THINKING…. 97% of the people alive today are bloody frigging slaves, and don’t even know it. Of the other 3%, 2.9% are wandering around going “What the fuck is going on here? How did all these stupid people get born. And why are those little assholes over there laughing?” That last 0.1% are the assholes who have enslaved the rest, and are laughing at all the mundanes who believe whatever bullshit they are told, as long as it’s on TV….

As you may be able to tell by now, I’m not feeling particularly friendly towards the rest of my species…. I find the few people in the world with whom I actually communicate limited to about 25-30 people TOTAL; the rest are either too stupid to bother conversing with, too busy carrying out their slave duties, or, are Asininnies, or simple assholes…. Seriously, that is a fairly accurate breakdown, if a bit, oh, say, PISSY! I feel pissy, whenever I think of the stupidity it took to allow those assholes to gain their foothold of control over society, and how most people don’t even know they are slaves….

So pissy, in fact, I’m really not up for ranting; I find myself merely wishing to spout vilification and bile all over those who would be kings, and those who would allow them that privilege…. Though it’s somewhat cathartic, I prefer to take REAL shots, with arrows, or knives, or at minimum, rocks. Yeah, rocks; that’s the ticket….

SIGH….. Sorry, got distracted by my anger…. Instead, I’ll go fire up Smart Bee, and, then, I’ll do my best to find an old-school pearl, a collection of individual pearls taking good, solid shots at those aforementioned Asininnies, who deserve every ounce of shit we can pile on them…. (Asininnies, as most of you know, include the Corporate Snakeheads, Polly pundits, Religicos, Myrmidons, Pimps, and other assholes of their ilk… You know…. the Predator Class….) Then, all I have to say to them, is a big, loud, meaningful FUCK YOU All, YOU ASSHOLES!

Let’s pearl, shall we?…..

GOD is applied POWER
which is applied GOVERNMENT
which is applied POLITICS
which is applied ADVERTISING
which is applied SOCIOLOGY
which is applied PSYCHOLOGY
which is applied BIOLOGY
which is applied CHEMISTRY
which is applied PHYSICS
which is applied MATH
which is applied PHILOSOPHY
which is applied BULLSHIT

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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

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

“A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.” — Thomas Paine [Author of the Declaration of Independence and even more, but no politician.]

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

“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” — Napoleon Bonaparte

“One of the chief problems a modern society has to face is how to provide an outlet for the intellectual’s restless energies and yet deny him power. How to make and keep him a paper tiger.” — Eric Hoffer

“A politician has to be able to see both sides of an issue, so he can get around it.”– Smart Bee

But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,
As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
And justice shall be done.

~~ Charles Mackay ~~

~~ Eternal Justice, Stanza 4 ~~

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

I’m feeling a bit lazy today…. What, you couldn’t tell? S’alright; I hide it pretty well…. To fulfill the purpose of both the blog, and my laziness, here is a poem of mine, strangely enough, having to do with the same folks of whom we were speaking in the last section…. Well, one part of that group of nasty, ignorant, self-absorbed folks, anyway…..

Geezer to Congress, with Love

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

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

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

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Ankh ~~ Symbol of Life

Here is an off-the-usual-track pearl about Life at Large, hence the new icon, for pearls of this nature…. Not a bad little packet of good advice from a few of humanity’s most familiar sages, with a few less well-known sources, as well… You may wish to take notes; I have a feeling you will, eventually, be tested on this material, in one of the Quizzes Life presents to all of us in times of ‘interest’….

“Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offense.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Officiis

“…all life is only a set of pictures in the brain, among which there is no difference betwixt those born of real things and those born of inward dreamings, and no cause to value the one above the other.” — HPL, from The Silver Key

“Anger blows out the lamp of the mind.” — Robert Green Ingersoll

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.” — Tom Peters

“What is to give light must endure burning.” — Viktor Frankl

“Education is the best provision for old age.” — Aristotle

“To be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply it.” — Descartes

“Use a mirror in difficult times: You will see both cause and resolution.” — Deng Ming-Dao

“You are only what you are when no one is looking.” — Robert C. Edwards

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

Considering my ongoing/upcoming plans, and, hopefully, their fruition, here is a small bit of irony to finish off the day’s effort; though one must consider the source, viewing this with a bit of tongue-in-cheek dubiousity, the message remains valid, and true, being merely a paraphrase of the very old piece of wisdom from the East, to wit:

“The Journey is the lesson, and the value of travel; the Destination is the reward….” — gigoid’s interpretation of one chapter of the Tao Teh Ching

Or, more aptly re-gifted, in more contemporary language….

“One of the joys of travel is visiting new towns and meeting new people.” — Genghis Khan

There you go…. I think, all things considered, that’s enough out of me for one day…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. That’s the plan, anyway. We’ll see what Reality has to say about it, en la mañana…. Ta then, luvs….

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….

Fionella isn’t ready to cope….

Posted on May 23, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Mankind…

The public enemy’s not the man who speaks his mind.”

~~ Anthrax ~~

Can you tell me when the next shuttle blasts off for Mars?

This place is TOO crazy!

Image from SFGATE.com Pictures of the Day Feature, Thursday, 2012

Good morrow to you…. Due to circumstances completely within my control, I’m running late. This means nothing. Well, it does mean I’ll cheat again, but, other than that, you’d never know, unless I told you…. Hence. the warning, since we’re all about full disclosure around here…. Unless, of course, that would be silly…. Goodness knows we do that enough, as it is….

Shall we Pearl?

“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

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

Today’s video choice is here, heralded with the ranting logo, to take up the slack due to no fresh rant…. Here is one of our favorite comedians, with a complete show of stand-up comedy, dealing with modern times…. I haven’t watched it yet, but, if he does stand-up as well, and as pointedly as his weekly show, it should be quite Carlinesque…. and, though I had to add that word to the Spell Check Dictionary, I don’t believe that will be true for the future…. Carlin’s name will go down in history as possibly the greatest social critic/comedian of his time…. The ultimate jester…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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

John Oliver

Terrifying Times

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

https://youtu.be/9BH6GcYW4so

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

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

As noted above, and, as the picture of Kokopelli indicates, (if you know me at all…) there won’t be a fresh rant today…. Here instead are some pearls I’ve saved as potential openings for several rants; you’ll get the picture, I think….

“Art is a moral passion married to entertainment. Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television.” — Rita Mae Brown

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken

“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man. The reason is not far to seek. It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken

“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.” — H. L. Mencken

“If you could print all the money you wanted, and steal all the money you wanted, couldn’t you manage to stay out of debt?” — Smart Bee

“Did you hear that the Dutch government gave Quayle 12 rare Rembrandt etchings? He’s already got four of them colored in.” — Random American comedian, 1990

“Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” — Buffalo Springfield

“The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.” — H. L. Mencken

“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth.
— Fedor Dostoevsky

Okay, that’s probably enough for you to get the idea we’re shooting for today…. As a small bonus, allow me to end this section with a perfectly appropriate critical comment from the man who codified most of the Proverbs to be found in the English-speaking world….

“This hitteth the nail on the head.”

~~ John Heywood (1597-1580) ~~

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

Today, we’ll go with two short, classic poems from our cultural past…. Two of my favorites, I might add….

The world is too much with us; late and soon

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

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

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

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you- Nobody- Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! they’d advertise-you know!
How dreary-to be- Somebody!
How public-like a Frog-
To tell one’s name-the livelong June-
To an admiring Bog!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

This picture, I think, is my absolute favorite pearl of wisdom, taken as a whole, virtual or otherwise… The picture, wonderfully conceived and executed, is a perfect graphic representation of the words of Lao Tzu, giving depth and color to the idea, making it even more powerful than the words can do alone…. Considering the lesson involved, as possibly the most powerful single idea humans have to learn in their entire life, that is saying a lot…. It states the entire concept in visual words… the Man, split apart by opposing forces within… the fiery power of the passions of the heart, versus the cool, cerebral, electric power of the reasoning mind….. bloody brilliant!…

Since I don’t have enough like this to construct an entire pearl, we’ll go with a regular style, old-school pearl, with lessons similar to, or a variation of this one…. It’s pretty deep, and can stand up to a lot of discussion; in fact, it has done so, for a very long time…. Let’s pearl, ffolkes….

“A sense of humor keen enough to show a man his own absurdities will keep him from the commission of all sins, or nearly all, save those that are worth committing.” — Samuel Butler

“Life, it turns out, is not a struggle; it’s a wiggle.” — Smart Bee

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” — Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” — Mark Twain

“The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.” — Joan Borysenko

“Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it…. Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 29

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

“Perhaps I know why it is man alone who laughs: He alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Hmm…. Given the nature of the beginning, the results of our search seem a bit… off. Off parameters anyway, and, it certainly didn’t exactly follow the line of inquiry suggested by Lao Tzu’s opening remarks, did it? Oh well, I suppose we’ll just have to call it a compendium of lesser known lessons about life, as presented to, and by, gigoid, the dubious…. I picked ’em, after all…. If it comes to that, I DO stand by each one of them; they all have been useful at one time or another in my life, to be sure….

So, there… and, so be it.

gigoid has spoken, as should be expected….

Oh, shush! Ah say, shush, boy!….

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

Well, since it’s done, we won’t quibble. Instead, we’ll waffle, and make like a tree….. Yep, I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if nobody talks me 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

Kowabunga!

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

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