Little is less attractive than boastful origami….

Posted on October 4, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Supermoon September 2015 rising over Medal Bridge, Wales

Image from gizmodo.com

Good morning…. Hmm…. So, this is what Hell looks like. Nice wallpaper, dude…. Oh, it’s paint? Even better…..

What in the world was that about? Moreover, who gives a fuck? I certainly don’t. In fact, I can’t think of a single thing, beyond, perhaps, my children (who aren’t children now), about which I can say I give a single fuck. You may ascribe this curmudgeonly attitude to whatever you like; I happen .to know exactly why it’s here, for what that’s worth. I’m not going to complain about it, but, it sure is fucked up….

It is now 0410 AM. I’ve been up three times, getting only about five minutes of actual sleep, having spent the rest of the time in bed tossing, turning, twitching, and cursing. Now, I’ve given up for the time being, and, rather than complain, I am trying to be constructive; what I’m actually being is vulgar and irritable, with a side order of pissy. Not the attitude most likely to help me make new friends, but, then, there aren’t too many candidates hanging around at this time of day…. Hell, we haven’t had a new application in months!….

Now, conceivably, I could turn this into a positive experience. Sure I could. But, fuck that, I don’t want to. I want to feel negative, and I don’t care what anybody says, or thinks about it. You see, IT’S NOT MY FUCKING FAULT!

Oops; sorry, didn’t mean to shout at y’all. I suppose that’s an indication I’m well out of bounds. Big surprise, eh, what? It occurs to me I should probably get on with this, before I lose all sense of perspective, and fall into full-on asshole mode. Nobody has any fun when that happens. I think…. well, no, I’m actually not capable of that just now, so, I’ll just say, let’s do this, instead of what would logically follow if I continue in this vein….

Shall we Pearl?….

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein

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Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

Image from publicdomainpictures.net via Google Images

What can I say? I need a little humor, and this pair will certainly provide us with that…. Enjoy, ffolkes…..

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Laurel & Hardy
1943 Comedy Classic

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https://youtu.be/eesk9Qy7NRs

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“No slave is ever freed, save he freeth himself.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Here is a piece of ancient wisdom, so ubiquitous Google didn’t know who first said it; hence the SB attribution. It’s a concept our species realized not long after first engaging in the nasty habit. The flip side of the statement is this, which is more to the point; a man can only be made a slave with his approval, tacit or otherwise. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but, it is equally true as the former, and, in fact, is the most practical solution to dealing with the issue altogether. A man who is truly free cannot BE enslaved. You can beat him, injure him, or kill him, but, he will never give in to oppression.

I was born in a country in which liberty was the norm. I’ve watched for almost 65 years as the powers that be, all proven liars and thieves, have steadily eroded that liberty, enforced by violence and the power of lies. Now, to assert one’s rights is to take one’s life into one’s hands, in the face of a government which views people as the enemy, a resource to be duped and utilized, but, not respected. My father would be appalled, as are most of the people left who can, and do, think of anything beyond their own little world….

I could, and have, ranted on this subject for a long time; I think I’ve proved that before. But, I’m tired, having spent most of the night trying unsuccessfully to get within hailing distance of slumber, so, I’ve put together another old school pearl to sublimate the urge, which is quite strong, in spite of my fatigue. Here then is a true gem of a pearl, with Ed Abbey’s wisdom comprising 33% of a diverse group, showing much of what I believe to be wrong, with a bit of how to make it right…. Well, you’ll see… It will do for our purposes today….

“Grown men do not need leaders.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

“Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything.” — Frank Dane

“Deceit in the conduct of war outweighs valor and is worthy of merit.” — Niccolo Machiavelli

“We need excellence in public education and if the teachers can’t do it, we’ll send in a couple of policemen.” — Frank Rizzo, Philadelphia Bulletin, Oct 19, 1973

Authority intoxicates,
And makes mere sots of magistrates.
The fumes of it invade the brain,
And make men giddy, proud and vain;
By this the fool commands the wise
The noble with the base complies.
The sot assumes the rule of wit,
And cowards make the base submit.

~~ Butler ~~

“All governments need enemies. How else to justify their existence?” — Edward Abbey

“…I am opposed to all attempts to license or restrict the arming of individuals…I consider such laws a violation of civil liberty, subversive of democratic political institutions, and self-defeating in their purpose.” — Robert A. Heinlein, in a 1949 letter concerning “Red Planet”

“Whatever power you give to the good cops, goes to the bad ones, too. Never forget that.” — Phillip J. Birmingham

“I am an enemy of the State. But isn’t everyone?”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

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Elemental, dear Watson….

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

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

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

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

Fuck.

It
hurts.

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

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

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

I say,

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

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

because

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

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/6/2012

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Today’s final pearl is what I like to call a harlequin…. It’s got a little bit of everything, all pointed at giving y’all some ideas to use when approaching Life At Large, which all of us must do at one time or another, like it or not…. These can help, used correctly. Be careful, though; used improperly, you can cause yourself no end of misery. Just remember I said so, and you’ll be fine. If not, well, that’s what insurance is for….

“All my life, I always wanted to be somebody.
Now I see that I should have been more specific.”

~~ Jane Wagner, “The Search For Intelligent Life In The Universe” ~~

~~ [Performed by Lily Tomlin] ~~

“If possible, try to find a way to come downstairs that doesn’t involve going bump, bump, bump, on the back of your head. -” — Pooh in Winnie the Pooh A.A. Milne, English author (1882-1956)

“It is never too late to give up your prejudices.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“Whenever doubt can be called into question, do so.” — Dubious Bee

“We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.” — Blaise Pascal

“Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.” — Sigmund Freud

“Life’s fulfillment finds constant obstacles in its path; but those are necessary for the sake of its advance. The stream is saved from the sluggishness of its current by the perpetual opposition of the soil through which it must cut its way. It is the soil which forms its banks. The spirit of Fight belongs to the genius of Life.” — Rabindranath Tagore

“We are all born mad. Some remain so.” — Samuel Beckett

And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare
And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there

~~ Box of Rain by Lesh, Hunter ~~

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What a struggle! But, it’s done, and in spite of Leelu’s insistence on having my undivided attention, I’m going to go post it now. I’ll be back eventually, ffolkes; I can’t seem to stop myself….. See y’all then, if I can get my eyes all the way open….

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….

The politics of chicanery….

Posted on April 14, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

This space left blankish.

Faux Spring in February

Considering the state of affairs out in the Big Blue Room these days, it’s a wonder I can even think of writing. All my instincts are telling me to head for the hills, taking all that is important with me, to find a place to hole up until the events we are witnessing have reached a more stable configuration, one which won’t be such a danger to those of us who refuse to be slaves. No doubt, it will come sooner than we expect; that is the nature of such catastrophes…. If humans were smart enough to see such things coming, history would have looked much different, and we’d already have settled the entire solar system by now….

But, our own nature is not only holding us back from achieving our true potential, it is ensuring we will never make it off the planet, not before making it our only hope of survival…. But, as is plain, this is beginning to resemble a rant, which was NOT my intention; in fact, I’d hoped to make this a shorter intro than usual. That plan, of course, is now defunct, as I’ve already blathered and meandered twice as long as I’d thought to when I began…. It’s a gift….

However, today we will reject the gift, in favor of moving on. In fact, I’m applying good old #4 right now, without any planning, or warning…. This means we’ll need to supply y’all with some clothes to get home, but, we keep those on hand, so, no worries…. Don’t fret, you won’t LOSE them; we’ll just launder them for you, and you can pick them up tomorrow…. For now, I’d suggest you hold on to something, as we’re going in, hard and fast…. Luigi, take it away!…..

Shall we Pearl?

“All the troubles of man come from his not knowing how to sit still.” — Pascal

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No need to introduce this artist; I don’t believe there is anyone in this country, or most others, for that matter, who doesn’t know who he is…. And, with good reason; this album, in my mind, is his best of his work…. Y’all may think otherwise, and that’s cool; he’s written enough to go around….

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Bob Dylan
Blood On The Tracks

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https://youtu.be/YwSZvHqf9qM?list=PLknidvzcLCRECQa02iFlqRGYeh2OgHOXK

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

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

Written 12/23/2011, published on Socyberty, via Triond:

Hope for Sale, as is….

Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens.

[Against stupidity the very gods fight in vain.]

~~Friedrich Schiller, The Maid of Orleans ~~

St. Thomas Aquinas is commonly accepted as being a pretty smart fella by those who know and care about such things….He was the Catholic priest of the Dominican Order (died 1274 A.D.) who is credited with the famous aphorism, “Beware the man of one book…” Indeed…..our society is ill, suffering horribly from D.I.S., Deliberate Ignorance Syndrome, and no cure is in sight….

It is a very sad commentary on the overall health of our society when the political scene, as charmingly reported in the world media, so obviously and consistently devolves into guerrilla tactics (surprise attacks & divisive propaganda). Ubiquitous, these tactics are perpetrated by one segment of the political scene upon another with the sole intent of obstructing the current administration’s activities and policies, with no regard given to whether the targeted concept or activity is beneficial in any respect. The daily headlines seem to proclaim the world’s events as a scene of unrelenting, sinister internecine warfare amongst the diverse segments of political society.

The forefathers of this country, from all indications, had a different view of how the political process should unfold, one where the parties that lost in each election would assume the role of “loyal opposition” rather than the current evolution of the model, which is mostly reminiscent of how children react when denied a wish; otherwise known as “playground politics.” From the moment the newly elected President takes the oath of office, the opposing party’s pundits begin their campaign of derision, sly inferences, and outright lies intended to besmirch the Presidential (or Senator, Representative, or other opposition Joe Bloe) reputation and position, attempting to stop any and all attempts to make any changes not in their own narrow, biased platform.

Both modern incarnations of the Republican and Democratic Parties (along with every other less influential but power hungry organization sending forth combatants into the public arena) seem to share this hateful agenda, though the tactical parameters seem to be somewhat less bloody on the left, if only physically. Those on the right of the political spectrum seem to have less of a sense of restraint, and consistently carry out a non-stop campaign after each lost election to find fault with every word the President (or the First Lady) utters, crying “shame!” at every small piece of dirt they can dig up. However, pundits of all these persuasions, pressed to justify their picayunity, will reluctantly admit to the faith-based nature of the platform upon which they stand. Men of one book, indeed!

In truth, it’s more than sad, it’s tragic. Democracy, as originally conceived by the men who began this country, is a concept that, applied fairly and rationally, offers some chance for all of society to achieve a dignified existence, free of hate and persecution. But the reality is that any real chance of achieving true democracy is being eradicated by human avarice and deliberate ignorance.

It doesn’t appear upon examination that there is any evidence at all that our species at large is going to make any of the physical, mental, and spiritual changes that just might prevent our planet from sending us down the path to extinction. Maybe, that isn’t so tragic after all…..

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

Off the proverbial cuff….

I never meant to kill that period of time,
it didn’t give me any choice.
It tried to hem me in without reason, or rhyme,
refused me any vote, or any voice.

You have to admit, I buried it deep and fast,
just as if I cared.
I knew, though, it would never last,
or ever be fully repaired.

No news, no pictures can bring it back,
once is all we get.
No pleas of public good, or even public lack;
in stone the past is set.

Futuristic visions now occupy my dreams,
I’m ready to go on.
Look! It fills up the screen, and it gleams!
Where’s the moment I’m sitting on?

Now, I remembered, at long, long last,
is all we really can hold.
Every moment goes by so bloody fast,
we’d best fill them all with beauty, warm and bold.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

A classic old-school pearl…..

“The truth is always the strongest argument.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Phaedra, Frag. 737

“One who is plenteously provided for from within needs but little from without.” — Goethe

“An intelligent mind is a mind which is not satisfied with explanations, with conclusions; nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion. An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind, a mind that is watching, learning, studying.” — J. Krishnamuti

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

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

“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.” — Buddha

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

~~ Navaho Night Chant ~~

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Well…. I don’t know exactly how, but, it’s done, and I’m not going to fuss with it. In fact, I’m bailing, before anyone can catch me…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Piled Deeper and Higher, on toast….

Posted on February 25, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I’m not paranoid – just a student of history.”

~~ gigoid, the dubious, stealing from Smart Bee ~~

I could rant, right here. ‘Twould be a simple task, given the picture above, taken in mid-winter in Northern California. But, having already been up for an hour, I don’t think I want to start ranting yet, in spite of having good reason. Three a.m. is too early in the day to start that kind of build-up of angst; the process becomes polluted with too much extra emotional force, supplied by anger at myself, for bozoid tendencies allowed to go rogue… The resultant mess takes me hours to clean up, even if it’s only in my head….

This getting old stuff is, well, getting old. Rather than complain about it, which we’ve all heard before, let’s try this…. Wait. No, better not. I remember last time…. Okay, how about this…. Hmm…. looks a little bedraggled. Maybe we’d best let that one rest a bit longer…. Alright, this is absurd. Wait here a minute, I’m going to go get a box from the closet….

Well, that’s a bummer. The box is gone; it must have gotten moved into storage…. Damn. Okay, at this point, rather than continue to wander around, clueless, I’m going to make another executive type decision, and hope nobody gets injured in the process…. We are now going to evacuate this introduction, in good order, single-file, right through the doorway in the rear of the vehicle. Your money won’t be refunded, but, it will be tormented. You won’t require a refund, as we are going directly into the water; you’ll be busy trying to breathe, and won’t have time to worry about it….

Now, if you will please begin filing through the doorway, the proctors will break your fall at the bottom…. Have fun, and tell the chief I’ll be by tomorrow to deliver his cut of the profits for today, would you? Thanks…. Okay, Jim, they’re off-boarded! Let’s get home before they figure out the combination to the chains….

Shall we Pearl?

“I don’t want to panic, but my alphabet soup says, “Forget about me … just try to save yourself.” — Tom Wilson (“Ziggy”)

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Today’s video again takes us on a trip into the past, when TV didn’t pretend so much to be what it was not, showing no particular connection to reality beyond the natural drama ensuing when fantasy meets the real world, such as in Episode One, below …. In my mind, nobody ever played Gomez Addams better than John Astin…. Perfectly insane!…. Well, okay, Raul Julia was pretty fantastic in the movie version, playing opposite the best ever Morticia, Anjelica Huston…. Together, she and Raul made sparks fly, darkly, with joy and hilarity…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this be some funny shit….

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The Addams Family (60 s TV Series): Season 2, Episode 21

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http://youtu.be/RhaOaxaDd1c

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

“Hairy fishnuts!?”

~~ Opus ~~

I’ve decided to be generous today, by NOT ranting at y’all…. This doesn’t mean we get the day off; there is still too much out there in the Big Blue Room, of an evil nature, to keep from saying ANYTHING…. But, I’ll let someone more polished, in a modern, television-oriented sort of manner, to bring us our daily dose of crap, served up by Reality, as is its habit, regardless of how any of us feels about it…. Here, then, is another diatribe from John Oliver, from his HBO show, Last Week with J.O….. Enjoy, ffolkes, if you can ignore the message prompting the rant….

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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Elected Judges (HBO)

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

http://youtu.be/poL7l-Uk3I8

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Just to keep the ball rolling, here is an excellent piece from our old friend Lou, at TalesFromTheConspriatum, with another fine article, if a bit snarky, by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger…. Included in Mike’s article is list with a large number of links, to alternative news sites, where you’ll find numerous proofs, with lots of evidence showing how often the mainstream media lies to all of us on TV, radio, the Internet, through every news outlet who will print their lies, just as if they were true….

https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/35-things-the-media-reported-as-facts-that-were-later-found-to-be-total-lies/

http://www.naturalnews.com/048714_mainstream_media_propaganda_lies.html

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“They [La Prensa] accused us of suppressing freedom of expression. This was a lie and we could not let them publish it.” — Nelba Blandon, Interior Ministry Director of Censorship, — quoted in The New York Times, 1984

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“Poetry isn’t obscene, it’s per verse.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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Wowee zowee, ffolkes! Eleven pearls, all connected, collected in two minutes flat, with only five other quotes even offered for review, none of which took more than a nanosecond to dismiss…. I’ll take it, as a nearly perfect statement of how to live Life well, with dignity, honor, and truth as one’s foremost pillars of belief…. Okay, so, that’s a little grandiose… it’s still all good thinking on the part of the ffolkes being quoted; you could do worse than to make these part of your philosophy of life….

“Do not settle for less than the best your own excellence can command.’ — Anne McCaffrey

“It is not honorable to take mere legal advantage, when it happens to be contrary to justice.” — Thomas Jefferson [Third United State President]

“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.), The Republic

“Man is not disturbed about things, but by his opinion about things.” — Epictetus

“Goodness does not consist in greatness, but greatness in goodness.” — Athenaeus (c. 200 AD) — The Deipnosophists, xiv, 6

“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.” — Voltaire

“Fear not, provided you fear; but if you fear not, then fear.” — Blaise Pascal

“The only lifelong, reliable motivations are those that come from within, and one of the strongest of those is the joy and pride that grow from knowing that you’ve just done something as well as you can do it.” — Lloyd Dobens and Clare Crawford-Mason, Thinking About Quality

“It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.” — Salvor Hardin, in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” — Ambrose Redmoon

“Be honorable with yourself if you wish to associate with honorable people.” — Welsh Proverb

To the programmer/code author(s) of Smart Bee…. I salute you! Thanks, for the quickest, all-around finest-kind pearl ever…. This one is da kine, as they’d say on Molokai…. Probably not on Maui, though; too many McDonald’s….

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

Today’s Pearl is done. That seems to be all I can focus on just now. The mere fact of its completion is, perhaps, the only task I’ll accomplish today, given the condition in which I’m starting the day. It is now 4 a.m., just, & I’ve been up for almost three hours; not a good beginning, I think. But, we’ll play it as it lies, just like it says in the rule book. Of course, I haven’t been able to find the rule book for years, but, I like to pretend…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should the Fates decree a holiday….

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….

Two orders of artificially-flavored, deep-fried, imitation calamari, please….

Posted on February 23, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Since we cannot know all that is to be known of everything,

we ought to know a little about everything.”

~~ Blaise Pascal ~~

Ah, yes! I love the smell of artificial, imitation, deep-fried ANYTHING! I AM, after all, a trained consumer….

Okay, no ranting in the intro, bozoid one. Hie, there, ffolkes. In case it isn’t clear by now, I’m in a Zippy mood. While not a frequent occurrence, we can never tell quite what that will mean, in the final analysis; I’ve had it turn out quite well, at times; other times, I wake up in another state, (e.g., Wisconsin, or Sinaloa, in Mexico…. which was, admittedly, way better than Wisconsin….), naked, hung over, with no idea where I’ve been, how I got there, what I’ve been consuming (the masters won’t like that!…. gotta consume our quota!…), or with whom, or what, I’ve been consorting…. Not the most pleasant mornings, let me tell ya…. Even if nothing else, the stench was tremendous!….

Ah well, so much for tales of my misspent youth; I’m sure we all have a story or two like that to tell, right? No? Oh. Oh, well, I guess it’s all of a piece, what with the state of Reality these days. I must say, it’s looking a bit grim out there in the BBR, ffolkes, and, you know Zippy. He’s a hard one to bring down into a depression, what with his lack of any connections whatsoever to the same reality, for more than five minutes…. I sure wish I could do that! Must be nice to be able to shift from one to another, at the drop of a cliche… Probably plays hell with one’s shoes, though…. And, the spit-bombs! Well! They must drive him, oh, right…. nobody can drive Zippy crazy; he’s been there for years….

Okay, I think that’s most likely enough of that. I’m no Bill Griffith, for sure, though he’s one of my cartoonist heroes…. His connection to the state of Weird is like an internet T-1 connection; a direct line, with all the bandwidth needed, to the entire world of Weird, with lifetime passes to the neighboring worlds of Strange, and Odd…. Truth, in the most incredibly beautiful strange clothing, just flows out of his brain, seemingly without end, saturated in metaphor, truly a coat of many colors, brought to us in technicolor, in no particular order discernible by the mind of Man….

Don’t be surprised if Zippy pops up further down the page today, either. I like to let him have his fun while he’s in charge; it makes him so happy to be able to play with the tri-cornered leadership hat, with its ribbons, and peacock feathers proudly displayed. Plus, he’s always a better tipper when he gets to wear the hat; one time he gave the tarbender a $100 dollar bill, just for saying “hi” to him…. Of course, it was counterfeit, but, all his money is, so nobody minds…. He never guesses, and it’s no sweat for the help to humor him….

Alright, that’s it. I’m out of Zippyisms, for the moment, at least…. I think we’d probably be heading off to the oyster beds now, before this gets away from me, turning into another marathon opening, tiring everyone out before we even get to the video…. Yes, I think that will be the best idea…. In fact, let’s just do that, right NOW….

Shall we Pearl?

“It is easier to stay out than get out.”

~~Mark Twain ~~

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

True to my word, today’s video will be none other than our pal Zippy’s personal page on You Tube. The first link you see is to the page listing all the great places to find Zippy on You Tube. The second link, and the embedded player, are to Episode One of the Zippy Tales, by Zippy’s author, Bill Griffith himself…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it doesn’t get any stranger than this…..

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

Zippy the Pinhead

by Bill Griffith

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

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC00pOS3_V81ajnJYNbgVFYQ

http://youtu.be/kFPVgdjA7CI

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

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

A lawyer and a pope died on the same day, and both went to heaven.
When the pope noticed that the lawyer had a larger mansion,
he questioned Saint Peter about the allocation of rewards.
The justification was “Well, we’ve had 265 popes up here,
but this is the FIRST lawyer!”

~~ True Story ~~

As might be guessed from the opening portion of today’s ranting section, we will not be maintaining any of our customary sobriety; I’m not in the mood for sobriety. Even talking about popes or lawyers would be too much for me, so, we’ll go with something from the archives, a discussion of a less intense nature than our usual bill of faire in this part of the Pearl. Silly, yet completely serious at the same time; I’m not sure what I was thinking, but, it seems to work… I’ve cleaned it up a little, to get rid of those words getting in the way of the meaning, or cluttering up perfectly good sentences, formerly a large part of my writing style…. Otherwise, all same same….

From 7/23/2012:

“You govern a kingdom by normal rules;
You fight a war by exceptional moves;
But you win the world by letting alone,
How do I know that this is so?
By what is within me!
The more taboo and inhibitions there are in the world,
The poorer the people become.
The sharper the weapons the people posses,
The greater confusion reigns in the realm.
The more clever and crafty the men,
The oftener strange things happen.
The more articulate the laws and ordinances,
The more robbers and thieves arise.”

~~ Tao Teh Ching, #57 ~~

This is obvious. But don’t look at it too carefully, or it becomes unobvious, until you look at it for a long time, when it becomes obvious again. –Smart Bee

The above two pearls were sent to me by Murphy; obviously, I have to write about them. How do I know he sent them? Well, when I was cruising my dB of quotes, the excerpt from the Tao Teh Ching was the very first quote that came into view after opening the program. I debated a discussion, as it is one of the most important of the lessons in that book. But, I decided to go on, to find something a bit more amenable….

I hit the key to bring up the next quote, only to see the ‘sort-of-but-not-quite-zen-koan’ from Smart Bee, come into view….. Obviously, at least, to me, the two were from Murphy, hence their presence here for me to comment upon….. although I don’t know why I should, since Murphy is such an ass. But, knowing him all too well, if I don’t, I’ll pay for it, so…. here we go…

Each of the assertions in the above quote from Lao Tzu’s book is a subtle lesson, designed to teach the reader about the nature of the Tao. As it says in the very first chapter of the Tao Teh Ching, the Tao that can be named is not the true Tao. To the Occidental mind, this seems to be a contradiction; achieving an understanding requires a loosening of the rigid patterns of thought typical of the western mind. One must learn to hold two seemingly contradictory ideas in their mind simultaneously, to allow the meaning of each to mingle, and blend with the other, until the true nature of Tao is revealed, even though it cannot be touched, or seen, or heard.

This subtle process is difficult for westerners to use, as we tend to think in a straight line, from a to b; to understand the Tao, one must first understand that, to the eastern mind, a IS b. Instead of viewing the world as subject to cause and effect, the eastern way of looking at the world views cause and effect as more flexible, more fluid, less like a stone, more like water. As I said, subtle, but not completely inscrutable…. Okay, maybe a little inscrutable…

And now I know why Murphy sent them to me…. If one considers the second quote, using the lines from the Tao Teh Ching as the subject of discussion, then it IS obvious. But don’t look at it too carefully, or it becomes unobvious, until you look at it for a long time, when it becomes obvious again…..

🙂 Murphy was obviously telling us that, in order to understand the eastern way of thought, use the second quote as the process for examination of the idea, and one can find their way through to an understanding that they formerly could not see….

See, now what was so hard about that?….

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

Closing note from 2015: It seems to me, given my mood today, the proper closing pearl for the above… hmm… Well, whatever the above might be, I think it needs to have our old friend Zippy give us the final word on what we’ve just seen…. But, in looking, I found five good, solid Zippyisms, any one of which would be just right….

So, I’m leaving it up to the Gentle Reader to pick their own…. Here then, are Zippy’s thoughts on today’s discussion, to sum it all up for us… Yes, I know, you don’t have to tell me…. If you feel you must, go ahead, say what you feel in the comment section, when you share your choice for the best ending for today’s ranting section…. If you’re witty enough, I’ll even respond…. Oh, hell, what am I saying? I respond to anything…. go ahead, make my day…

“What UNIVERSE is this, please??” — Zippy the Pinhead

“MMM-MM!! So THIS is BIO-NEBULATION!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Kids, don’t gross me off… “Adventures with MENTAL HYGIENE” can be carried too FAR!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“It’s getting harder and harder to act weird.” — Zippy the Pinhead

That’s for sure…. Finally, my personal favorite….

“Did YOU find a DIGITAL WATCH in YOUR box of VELVEETA?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Hey…. Better than another rant, isn’t it? Especially if you say the last one out loud, with the proper inflection…

I know I’m burnt out; it was the adrenaline, for sure, & there’s still a long road to travel…. Best to take a break now and again, I think… Since I can’t play my guitar here, this will have to do….

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

“I want to read my new poem about pork brains and outer space…”

~~Zippy the Pinhead ~~

Oops…. Actually, that’s not today’s poem. I found it while searching for the group of Zippy’s appropriate closing statements for the section above…. THIS one is today’s offering… finally…. I think it’s appropriately querulous….

I know I’m in the now, if only…..

Oh, there it is again, fiddle faddle;
Begone, I said, vamoose, skedaddle!
It looked at me as if I were insane:
Scoffed, it did, filled me with pain.

Where does it come from?
Where does it live?
I’d stick out my thumb,
if I had more to give.

If only, should, would, could it be?
It went away again, this time free.
It will be back again, this I know;
or I’m wrong, and it won’t show.

Who cares?
Who hears?
Such goings on wobble the sphere,
I wish it wouldn’t do that here.

I’ve been wrong before…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Ain’t no time to hate–barely time to wait.

Wo ho what I want to know: where does the time go?

~~ Robert Hunter ~~

~~ “Uncle John’s Band ~~

Today’s final pearl is special, not merely for the Grateful Dead icon and song lyric adorning the space above, a lyric which metaphorically states (how else?) a big piece of my philosophy…. but, because all its parts are concepts which are also a big part of how I look at the world…. Not precisely, but, metaphorically, all say something I believe myself, one way or another… Such as the first; I wasn’t born a cynic, none of us are. But, we humans sure do have a tendency to turn each other into one post haste, if one is at all alert to irony, and/or hypocrisy, and, possesses, as well, a bare minimum of intelligence. The second one, sure, I don’t believe in a God, per se, but, if I did, that’s the way I’d want Him to be… and, so on…. Enjoy!…

Cynics are made, not born.

~~ Max ~~

“I’m not into isms and asms.There isn’t a Catholic moon and a Baptist sun. I know the universal God is universal…. I feel that the same God-force that is the mother and father of the pope is also the mother and father of the loneliest wino on the planet.” — Dick Gregory

“I am never more serious than when I’m joking. It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.” — H.L. Mencken

“A physician, after he had felt the pulse of Pausanias, and considered his constitution, saying, “He ails nothing,” “It is because, sir,” he replied, “I use none of your physic.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Pausanias the Son of Phistoanax

“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” — Mark Twain Following the Equator (1897)

“The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.” — Gloria Steinem

“Walking in a forest between two hedges of ferns transfigured by autumn – that is a triumph. What are ovations and applause beside it?” — E.M. Cioran

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“You cling to your own ways and leave mine to me.”

~~ Petrarch ~~

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

“Of harmes two the lesse is for to cheese.”

~~ Geoffrey Chaucer (1328-1400) ~~

~~ Troilus and Creseide, Book ii, Line 470 ~~

You may wonder why this pearl (if that’s what it is….) is here in the closing section…. Well, that’s easy to explain. I came across it a day or so ago when searching for some pearls, to use for a pearl, as part of a Pearl. I know, it’s confusing, but, don’t fret about that now; when I found the damn thing, it didn’t fit in with the one I was working on. In fact, from what I can tell, there isn’t much it WILL fit with….

My problem is this…. Does anyone know what this MEANS? “Of harmes two the lesse is for to cheese.” What the HELL is it? I mean, I know Chaucer’s tales were written in Middle English, which bears little resemblance to modern English, but, most of what he wrote can at least be considered in the same ballpark, where we can puzzle out some meaning. This damn thing came from another galaxy, by the sound of it…. I would use it, just for the lilting sound of it when spoken; it sounds just as if you’ve been cursed at by a drunken Scotsman. But, I can’t seem to figure out anything to go with it, other than something we don’t have, which is a lot of pearls about cheese….

Oh well…. I guess I can’t use ALL of them; it’s just so cute!…. It speaks with such authority; if I knew what the devil it meant, I’d probably believe it, just because it sounds so cool to say… Oh, am I getting strange, again? Okay. We can go now…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

Insert witty closing phrase of your choosing here….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

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

Posted on February 22, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I can handle reality in small doses,

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

~~ Lily Tomlin ~~

I think maybe we pissed it off?

It looks a bit upset….

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

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

Shall we Pearl?

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

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

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

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

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

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

Edward Snowden

Citizen Four

A Hero for all Humanity

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

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

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

http://youtu.be/Op9CRU05llo

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

“Citizenfour” NYFF Premiere #InTheLab with @ArthurKade

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

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

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

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

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

From 5/17/2012:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elemental, dear Watson….

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

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

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

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

Fuck.

It
hurts.

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

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

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

I say,

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

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

because

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

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

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

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

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

~~ Lao-Tzu ~~

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

“None but a fool is always right.”

~~ Hare ~~

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

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

~~ Rajeev Pandey ~~

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

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

~~ gigoid, the dubious ~~

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

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

~~ gigoid, Sunday, 2015 ~~

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

“Piety requires us to honor truth above friends.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Flawed versions of twisted Reality….

Posted on January 22, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty.

The obedient must be slaves.”

~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~

Those of my Gentle Readers who stop by regularly will, perhaps, at this moment, experience a feeling of dejá vu, as they begin today’s post. DO NOT ADJUST YOUR BRAIN! There is good reason for your discomfort. Unfortunately, for y’all, I’m not going to tell you why; you’re on your own…. No worries, though, it’s not toxic, merely odd, and there won’t be any side-, or, after-effects. (Well, the label SAID there wouldn’t be, anyway….) If no one figures it out, it will become plain by tomorrow’s post….

As I said, not to worry, ffolkes. It’s merely a pop quiz, to see which of y’all are paying attention, as well as a means of establishing a pecking order, in terms of who will receive the Grand Prize, which we will be awarding at the end of this blogging year. We’ve been fortunate, in that our sponsor, Reality, has gifted us with a really elegant trophy, to be awarded to the Gentle Reader who visits most often, and makes the most comments…. Easy enough, as long as you can plow through the nearly a million words I write each year….. and the prize is well worth it, too…

What, you may ask, is it? Well, I’d like to be able to tell you, but, Smart Bee was given the task of picking it out, and hasn’t reported back yet regarding the choice it made, from the prizes offered by Reality’s liaison, some dude named Loki….. I’m hoping we end up giving away the car, but, some of the other staff prefer the yacht….. I don’t know, the yacht, to me, seems a bit over the top, but, to each his/her/its own, I suppose….

Now we have left all sense in the dust, perhaps we should go on, to the rest of today’s Pearl. We don’t often get a morning like this, where the intro actually flowed right out, with a proper subject for a beginning discussion. No doubt, Murphy is biding his time, waiting for just the right moment to present me with today’s bit of tom foolery. I really HATE when he does that, but, whattyagonnado with an iconic force of nature who insists on never growing up? Nothing, that’s what, but slap him down when we can, and clean up after the latest episode of his childish need to fuck around with people….

Since we seem to be removing ourselves further away from Reality with each paragraph, I think this one should be the last for today, at least, in this section…. Besides, my hands are now done with typing for the time being, and would just as soon I shut the hell up, and got on with it…. So, we’ll do as they are insisting, as we could start seeing nothing but gibberish, if the lk oijo;lnili;lnz;lknadf;oinvad;nd;ihbz;kjna;oihads ertp9jd’fg;okjapro a;Dhmg AZPdogkb sdpgf]hns:oemhg ;a[odmgp[apkr

Uh oh. I believe we have just been told to leave this area, by the only entities which can enforce their demands…. Unless I want the rest of this to resemble graffiti, we’d best go now….. Buckle up, and I’ll tell the pilot to get us out of here, quickly…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Most people can’t think, most of the remainder won’t think, the small fraction who do think mostly can’t do it very well.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

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

Yesterday, we saw this man in some of the funniest moments they had together…. Here is an example of Robin Williams, doing what he always did best…. improvise…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s hard to feel down after a show like this….

Robin Williams – Live At The Met

http://youtu.be/ueDu_gZ_1ZA

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

“Since we cannot know all that is to be known of everything, we ought to know a little about everything.” — Blaise Pascal

I do try, but, today, I got nothin’…. My brain is fagged out, simply exhausted from fighting pain, EPS, and a large, soulless corporation’s intransigent idiocy for the past five weeks, since having my medication forcibly reduced. As is obvious from that sentence, I have plenty of energetic angst, and sheer anger, to rant for quite a while…. but, my body won’t cooperate by allowing me the peace to do so…. the typing today is making my hands go numb every couple minutes, making this process, shall we say, difficult? Yes, that will do nicely, as it doesn’t give away any of the absolute RAGE I am actually keeping buried, so it doesn’t explode on somebody, including me….

This, of course, means we will be going to the archives, to pick out something suitable for today….. I think I’ll let it be a surprise, as much as I can make it so…. Enjoy, ffolkes, and think of this…. at least it isn’t 1500 fresh words about stuff that just depresses us all…. It’s almost that many, on an equally dark subject, but, the patina of age it shows should make it a bit more palatable, or, at least, a bit easier to chew….

From 7/28/2013:

“A heart is not judged by how much you love but by how much you are loved by others.” — The Wizard of Oz

I spend a lot of time addressing what I call a flaw in human nature, without ever completely putting my finger exactly on the point I’m seeking to grasp, or to have y’all grasp, whatever… The point is, this flaw is one of choice, one that each person must decide within themselves, about how they will view life, and how they will approach living, especially concerning how they live with others, including animals, and our planet at large, which needs to be considered in any question of survival as a species. I see the flaw as most obvious in those people who end up in positions of authority, but it is a flaw that all of us have, to some degree, that concerns me, because it is the one that will ultimately seal our fate, as individuals, and as a species….

The above quote can be considered as the diametric opposite of the flaw, as it manifests in us. If one holds the above as true, then acting in a manner that will cause any loss or pain to another would be acting against that belief. In order to take advantage of another person, or thing, a human must first view that person, or thing, as being less important than they themselves consider themselves to be, by whatever standards are applied. By doing so, it objectifies the person, or animal, making it easier to detach emotions from anything done to them… In short, these people, who exhibit the flaw of choosing self over not-self, in all situations, consciously and deliberately decide to cause harm to others in order to achieve their own ends, and don’t feel any compunction, or guilt, about doing so, as they feel justified, by whatever rationalizations they have adopted….

This ability to disconnect from others is one of the most common features one observes in those people who make politics a career…. It is also commonly seen in certain professions, which, because of the key importance to people who need their services, tend to attract this type of personality, as such jobs offer many opportunities to take advantage of other people’s misery and trouble…. professions such as lawyer, preacher, doctor, judge, or any other areas that provide key services to people, that deal with situations that affect their lives and well-being…. These professions all provide sociopathic personalities with ample opportunities to carry out their agendas in life, which are focused on increasing their own control of resources, and power over other people….

Over time, these folks have gotten very good at what they do, and the whole world is now organized in such a way that almost everyone accepts the idea that there is no other better way to do things than the way they are being done… Any ideas to the contrary are either buried by those in positions of authority, or are ignored, or made superfluous by the construction of imaginary enemies…. Every time I hear from a government official that I should be afraid of someone who wants to kill us, or take away our rights and homes, I start to wonder just what it is they are trying to distract me from thinking about, or paying attention to….

You see, I make the automatic assumption, when ANY government source speaks, whether an elected official, or an official spokesperson, that that person is lying to me…. If the lies are not directly untrue material, then the lie is in what is NOT said, or in what is behind whatever they are speaking of, which, I always assume, means little or nothing beyond its intent to distract or befuddle me. Once that assumption is made, that the truth is not being told, then it becomes much easier to determine just what it is they are trying to do…. and, I find that what I see is never to the advantage of the public….

“DON’T STEAL – The government hates competition.” — Smart Bee

Actually, this sounds as if George Carlin might have said it; I know he had a short comment on why one couldn’t have the Ten Commandments displayed in courthouses; he believed it was because you couldn’t have all those exhortations against lying, cheating, and stealing around so many politicians and lawyers, as it would make for an uncomfortable work environment…. He saw exactly what I am talking about in society, and pointed it out clearly, and with sublime sarcasm, for all of us to see…..

Unfortunately, most folks don’t realize how close to the truth all of his assertions were, any more than most people know that the government lies to them on a regular basis, often, it seems, just to keep in practice. For those of us who DO see what is going on, it gets to be a challenge not to go around just slapping people left and right…. but, that doesn’t make any friends, and can lead to jail time if one isn’t careful…. Besides, nobody listens anyway, and even a two-by-four won’t make someone listen, if they don’t want to…..

I guess the Firesign Theater had it right, when they claimed we are all Bozos on this Bus….. It’s too bad that only clowns and comedians are the ones who seem to know what is going on in the world, because nobody votes for the clowns…. Hmm…. maybe we could get some of the comedians to run for office?…. It’s worth a shot…..

“He who laughs, lasts.” — Mary Pettibone Poole

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In searching out the material for the above section, I came across this old poetry section, from a couple days after the above was posted…. It’s a good one, so, rather than waste a lot of time with something else, that may not be as good, here is one I know I, if nobody else, will enjoy…. You can try, though…. it’s not too shabby, if I do say so meself….

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.” — G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

This observation, fortunately, includes myself…. as will be seen by the following two poems of mine. The haiku was written during the poetry challenge earlier this year, in April; the other is from sometime in 2012…..

Haiku II

An inner light glows
shining out of open eyes;
madness or wisdom?

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.

The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Hmm…. Perhaps it would be to my advantage to create old school pearls this way from now on…. Yesterday, in a moment of peace (pain level 4-5, golf ball quiescent, if present, no cramps, and my leg isn’t pounding the bass drum to Bolero….) I sat to compose a pearl for today’s post. I had no notion at all of what I might want, but, Smart Bee apparently has a direct connection to my unconscious mind, for the following pearls, in a different order you see here, all appeared in the space of about eight minutes. It took a couple of minutes to format them, then, shuffle them into the order that makes the most sense to me…. The following is the result, which seems to be a somewhat harsh, but fair assessment of my life and times thus far…. in a manner of speaking, one could say…. Enjoy, ffolkes, if naught else, it’s a nice little side trip….

“I often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word I am saying.” — Oscar Wilde

“He used to define justice as “a virtue of the soul distributing that which each person deserved.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi

“Who is ever secure? Every one of us searches for security. We seek it from our family, from our friends, from our pets, from strangers and from “God.” Once in a while we experience it, only to discover that it was merely an illusion. And yet we never learn that security is an impossibility. For we are only human beings.” — Chen-It Ong

“To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations.” — William Penn (1614-1718)

“Among what he called his precepts were such as these: Do not stir the fire with a sword. Do not sit down on a bushel. Do not devour thy heart.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pythagoras, xvii

“1) You can’t win; 2) You can’t break even; 3) You can’t even quit the game.” — Ginsberg’s Theorems

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.” — Kahlil Gibran

Get it? Good…. it’s good practice, even if it won’t be on the Final Quiz….

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In the wonderful words of Hazim, the character in the movie Robin Hood, played my Morgan Freeman, “I have fulfilled my vow.” Plus, it’s done. That means I can go do something to try to mitigate the deleterious effects of my ongoing battle with the forces of CORPORATE EVIL, preferably something in the way of traveling to somewhere I’ve never been before…. Wherever I end up, I’ll have my computer, so, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, for as long as civilization keeps producing electricity, and my hands allow me to type….

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….

Salvation in a plastic cup….

Posted on December 7, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“To use words but rarely is to be natural.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

According to Lao Tzu’s observation, this little fellow is as natural as he can be; cheeky little devil, too, he was, marching right up to me as I took his picture, virtually demanding I come up with a treat of some kind. I shared a small piece of my muffin with him, which he seemed to appreciate, snatching it up & devouring it right in front of me…. Afterward, though, he turned away, ignoring me completely, once he decided I was no longer a food source…. Ah well, I don’t suppose it’s unnatural for him to be a scrounge, considering where he hangs out, in the local park with all the drug dealers and their customers; food treats wouldn’t be among the stuff they drop on the ground….

Now I’ve spoken about the opening entries, where the hell am I supposed to go with this? It’s not as if I’m bursting with energy, or lacking in my usual degree of obstacles to getting this done; the day has begun with a sharp knife seemingly buried in my left shoulder, right in the joint under the scapula, a delightful condition which makes me want to bite myself already….

I have a feeling there will be some rather frightened, sweaty people going home after work today; I need to go out into the world later, to carry out some business. In the state I’m in, there is almost certainly going to be strained interactions; my tolerance for foolishness is at a premium, and there are a LOT of fools on the loose today, what with the Christmas shopping frenzy currently taking place in this country….

Oh, well, they’ll just have to watch their step, I guess, because I’m in no mood to put up with any nonsense. In truth, I (almost) enjoy forays into the commercial world this time of the year; it offers so many opportunities to let out those little annoyances that we all save up throughout the year, onto targets well-deserving of our ire, as they share their ignorance and foolish incompetence with the rest of the world, dressed up like elves….

Y’know, I think I’ll switch directions altogether here…. This one seems not to lead anywhere I’d really like to be; this season is hard enough without letting myself get all worked up over the foolishness of the world. I already know I’ll be beset by crowds of shoppers, all hurrying to complete their lists before anyone else, so they can get home to practice their egg nog recipes, or bake more fattening cookies, while humming “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” along with the Muzak playing in the elevators… However, there really isn’t any reason to let myself get worked up over any of it…. Instead, I’ll just be ruthless, ending this here, while I still have a bit of control over what may happen…. In fact, we’re leaving, now….

Shall we Pearl?

“Sometimes I think we’re alone. Sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the thought is quite staggering.” — R. Buckminster Fuller

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Deciding on a video each day has been added to those daily tasks I have set myself which fall into the PITA category after a time…. Coming up with an interesting story, or bit of music, or just an idea, or meme, is the same sort of task as finding material for ANY pearl, to wit: not as easy as it seems it would be…. This, no doubt, has to do with doing it every day; everything seems more complicated when it’s a daily ritual. A kind of importance beyond its apparent position is lent to each one, as it must hold the readers’ attention, and provide some entertainment…. That’s the idea, anyway…. Ah well, there’s no sense in complaining about it; I did it to myself, didn’t I?

Here, then, is a bit of classical music, with some cultural panache, to soothe my fevered brow…. well, maybe not fevered, but, bothered, for sure…. No worries, ffolkes, it’s self-inflicted, so, you shouldn’t have to worry about splashes…. Just enjoy the music…..

The Lord of the Rings Symphony

http://youtu.be/mfFQuhWaA_k

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My hands are again unable to maintain typing for any length of time, necessitating another trip to the archives in order to complete today’s Pearl…. I’m not going to even comment on this one; no matter what it is, or what it’s about, it will have to do…. So be it, gigoid has spoken, for what it’s worth….

From 6/9/2012:

My life, described in six words….

“Looked for love, found it everywhere.” — gigoid, to KDFC DJ Hoyt Smith, 2009….

While listening to the radio one day, the DJ was talking about a meme activity he had been received via email earlier that day from a listener. The challenge was to describe your life in exactly six words; he gave several examples of those who had already responded, and asked the listening audience to call in with their own. After a couple of moments the above six words floated to the surface of my mind, almost unbidden, so I called in, and, to my surprise, my call was taken, and my quote was put out over the air.

For life, with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear (believe the aged friend),
Is just our chance o’ the prize of learning love,–
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.

~~ Robert Browning (1812-1890) — A Death in the Desert ~~

Considering that what I said in those six words is as true as the day, it felt kind of good. Fortunately, it didn’t lead to any more than 15 seconds of fame, the time it took to say my name, and my contribution…. It isn’t that I was hoping it would lead to an appearance on Letterman or anything, but it did feel pretty good, as I am proud of the quote….

Of course, I’ve never found the secret to getting love to stay, other than that love between friends that is so important. Our culture, so tenuous in its support of monogamy, provides people with so many ways to leave a relationship without penalty, no one seems interested in making them last an entire lifetime any more. It’s like, “Oh well, that didn’t work… there’s lots of fish in the sea….”, and, off they go into the dating world again…. Frankly, it makes me dizzy….

I can’t say I know what the problem is in society that dooms relationships these days; if I did, then it wouldn’t be a problem, as I’d know what to avoid…. What I do know is that on five occasions in my life, I’ve given my heart to a woman, and spent all my energy giving my all to that relationship, faithfully and fully. On all of those occasions, the woman eventually decided, for their own personal reasons, that they didn’t want to continue, and left. I guess they like Will Shakespeare more than I do… as they seemed to take on his attitude…

“I dote on his very absence.” — William Shakespeare (With all he wrote, even HE came up with something coherent occasionally….)

I’ve been fortunate, I guess, in that of those five times, only three were painful in their intensity; two of them were relatively amicable breakups. But, it hurts when a woman I’ve loved for 23 years, and intended to die with, decides she’d rather pursue other options; it hurts, a lot…. It also hurts when a woman has said she loved me for ten years, and has been lying the whole time…. that kind of betrayal has a very lasting pain, and is slow to pass…

I hear you reproach, “But delay was best,
For their end was a crime.” Oh, a crime will do
As well, I reply, to serve for a test
As a virtue golden through and through,
Sufficient to vindicate itself
And prove its worth at a moment’s view!
. . . . . .
Let a man contend to the uttermost
For his life’s set prize, be it what it will!
The counter our lovers staked was lost
As surely as if it were lawful coin;
And the sin I impute to each frustrate ghost
Is–the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin,
Though the end in sight was a vice, I say.

~~ Robert Browning (1812-1890) — The Statue and the Bust ~~

Pain is an old friend, though, in all its various guises, and I know it always passes in time. Now I am looking for love again, in my own time, still trying to find that one woman who can be both loving and honest, over time. The ones I’ve known so far have all had a problem with that last part…. it’s not something our society teaches well. But, until I find her, I’ll have to make do with the pain…. But, I know she is out there, somewhere….. There’s got to be some woman who would enjoy being worshiped by an old, fading, but faithful, romantic curmudgeon with a soft spot for dogs, cats, and kids….

In the desert a fountain is springing,
In the wide waste there still is a tree,
And a bird in the solitude singing,
Which speaks to my spirit of thee.

~~ Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Stanzas to Augusta ~~

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The above is, of course, merely a complaint, during one of those days when being alone was becoming tiresome…. To prevent falling into a rut, here is a poem, of mine, which speaks to another subject entirely…. In fact, it’s my most recent poem, and speaks to more than one subject…. I think…

A dream, weeping….

“Never a dull moment to spare”, he said
with a crooked grin, and a broad wink.
“Can’t keep Reality hanging by a thread….
what would Chaos, or Entropy think?”

So, we plucked up our dreams of old,
to carry us on, in dutiful, strong arms,
stuffed a candle in the remaining fold,
for luck, and perfect proof against charms.

Storms follow the sun, but, never stay;
lessons round every corner, all free.
Past fleeting doubts, in a sad disarray,
the journey becomes the reason to be.

Simple kindness manifests untold riches,
in defiance of common cause’s demise.
Bold courage, hanging in stitches,
mends wounds that come as no surprise.

Still, waters run deep, ’tis said by many.
Too much pain cannot apprehend
the salient, sharp points of epiphany,
nor, plainly, to wisdom aspire to pretend.

Folly dogs even the simplest truth,
fumes of toxic ignorance and bile,
alienated as a loose rotten tooth;
it often hides itself, for a long while.

Sought after eons ago, we cried out,
to believe, to suffer no more doubt.
But found instead good reason,
for love, and truth, from season, to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Okay, so, I gave Smart Bee its head yesterday, and this is what it came up with, after a period of conflict over whether or not it would be done at all… I won…. It seems to be another pearl addressing how to express human nature with some dignity, and how to maintain one’s honorable opinion of one’s self….

“He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another.” — Seneca

“An ancient buddha said, Mountains are mountains; waters are waters. These words do not mean mountains are mountains; they mean mountains are mountains.” — Dogen

“No man is an Island, entire of it self; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” — John Donne (c.1571-1631) — Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624) “Meditation XVII”

“One should seek virtue for its own sake and not from hope or fear, or any external motive. It is in virtue that happiness consists, for virtue is the state of mind which tends to make the whole of life harmonious.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Zeno, (B.C. 335?-264), liii

“Since we cannot know all that is to be known of everything, we ought to know a little about everything.” — Blaise Pascal

“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” — Albert Einstein

“Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.” — Publius Syrus

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Regardless of how any of this came out, it will have to do, as I don’t have the time, or the wherewithal, to go back & start over…. In any case, I’m calling it done, and beating a retreat while I still can…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. I don’t seem to be able to stop myself….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

We’ll need more coffee for this…..

Posted on June 18, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I don’t know about y’all, but, I’m tired of staring at this blank screen…. Since that’s all I’ve done for the last 20 minutes or more, I’m guessing my creative juices have yet to become unblocked this morning…. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb, and guess that not only am I blocked, I’m impacted, in its truest sense…. In fact, the only blockage consistent with my mind’s right now is one I should be hesitant to discuss in public…

(Hmm…. I just noticed that word, ‘discuss’…. it’s very close, one letter off, of being the word ‘discus’, which is also something that gets tossed around…. sorry, got distracted…. t’was the only shiny object to be seen, in the vast featureless plain that is my mind in its current bloated state….)

Okay, I’d best take a vote here…. Do you think that paragraph is too much? I mean, is it too, too fractured, too flipped? I need to know, before I go much further in this direction…. Any voters out there? Well, it seems nobody wishes to give me any help yet (It IS early yet, not yet 5 AM….), so I’m on my own, as per usual…. I’m at a handicap here today, I think, between my foggy brain, my lack of preparation, and the usual degree of incipient terror I’m experiencing in the back of my mind, as my subconscious does it’s terrified child routine ahead of my dental visit later this morning….

I am an adult, and have learned to endure my visits to the dentist, as, intellectually, I know it is best for me; I have experienced the worst pain possible, an impacted molar, infected and throbbing just inches away from the brain….and know that visits to the dentist only help prevent that….

But, that knowledge has never been enough to completely overcome my experience as a six year old, when some gigantic Army dentist about scared me out of my skin, on a visit to have a tooth pulled…. The dentist, back in 1956 or so, was a huge, surly man, not pleased to be looking into the mouths of Army brats and soldiers, instead of his private rich folks, and his callousness and indifference to my fear managed to frighten me out of my wits…

To make a long story short, here it is, 58 years later, and I still get the serious yips before a visit…. even though my dentist now is a very talented, beautiful young woman, who has the gentlest hands I’ve ever known…. She has this trick she learned in dental school, where she does this little manipulation of the cheek while giving a shot, that, somehow, completely negates the pain of getting the needle inserted, which brings down the anxiety level like a charm…. But, no matter how often I tell myself it will be fine, I still get this rush of adrenaline, starting about six hours prior to whatever time I must be there for my torture session….

I had hoped the process of Pearling would alleviate some of my anxiety, but, it doesn’t seem to be working very well…. It’s a hard thing, to be this age, and still be suffering unreasonable fears rooted in childhood… but, it’s like those damn bees….

“YES! Living in today’s complex world of the future IS much like having a hive of bees live in your head! But…. there they are!” — Firesign Theater, “I think we’re all Bozos on this bus!”….

Since there isn’t anything I can do to remove the bees just now, I guess I’ll just ignore them, or put out some flowers as a distraction, and get on with the rest of this mess….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Remember what Simonides said,–that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Rules for the Preservation of Health, 7

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

“… so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.” — Voltarine de Cleyre

The Wise Old Pine Cone is off somewhere today with his Paduan, doing whatever they do at these times…. This, of course, means I’m supposed to rant here, if I’m going to stick with what we usually do…. I can do that; there is plenty of stuff to get worked up over in the news, although most would say its rather a slow news time, in some respects…. At least, nothing is going on domestically at the moment; we seem to be in a limbo between random shootings….

Oh, there is plenty of other stuff going on I could talk about, if I was so inclined…. For example, because of the latest round of violence in Iraq, the potUS, Barry the Obama, is sending some of our military personnel back there, although I’m not sure exactly what 275 soldiers, even Special Forces, and a contingent of the ever-so-powerful ‘consultants’, can do in the face of the extent of the insurgency going on there…. But, then, we aren’t expected to be able to count, I guess, or be allowed to know exactly what is going on…… We’re supposed to accept whatever they tell us, no matter how suspiciously dumb, or egregiously immoral/unethical….

I think what frightens and annoys me the most is what is NOT being written or talked about much… The NSA, and all the other agencies that get data from them, continue to carry out their illegal, unethical, obscenely paranoid surveillance of the world’s population, ( I don’t think they are limiting themselves to just us….), without any sort of oversight, and without any restraint by any outside regulatory agencies…. much less Congressional, judicial or (gasp!) public oversight…. They haven’t stopped, or slowed their vacuuming up of every bit of data they can access; if you think they have, or have any evidence thereof, please, tell me…. I’d LOVE to hear of ANYTHING anyone might be doing to try to curb their insanity…. but, I don’t think you can, because they haven’t stopped at all….

They just keep coming up with new, outrageous justifications for doing what they plan to do anyway, in court, and in the public eye…. For example, the link below, from the UK Guardian (the same news outlet that first published the Eric Snowden revelations….), tells us about the latest bit of justifying bullshit being put out by the British spy agencies, to try to convince the public that a) they aren’t doing anything wrong, and b) they’re legally allowed to do wrong anyway…. For me, the most telling point is the sheer bold effrontery that gives them the chutzpah to even SAY this stuff… It’s all so outrageously DUMB, not to mention self-serving, reeking of false entitlement, and, essentially, giving the finger to the public….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/17/mass-surveillance-social-media-permitted-uk-law-charles-farr

Another part of this that bothers me is the lack of any coverage at all in the US news media; to find this kind of stuff, I have to go to overseas web sites, like the Guardian, to find out what my own government is up to, even if it’s only what they’re up to in England, by handing over all kinds of British metadata to their spy compatriots, and egging them on in their war against their own citizens….

A week or two ago, here in the USA, there were one or two articles, about some piece of legislation that passed the Senate, that was SUPPOSED to be the law designed to put the reins on the NSA…. Of course, the actual wording of the bill they passed does nothing of the sort; it didn’t even address about HALF the issues involved, and did NOTHING to halt any of the data collection… Mostly, it just dealt with what is to be done with the data once collected, none of which was actually restrictive to their activities….

Bah! Humbug! It all pisses me off, and what with the adrenaline already coursing through my system, I’ll be jacked up for hours now…. I’m going to halt this rant here… Y’all know it pisses me off, so I won’t dwell on it any more today…. I will, however, find a pearl or two to finish off what I’m trying to say, which essentially boils down to this….

Ffolkes, the government is lying to us, you know it, I know it, and so do they…. The only question remaining is, what are we going to do about it? I’ll leave that question hanging for the moment, to see if it garners any responses… and, in the meantime, go find a pearl or three to close the issue for the day….

“A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service.” — Georges Pompidou

“Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun; it shines everywhere.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Twelfth Night — Act iii, Sc.

“A Lie is still a Lie, even if you believe it.” — Smart Bee

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

When I’m in this mood, only one poem will do, and it’s mine…

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 ~~

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

Y’all know what comes now….. I’m in a hurry now; my adrenaline level is rising, and I need to get up and going, to work some of it off…. If I don’t, I’m going to have to take the option at the dentist to have them put me completely under, if I hope to get anything done in my mouth…. At the moment, sitting still is NOT an option…. So, here’s the quickest, random pearl I can put together…. Wish me luck….

“Wit that can creep, and pride that licks the dust.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, Prologue to the Satires, Line 333

“One who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.” — Lao-tzu, _Tao Te Ching_

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” — Marcus Aurelius

“If you are a host to your guest, be a host to his dog also.” — Russian Proverb

“Everything may happen. [Omnia fieri possunt.]” — Seneca, Epistulae ad Lucilium, Epis. LXX, 9

“Never be boastful; someone may come along who knew you as a child.” — Chinese Proverb

“For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. The ends of things and their beginnings are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret. He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn and the infinite in which he is engulfed.” — Blaise Pascal

Well!…. That went extremely well; quick, with an elegant, sturdy result…. I like it…..

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

“Heisenberg was wrong, I know exactly where I am and where I’m going.” — Einstein

Sadly, me, too…. and, it’s somewhere I DON’T want to go…. But, I’m a big boy, and I can’t afford another cancellation fee, like the last three times I bailed at the last minute…. Star, unreasoning feelings of panic, when rooted in events over 50 years old, make for a fearsome challenge, which I tend to fail to meet as often as not…. SIGH…. But, I’ll make it today, and, hopefully, be back tomorrow, in less of an internal mess….. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

Use the lug nuts we softened yesterday….

Posted on June 6, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Celebration is called for, if not demanded…. I woke up, again (an event that becomes more significant each day….), but this time, I looked over at the clock to find that I had actually slept longer than I had thought, not less. It was actually past five in the morning, by a goodly number of minutes, and even my making it past 9:30 pm last night for the first time in ages doesn’t account for it…. But, I don’t care why, it just feels good, so I’m going to spend the day celebrating my return to near-normalcy, and try to figure out how it happened, so I can make it happen again tonight, and from now on….

Probably wishful thinking, but everyone needs a goal, right? For the nonce, it will have to do, as it also presents me with a blank page again, and no idea what to do about it, other than my usual blather. That seems to be working just fine, but, I can’t depend on it to produce an entire pearl, not if I still want any readers at the end of it. Of course, the number of readers I’m attracting is again on the decline, so I’m not sure if anything will work, other than sheer nonsense and/or sheer brilliance…. This morning, I’m pretty certain the former is within reach; the latter may be too much to expect right now….

Not that I’d necessarily even recognize brilliance, even if it walked up and slapped me, but it would be nice to see some of it around here now and again, just to give me a reason to come back and do it again. Writing this way seems to be a bit like the game of golf…. It’s harder than it looks, it takes more time than one would expect to learn how to do it right, and the payoff isn’t very exciting. Still, like golf, one good poem, or one good rant, or one great group of pearls is enough to get me back out here again each day, just like one good fairway drive, or, one long putt that drops in for a birdie, will bring us back out to the links next week….. It doesn’t take much….

There is an old piece of wisdom somewhere that talks about how the longest journey begins with one step (it’s actually from the Tao Teh Ching, by Lao Tzu….), and it applies about as universally as anything can…. so, naturally, it applies here. This Pearl isn’t going to get done until I quit screwing around, and start writing, or at least cruising for pearls to include, or to stimulate, so I once again have to put aside my fantasies and get down to the actual work involved with creating a Daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, such as it is….. which isn’t going to happen, until now….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“I believe and I say it is true Democratic feeling, that all the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.” — William Henry Harrison

Well, duh….. As I get older, this principle, or, this observation of a principle, becomes more obvious, and less surprising. I first began to question government back around 1957 or so, the first time I ever got a look at Dicky Nixon, when he was running for VP behind Eisenhower. Even at that tender age, I couldn’t figure out why this man was so famous and admired; he looked like he wore too much Brylcream (a brand name hair grease in 1957…) in his hair, and he smiled way too much…. Any kid under 10 is leery of adults who smile like that; they know it’s false bonhomie (though generally without knowing the word ‘bonhomie’ itself….), and generally avoid such adults at any cost, even to the point of speaking out, to say something like “Don’t touch me with that!”, when asked to shake their hand….. because we saw them run it over their slicked back hair, and didn’t want the grease all over our own hands….

It’s been a while since I wrote a politirant… This isn’t because the politicians have been idle, far from it. They are busily carrying on the agendas of their corporate masters and the BRC, weakening social programs, giving money to the rich and powerful, distracting the public with miscellaneous bullshit while they transfer more money to their own pockets, and go about their true business of making money off the rest of humanity. No, I’ve just been too satisfied with my own lot to work up sufficient outrage, since my own actions right now are feeding into that whole trained consumer scenario, while I make up for the poverty of my existence over the last three years….

I know, it’s a little hypocritical of me, but, I don’t really care much what others think about it. All my life I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today, even if I’m a bit less capable, physically, than I had planned to be at this stage, and I don’t really give a shit if other folks don’t approve of how I’m living my life. I’m doing just exactly what I want to do, much as I always have done, and will continue to do so as long as I can. Some of what I want to do requires that I engage in dealings with the BRC, politicians, and corporate slaves, and do so without biting off their appendages, because they are such gits….. Sociopathic gits, but gits nonetheless….

“Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage. But if we don’t practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us — and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along.” — Carl Sagan, “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” Parade, February 1, 1987

In another sense, I’ve about given up…. Over the last three years or so, or just over two years of writing daily in this blog, I’ve ranted and raged against the machine on a regular basis, sometimes with a lot of vitriol and energy, which is completely justified, when one considers just how much the ruling classes act like vicious animals more than people…..

But, no matter how often, or how much, or how well I write, none of it makes a dent in the facade of respectability that cloaks those in positions of elected authority in this country. These politicians have been getting away with criminal acts for so long, by the old “make the laws ourselves” method, which makes their thievery legal, that they now believe it is their God-given right to plunder the public treasury, looking upon the structure of income in government like their own bank….

I’ve managed to acquire a comfortable retirement income, between my almost 30 years working for the State of California, and putting money into their retirement system, and by putting money into Social Security for over 50 years. Together, it gives me enough room to breathe, financially, for one of the first times in my life, and to be honest, I’m enjoying it, little as I like money, or its demands on our psyches.

Or, I guess it would be more accurate to say, I’m enjoying what money can do, when one has enough of it to be able to think beyond necessity. Unfortunately for my angst, or perhaps, fortunately, this leaves me without the depth of feeling needed to rant successfully… It’s like Voldemort told Harry, in HP 5:TOOTP, “You’ve got to MEAN it, Harry!”, referring to using the Cruciatus Curse correctly…..

So, I’ll just say this…. Politics is poopadoodle, and politicians are all assholes…. I can’t put it more simply, or more effectively than that. Anyone who WANTS to be in an elected position of authority in this world is, in my mind, insane, by definition. It takes a strong degree of insanity to WANT that kind of power over others, and it takes a sociopathic, rationalizing sort of mind to be able to steal from the rest of mankind without suffering a single pang of conscience… The same goes for the bankers, and the preachers, and the police, mostly, and for anyone else who makes a habit of fucking over other people….

Sadly, that’s a large percentage of mankind that preys on the rest, and they’ve been practicing for oh, about twenty-thousand years now, ever since people started to hang together in groups, and came up with the concept of barter, and/or money…. Ever since then, people have been trying to figure out new and improved methods of getting an advantage over their peers, using these concepts….. the rest we call History…..

“You have the right to remain an idiot.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

I suppose that a mild rant such as the above is sufficient reason to feel as befuddled and bemused as I do…. Enough so I am picking today’s poem from that position, going with what appeals to that sense of bemusement….. and this is perfect for that…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did….

I dreaded that first robin so,
But he is mastered now,
And I’m accustomed to him grown,–
He hurts a little, though.

I thought if I could only live
Till that first shout got by,
Not all pianos in the woods
Had power to mangle me.

I dared not meet the daffodils,
For fear their yellow gown
Would pierce me with a fashion
So foreign to my own.

I wished the grass would hurry,
So when ‘t was time to see,
He’d be too tall, the tallest one
Could stretch to look at me.

I could not bear the bees should come,
I wished they’d stay away
In those dim countries where they go:
What word had they for me?

They’re here, though; not a creature failed,
No blossom stayed away
In gentle deference to me,
The Queen of Calvary.

Each one salutes me as he goes,
And I my childish plumes
Lift, in bereaved acknowledgment
Of their unthinking drums.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

__________________________________

Well, here’s the deal…. One last old-school pearl to finish out the day, and we’ll call it a draw, okay? I know I’ve been a bit scattered and discombobulated, but, just getting to use that word is enough of a reward for me, so, back off…. I’m kidding, of course….. But, not about this group…. They picked themselves again, so the underlying message, whatever it may be, can be blamed on my subconscious…. I’m pretty sure there is a message, which, of course, is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. besides, I’m on a deadline here, so, again, back off….. 😉

“Death tugs at my ear and says: “Live, I am coming.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth — and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up–that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it were the only one we had.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.” — Blaise Pascal

“Ask a toad what is beauty?…a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back.” — Voltaire (1694-1778)

“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.” — Buddha

He ‘s gone, and who knows how he may report
Thy words by adding fuel to the flame?

— John Milton (1608-1674) — Samson Agonistes, Line 1350

“Do I have a lifestyle yet?” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

“That he is mad, ‘t is true: ‘t is true ‘t is pity; And pity ‘t is ‘t is true.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act ii, Sc. 2

Hmm… even Will gets one right now and then…. and this shoe sure fits well! Let’s see if it floats….. Okay, it will have to do…. It’s really not too shabby, all in all, so, since I’ve posted worse, we’ll fly with it…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

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

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Tag Archives: Blaise Pascal

We’ll need more coffee for this…..

Use the lug nuts we softened yesterday….

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