Unwilling to swim, it sank….

Ffolkes,

"If a man take no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand."

~~ Confucius ~~

leeloo 1 026

LeeLoo, hard at work.


Good morning.... We are not happy. In fact, we are not we, but, nonetheless, we aren't happy. Nor would you be, if your plans to garner a bit of sleep fell through as thoroughly as have mine. It is now 0129, according to the microwave clock. That's too frigging early, even for me. I had hoped to make it all the way to 0400, but, it seems my body prefers for me to experience TD q4h, whether I am ready for it or not. (TD = tardive dyskinesia, the bane of all opiate junkies and victims of medical abuse, to wit: me....) I don't know about y'all, but I just LOVE being up all fucking night, shaking and pacing! Can you think of a better way to lose weight?.... Well, actually, I can....

Ah, well, not long to go now.... My stay in Hell should only last another eight or nine days. Piece o'cake, ya think? And, hey, I've gone this long without ripping anyones tongue out with my bare hands, so, it's looking good for making it through this without any jail time. Bonus! Mom would have been proud....

Now, of course, I am in even deeper doo-doo.... How can I save this, without resorting to outright cheating, or perverse manipulation of the sort we all must endure from the BRC and those of their ilk? (I sure am glad I'm in a different ilk....) (Exactly what IS an ilk, anyway?.... Never mind....) I suppose I could write a quick fictional opening, but, the reality based crap at the top kind of aced that idea. How about some.... no, better not. That didn't work out well the last time we tried it. Maybe we could.... nope. Forgot; we lost our license for that. Hmm.... this is getting sticky, isn't it?

Ah, I know. I'll break out an old #4. It works every time. It's also our cheapest method for getting us out of here, as it's simply too fast and effective to be illegal, thus saving us a small fortune in legal fees. As those of y'all who have been here before know, y'all should hang on to something solid, and, for heaven's sake, put down your drinks.... Luigi, it's a # 4; hold on!....

Shall we Pearl?....

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

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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

    White Rabbit mode kicked in, for some reason; hence, the default musical selection for today reverts to our standard.... Enjoy!....


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Classical Music

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220px-Pogo_-_Earth_Day_1971_poster

Pogo, by Walt Kelly


Those among you who have read the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig will know what I mean when I say I've been on a personal chautauqua, seeking the path to my own center of being. It's been a long journey, as I had apparently wandered much further than I had imagined, which, when one stops to think, is only natural, given the whole concept of losing one's way.... Any who, I'm getting closer, and can feel both poetry and prose percolating, with the promise of copious floods of nonsense, verbal trickery, and a bit of philosophy yet to come. For now, in place of the rant which would usually grace this section (a bit o ego there, yes?...), here is a nine-star pearl, with some thoughts on how it all got to be the way it is today, in this crazy old mode of existence we call Reality.... Enjoy, ffolkes....

"Humankind cannot stand very much reality. -- T.S. Eliot

"And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the bible were used to beat plowshares into swords..." -- Alan Watts

"Prejudice is the child of ignorance." -- William Hazlitt

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible." -- Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals

"The entire world is being driven insane by this single phrase: 'My religion alone is true.'" -- Ramakrishna, Hindu saint & reformer

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

"Any religion...is forever in danger of petrifaction into mere ritual and habit, though ritual and habit be essential to religion." -- T.S. Eliot, Selected Essays, 1927.

"Before you have sex you have to be elected to a high government position." -- Zippy

"Grown men, he told himself, in flat contradiction of centuries of accumulated  evidence about the way grown men behave, do not behave like this." -- Douglas Adams

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Comedy_Tragedy

When life calls, ready or not....

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 9/10/2015.

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Yin-Yang-symbol-sun-and-moon

    Today's final old-school pearl speaks to our humanity, and, how to go about being the best human one can be.... Pay attention, ffolkes; this one is bound to be on the Quiz....

He not busy being born
Is busy dying.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~


"Anyone who has had a bull by the tail knows five or six more things than someone who hasn't." -- Mark Twain

"No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see." -- Taoist Proverb

"Down in their hearts, wise men know this truth: the only way to help yourself is to help others." -- Elbert Hubbard

"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need." -- The Rolling Stones

"In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside." -- Epictetus -- Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxvi

"No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor." -- Andrew Carnegie

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." -- Albert Einstein

"It's like brother Nietzsche said--being human is a complicated gig, so give that dark night of the soul a hug and howl the eternal yes." -- Chris, the Philosophical DJ on the TV show, Northern Exposure

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Since it's taken nearly three days to get this done, I'd best take it the way it now, before I decide to start over (no worries, not gonna happen....). In point of fact, I must go out today, into the BBR, to take LeeLoo to her first visit to the vet.... No telling when, but, I will be back.... Meanwhile, stay alert, keep your powder dry, and question authority; you know, the basics.... See ya....

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

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

Which is Why....

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

"SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!"- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí....

Paleontological exhibits of ancient rigatoni….

Ffolkes,

“Ah said, pay attention, boy!”

~~ Foghorn Leghorn ~~

same

Curiosity on Mars

Image from http://gizmodo.com/a-fan-stitched-together-the-best-selfie-of-curiosity-ye-1723085310


Good morning…. Or, so it says here on the label. Personally, I’d hesitate to wager on that, as the hour does tend to take away some of the shine; that’s going to happen at 1 AM, especially when arising at such an ungodly hour was NOT on the agenda for the night…. Ah, well, rather than piss & moan about it, I’ll just start today’s mess…. It’s always a cleaner mess when I have this much time to spend on it…. Let us hope the gods of Entropy will cooperate to some degree…. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll be nice enough to keep the Murph off my back ’til I can get it done….

More likely it’ll just piss him off, and tomorrow morning will, no doubt, manifest as one we will all regret having experienced…. unless I can figure out a way to buy him off…. Yeah, that’s the ticket! Now, all I have to do is figure out what the hell I can give an iconic force of nature to make it go away…. Piece o’cake…

Now we’ve indulged in a morning descent into fantasy, why don’t we stop fussing around, and be off to the oyster beds, to gather enough pearls to complete today’s effort? I think that would be SWELL!…. But, then, it’s 1:13 AM and I’m about half-way to insane, with a one-way ticket clutched in my hot little hand…. what the hell do I know?….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.” — TV listing for the movie, The Wizard of Oz, in the Marin Paper

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beatles

Image from allexpress.com via Google Images


It’s been a long time since I listened to ‘The Boys’, and I thought I’d try to find some live cuts for us to enjoy. What I found is over an hour of live music, all Beatles music…. but, it’s a bit strange. It was supposedly a concert in Russia, in 2014! There are a number of different songs, each with its own costumes. The players LOOK very much like them, and the music is very close, but, I can’t tell yet if it’s real, or computer magic…. You tell me, if you figure it out, okay? Otherwise, there are a lot of other REAL Beatles live cuts on the page the link will take you to…. Enjoy!….


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Bootleg Beatles ~ Live

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Dont keep calm

    I’m working on an epic rant, that isn’t quite ready for posting. To sublimate the (quite strong) urge to rant which so often occurs at this hour, (must have something to do with the resentment at my doctors for causing the conditions which cause me to be up… thank you very much, you assholes…), here is a discussion of human nature from early in 2013…. Enjoy!….

“Custom does often reason overrule and only serves for reason to the fool.” — John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

This aphorism is one that I think most people would accept as true, at least part of the time. It also points up what I see as a basic flaw in human nature, a characteristic that everyone possesses, and few overmaster. It has to do with our core beliefs, and the attitude we assume as our method of perception, the orientation of our world-view, as it were. We all perceive what is out there in the universe, but we are not capable, at this time, of understanding, or even noting, all that is there to be perceived, as we are limited to what we can see, hear, feel, touch, taste, or deduce, in our immediate vicinity…. We don’t yet know how to include the input of anything not in our physical presence, other than vicariously (via TV, radio, books, etc…..).

We do, however perceive what we are near, and what we do with those perceptions is what determines how the events of our lives will proceed. What is more, each one of us perceives all of this IN A DIFFERENT WAY…..  Two people can look at the same article, or event, and see two entirely different things; just ask them….. We use the same senses, the same KIND of brains to process the data, at the same time to observe the same event, yet the interpretation of those events will vary, by as many degrees as there are people perceiving them. This unique ability, to process data in a completely new and different way from anyone else’s method, is, as might be guessed, both a blessing, and a curse….. It is the latter that concerns me today…..

In order to coexist in the same place and time, people have learned to accept certain perceptions as being identical, for the purposes of communication, e.g., everyone knows what “fire” is, and knows not to touch it barehanded…. (Note: in a way, this blog is all about the process of such communications…. we explore the reality that is consensual, that we all agree to deal with as being the same for all of us…..) This is the blessing it gives, the opportunity to increase understanding, to allow people to work in tandem, making both much more capable, making two more than just one plus one….. This is a very useful tool in the real world, and has helped our species achieve the degree of civilization we now enjoy….

But, the other side of this characteristic has an equal part in our destiny, and may in fact be the more important of the two, in the ultimate sense….. You see, we are all herd animals, and desire the approval and company of our peers; without it, we suffer, much more than we even know. It is not “human” to remain alone too long…. Oh, there is nothing wrong with solitude, and much great thought is achieved when one is not distracted by others….. On the other hand, a human who is alone for too long becomes a pale imitation of his/her true self, without the presence of other minds to test his/her theories, to discuss and share their feelings and accomplishments, to vent their frustrations, to experience love….. Without these things, our spirits become small, and lose their moral compass, leaving us adrift in a reality that seems dark, and dangerous….

This dependence on custom (which I define as the total construct of human society, the set of rules and regulations, all unwritten, by which all of us shape our behavior in respect to each other…..) is so strong that, as the aphorism states, one becomes willing to set reason aside, in order to keep and maintain our feeling of having a place in society. We will assume whatever mask that society demands, at times, in order to not have to wear a mask of our own devising, one that we do not find comfortable…. This is the curse of which I spoke….

You see, there are a number of people who have no compunctions whatsoever in using this human characteristic to their own ends….. They don’t believe in any of the crap they spew, but will say or do anything to make sure that others do, because this is how they control the general populace… They spread their lies, fast and often, until they are believed…. these lies promulgate fear amongst the uneducated and timid, who then demand that “something be done!” by those in charge…. which is exactly what those people wanted, for they can now proceed to further fan the flames of fear, while surreptitiously looting the public treasury to make it seem as if they are doing something constructive…. “Hey, they’re stealing our oil! Let’s spend a few billion to bomb the crap out of them so we can keep driving SUV’s, with great cup holders!”

Oh well, I guess that’s all the rant I’ve got in me today…. It’s kind of mild I know, but I was trying to be scholarly, rather than controversial and accusatory…. I think I’ve succeeded in that, but, it doesn’t quite give the same thrill and/or release as a good, nasty rant, with some great name-calling… Well, I can always call them assholes, because, hey, it fits, and it’s easy to type…. Any who, I’ll stop now, right on the edge of illumination, and allow the Gentle Reader to follow the train of my thought to its obvious conclusion…. For those too busy, or too lazy to do so, I’ll summarize….

Don’t listen to what anyone else says, not about YOUR perceptions. And, for sure, kick the asses of anyone who tries to convince you of their integrity in an elected capacity, or any position of authority…. A lot of people, on every level of society, are just trying to control you for their own purposes, and deserve any ass-kicking that comes their way….

Be like a cat…. cats don’t give a SHIT what anybody thinks, they just are….. No apologies, no fuss, just leave me alone, because I’m busy being a cat….. This is good advice, so, listen up, I’m trying to do you a favor…..         😆

“We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne _Essays_, bk. III, ch. 11 [1595]

Written 4/13/2013.

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Comedy_Tragedy

Honorable Request

Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit,
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.

Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, nev
er given a reason,
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.

Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown,
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.

Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found,
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 10/13/2012.

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lao

He only earns his freedom and his life

Who takes them every day by storm.
 
~~ Goethe, from Faust ~~


“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh”, said Piglet at last, what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?” “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing, he said.” — A. A. Milne, “Winnie the Pooh”

“Don’t forget that compared to a grownup person every baby is a genius. Think of the capacity to learn! The freshness, the temperament, the will of a baby a few months old!” — May Sarton

“A man who carries a cat by the tail is getting experience that will always be helpful.  He isn’t likely to grow dim or doubtful. Chances are, he isn’t likely to carry the cat that way again, either.  But if he wants to, I say let him!” — Mark Twain

“Do not confuse ‘duty’ with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.” — Lazarus Long

“The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.” — George Eliot

“The moment in which you confront your own death is the moment in which you are most totally alive.” — Solomon Short

“Let honor be as strong to us an obligation as necessity is to others.” — Pliny the Elder

My guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
 deceived me into thinking I had something to protect.
 Good and bad I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow
 Ah, but I was so much older then; I’m younger than that now.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~


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“I must go seek some dew-drops here, And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.” — William Shakespeare

So goes another late-night/early morning Pearl…. I’m thinking of making a new category, for Insomnia Pearls. Probably won’t, though; that’s just giving in to the assholes, the way I see it. Fuck ’em. I’m tired. I want to sleep, for more than two hours in a row. Now I’ll quit the whining, and take us out of here, as is my last duty…. It’s been real, ffolkes, that’s for sure. See y’all tomorrow…. I won’t bother with anything like , ‘same place, same time’ as that would just tempt Murphy AND the gods of chance. As long as no charges get filed beforehand, I’ll see y’all in the mornin’…..

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

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


Pilot fish? Biscotti? Auroral halos? What IS all this?….

Ffolkes,

“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.”

~~ The Beatles ~~

china-deep-in-the-guangxi-province-m-1

Image of Guangxi Province, China, found on the UK Telegraph Website


Good morning…. There is hope! As a scientist for most of my life, I am willing to change my theories in the face of new data that is indicative of the need for a change. For some weeks now, I’d about given up hope of ever sleeping more than a couple hours at a time, having been so disrupted by the forced medicine change perpetrated upon me by my own doctors. But, last night, I actually slept, with some small awakenings, for a full eight hours, or close enough as to make no difference…. The difference in my own state of mind is astounding, once one gets past the astonishment, filling me with the hope I can repeat the experience tonight…

In short, Right Fucking On! Or, as we used to say, Yippee, hippie! Well, okay, we didn’t say that, but, we felt like it!….

And, now, we can get on with this mess, without any further nonsense…. Another YAY, if you please….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Virtue is the beauty, and vice the deformity, of the soul.”

~~ Socrates (B.C. 469-399) ~~


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Peace76

    Today’s musical video choice is a form of celebration for last night’s gift, a long rest in the arms of Morpheus…. This, however, will NOT put you to sleep. It’s one of my favorite old rock bands, famous for hard-driving, brilliantly improvisational southern rock & roll, in a concert from their heydey, in March of 1971. I give you. the Allman Brothers Band, at the Warehouse, New Orleans…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. I’m going to, for sure….

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The Allman Brothers

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We the People...

    Our world is poised on the cusp of an uncertain future; in my most optimistic examinations of the evidence all around us, there is conflict coming to society. All I can see is turmoil and human pain, in an ever increasing spiral of insanity, as the long-awaited collapse of the current system of economic dominance, to wit: capitalism, enters the final death throes, shaking itself apart at the very seams, which are merely illusions, held together by ideas long out of date, and ultimately self-destructive. In short, the house of cards is coming down, ffolkes, and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it at this point.

Oh there are signs of hope, but, they are almost buried by the obvious signs of corruption and decayed morality which will, ultimately, spell our doom, unless we can find a way to change human nature in the next, oh, five minutes or so….. You think I’m being facetious, but, I’m not; that is a very literal warning, in real time…. My assessment is based on too many pieces of evidence to ignore, or deny, and I’m not particularly happy about it, but, then, Reality very seldom asks our permission for anything, now, does it?

One of the ways our species seems to use, to its undying regret, is to attempt to legislate behavior, or morality, which is the cause of the behavior, into a moral guideline, supposedly for the benefit of all. This, of course, is sheer nonsense, for you cannot legislate human feelings or motivational emotions. It just isn’t possible to make a law that causes people to stop committing offenses of morality; laws do not reach into the human psyche like that. Laws of society have no effect whatsoever on how people feel, or act, and to think so is sheer folly. Yet, for centuries, people have tried to make laws to adjust behavior; I defy ANYONE to show ONE TIME in history in which it worked…. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you look….

I’m pretty confident you wont’ find any such examples…. I’m full of energy, having slept well last night for the first time in, literally, months. As a result, I think I could keep ranting on this for some time…. But, I know y’all have better things to do, so, I’ll sublimate the rest of my angst into an older rant, on a subject which highlights our subject today….

This country has attempted any number of times to abrogate the Second Amendment of the US Constitution; regulations already exist which have decreased its universality, placing restrictions on the process of obtaining and licensing (!!!) a gun…. The following rant was written in response to one writer’s suggestion for a change to the Bill of Rights, which he felt would be useful. This is my response….

From 9/19/2012:

A while back, I wrote a comment regarding another blog, concerning the proposal made in that blog of writing some new amendments to the Constitution. Most of the suggested amendments made good sense, as they removed most of the entitlements that Congress had awarded itself over the years. However, there was one suggested change with which I wholeheartedly disagree…. this is the response to that suggestion… the address of the original blog is included, in case you want to read it first…..  To wit:

In Response to a Proposed 35th Amendment:

From the blog site at:

http://lennemi.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/a-proposal-for-a-new-bill-of-rights/#comment-234

After reading the above blog, I posted the following comment:

Sir, or madam,

Excellent post, well reasoned and presented…. I have a few comments, if I may….

It has long been a delusion in human society that morality can be enforced, or induced at all, by legislation. This is, as proven time and time again throughout thousands of years of human history, an idea that is doomed to fail, every time it is attempted. That is not speculation, or guesswork. Look it up…..

Therefore it is my suggestion that you forget #35, in favor of the Second Amendment already in place in the Bill of Rights; this concept is based on a false assumption, and making a flat statement of what (YOU believe) my rights are, or should be, is not acceptable to me as a citizen of this republic, or as a human being responsible for my own actions .Bearing arms is not a privilege, nor will I, and most likely at least 150 million, or more, other people in this country, accept that idea for a moment, a fact that should be obvious to any one with practical understanding of reality.

I do not, nor will I ever believe that Federal, State, or Local jurisdiction have either the right, nor the authority to say differently, and I doubt seriously that there are very many in this country who do believe that. I reject utterly the statement that they, or you, or anyone else, has the right to decide for me what I will or will not own, or keep, or use in my defense. After guns, free speech would be the next to go….any bets?

That, my friends, is a fact of life, and of human nature. We only have those rights we can defend…. and, this is merely another doomed attempt to legislate morality into human nature. Violence exists. Period. Get used to it, because you are not going to remove it from people’s core nature, or from reality, any more than attempting to remove guns will stop crime, or killing, or the tendency toward violence that is part of the nature of Man. Better to understand the impulse, to work toward educating people in how to cope with that part of themselves constructively, rather than destructively…..

The rest of your amendments are perfectly in alignment with what I believe is needed to improve the conditions of inequality and elitism so prevalent in today’s society, and would likely receive my full support.

To be honest, up to recently, I never owned, or saw a need to own a gun. As one who has followed the Warrior’s Path since my early teens (and probably before; I was raised on army posts from birth to age 10), a long-time student of martial arts, and the theories of war, I learned how to deal with violence in many ways, with many techniques, a large number of which I had to apply in my work for years, physically controlling out-of-control psychotic mental patients, without hurting them, or getting hurt. I got pretty  good at it, especially in recognizing it before it manifested fully, and diverting it.  I am very familiar with violence, in a great many of its guises. So, I can generally deal with whatever physical violence may occur in my immediate vicinity.

Now, however, I’m not as fast as I once was, nor as well-conditioned; I’m better at foresight, though, it comes with age. Moreover, I can foresee a time when I could conceivably need the equalizing factor of a weapon like a gun, in order to live up to my standard of handling events without injury, as far as I can….. So, I’m probably going to buy one or two… because of that aging, and even more, because of insane (sorry, don’t mean to flame; but, it isn’t fully sane to attempt to change human nature) talk such as this, of watching society willingly slip on their slave collars… It is NOT going to happen in my little corner of the world….

If anyone, or anyone’s brother, or anyone else, tries to take away the Second Amendment rights I now have, well, I can only say, good luck with that….. and bring lots of friends… You’ll need them….

Oh, I’d also keep in mind…. Those folks like the police in Sanford, Florida who were complicit in covering up the murder there (of Trayvon Martin),  aren’t going to disarm themselves, now are they?…. How far will you trust them to behave with honor, and respect for YOUR rights? Get real…..and I don’t mean that disrespectfully, but in hope that you will open your eyes to what is plainly there to see….

Dont keep calm

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Comedy_Tragedy

    Near the end of next month, I’m planning to return to Ireland, to spend some time exploring the country, and the culture…. One of my grandmothers was born there; the other was born in a small village in England. I intend to try to find both their birthplaces, to see where some of my own roots were originally planted…. To celebrate in advance, here is a poem I wrote back in my time of poverty, prior to securing my retirement the way it is now. It shows fairly well how I feel about the Emerald Isle….

Days and Nights of Eire

Comforting, a dream creeps oft into my mind
On the elven hills of Eire lives the vision I find.
Elegant, gracious, everlastingly draped in beauty
Just payment of simple homage lives as joyous duty.

Fairies and druids walk abroad in ghostly parade
Gracing each hearth with its own welcoming shade.
Castles and heroes yet live in tale and song
Proving love for the land in each heart strong.

From cold of winter into glorious young spring
Brown, and gray, to emerald green songs to sing
Soft rains always follow winter’s great tempest
Eire dons its emerald coat from east to west.

Old and strong, connections call out in dreams
Nothing that was known remains as it seems.
Immersion in ancient runes and battle hymns
Offering sanity in place of grievous whims.

Time and place can tell a much different tale
Judgment should never be a final sale.
Yet something solid and real calls me to go see
Where dreams of loving beauty may actually be….

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 11/3/2012.

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pearls_3

    Today’s final old-school pearl is destined to be a classic. I was careful in creating it, to choose just the right quotes to fit the point(s) made, as well as the Apple configuration elements (the ‘look and feel’… Yes, it’s an ironic dig at Steve-O’s sense of entitlement…). I believe it may be one the finest examples of the genre I’ve ever put together. Every one of the quotes has a significant piece of advice or point about living with virtue; anyone who can make these a part of their life is bound to find peace within themselves, for together, what we have here is a road map to happiness, and freedom…

I might also add, I’d wager serious money all of these will be on the Final Quiz waiting for us at the door to the next world, so, paying attention could make all the difference in where we end up…. Think about it….

“You’re only dancing on this Earth for a short time
And though you want to last forever,
You know you never will.
And the good-bye makes the journey harder still.”

~~ Cat Sevens ~~


Love is not something you have; it is something you do. — Limon

“Who then is free?  The wise man who can command himself.” — Horace

“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to.” — Bob Dylan

“Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” — Anne Herbert, Co-Evolution Quarterly, 1983

“Cultivate only the habits that you are willing should master you.” — Elbert Hubbard

“Be not unwilling in what thou doest, neither selfish nor unadvised nor obstinate; let not over-refinement deck out thy thought; be not wordy nor a busybody.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, iii, 5

“Our life is short, but to expand that span to vast eternity is virtue’s work.” — Shakespeare

“I expect to pass through this life but once. If, therefore, there be any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” — William Penn

“Don’t try to have the last word. You might get it.” — Lazarus Long

Do not stand by my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am a diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awake in the morning hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there… I did not die.

~~ Prayer of the Makah Indians ~~


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It’s probably not smart to think what happened today will ever happen again, but, we can hope. This one came together like billy-oh, as they used to say, which, no doubt, is directly attributable to the massive sleep I from which I arose a while ago. Still, it’s nice to have it work the way it is designed to work. In fact, I think it would be wise to take the money, which is never anywhere to be found, and run for the border….. and, no, I’m not going to Taco Bell. Haven’t subjected myself to that in years….

See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. That’s both a promise, and. a threat….. We only threaten misguided concepts, so, not to worry, right? Right. See ya…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Wait! Isn’t it supposed to wiggle?….

Ffolkes,

“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.”

~~ Chinese Proverb ~~

g-ville 002 (2)

Duh. They’re flowers.


Good morrow…. Rather than giving in to impulse, I’m going to perform a 180° turn, at four gravities, just to demonstrate how much I care about my Gentle Readers…. This means you will NOT be subjected to a series of formerly patented paraphrased versions of discarded Buddy Hackett jokes…. Instead, you will be forced treated to a collection of archived material, presented in the guise of aged clerical treatises of historical note… In other words, I’m feeling lazy, and I intend to cheat, unmercifully, until this damn thing is done…

Damn it! If I have to be up at 2 AM, everybody’s going to suffer be rewarded….

Shall we Pearl?

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin

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Albert_King_1978

Albert King 1978


Finding & posting videos has become a relatively simple, consistent routine, so, this will be the freshest portion of today’s Pearl…. A while back, this section featured a live performance by Stevie Ray Vaughn, recorded in studio, with Albert King…. Albert was, to me, the best of all 3 Kings of the Blues (BB, one whose given name escapes me, and Albert….)…. Here he is playing on his full album, “I’ll Play The Blues For You”….


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Albert King

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Sandclock .jpg

Nice clock, eh?


As may or may not have been noted, sometimes, I’m lazy. Today is one of those days; asking why would just piss both of us off, so, we’ll just get on with it…. Here, from the archives, (where else?) is a little foray into nothing much…. It’s a format I once called a “new-school pearl”, so, why not call it the same now?…. No reason at all, but, then, that could be said of ALL of today’s Pearl, couldn’t it?….

From 10/21/2012:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

~~ Rudyard Kipling ~~

~~ Just So Stories (1902) “The Elephant’s Child” ~~


I first read the phrase “feeding the Elephant’s Child” in a Robert Heinlein novel, many years ago, enjoying it as a metaphor for reading/learning, before I knew from whence it originally came. Once I did know (a moment of illumination whose exact placement in time is hazy….), I liked it even more, from an aesthetic standpoint. The above little ditty is brilliant doggerel, astute observation, and deep insight, all presented in a simple, straightforward style, with a powerful, basic lesson for any would-be philosopher, or any one who wishes to encompass reason as their modus operandi, so to speak. Besides which, I find that another piece of Bob’s advice, as related by his character Lazarus Long, fits well with this one, to wit: “Life tastes better in big bites….”

“Never wear anything that panics the cat.” — P. J. O’Rourke

I like this a lot, too. It summarizes perhaps one of the most elemental rules of getting along in the Universe, in essence saying, “You can learn a lot by watching what happens around you…” It’s the perfect companion to the concept of learning as presented above, as it contrives to speak to both sides of Reality, i.e., how you approach reality (the clothing you choose to show to the cat….) and how reality will change to react to your approach (the cat’s opinion of your clothing….) It also gives one a subtle warning about how the wrong clothing can produce unwanted consequences, and we all know how an offended cat is likely to respond…. as Mark Twain once remarked…. “A man who carries a cat by the tail is learning valuable things. He will never again be dim or doubtful. Chances are he’ll not carry the cat that way again, but, I say, if he wants to, let him!”  You can’t say fairer than that, in my opinion….

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” — Buddha

One can always trust the Buddha to state the most profound thoughts in the simplest way…. I often wonder how he came to such a complete understanding of Murphy, whose presence is acknowledged in all of what the Buddha stated, but whose ministrations seem to have passed by the Buddha’s existence…. It’s that, or Murphy shows him a lot more respect than he does anyone else alive. At times, it seems, what the Buddha states, such as in this statement, is, in at least one respect, an answer to a question raised whenever Murphy intervenes in our lives…. More simply, the Master explains why Murphy is able to affect us as he does, by cutting through the bullshite we perceive to the truth of what is real….. SIGH…. One of these days, I suppose, enlightenment will slap me upside the head, and I’ll be able to see Murphy coming…. I can hope, can’t I?….

There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

Often, I feel, not only is life a joke, but, it is our duty and purpose on this plane of existence to codify that joke, to put it down on paper, or on screen/disc, as a means of freeing ourselves from the prison of sobriety, achieving an understanding of Reality which tells us everything in this silly universe is here for our amusement, and, we have been taking it, and ourselves, too seriously, for entirely too long….. So seriously, we have begun to offend those parts of the universe whose purpose is to allow us to relax and enjoy ourselves. Moreover, the time is growing nearer when we will have to admit the joke is on us, for not being able to change our inner selves enough to be able to perceive the humor of our situation…. See, the universe thinks death is funny…. not because it is cruel, but, because death is just another part of life, which doesn’t care about one more than the other…. See, now, isn’t it funny how you never noticed that?…..

I once read a science fiction novel, whose title and author escape me completely; in truth, the book was very poorly written, filled with prose unable to live up to the great plot line…..Specifically, there was one chapter I liked, which had the book’s protagonist, an orphaned super-genius from Earth, taking on the task of finding the solution to a mathematical treatise, an equation so complex, so advanced, no civilization in the galaxy had ever been able to solve it.

The genius/hero/complete git shut himself up in his room for three weeks, working on the problem. At the end, he was thinking so hard he entered a trance-like state, computing while nearly dead…. After a week of this, he suddenly opened his eyes, gave a look of astonishment, and burst into uncontrollable laughter for approximately 25 minutes. When he could finally control himself, he simply said, “It’s a joke….” and would never discuss it again….

In a pearl such as this one has grown into, there comes a time when I must decide whether to continue on, to try to reach the conclusion nebulously hovering somewhere in my mind as I began, or, to sheepishly admit I have again wandered into uncharted territory, and might find it a bit tricky to find my way back to clarity. This is that time…. and I’m leaving it up to Smart Bee, as always…. If I don’t find a proper pearl to carry on the tenuous chain of thought I’ve created, we’ll take the first one able to serve appropriately, to officially wrap it up as a lost cause….. all within a specified number of attempts…. so, here we go… You’ll know in a moment what will happen….

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

There, see?…. That didn’t take long at all…. and I managed to find the perfect pearl to cover both bases…. In this case, we will use it as an ending quote, since it sort of summarizes a lot of the discussion, after a fashion. It could conceivably also be used as a springboard for further discussion, but this has gone on long enough, and I wouldn’t want to lose anybody due to an injudicious application of excess verbiage, culminating in tedium…. Of course, we may have reached said point some time ago, but, hey, who’s counting?…. Any who, I hope you enjoyed this little foray into not very much….

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Comedy_Tragedy

    This was written, and first posted in December of 2012; you can probably tell why it hasn’t been seen since…. I’m not proud; I am, as has been clearly indicated, lazy….

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

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Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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

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

~~ Joseph Joubert ~~


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buddah-out-to-lunch_s

    An old pearl, but, a good one, from September of 2012, just because I’m lazy today (Did I say that already? Oops…)…. It’s only a five-star, but, some of those were the best….

First posted 9/20/2012:

Where else can you find intellectual games, with no pressure to win, all of which allow you to pick your own conclusions, other than right here, Exploring Consensual Reality with gigoid? Nowhere, that’s where…. To further cement that reputation, here is another old-fashioned pearl for your perusal, with the conclusion right there in plain sight, for anyone to see…. It’s Hobson’s choice, all over again….

“Politics is what happens to democracy when not enough people care.” — Anonymous, Thursday, 1992

After his Ignoble Disgrace, Satan was being expelled from  Heaven.  As he passed through the Gates, he paused a moment in thought, and turned to God and said, “A new creature called Man, I hear, is soon to be created.”
“This is true,” He replied.
“He will need laws,” said the Demon slyly.
“What!   You, his appointed Enemy for all Time!  You ask for the right to make his laws?”
“Oh, no!”  Satan replied, “I ask only that he be allowed to make his own.”
It was so granted.

— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill  in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” — Voltaire

“A man that expects to train lobsters to fly in a year is called a lunatic and is locked up. But a man that thinks people can be turned into angels by legislation is called a reformer and allowed to walk free.” — Mr. Dooly

Sometimes, it’s just too easy….. but, somebody’s got to do it…..  Right?

Right? Well…. Okay, perhaps not. But, then, why not?….

It’s definitely less dumb than any Reality TV show, guaranteed, or your money back….

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Yes, I did, but, it’s legal. Anyone anal enough to go back & check will see I added a touch here & there to polish up some of the material from past Pearls…. It’s okay, ffolkes. I wrote it the first time; I’m allowed to edit. Besides, I’ve learned a lot in three years, I think, so, any changes made are certainly an improvement; in some spots, that’s a big “for sure!”…. Any who, I’m just too frigging honest to not say so; otherwise sleep would be even harder than the period which prompted much of today’s mess….

On that cryptic, yet transparently pandering note, I’ll take my leave for yet another day, where I’ll do my damnedest to do this again…. Count on it, unless Reality bites me too hard…. See ya then, 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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Using kosher kibbles as ballast….

Ffolkes,

“Rub her feet.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

ukg apotw 3

I’m hungry, mama!

Image of Wild Love from UK Guardian Animal Pictures of the Week


Good morn…. ah, hell. Who am I trying to kid? It isn’t anywhere within shouting distance of morning; I don’t believe calling 1:17 AM morning quite fits the bill, do you? Oh, technically, I suppose it is morning, but, approximately five hours before sunrise isn’t exactly what most would say is their customary time for beginning the day; would you?

I guess five hours sleep will have to do…. Rather than complain about it, though, let’s just get on with what we have to do, thus showing a bit of courage, or, at least, common sense. It doesn’t happen all that often around here, so, we’ll take advantage of the impulse while we may….

Shall we Pearl?

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

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alison-balsom-1379411777-view-0
Alison Balsom

Image from classicfm.com via Google Images


There is something about the sound of a trumpet that burrows straight into the human soul, to lift it up from its mundane existence into higher realms of spirit. Other instruments, in the same way, can also achieve this connection, but, there is good reason the Archangel Michael will blow the Last Trump with the same kind of instrument as employed with such brilliance by Ms. Balsom…. It hasn’t hurt her career to be gorgeous, but, like many of the fans of her music, my fondness for her talent was established before I ever saw what she looked like…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this music will definitely give you goose bumps….


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Alison Balsom

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Dont keep calm

“The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be _tremendous and irresistible_. Who are the militia? _are they not ourselves_. Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms _each man against his own bosom_. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are _the birth-right of an American_…the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the _federal or state governments_, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, _in the hands of the people_.” — Tench Coxe 20 Feb. 1788

It’s funny…. funny odd, not funny, ha ha….. I wrote the following rant in 2012, after one of the spate of school shootings that took place that year. It’s funny how the mainstream media constantly plays up such incidents as the worst tragedies our nation faces, always prompting a huge outcry amongst the more manipulable amongst the public, demanding the government do SOMETHING to stop the violence…. Yet, nobody ever mentions all the research that has shown the shootings can only be the natural result of the overcrowding of the planet we humans are pursuing, in our mad rush to extinction at our own hands….

It’s also funny, halfway between odd and ha ha, I can still use this rant without changing a single word, unless I now know better than to use it. Everything I said in this is still true, and relevant to the situation in our society…. Go figure…. Any who, it’s a subject I believe in strongly, which is why my opinion hasn’t altered a whit in three years….

Last posted2/14/2013; first written in 2012:

The issue of gun control is currently a HOT BUTTON issue for a lot of people in this country…. At least, it is for those who enjoy over-reacting to all the violence reported in the news….. They seem to forget that there are now over 7 billion people on this planet, with more crowding on every second, and the increased violence we are seeing is a natural result of overpopulation combined with stupidity, both of which exist in ample supply in our society…. The following is a piece I wrote not long after one of the school shootings in 2012, which, to my mind, pretty well summarizes my objections to the foolish and unwarranted fear that has prompted the idiotic notion of repealing the Second Amendment altogether…. Here is my response to that notion..

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence…  From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable….  The very atmosphere of firearms every- where restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” — George Washington (bogus?)(who cares? I don’t, it doesn’t make it any less true if it was said by someone else…..)

I constantly hear people these days spouting off about gun control, practically screaming how guns should be outlawed. This is a viewpoint that I have never understood, because it makes a totally unwarranted assumption (more than one actually, but one that is most important….), i.e., guns cause violent behavior; it goes on to insist if people couldn’t legally own them, violence would stop. This is naive, and unreasonable, given there is absolutely no evidence to support such a contention. There is no evidence whatsoever violence is NOT part of human nature; this is a psychological FACT, not subject to debate. People have violent tendencies, and violence is the primary response of a great many people who have never learned how to use their reason to control their emotions.

Though I’ve never owned or carried a gun, I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, in its most literal sense. Without the right to bear arms in our own defense, we, as citizens, would be at the mercy of whomever was in office at the time, with no recourse at all to any redress of grievance against those officials, since they could not be forced to comply with law. I do NOT trust any elected official to act in MY best interests; human nature also decrees that they will act in their OWN interests first, with no compulsion to even consider anything else. Making it law only police and government lackeys could legally be armed is a sure way to guarantee the average citizen would be at the mercy of these so-called leaders, mercy being a quality they have never, heretofore, demonstrated in any fashion.

As I said, I don’t own or carry guns….. yet. I’ve trained myself to be dangerous without the use of them; I feel no fear I cannot deal with an armed man to my benefit; this is simply because it is the person holding the gun that is the danger, not the gun itself. Speed, power, and accuracy are the key elements to controlling a violent situation, along with forethought, preparation, and the ability to keep a clear mind when under duress. When a person is holding a gun, they feel ten feet tall and invincible, but they remain human, and humans can be controlled with superior strategy and tactics. It does no good to hold a gun, when the target won’t sit still, or even remain visible….. and in these cases, that sense of imperviousness becomes a liability to the gun-wielder.

However, most Americans do not have this sort of skill set, nor the state of mind that makes it work. In the hands of a skilled warrior, a gun becomes a dangerous weapon indeed, for it will be used to achieve the warrior’s goals, as any weapon would, and not employed to merely bully others into doing what is desired, which is the usual use of these kinds of weapons in the hands of the ignorant and deceitful. Politicians, by the very nature of their sociopathy, do get rather deceitful in the pursuit of their self-centered ends. The desire to be in public office, to me, is a sure sign of a sick mind, as a healthy one has no need to assume power over others, being content to be in control of themselves.

At this point in the narrative, I got a bit sarcastic, caustically so, directed at those shrill advocates of this kind of legal oppression, laws that attempt to legislate morality,  so I’ve stopped it here to avoid offending anyone unduly. (Hah!) I agree with the need to tighten the regulations regarding assault weapons, but not as far as is wanted by the fear-mongers. I also think it is a good idea to keep guns out of the hands of children, and people who have demonstrated the lack of emotional control needed by a free citizen of this country, to own and use a gun appropriately, i.e. the mentally ill, who are characterized by a lack of impulse control…. Not a good characteristic for someone with a gun in their hands….

But, once again, I must caution people to examine any laws that do get passed closely, for going farther than the minimum necessary, which people in charge have a tendency to do, to slip stuff by the public…. I’ll try to wake up your precautionary instincts by asking this….. If the insane are not to be allowed full rights as a citizen, who is it that gets to decide who is insane?  The same issues of trust are present, or absent, in that idea, as in the assumption that the Beloved Ruling Class will act in our best interests….. They can ONLY be trusted to act in their own interests, first, and we all would do well to keep that in mind…..

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.”

~~ Bob Dylan ~~


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Comedy_Tragedy

    Just because I can….

Random Visions/Coloring Between the Lines of Grief

Everywhere is dark, and shining,
    with points in dissonant pain.
Sharp, senses dull past divining,
   tears burn, a torrential rain.

Escape! Flee within to cower,
    find an unconscious cave.
Call on Morpheus’ power
    deny reality’s beckoning wave.

Light breaks, drawing the inner eye,
    leading to the slippery slope.
Risk is critical, we may only sigh,
   yet welcome, for bringing hope.

Sanity seems far out of reach
    Insanity’s a stronger friend.
Decisions made will merely teach
    our way toward Death to wend.

Lost, while still on familiar ground,
    the future yet undesigned.
Making way on paths unfound,
    to Now, as yet undefined.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 2/22/2013

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lao

    Inner strength. Learning & Teaching. Kindness. Change. Honor. Happiness. Friendship. Virtue. Life. Death. Humor. Pride…. Any pearl that includes a word on each of these, if that word is anywhere near the truth (of the included pearls, ALL of them ARE truth…. I checked, according to every known test of logic, and experience….),…. well, let’s just say I don’t think we can go wrong…. What do you think?…. Well, okay, then, if you insist, you don’t have to…. But, I’m betting if you pay attention, it will work out better than just passing it over…. Wow, did we just make another metaphor for living? I guess so…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

“Once, I read that a man be never stronger than when he truly realizes how weak he is.” — Jim Starlin, “Captain Marvel #31”

“No one can teach on an empty spirit.” — William Perky

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

“It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.” — Immanuel Kant

“Friendship should be more than biting time can sever.” — T. S. Eliot

“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” — Socrates

“I had a hunch something like this would happen.” — Written on grave

Ode to an Indispensable Man

Sometime, when you’re feeling important,
Sometime, when your ego’s in bloom,
Sometime, when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room;
Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water;
Put your hand in it, up to the wrist.
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is the measure of how you’ll be missed.
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you’ll find in a minute
That it looks the same as before.
The moral in this quaint example
Is to do the best that you can.
Be proud of yourself, but remember –
There is no indispensable man.

~~ Saxon White Kessinger ~~


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We’ll continue our policy of not whining, in spite of the hour at which we are finishing today’s effort…. Why, I haven’t a clue. I suppose it’s for the best; nobody likes to hear grown men cry. I also haven’t a clue what I’ll do now, to pass the time until the sun rises, and the rest of this part of the world comes to life…. Ah well, I can always…. well, perhaps I’d better just keep that to myself…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should fortune favor this sad old fool….

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

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

She won’t start for toffy…

Ffolkes,

“Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods.”

~~ Socrates ~~

UraMajorRoqueLosMuchahos-claro

Ursa Major ~~ The Big Dipper

Image from Space.com


Good morning. Today’s Pearl will be an extreme cheat…. There are reasons, but, to tell you would be narcissistic, and whiny, so, we’ll just say they’re compelling enough to keep me from creating anything particularly fresh, or cogent. Neither is within my grasp today, at least, not yet…. Whether I will be able to find ANYTHING within my grasp today is an unsettled question…. Let’s get on with it, while we can….

Shall we Pearl?

“Cicero called Aristotle a river of flowing gold, and said of Plato’s Dialogues, that if Jupiter were to speak, it would be in language like theirs.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Cicero

If that’s true, then, me and Cicero, we’re mates…. Probably why we see so many of his quotes around here….

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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

    Since I’ve got nothing in me worth sharing, we’ll go with classical music, which fills up the spirit….. Enjoy!


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Classical Music for Reading

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About Hopi Indian Symbols

    Today, given my brain’s status as a no-show, I thought Kokopelli would make a more appropriate opening thought than our usual Don’t Keep Calm logo; the content today is a bit more unpredictable than usual, and unpredictable is what Kokopelli is all about…. Here’s a piece from the archives, to fill in the necessary space today…. Enjoy!….

From 2/24/2014:

It seems the BRC has captured one of the world’s most dangerous drug cartel leaders, El Chapo, the Dude, of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico…. I have included below a link to the article announcing the capture, and included below that some “interesting” phrases and words used by the anonymous spokescops (who are never authorized to talk to journalists….. but, they do anyway….)…. The words italicized in bold are the ones I’d like to point out to y’all, with a comment or two about them as an addendum…. Read the story, then, we’ll talk…..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Mexico-captures-Sinaloa-cartel-boss-Chapo-Guzman-5258301.php

“He was caught with an unidentified woman, said one U.S. official, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved” in the capture…… A federal law enforcement official said intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped lead U.S. and Mexican authorities to his whereabouts…… Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists. ….. Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind….. ”

“didn’t say how authorities traced him to Mazatlan……” “A U.S. law enforcement official said members of Guzman’s security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities find him after they were arrested earlier this month. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the case by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.”….. “His arrest followed the takedown of several top Sinaloa operatives in the last few months and at least 10 mid-level cartel members in the last week. The information leading to Guzman was gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.”

Allow me to point out a few little things in this article that give us a little clue as to how things are in the REAL world, where the government has the tools to find and capture ANYONE in the entire world, by the use of their “counter-terrorism” toys, and “executive orders” and the excuse of national security to employ any and all techniques to achieve their purpose, up to, and including torture, lying at will, and the legal clearance to perform their actions in complete darkness, without any public or judicial oversight…..

“an unidentified woman, said one U.S. official, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved”

To my suspicious mind, this tells me that the US DEA and Marshalls used an undercover female operative to lure Guzman into an isolated position, where they could take him without dealing with his security forces…. which they did, perfectly…. In several articles I’ve seen, in addition to this one, the same phrase, “an unidentified woman” was used…. Now, do you you REALLY believe she is ‘unidentified’?… I don’t….

“intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped”

Gee, ya think? Homeland Security is authorized to do whatever they want…. why shouldn’t they share their technology, and some of that unlimited data they are picking up from around the world with anyone who wants it…. As long as they’re giving it to another group of their insane compatriots, they’ll share it, with pride, even glee, in their own ingenuity, never caring at all about how unethical it is….

“Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind….. ” “didn’t say how authorities traced him to Mazatlan.”

“Got wind?” Got wind? What the hell does that mean? And, since when do the police go by information they “got wind” of…..  Ffolkes, somebody is hiding something here, ya think? It’s obvious they don’t want to let the public know where they are getting their information, although in this case, they give us another clue about that….

” members of Guzman’s security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities”

Gosh! That was awfully nice of those fellows…. These hard-boiled, vicious drug cartel security individuals had a complete change of heart, and shared all they knew with Mexican and US authorities, out of the goodness of those hearts, I suppose…. I think it is probably more likely that the word, and technique, “waterboarding” was brought into play, as both a threat, and in actual use… I don’t believe for a minute these guys gave up their boss without a little bit of a struggle…. They come from a culture where “machismo” is paramount, and they would not consider it very macho to talk…. hence, they were “persuaded to help”, and I don’t think the persuasive techniques used were verbal, or anything other than torture….

How do I come to that conclusion from this article? Easy…. they told us, in so many words….

“gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.”

How does one “glean” information from drug cartel security forces? I don’t think it was the promise of some Kool-Aid, ffolkes, do you?…. And, since this mouthpiece was “briefed” on the “operation”, what do YOU think he meant by “gleaned”? I do try NOT to be too naive….

This whole “broken rant” was created for the single purpose of demonstrating how the BRC uses its new toys, provided by us, to wit: you, and me, the not-quite-charmingly naive public, when we allowed them to pass those silly ass Homeland Security bullshit Acts after the 9/11 attacks…. In truth, I don’t really care much that they used it to bring down such a predator…. He was, and is, no doubt, someone we can all do without in our midst, since he insists on preying on the weak and foolish….

But, it seems to me, it was all merely an exercise of domestic discipline, as one set of vicious, insane power-hungry individuals, in the official, authorized, guise of law enforcement myrmidons of the ruling elite, tracked down and captured one of their own type of people, who had the bad taste to try to force his will on others without having the mandate of the public voting apparatus…. When one doesn’t automatically accept the bilge water that is presented to us as the truth, it is easy to see how little difference there is between those who hunted him down, and he who was hunted….

Governments have the backing of the multi-national corporations that control society, whereas the big drug cartels, rich and powerful as they may grow, are merely small businesses compared to them… and, we all know what happens to small business when a mega-corp wants to step into their marketplace…. The pharmaceutical companies don’t like the competition from street drugs, so they keep society amped up in arms against them, so their bottom line profit is not reduced to any significant degree….

The whole War on Drugs, (Y,know? It’s funny how our society’s rulers always deal with a problem by declaring War on it….Then, they throw money at it, and tell people that will make it go away…. Hmm…. how’s that working for ya?….), that has been raging in this country since the mid-1930’s, when the drug companies noticed how popular marijuana was becoming in the mainstream, is merely another example of how the real rulers in society don’t want the people to make their own decision about ANYTHING, not if whatever it is can make money for them….

(It’s why they are making their play for control of the Internet…. It’s a very real, but, still only potential, money cow…. if they can wrest control away, and start charging for access, they’ll essentially control all the information flow…. which also give them the wherewithal to censor information, before it gets TO the information cloud…. If they keep control in their corporate hands, you can kiss 75% of the Internet’s effectiveness as a social communication tool, free of interference, goodbye….)

Instead, the governments, at the urging of their corporate masters, spread outright lies and mountains of false information through their own media outlets, attempting to convince people of the dangers of (whatever), followed by the passage of legislation making any who decide for themselves into criminals in the eyes of society….. Even though, as in the case with marijuana, what they are fighting against is actually better for people than anything they have in the list of drugs they manufacture, (at a 2000% profit-margin, don’t y’know….), they decided to enlist the government’s influence over the people to make it illegal, since they had no actual way to stop people from finding and using it…. It grows EVERYWHERE on this planet, without much effort…. That’s why they call it a weed, you know?….

Okay, I’ve rambled, and ranted enough for one morning…. Ffolkes, the governments, the BRC, the Asininnies, the shadowy corporate slave masters, or, whatever label you wish to place upon those who actually rule this planet, don’t give a shit about me, or you, and they’re going to continue to do whatever they choose, just as long as we let them…. They make my life, and yours, a hundred times more difficult than it needs to be, all for the sake of maintaining control over the power, and resources, with which they are obsessed. I, for one, am tired of playing their game…. What game?….

“If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.” — Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

As far as possible, for the remainder of my life, I will be taking every opportunity I find to expose their asininity, their chicanery, their just plain evil intentions, in as loud a voice as I can muster…. I’d appreciate any help I can get in spreading that exposition around to those who need to see it…. Maybe, just maybe, if I can get this idea into the heads of enough reasonably intelligent people, we all will figure out it is time to stop them…. Then, we can join forces, to create of a large enough repository of the power of human will to overcome the physical entrenchments that have already been put into place, for their protection against that very thing….

With enough people, of good loving heart and infinite compassion, all putting their force of will behind whatever we decide is necessary, I’m sure it would be more than enough to turn the tide, and, in the process, maybe, just maybe, we’ll save our own sorry asses from the depredations we have allowed them to perpetrate in our name…..

“For me, all I can do is spit in the eye of my fears by living each day with as much passion and commitment as possible to what truly counts, such as love and justice. To give the into the fear and hopelessness would be to declare defeat, something I am not ready to do while there is still the will to struggle.” — Lawrence Paradis

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Comedy_Tragedy

    I’ve read poetry all my life, more so at some times than others, but, it’s always been there, a part of the beauty I seek to include in my life…. When I find a poet I like, I am not shy about saying so; that’s why the ffolkes who frequent this blog, a hardy lot, to be sure, end up seeing a lot of Emily Dickinson, Keats, Pope. and other classic poets. I also, occasionally, include on from the poets I’ve discovered hidden here on WordPress. There are several excellent poets, and, “MaggieMaeijustsaythis” is one of the finest….

She recently began writing in a ‘sort of’ new style; it’s very similar to her previous work, but, it’s also different, with more scope, and more freedom, it seems… Here is another of her latest, posted just a day or two ago…. Y’all should go bookmark her site, and buy her book(s); someday, she will be known around the entire English-speaking world, should we humans survive the next fifty years or so…. Any who, forget that, just, enjoy…. Oh, be prepared for some reality, ffolkes….

Doctor, Tell Me

I am going to be. Here,
in a sticky womb,
a living room made for
madness; a sautéed fanciness.

The feast is being set,
just above the chandelier,
they call me by number,
my tattooed slumber calls.

White isn’t always padded
or strapped. Most likely
it only surrounds
the dark blue ring
around the sunburst I look at.

I think I am a painting.
Rembrandt is too gross, but
Picasso, he is enough mystery
to create me.
Half of me sprawls across the cold,
I wait for night-watch to
twist me back to form.

The other girl squats in the corner.
I smell feces and antifreeze.
Do I dream? Can I dissect the fumes of
the dead?
Her charred body crawls toward me,
she removes her teeth.
Everything glitters like a shadow.

Then, I am here. In the morning.
It isn’t the sun that tells me,
but the number, tattooed to
my skull.

Doctor, tell me, has Picasso gone home?

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/05/21/doctor-tell-me/


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A-laughing-girl-and-her-camel

    One of the reasons for cheating today is Smart Bee…. Yesterday, it decided to take a dump, figuratively; no matter how many times I uninstalled & reinstalled the program, it wouldn’t act right… I gave up, and am hoping it will work this morning when I install it yet again… If it does, fine, we’ll get a fresh pearl out of it, if I have to use whips and chains…. If not, well, we’ll dip into the archives, which you’ll know because I’ll tell you the date it was first posted…. Go figure…. Enjoy, ffolkes, whatever we end up with….. The first pearls you’ll see are the last I got out of SB before it crapped out….

Aww, wasn’t that cute? SB gave me a joke quote to start today’s search, perfect as the opener for this batch, even though it has nothing to do with the other parameters of the search…. It just…. fits…

Run out of taglines: (A)bort (R)eread (S)teal

~~Smart Bee ~~


Okay, SB. go ahead & steal them; we don’t care, as long as we get a pearl out of it….

He not busy being born

Is busy dying.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~


“In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing.” — Antonio Porchia, Voces

“A candour affected is a dagger concealed.” — Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) — Meditations, book 9.

“The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is, and that’s all it needs to be.” — Smart Bee

“Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” — Robert Frost

“Life is not an exact science, it is an art.” — Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

“If we lose affection and kindness from our life, we’ve lost all that gives it charm.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Not bad…. Not bad at all…. Plus, you will note, please, as predicted in the intro section, we once again see Cicero at the ending….

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Well, that worked out fairly well. Since I’m NOT going to do it over, y’all get it just as it is…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, hopefully with a bit more pizazz to offer…. At least I got Smart Bee back on deck…. Ta, then, luvs….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Neutral feedback? Good idea; try it….

Ffolkes,

“I understand life and the universe. Cats are beyond me.”

~~ Smart Bee, echoing gigoid ~~

Ollie Owl

Ollie Owl


Good morning, ffolkes…..

Shall we Pearl?

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Lazarus Long, Time Enough For Love, by Robert A. Heinlein

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ray-charles-2-copy

Image from rocktownhall.com via Google free images


Is there anyone out there who hasn’t heard of this artist? If so, you’re in for a treat…. ear candy, as it were. Enjoy, ffolkes…. this is another one of humanity’s cultural heritage treasures….


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Ray Charles

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Dont keep calm

    Apparently, on one of the Friday the 13th days during 2012, I had a good day in my head…. Here are some thoughts from that day, that still have relevance in today’s world…..

From 1/13/2012:

“It has been said that there are two theories of history: conspiracy and blunder. If there is some truth to that, it is surely equally true that blunder seldom receives all the credit due it as an explanation of complex events.” — Michael Scully

I would say that this is probably pretty accurate; after all, it is the winners who get to tell the story, and why would they make themselves look any worse than they already are? I believe that much of mankind’s progress up to now is, in fact, a result of blundering about, breaking the china and scaring the horses, until something serendipitous falls into someone’s lap.

The example most often given regarding inspiration that brings progress is that of Isaac Newton and the apple, which, according to history, fell upon his head unexpectedly, causing him to fall down and begin writing the 3 Laws of Motion. I think it more likely that he was trying to climb up to get the apple, and took a good fall onto his head; he just blamed it on the apple, and since he was the only witness, who can gainsay him?

This points out one of the less attractive, and most problematic of the characteristics of humans, and that is our inability to get beyond our childish feelings of insecurity. The older we get, the less able we become to handle the embarrassment or ridicule that follows a mistake, and the more contortions we will assume to keep others from seeing our Bozoid Tendencies. You see, like the Firesign Theater said, “I think we’re all Bozo’s on this bus!”; we all have the unfortunate ability to perform ridiculously stupid acts at times.

Most folks, though, don’t like to be thought of this way, and will go through almost anything to prevent themselves from looking inept in front of other folks. Me, I wish they’d just learn to laugh at themselves, and everyone else; maybe then they could grow up enough to be able to look directly at the things in society that we need to change, instead of childishly refusing to even look at the situation. Emotional maturity means dealing with whatever happens, without letting emotions control one’s actions, or reactions, and most of mankind doesn’t exhibit anything close to that sort of maturity……

Also from 1/13/2012:

“Thinking, understanding, reasoning, willing, call not these Soul! They are its actions, but they are not its essence.” — Akhenaton? (c. B.C. 1375)

When? Oh, four thousand four hundred eighty-seven years ago…..is that all? I’ve got acne scars older than that! Well, perhaps not. But I am continually amazed at some of the things I find that were written this long ago. It gives credence to the idea that mankind’s first steps toward modern culture were the result of how our minds work, and our penchant for using our imagination to understand the universe around us. It has been said that the first science was Astronomy, which makes a lot of sense. But, simultaneously, we used Philosophy, and the principles of logic and reason, to apply meaning to what we observed.

Forty-four hundred years is a long time to be working on the same issues, and it seems to me we should be getting somewhere a bit faster than we are. But then I realize that there is another side to human nature, one that is not so moral and ethical as our scientific bent, a side of us in constant competition with our virtues, battling to assume control of society. (You know… that old good vs. evil deal….) That other side is winning, too, mostly because those who disavow virtue have no compunctions against cheating, or lying, or manipulating events to suit their own purposes. Moreover, they don’t hesitate to resort to violence to do so, when they cannot find any simpler method….

I think, as a species, we’ve been at this long enough; let’s make a concerted effort to nullify the negative effects of deliberate ignorance and fear. Perhaps we can even find a way to survive our own nature….. The Universe will get the impression we’re slow learners, if we don’t start to show a bit more progress toward growing out of infancy….

Note from 2015: I’m not sure why, but, the following five star pearl insisted on being included at the end of this section…. I am pretty sure it’s just my reaction to what I said above…..

“Is truth not truth for all?”

~~ Natira ~~

~~ “For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky” ~~

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“How do you make sense of such madness? The answer is, you can’t.”

~~ Pablo Guzman ~~

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“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving till the right actions arises by itself?”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

++++++++++++

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

~~ Dogen ~~

++++++++++++

“How can I lose faith in the justice of life,
when the dreams of those
who sleep upon feathers
are not more beautiful
than the dreams of those
who sleep upon the earth?”

~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~


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Comedy_Tragedy

Accentuated Lessons

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

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

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

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

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid ~~


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socrates

Dubiousity, Redux


In the virtual world, I call myself gigoid, the dubious, for specific reasons…. Rather than use my own words to delineate/describe those reasons, here are some of them, in the form of pearls, (naturally….), as collected by Smart Bee, just as an exercise…. It turned out to be a nice, eleven-star pearl, all centered around the concept of doubt as a function of wisdom…. It seems I’m not the only person in history to put my faith in doubt, rather than the other way around, so to speak…. There are a lot of big names here, and, I only went through the first half of the collection….

Pay particular heed today, ffolkes; these little bits of shiny stuff are more subtly important, to you, than you may realize…. Oh, and, ALL of this will be on your final Quiz…. Don’t blame me, I didn’t make it up….

Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Brahma ~~


“Philosophy, means, first, doubt; and afterwards the consciousness of what knowledge means, the consciousness of uncertainty and of ignorance, the consciousness of limit, shade, degree, possibility. The ordinary man doubts nothing and suspects nothing.” — Henri Frederick Amiel

“A lizard ran out on a rock and looked up, listening no doubt to the sounding of the spheres. And what a dandy fellow! the right toss of a chin for you and swirl of a tail! If men were as much men as lizards are lizards they’d be worth looking at.” — D. H. Lawrence (1928)

“Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt.” — Robert Lindner

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.” — Voltaire

Modest doubt is call’d
The beacon of the wise, the tent that searches
To the bottom of the worst.

~~ William Shakespeare ~~

~~ Troilus and Cressida — Act ii, Sc. 2 ~~


Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom. — Smart Bee

“Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” — Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense (1946)

“If you understand, or if you don’t. If you believe, or if you doubt. There is a universal justice and the eyes of truth are always watching.” — Enigma

“Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt.” — H. L. Mencken

My guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
 deceived me into thinking I had something to protect.
 Good and bad I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow
 Ah, but I was so much older then;
 I’m younger than that now.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~


Ah, yes, indeed…. I AM younger than that now….. so, there will be more on this subject later…. Ta, then….

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Y’all, just like me, are going to say goodbye now…( Goodbye!…), until tomorrow; we will do so with no further inquiry into how this got done…. In fact, y’all may as well just go into complete denial now; it will help later in the day….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided nobody says the wrong thing….If only we knew what that was….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Dastard Dan dolls on sale, this week only….

Ffolkes,

“The lesser of two evils — is evil.”

~~ Seymour (Sy) Leon ~~

Glasgow-Greenock Port 050

Disco Night on Celebrity Infinity


The day begins…. a very poignant phrase, full of potentiality and promise. Too bad we’re prepared to ignore any and all such GOOD ideas in favor of the usual shit we do here. I can’t say it isn’t a nice phrase, it just doesn’t stand up very well to the ministrations of the iconic forces of nature who hold sway over the events transpiring in this locus. I didn’t ask for it, but, wherever I seem to be ends up as a nexus of universal forces of entropy; chaos not only hangs out here, he’s left this address with all his buddies, (fear, misery, and depression, to name a couple….), who keep knocking at the door, asking to come in….

But, I don’t mind. I just herd them right into the back yard, where they can shuffle around & play with the snakes. It’s all quite civilized; I found it to be a better solution than just firing off a few rounds at them when they crossed the boundary lines. Fewer complaints from the neighbors…. Plus, it saves on ammunition, and if their oldest friend, Trouble, shows up, well, I have them all in one area, where he can join them, and they’re easier to gas….

Okay, I’m done. Fantasy bullshit can be put back in the drawer now. Luigi, we’re all buttoned up here, and I’ve kept everyone distracted while you warmed up the engines…. Let’s take it away, and do this in record time; I’ve got an appointment with my mom’s lawyers in an hour, to strategize for  our upcoming case against the PTB. Ffolkes, now you’re completely off track, we’re going in, and going in hot! Hang on….

Shall we Pearl?

“If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture – that is immortality enough for me. And as much as anyone deserves.” — Edward Abbey

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Zack at Christmas 12-28-2012 003

    It’s been a tough week, in a lot of ways, though productive in the final sense. I’ve needed a lot of soothing for my spirit, for which, as some of you know, I turn to classical music. I’ve used this one before, but, then, it IS, I think, my favorite piece of all…. Enjoy, please…


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~~ The Four Seasons ~~

~~ Antonio Vivaldi ~~

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le penseur-rodin

From 10/21/2012:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

 — Rudyard Kipling ~~

~~ Just So Stories (1902) “The Elephant’s Child” ~~


I first read the phrase “feeding the Elephant’s Child” in a Robert Heinlein novel, many years ago, and enjoyed it as a metaphor for reading/learning, before I knew from whence it originally came. Once I did know (a moment of illumination whose exact placement in time is hazy….), I liked it even more, from an aesthetic standpoint. The above little ditty is brilliant doggerel, astute observation, and deep insight, all presented in a simple, straightforward style, with a powerful, basic lesson for any would-be philosopher, or any one who wishes to encompass reason as their modus operandi, so to speak. Besides which, I find that another piece of Bob’s advice fits well with this one, to wit: “Life tastes better in big bites….”

“Never wear anything that panics the cat.” — P. J. O’Rourke

I like this, a lot. It summarizes perhaps one of the most elemental rules of getting along in the Universe, in essence saying, “You can learn a lot by watching what happens around you…” It is the perfect companion to the concept of learning as presented above, as it contrives to speak to both sides of Reality, i.e., how you approach reality (the clothing you choose to show to the cat….) and how reality will change to react to your approach (the cat’s opinion of your clothing….) It also gives one a subtle warning about how the wrong clothing can produce unwanted consequences, and we all know how an offended cat is likely to respond…. as Mark Twain once remarked…. “A man who carries a cat by the tail is learning valuable things. He will never again be dim or doubtful. Chances are he’ll not carry the cat that way again, but, I say, if he wants to, let him!”  You can’t say fairer than that….

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” — Buddha

One can always trust the Buddha to state the most profound thoughts in the simplest way…. I often wonder how he came to such a complete understanding of Murphy, whose presence is acknowledged in all of what the Buddha stated, but whose ministrations seem to have passed by the Buddha’s existence…. either that, or Murphy shows him a lot more respect than he does anyone else alive. At times, it seems that what the Buddha states, such as in this statement, is, in at least one respect, an answer to a question that is raised when Murphy intervenes in our lives…. in simpler words, he explains why Murphy is able to affect us as he does, by cutting through the bullshite we perceive to the truth of what is real….. SIGH…. one of these days, enlightenment will slap me upside the head, and I’ll be able to see Murphy coming…. I hope…

There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

Often I feel as if not only is life a joke, but it is our duty and purpose on this plane of existence to codify that joke, to put it down on paper, or on screen/disc, to free ourselves from the prison of sobriety, achieving an understanding that everything in this silly universe is here for our amusement, and we have been taking it, and ourselves, seriously for entirely too long….. So seriously, we have begun to offend those parts of the universe that just want us to relax and enjoy ourselves, and the time is growing nearer when we will have to admit that the joke is on us, for not being able to change our inner selves enough to be able to handle the humor of our situation…. See, the universe thinks death is funny…. not because it is cruel, but because death is just another part of life, and it doesn’t care about one more than the other…. See, now, isn’t it funny how you never noticed that?…..

I once read a science fiction novel, whose title and author escape me completely; in all it was very poorly written, with prose that did not live up to the good ideas contained in the plot line. However, it was a great plot line, in all….Specifically, there was one chapter I liked, which had a super-genius taking on the task of finding the solution to a mathematical treatise, an equation so complex and advanced that no civilization in the galaxy had ever been able to completely solve it.

The genius/hero of the book shut himself up in his room for three weeks, working on the problem. At the end, he was thinking so hard he entered a trance-like state, computing while nearly dead…. after a week of this, he suddenly opened his eyes, gave a look of astonishment, and burst into uncontrollable laughter for approximately 25 minutes. When he could finally control himself, he simply said, “It’s a joke….” and would never discuss it again….

In a pearl such as this one has grown to be, there comes a time when I have to decide whether to continue on, to try to reach the conclusion that was nebulously hovering somewhere in my mind as I began, or to admit that I have once again wandered into uncharted territory, and might find it a bit tricky to find my way back to clarity. This is that time…. and I’m leaving it up to Smart Bee, as always…. If I don’t find a proper pearl to carry on the tenuous chain of thought I’ve created, then we’ll take the first one that will appropriately wrap it up as a lost cause….. all within a specified number of attempts…. so, here we go… You’ll know in a moment what will happen….

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

There, see?…. That didn’t take long at all…. and I managed to find the perfect pearl to cover both bases…. In this case, we will use it as an ending quote, since it sort of summarizes a lot of the discussion, after a fashion. It could conceivably also be used as a springboard for further discussion, but this has gone on long enough, and I wouldn’t want to lose anybody due to an injudicious application of excess verbiage, culminating in tedium…. Of course, we may have reached that point some time ago, but, hey, who’s counting?…. Any who, I hope you enjoyed this little foray into not very much….

🙂


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Comedy_Tragedy

Honorable Request
Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit,
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.

Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, never given a reason,
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.

Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown,
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.

Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found,
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.

~~ gigoid ~~


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buddah-out-to-lunch_s

    We start today’s old-school pearl with what I consider the finest, most accurate metaphor I’ve seen for the state of religion in America today…. The rest of the pearl gives my own take on religion, sort of…. Like all such philosophical representations of what is essentially a matter of deciding whether or not a delusion is connected to reality in any way, it’s a bit amorphous, but, I think you’ll catch the drift….

“Do you think God lets you plea bargain?” — Calvin ‘n Hobbes

“I count religion but a childish toy … there is no sin but ignorance.” — Thomas Jefferson

“My atheism, like that of Spinoza, is true piety towards the universe and denies only gods fashioned by men in their own image, to be servants of their human interests.” — George Santayana

“Faith does not offer the least support for proof of truth.” — Nietzsche

“They talk of me going around and buying souls, like a fishwife come market day, never stopping to ask themselves why. I need no souls. And how can anyone own a soul? No. They belong to themselves…They just hate to have to face up to it.” — Lucifer Morningstar

“In his private heart no man much respects himself.” — Mark Twain

“Cease to be ruled by dogmas and authorities; look at the world!” — H.G. Wells paraphrase of Roger Bacon’s works

Tsze-kung asked, saying, “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?”  The Master said, “Is not Reciprocity such a word?  What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” — Confucius (551-479 B.C.)

“All cats are NOT gray after midnight.  Endless variety ….” — Lazarus Long

Okay… I know the last one is not speaking about religions; it works just as well, for this subject, though, as it does when applied to its original subject matter, the exact nature of which I will leave as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. of course….

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Odd moods are nothing new for me; I encourage them. They can, however, complicate life to a certain degree; fortunately, for me, that’s a good thing, as it keeps me occupied NOT killing mundanes…. With that cheery thought to keep us inspired for another day, I’m off. (Duh…) See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless my diagnosis gets changed again….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured image


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

The politics of chicanery….

Ffolkes,

This space left blankish.

2-18-2015 004

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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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

    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

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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…..

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Comedy_Tragedy

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 ~~


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lao

    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

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

First the socks, THEN the shoes….`

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe ~~

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?

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

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Vivaldi_Antonio
The Red Priest ~ Antonio Vivaldi

Google Images


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


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Four Seasons ~ Vivaldi

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Dont keep calm

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

From 12/22/2014:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So be it.

gigoid has spoken

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

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

~~ Lao Tzu ~~


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

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

~~ Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky” ~~


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3

À bientôt, mon cherí….