Tag Archives: Buddha

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Ffolkes,

“He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.”

~~ Elrond ~~

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Faded Beauty


Good morning. Maybe…. Even in the quite curmudgeon-like space currently defining my presence this morning, there is no room for nicety. When I think of the general run of people in today’s world, my teeth yearn to bite, my hands to throttle; the mere thought of their pain fills me with an sense of unbridled glee I cannot contain…. Have I gone mad in my sleep? Where is my center, my serenity? Gone, replaced with sheer, bloody rage at the machine…..

Well, that was fun… NOT. It seems all the angst I usually put into ranting has been building up inside, in the past few weeks I’ve been over-using the archives. And why not, I say? It had been a while since I ranted, but, yesterday, a short exchange with a new blogging friend stimulated a fresh rant against our beloved ruling class (I’ve stopped capitalizing it; they don’t deserve the honor….), which you’ll find below, in the appropriate section…. It felt good, too, I have to say….

Rather than wander around too much here, we’ll get on with today’s mess; in the mood I’m in, we could easily end up with two or three fresh rants, and, I’d like to see if there’s a poem in there that might bleed out. If the process of opening up a vein will let it out, cool. If not, well, we’ll see what happens… In the meantime, we’d best be on our way, before I say something that sets off a rant…. It’s a bit early yet for that…. Onward….

Shall we Pearl?

“All the secrets we may be able to keep from any and every god and human being do not in the least absolve us from the obligation to refrain from whatever actions are greedy, unjust, sensual, or otherwise immoderate.” — Cicero, On Duties

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Bob Marley

Image from mytinyphone.com via Google Images


In my mind, this man was one of the top three songwriters of the era in which he lived…. A true societal icon, his music did more to create a bond between the feuding races of Man than any religion has EVER done…. The love this man had for his fellow man shone through every note he played…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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Bob Marley

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Dont keep calm

“I don’t believe there’s any problem in this country, no matter how tough it is, that Americans, when they roll up their sleeves, can’t completely ignore.” — George Carlin

Since I regard George Carlin as the premier social philosopher of the latter half of the twentieth century, I appreciate him giving me the perfect opportunity to speak to an issue which, to be frank, pisses me off no end…. Yesterday, during a chance reading of a fairly new blog, with a subject something to do with clowns, I made a smart-aleck comment about how clowns are evil, going off on a mini-rant about commercialism of holidays, which led to another comment about the huge elf at the top banner of the blog; you know, the one from that insane propaganda movie, about the 6 ft. tall elf in NY who saves Christmas, or something…. Will Farrell, I think is the actor’s name; can’t be sure, never actually watched anything but the innumerable commercials and trailers for it….

Well, as became patently obvious, the subject flicks my ranting mode switch; when the blogger, a very creative young woman, commented with a “Santa?”…. I went off, ranting for several paragraphs, which I include below, to begin today’s rant, which will continue the theme, if I can do so strongly…. Should be easy, this one really fucks with my sense of justice and outrage….

The comment, as shown below, can be found here, where you can read the whole comment thread, and the original article prompting the conversation:

http://livelovelaughdotme2.com/2015/06/20/childhood-destroyed/comment-page-1/#comment-18066

Oh, honey-chile, I hate to be the one to burst a bubble for you, but, although Santa Claus (as a concept) used to be fairly innocuous, mostly harmless in terms of any psychic brainwashing was concerned, the whole concept of Christmas, and Santa himself, was hijacked by the bankers and businessmen, all the way back in the 1920’s, with roots going back even further in our history; it’s part of why the Great Depression happened…. Then, all the other holidays were turned into Hallmark days, so the businesses that depend on that sort of sales could potentially sell more ‘stuff’, during those months when no ancient, or religious holidays occur….

Mother’s/Father’s Day, St. Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, President’s Day, Memorial Day, (originally just an observance for the dead in ONE battle…. Now, a person who doesn’t fall into the celebration can be accused of not being patriotic, for failing to buy beer, or watch a game of some kind, to honor all the LIVING brainwashed myrmidons, placing their lives at some risk while they’re off bombing and killing citizens of other countries all over the world, so our bankers can sell their plastic crap to the natives of those places….), virtually every holiday in every month in this country is either a complete fabrication of the government to stimulate business, or an ancient/religious holiday perverted for the same purpose….

I know many holidays are the only chance people today have, to feel good about their lives, and take a break…. So, what does the beloved ruling class do? They inundate the public with advertisements to buy this, that, or the other for the holiday, thus spending more than they can really afford, for a crap-load of stuff, all to celebrate something supposedly worthwhile, which they could easily accomplish without the costly manufactured needs…

Sorry to be a bummer, but, the subject of holidays, cute little elves, and all the other stuff used to convince people they just HAVE to participate in the ongoing economic frenzy of buying, all for stuff you will eat in one day, or throw away afterward…. Well, it just burns my ass to watch our entire society throwing money down the drain, for nothing important, except to fulfill what they BELIEVE to be the customs of the society, which have, in reality, been perverted into a travesty of anything honorable, or even reasonable…. It’s all an illusion, little one, deliberately created to convince people it’s important enough to waste their money on it….

But, then, maybe that’s just me…. It’s not Santa, young paduan; it’s what they’ve turned Santa into that lights my fuse….

gigoid, the sincerely dubious….

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I think the reason this subject angers me so much is connected to two reasons. First, it’s all so transparent, to me, yet, seemingly, there are millions upon millions of otherwise intelligent people who refuse to look at how brainwashed they have become. The opening quote from George takes on new meaning, when one considers how much strength of will it takes to deny evidence that slaps you in the face EVERY DAY….

It implies a choice. It tells me that most people in this country, rather than using their minds for what they were designed to do, have abrogated all their honor, and dignity, for the sake of a safe, secure existence wherein they are not required to think, or make any more effort than the minimum required to survive, in a world made soft and palatable, without danger, or challenge, or need for any imagination….

The second part. which angers me even more, is that we were warned this would happen, by the very men who gave their lives and fortunes to ensure we had the few rights we do…. Thomas Jefferson said it best, I think, though others of his time said much the same…. In fact, it seems Tom had something to say about just about everything happening in today’s news headlines, nailing exactly what has happened to our rights…. For those with tunnel vision, I’ll add a modern example of exactly what Tom was referring to in his statements….(in parentheses)

“A monied aristocracy in our country … has already set the government at defiance.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

(The Koch Brothers. Super PAC’s. Corporate personhood. 55% of US Senators are millionaires…. Big Pharma/HMO’s. Walmart.  )

“Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.” — Thomas Jefferson

(Citicorp. Bank of America. Chase. Rothschild, Rockefeller, Kennedy, Dupont, Krupp, Takahashi, Windsor, Chang, Wang, and the other 0.02% who own ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD)

“I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.” — Thomas Jefferson

(Gee, does that sound anything like the programs gathering metadata by the NSA, or the FBI, authorized by the good ol’ Patriot Act, one of the most ironic catchphrases they ever came up with….)

“I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” — Thomas Jefferson

(Current US government debt is more than 700 TRILLION dollars, and counting….)

“…when all government… in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1821

(Need I even say anything here? Okay, just for a recent example…. Obamacare….Another? Okay. The Supreme Court decision allowing rich people to buy politicians through PAC’s…. What did one of the dissenting judges on the Court say about that? Let’s see….)

Ginsburg on CU 8-20-2014


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

(Patriot Act again…. Secret courts. Torture as a legitimate tool. Police killings. Police militarization. Drone spying on domestic targets. All proven with evidence, yet denied by officials….)

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.  It is it’s natural manure.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William S. Smith, Paris, Nov.  13, 1787

(Sadly, this one is no longer possible, I think…. Not enough true patriots of liberty left; they’ve all become zombies, or bought into the lies, and are in complete denial of their slavery….)

Okay, that’s enough…. As you can see, Tom, and others, warned us of ALL of this…. But, thanks to laziness, to the common man’s lack of willingness to be responsible for their own lives and actions, the majority of Americans not only don’t realize they are no longer free at all, but, deny it when confronted with incontrovertible evidence….

SIGH…. Fuck ’em…. I won’t go down without a struggle, you can be sure of that…. Others may do as they like…. And, yes, I KNOW the NSA will eventually see this…. So what? I’m not going to lie, and become like them….

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

“For water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

~~ Of the Training of Children ~~


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Comedy_Tragedy

    I’d hoped a poem was ready to bleed out, but, it ain’t happening…. Here is yet another from the archives….

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 9/10/2012.

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Sandclock .jpg

    I put the following pearl together, but, I don’t know exactly what it all means…. I mean, I do, but, I don’t…. See what I mean? (What IS the mind? More to the point, what does the mind MEAN?….)

Ah well, they’re all such good pearls, it has to mean something good, right? Or is that a bit too Pollyanna-ish? Or, maybe, Pavlovian…. Perhaps so; I don’t think any of it will affect the Space/Time Continuum, anyway, so, I think we’ll be okay…. If not, well, see y’all in the next Universe….

And now someone’s on the telephone desperate in his pain
Someone’s on the bathroom floor doing her cocaine
Someone’s got his finger on the button in some room
No one can convince me we aren’t gluttons for our doom

~~ the Indigo Girls, “Prince Of Darkness” ~~


“Whip me such honest knaves.” — William Shakespeare, Othello — Act i, Sc. 1

“Better to have illusions of a reality where everything is real than to have a reality of illusions where nothing is real.” — Bobby Matherne

“As the sword of the best-tempered metal is the most flexible; so the truly generous are most pliant and courteous in their behavior to their inferiors.” — Fuller

“Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least.” — Edward Abbey

“One idea spoken truly, even in a cave, can change the world.” — Buddha

“Food, sleep, fear, propagation; each is the common property of men with brutes. Virtue is really their additional distinction; devoid of virtue, they are equal with brutes.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)

“Of all the benefits that virtue confers upon us, the contempt of death is one of the greatest.” — Montaigne

“I say love, it is a flower;

  and you, it’s only seed.”

~~ Bette Midler, “The Rose” ~~


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Well, I can’t do any better, or think of anything else to add; I guess that means we’re done here. Whew! It’s been a long life…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can’t think of anything better to do….

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….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
All that hard work & no braised felafel in sight….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.”


~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~


CHIJCRnWQAAYxrG.jpg large


Caribbean Sea from the International Space Station


Image by NASA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti




Good morning…. A glance at the clock instantly sends him into White Rabbit mode….. “I’m late. I’m late….”


Okay, okay, so, I’ll deal with it…. Somehow….


Shall we Pearl?


“Hope is the denial of reality. It is the carrot dangled before the draft horse to keep him plodding along in a vain attempt to reach it. I say we remove the carrot and walk forward with open eyes.” — Raistlin Majere, Dragonlance Chronicles Vol. 1


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    Being late around here means one thing, if naught else; we go with our defaults whenever possible…. Here, in the video section, it’s possible….






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The Best of Mozart















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Dont keep calm




    No way in hell am I going to be able to produce a fresh rant today, even with the proper inducement. Y’all know what that means, don’t you?….


From 5/5/2013:




The thorns which I have reap’d are of the tree

I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed.

I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.


~~ Lord Byron — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 10 ~~




Here, in a three line verse, Lord Byron has explained the flaw that exists in human nature, a flaw that will one day drive the species to extinction, if we don’t find a way to alter its effect on us, as a species. This flaw doesn’t manifest in every human, only in a certain percentage, not particularly large, but full of the people who affect society the most, i.e., the leaders, the politicians,  the aristocracy (the rich, or as I call them, the bankers….), and the preachers, all of whom are supposed to be ordering society to benefit ALL of its members.


Instead, these individuals, who have this fatal flaw, have ordered events to suit themselves, hoarding the largest part of the available resources, showing absolutely no compassion or willingness to share, and dismissing as unimportant all of the pain and suffering their actions cause to other people…. This selfishness gene will eventually kill us all, because the BRC, or Beloved Ruling Class, are so focused on their goals, and so unwilling to entertain the idea that their actions are wrong, they cannot comprehend the danger they have created by their pathology, to themselves as well as to the rest of us….


That is the unfortunate thing about any mental aberration; it’s very presence tends to limit what the victim can understand, because they are unwilling to look at the evidence….. No one wants to believe they are mentally off; it doesn’t fit in with our self-image as a competent human being. These folks never understand at all that the way they are leading their lives is a threat to the rest of us; they will only accept evidence that supports their unrealistic view of reality.


Unfortunately for the rest of us, these people are also the ones who are the most willing to use violence, and weapons, to enforce their will, and they already have control of more force than the rest of the public can possibly contend with to force a change. It is a very complex, delicate problem, with no solution that I can see as practical, or with any large chance for success….


The time we have to make the necessary changes to society is growing shorter every hour, as more and more millions of tons of CO (carbon monoxide) is pumped into the air, along with other particulate pollutants. This material in our atmosphere has almost completely destroyed the ozone layer, and the amount of heat reaching the planet from the Sun has raised the ambient temperature of the planet a full two degrees…


Two degrees may not seem like much, but, the fact that the change has taken place in less than a hundred years is a clear indicator that it is quite enough, as it continues to change the climate of the planet drastically. The polar ice is melting more rapidly than ever before, and at a geometrically increasing rate. The amount of oxygen in the air is decreasing in relation to other substances; if it changes two percentage points, there won’t be enough of it for our lungs to breathe; we will suffocate ourselves if it continues. The weather is changing all over the world, as the water from the polar ice melts, and changes the chemical balance of the air everywhere…. As plants die, the process will accelerate, and it will be a toss-up to see what will kill us first….


“Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and aesthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one.” — Edward Abbey


Not a pretty picture, is it? Unless, of course, you are one of the power elite, the BRC; then, you’re the one with the gun…. I’m sorry to have to bring doom and gloom into the morning, but, this is a subject that won’t go away, so I pound on it whenever I can…. The quote above, from Lord Byron, stimulated my sense of outrage at the sheer selfishness of the 1% (yet another name for those with the flaw of extreme self-interest….), so I ranted, if mildly. What bothers me the most is that what I’m saying here is absolute truth, and the people who read it are NOT the ones who need to change…. Of course, those folks wouldn’t believe it if they did read it, so it’s rather a thankless task, and relatively futile, to boot…..


“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good.” — Anne Frank


I think Anne was a better person than I am, because I have lost my  belief in what she says here…. I do believe that the majority of mankind is good, or at least tries to be good; I just don’t believe that those ffolkes are the ones that matter to our future, as much as the folks who are NOT basically good, for as long as the innocents allow the harm their leaders continue to cause to the environment in which we all have to live. I don’t know of a solution, other than the obvious one of becoming violent myself, and doing to them what they want to do to me, but doing it first….. But, then I become like them, and I’d have to kill myself, because I’d never be able to look in a mirror again….. I guess there’s only one thing left to do…..




Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day;

Let other hours be set apart for business.

To-day it is our pleasure to be drunk;

And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.


~~ Henry Fielding — Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 2 ~~




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Comedy_Tragedy




Penance, Made Simple 


After all the dross is sent away

a celebration can begin,

time will face up to space, to stay

willing, to shine from within.


Anger and confusion come in to share

brushing reason aside,

eager to welcome all that is fair,

alert to danger, eyes wide.


Re-gift the wicked with their own pain

stand with the just;

fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,

living in honor, the only must.


Standing fast in the face of wrong

is its own prize and reward.

Holding on to truth makes us strong,

well worth working toward.


Little is left to chance by fate

our lessons are never free of cost.

Seldom does reality make us wait

only when alone, are we lost.


~~ gigoid ~~



Written 10/23/2012.


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buddah-out-to-lunch_s




    I’m afraid today’s final pearl for the old-school section isn’t very mysterious, or esoteric, or hard to figure out at all…. Hell, just follow the bouncing thought balls (Hmm… That doesn’t sound quite right, does it?…. Oh, well….), you’ll get the idea, such as it is…. Actually, it’s a pretty good idea, it’s just silly, by nature of its…. well, nature, quite obviously both sublime AND ridiculous….


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


“Acquittal of the guilty damns the judge.” — Horace


“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” — Marcus Aurelius


“The wise learn many things from their foes.” — Aristophanes — The Birds (414 B.C.), line 375


“Live before you die.” — Smart Bee


“All cats are NOT gray after midnight. Endless variety …” — Lazarus Long, “Time Enough For Love” by Robert Heinlein


“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” — W. Edwards Deming


“It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.” — Publius Syrus — Maxim 469


“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men


There you go, ffolkes. The best summary of the proper functioning of the human animal I’ve ever seen…. Above all, don’t wobble…..


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Having long since lost all sense of propriety, I’m going to go ahead and post this, sans proofing, of either content or intent… In short, I don’t care today; it’s done, & that’s all that’s important…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless this one breaks the camel’s back….




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….







		
	
					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Oddly enough, it DOES float….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“The logic of words should yield to the logic of realities.”


~~ Louis Brandeis ~~


pyramids from space terry virts


The Pyramids as seen from the International Space Station


Image taken by NASA Astronaut Terry Virts




Good morning…. We meet once again, coming together to peruse those parts of Reality we can perceive, finding reasons to reason…. Or, not. As they’re fond of saying downtown…. Whatever they’re saying, here we are, fully prepared to pursue whatever nonsense or sheer beauty we may encounter in our journey together…. I can’t wait….


Shall we Pearl?


“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.” — Seneca


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    Possibly the very best little-known band in Rock, Little Feat are considered one of the best ever, for their music, and for the show they put on stage…. Here is one of those from the late 1970’s…. Enjoy, ffolkes; these guys are GOOD….







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Little Feat Live















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buddah-out-to-lunch_s




    Okay….. So, today’s ranting section is to be another mini-rant from the archives; if you were here, inside my head, you’d understand why I’m not going to attempt any fresh material of that nature; it would be dangerous for the Space/Time Continuum. This was an intro section, wherein I lost control & went off into a short, but, pointed rant about, you guessed it, our lovely BRC…. Enjoy!….


From 9/16/2013:


Powerful visions often pass through my mind, generally on their way somewhere else, thus making them merely an annoyance, rather than a joy. Such is life in reality, where we seldom get a proper chance to do just as we would like, even though we adjust and flex both our efforts, and our desires, in the quest to achieve whatever it is we are seeking to accomplish. This is because reality is like an amoeba, always changing shape and character, right before us, with nothing we possess that can affect it one way or another before it changes. All we have is the ability to change our minds, which, to those of us who study reality, is our most valuable tool….


This ability is the one saving grace we have in the face of reality, so it is a good idea to train it well. If not used, and guided, this ability, to be flexible in our thoughts, becomes weak, and can disappear altogether if neglected. The people to whom this has happened are doomed, to a life of misery and ignorance, because there is nothing new to learn for them, once they have abrogated the control of their own mind. They are unable to adjust to the rapidity of modern society, and constantly yearn for “the good old days”, which in their minds are golden, but in reality are just gone. It’s sad, but true, that the greater majority of this particular country has done just that, and now allows the pundits on TV to determine for them just what they will think….. It’s much easier than making up their own minds, and, easy is what they are all about…


Whoops! I didn’t mean to start ranting, but, it’s just so easy sometimes, when I start thinking…. That right there is the whole problem…. I start thinking, things just get all intense, and I start taking shots at the parts of society that seem to thrive on stealing from the others with whom they live….. It’s all such a waste, in my mind, to see the potential talent and abilities even the most average person possesses subverted, and/or deliberately perverted, into either disuse, or misuse, all for the sake of keeping the BRC in their positions of power over everyone else.


Those who wish to be in charge of others, who want the power over others that goes along with being an elected official in this country, are, in my mind, clinically insane; I wish sometimes I was more of a curmudgeon than I am, and that I owned a gun…. But, then, if I did, I’d feel compelled to use it, and my targets would be mostly found in one particular environment, a large city on the East Coast where those who are crazy enough to want that power gather, to perform their arcane rituals of theft, misdirection, and aggrandizement. It might take me a few weeks, and a couple boxes of ammo, but, I could make a serious dent in their numbers, given the time and space…. Too bad I’m disabled now, and can’t work up that much angst…. it might be fun….


Of course, then I’d be falling into the same frame of mind they cultivate in themselves, wherein they believe they are smart enough to actually make decisions for others….. It has always amazed me to see how much these men and women can delude themselves into thinking this kind of crap; it’s like they have a complete blind spot for other people, for what they might think or feel; they actually believe what they want should be paramount over what everyone else wants, or needs….. SIGH….. To make it all not just worse, but stupidly worse, they not only believe this nonsense, they are all-too-successful at getting everyone else to buy into it as well, and will use any persuasion they can think of, no matter how immoral, illegal, or just plain untrue it is, to assert control over the rest of society….


As the perfect example, I give you the attacks of 9/11/01, which the BRC used to perfection. to create fear, and even paranoia, in the public, thereby freeing them to mount their assault on the Bill of Rights. Without even considering the source of the money that paid for the attacks, or who might have had a part in planning it, let us note how the politicos ALL jumped on the security bandwagon, shouting for more restrictive laws to keep the terrorists at bay, while simultaneously pocketing all the extra money that now pours into the Homeland Security monstrosity of a bureaucracy, and disappears down the black hole that such behemoths always create, sending piles of money into places where the pundits can more easily transfer it to their pockets…. a habit of politicians, as Thomas Jefferson, and his cohorts, knew well.


Well, I see that I’ve completely lost my way, and fell into a full-fledged rant, before even seeing any headlines, and before consuming sufficient coffee to prevent it….. I’d better take a short time out….


Okay, well, that didn’t help much; I’m still in rant mode, but, now I don’t have the physical capabilities remaining to get any more of it out; it’s going to be one of those days, I think, and I might just go back to bed to avoid the worst of it…. Let’s see if I can get a Pearl done first. It should be fairly quick and easy…. I’ve already ranted, so I can go old-school for sections one and two, and I’ll find a good poem for section two…. as long as it all goes smoothly, I should be done, and back in bed within a couple hours…. Yay….


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Comedy_Tragedy




    A young woman whom I believe will be one of humanity’s future poet laureates, maggiemaeijustsaythis, (Maggie Mae to her friends), has written another gem…. Her work continually amazes me, as is patently obvious by how often her name shows up in this section…. Enjoy, ffolkes! Oh, and, watch that last line; it’s a powerful metaphor, and will knock you over, if you aren’t paying attention….




Center of Time


Welcome home, a strawberry plant

grows out back

for you, but it

has twisted to fingernails

to scratch away the bugs. 


It has a heart, ready for transplant.

I promised to die,

I admit, I’m in the habit,

but it just sat in one spot,

sucking on water cells


reminding me what it

would feel like to overheat.

Now you are here, hiding in

the desert, my fruit not fertile

enough for you

to eat. 


So, you say it’s the center of time,

one hand holds it,

the other says good-bye. 


~~ maggiemaeijustsaythis ~~


http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/06/14/center-of-time/




I repeat…. Whew!….


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





ankh




    Yep…. It’s yet another pearl about Life at Large…. Note the smooth, even way it all slides together….




You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss,

A sigh is just a sigh;

The fundamental things apply,

As time goes by.

It’s still the same old story,

A fight for love and glory,

A case of Do or Die!

The world will always welcome lovers,

As time goes by.


~~ Herman Hupfield~~ ~~


~~As Time Goes By”, from “Everybody’s Welcome” ~~




“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” — Ursula K. LeGuin


“For my part, I had rather be the first man among these fellows than the second man in Rome.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Caesar


“Be able to be alone.  Lose not the advantage of solitude, and the society of thyself.” — Thomas Browne


“In theory, theory is the same as reality. In reality it’s not.” — Smart Bee


“A hole is nothing, but you can break your neck in it. — Smart Bee




Pity this busy monster, manunkind, not.

Progress is a comfortable disease.


~~ e.e. cummings, One Times One ~~




As I’ve said, many times, it’s all in the wrist…..


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


Some days, this process runs itself, which is a fortunate thing, since I often end up as I am today, rather a useless addendum to the issue. Nevertheless, I can take comfort in knowing the process itself will take us where we need to go, which, I may add, it has done quite well…. Since it is done, we’ll trust to luck, and go post it…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should Fate deign to consent….




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?….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				Reply			

					


				

			
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


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






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….


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





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


—————————


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 ~~


—————————


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



~~ Joseph Joubert ~~




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





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….


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


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….



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
But, proctor, we’re not done sifting yet…

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				3			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.”


~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~


willows rose tree


Willow’s Rose Tree


https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/if-we-were-having-coffee-gardens-birthdays-and-canals/




Good morning…. While perusing old pearls yesterday, in search of a muse, I found some good stuff, including this opening, which comes to us from September of 2012….


In the beginning, there was fish sauce…. and not much else. Of course, this was because things were still new and confusing, and no one had even thought about ice cream, or margaritas. But, the weather was good, so it was okay with most everybody…… people didn’t used to be so greedy. Then, of course, came the rules, first set up by a preacher, and things have gone downhill ever since…..


Life got really hard once there were rules, because, hey, no more fish sauce at bedtime, and folks have been playing the blues ever since that fateful day. We’d probably all rather have the fish sauce, but the blues are a pretty good trade-off, when you stop to think about it. And nobody pays any attention any more to the preachers, so things will get better, unless we start that old politics thing again. Boy, every time we try that crap, somebody’s got to get all elitist and big-mouth, dissing everybody else and hogging all the money, which we need for ice cream and guitar picks….. I hate when that happens….


So, rather than fall prey to the depredations of rogue politicos, or assholes, as we call them downtown, I think we should go diving in the web for pearls, & see if we can find some really shiny ones…. Toothsome, over at adollyisciousirony.com, also known as All About Lemon, her blog site, has started another game, a story game, and today’s first section will talk about that…. Shall we Pearl?…..


Now, of course, since the story game is over, and, fish sauce is still at a premium, we just say….


Shall we Pearl?


“Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness on sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.” — Bernard of Chartres (d. c.1130) — John of Salisbury Metalogicon (1159) bk. 3, ch. 4


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





Free Vector Bugs Bunny 0012014




Image from vector.junky.com via Google Images




I probably don’t have to tell anyone this character’s name…. He’s the most likable, well, asshole, one could ever meet…. He’s slick, smart, canny, and cheats without a twitch of the morality bone…. He’s the perfect American politician, on screen, subconsciously programming kids to accept the most outrageous claims as real, with the added bonus of deadening their compassion…. But, as I said, it’s hard not to like him, he’s just so agreeable as he reams his latest victim of a practical joke…. which always seems to be less than funny to those who are the butts thereof….


But, rather than a morality rant, let’s watch Bugs and the Road Runner, eh?….







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
















Bugs Bunny















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





Sandclock .jpg




Image from turbosquid.com via Google Images




You may have noted already, with the exception of the video section, virtually the entire Pearl today is from the archives…. This happenstance has occurred for a specific set of reasons, the sharing of which would be completely unproductive, as well as overly personal, thereby uncomfortable for us all….  Suffice it to say, for the nonce, I have my reasons….


Here is a rather amorphous religirant, which is, in truth, less of a rant as much as an exploration of alternative philosophies, offered as a contrast to the general run of organized religions, complete with a massive pearl with ten gems…. Sort of a smorgasbôrd of religious thought from which to construct your own Dagwood, with your own particular sandwich as metaphor for your view of How Things Work, with Why as the condiments, and, Truth as meat and cheese…. Yum!…. Have fun!…. You’ll find utensils and napkins in the seat back in front of you….


From 9/18/2012:


Religion has never attracted me as a pastime that led to any particularly desirable activities. From the very first, even as a small child, I always thought the people at church were trying to get me to believe something that was not only hard to believe, but they wanted me to believe it, just on their word that it was true….. What they were saying wasn’t anything like what I perceived to be true about the world at large; none of it sounded like common sense, if you get my drift…. Plus, the more I resisted what they said, and asked questions that they couldn’t answer, the more insistent they became….. Most kids have a pretty good crap detector, and the whole church thing seemed based on fluff, outright lies, and wishes to me…..


Any who, it seems a lot of my saved up oysters have been on that very subject, i.e., religious dogma, alternative ways of looking at the universe, how it works, and what it means…. (you know, all the good stuff….), so, I thought an old-school grouping would perhaps help ffolkes get a clue about what I do believe….. which can, I have to admit, change from one day to the next….. gotta keep room for new data, y’know…… Shall we Pearl a bit?…..


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


“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love (1972)


“I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.” — Albert Einstein


“God:  What one human uses to persecute another.” — Anonymous


“The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.” — Robert Heinlein, “Job”, 1984


“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.  Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my own constitution; the only wrong what is against it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)


“If the lord had meant us to have faith, he’d have given us lobotomies.” — Zlatko


“A long and wicked life followed by five minutes of perfect grace gets you into Heaven. An equally long life of decent living and good works followed by one outburst of taking the name of the Lord in vain, then have a heart attack at that moment and be damned for eternity. Is that the system?” — Robert A. Heinlein


“I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being.”–Albert Einstein


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


Well, there you go…. a complete mish-mash of different philosophies and outlooks, each with its own little piece to contribute to the whole, all ended perfectly with a piece of profoundly simple wisdom… not the virtual kind that is common around here, but real wisdom, that you can put in your pocket, take away with you, and use as needed…..


———————–


Note from 2015: As I have learned about Pearls, and pearls, and, of course, pearls, it became clear they require an odd number of gems to provide the proper balance, whether it be visually, intellectually, or metaphorically. It just works better…. Hence, this old pearl obviously requires one last pearl to finish it off with the proper flourish…. Ooh! Ooh! I know! Here is the perfect finish for this one….


“Thou are God, you know. Let’s do lunch.” — gigoid, Peruaosophy, Axiom #2


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






Comedy_Tragedy


Painful candor


I sit, and ponder, then try to write…

seeking always to keep from sounding trite.

My record so far is less than grand;

we’ll not be striking up the hometown band.


Poems come to me, with cadence and rhyme,

that’s the easy part, every time.

Finding words of wisdom herein to include,

makes short shrift, however, of my attitude.


Still the words keep floating up in my head,

harbingers of danger, of wisdom, of dread.

Challenge is issued. in the weight of persuasion

Fey shadows of intent for any bright occasion.


Following along becomes habit and routine,

which naturally tells us where we have been.

New vistas beckon just out of sight

Pulling me forward, from day into night……


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 9/18/2012.


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





lao




    Here’s a standard little pearl, which, as it turns out, will be the freshest part of this Pearl, save the video…. Go figure… Oh, it’s another one about life, lived with reason as a guide, rather than faith….


“For my part, I think that a knowledge of the future would be a disadvantage.” — Cicero, “De Divinatione”


The universe is not indifferent to intelligence, it is actively hostile to it.” — Smart Bee


“Courage begins when we can admit that there is no life without some pain, some frustration; that there is no tragic accident from which we are immune; and that beyond the normal exercise of prudence we can do nothing about it.” — Victoria Lincoln


“Only the madman is absolutely sure.” — Robert Anton Wilson


“Genius is nothing more than childhood, recaptured at will.” — Charles Baudelaire


“Simplicity is always a virtue. One kid on a riverbank working out a Stephen Foster tune on his new harmonica heard from the correct aesthetic distance projects more magic and power than the entire Vienna Philharmonic and Chorus laboring (once again) through the Mozart Requiem or Bach’s B Minor Mass.” — Edward Abbey


“Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t bet, you can’t win.” — Lazarus Long


“Virtue consisteth of three parts, – temperance, fortitude, and justice.” — Epicurus (B.C. 341-270)




Kindness in words creates confidence.

Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.

Kindness in giving creates love.


~~ Lao-Tzu ~~




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


To quote the Colonel, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Having met all my current goals, I’m off, to drive, visit, drive, then post…. See y’all tomorrow, we’re hoping….




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….



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Even podiatrists hate bunions….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				2			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“All cruelty springs from weakness.”


~~ Seneca ~~


willows gull


Willow’s Gull



https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/if-we-were-having-coffee-gardens-birthdays-and-canals/






Good morning…. or, so it says here on the label…. Why don’t we take it at its word, and get on with this?….


Shall we Pearl?


“The world has taken on a thickness of vulgarity that raises a spiritual man’s contempt to the violence of a passion.” — Charles Baudelaire


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





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




    Only one band sounded like them; no other will ever reach their level of expertise, or passion for the music they made together….. I’ve used this concert in a previous post, but, it bears repetition very well…. Ffolkes, this is music of which you’ll never hear the like again; one of the band members passed away in 2014…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. the best rock band ever….







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Cream Live at Royal Albert Hall

 2005
















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





Dont keep calm




    I’m not late, and, I’ve got plenty of angst…. I am, however, also lazy, and not in the right mood to rant…. Here’s a good one, though, from the archives, to keep the pressure on the BRC…. Can’t let them think they’re getting any breaks, you know….


From 8/16/2013:


“I put aside my copy of “BOWLING WORLD” and think about GUN CONTROL legislation..” — Zippy the Pinhead


You know, the most amazing thing, to me, about this whole issue with the spying on our telephone and computer data by the government? It is the absolute genuine surprise on the part of the administration at how upset everyone (i.e. the public, or, more simply, “us”…) is over this issue. It’s as if they can’t believe that people are actually upset that the government is collecting all of our phone conversations, and all of our email correspondence, in order to, according to them, “defeat terrorism”.


They, in their absolute confidence in their own rightness, are having a hard time with the fact that NONE of the rest of the populace, at least, none of those outside of the government itself, agrees with them….. For some unknown reason (well, you know it, and I know it, but, they don’t….), they think they can do whatever they want in the pursuit of their imaginary demons, and we’re all supposed to fall right in line with that…. In truth, it makes me feel a little better about things when I think about the reaction by the public; I had almost given up on them ever caring at all what the BRC did to them….


I’m not going to rant again today about this; it’s all over the news, and many people are presenting some well-thought-out, and well-researched and -written articles on the subject, probably much better than I could do. I like to think I’d be funnier, but, that isn’t necessarily of importance to such pieces, so, for now, I’m leaving it to them to distribute the information people need to be clear on the issue. Clarity is necessary, because this is one of the best opportunities we, as the public, have had in some time to bring light to bear on the clandestine activities being perpetrated on us by our supposed leaders….. I think it is important NOT to let them off the hook on this, and bring all the pressure we can to make reforms, at least in this one area….


Rather than rant, I will put together another pearl on this subject, because I believe that the more we hold the BRC up for examination, whether that regard is focused on humor, their (absent) virtue, their chicanery, or just their displays of idiocy, it’s a good thing to keep to keep the light focused on them as long as possible. If we don’t hold our leaders, such as they are, up for our criticism of their acts against us, then, who will? They certainly aren’t going to be pulling their own covers, or showing off their latest theft from us; it’s in their best interests to keep as much of that away from our attention as they are able to do. So, I’ll keep on making fun of them, just as long as they keep lying to us….


Therefore, here is another seven-star pearl, with the clear intent of either making fun of, or bringing unwanted exposure to, our Beloved Ruling Class, and all of their myrmidons…. (a great word, go ahead, look it up….) (No, I’m serious, you need to look it up, or the first quote won’t make any sense to you….) (Of course, none of it MAY make any sense, but, I do what I can, and no more….) (Ah, the hell with it, it means, essentially, “faceless minions in vast numbers, set to do their bidding”….)




The Bible is true this I know,

For the Bible tells me so.


 ~~ Jordan Henderson ~~




“Do not needlessly endanger your lives until I give you the signal.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

(One of the first recorded instances of a President using computer programming techniques on the public….)


“An election year is the time politicians want to help us out of all the trouble they got us into in the first place.” — Smart Bee


“Disco oil bussing will create a throbbing Naugahyde pipeline running straight to the tropics from the rug producing regions and devalue the dollar!” — Zippy the Pinhead


“Muddy water let stand becomes clear.” — Lao Tse


“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)


“If life is merely a joke, the question still remains: For whose amusement?” — Smart Bee


Well, there you have it…. I can’t make it any clearer than that….. Well, perhaps I can…. we’ll try later…..


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





Comedy_Tragedy




Dreaming, I wait….


In the most patient moments of rationality

kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,

fallow thoughts speed first from equality

to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.


Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law

shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,

intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,

falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.


Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,

it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,

foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,

alive, always eager, willing, and pale.


Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few

with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.

No solemn royal version may pass in review,

true love for man, never to remain unhidden.


Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,

calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,

With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,

swimming in the oceans of natural delight.


When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,

roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,

Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,

and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.


Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night

aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart

Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,

tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 8/18/2013.


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





buddah-out-to-lunch_s




    Whenever a pearl like this comes to pass, you’ll see the laughing Buddha, because I often feel as if that is what is happening…. It’s all good stuff, comments on Life, and how to live it, but, it’s a little weird in spots…. You’ll see…. The Buddha knows, you see, about us…. and, he doesn’t mind…. He told me so….


“There is no sin but ignorance.’ — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)


“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.” — Cicero


“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” — Friedrich Nietzsche


Cuando sabes a donde vas, el mundo entero se aparta para abrirte paso. (When you know where you’re going, the whole world will assist you on your way…) — Spanish proverb


“The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 16


“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)


“Therefore with the same necessity with which the stone falls to earth, the hungry wolf buries its fangs in the flesh of its prey without the possibility of the knowledge that it itself is the destroyed as well as the destroyer.” — Schopenhauer


There! See? Didn’t I tell you? Ah well, it’s all good…. cuz we’re done….


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


Ah, yes…. We are, indeed, done. ‘Tis a fortunate thing, too, as I’m completely out of stuff to say…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, most likely….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Flibbertigibbets for sale or lease….

			
						

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				2			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




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


~~ Smart Bee ~~


g-ville 018


Emma




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


Shall we Pearl?


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


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





Dave and Jerry




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




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Jerry Garcia & David Grisman















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


























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




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





Dont keep calm




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


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


From 9/15/2012:


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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






Comedy_Tragedy


Visible life



Forty-two days of pressure and internal rain,

leave marks of salvation, often in pain.

Such sharp reminders of yesterday’s remorse

fight heavily to keep a straight course.

Rash moments, bright, and routinely immense

Give us pleasure, bereft of common sense.


Still the night comes soft and eternally dear

to bring out wishful dreams so vitally clear.

Life’s myrmidons give freely in protest

lifting with skill, soul pieces first to infest,

Loudly brash, with no such voices to remain

Sealed in infamy, branded ugliness all too plain.


Now come brave signs of chapter and verse

Shielded by ignorance, irritable and terse.

Gravid portions of in-between retaliation

leave only pale marks of initial gestation

With hope even pallid warriors grow brave

Leading all humanity, to a warm, stale grave.


Hope never falters, nor leaves any trace

Yet lingers forever in a welcoming space.

Cheerful faces yet shine out of time

for tricking and fumbling sweet melody sublime.

Fill in the spaces with a long, strong retort

life is ever visible, if only as last resort.


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 9/15/2012


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





buddah-out-to-lunch_s




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


From 9/15/2012:


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


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


Water wears the rock — Smart Bee


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Passive salivation…

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“Humankind cannot stand very much reality.”


~~ T.S. Eliot ~~


g-ville 026


This is what distracts me.




Hello, ffolkes…. Some of y’all will have noticed the last few days inconsistency in getting posted (gigoid’s long winded way of saying he missed a couple days…). The picture you see is a big part of the why, as the scene you see is right outside the door of where I’m staying…. So, the angst and build-up of inner conflict with which we live in the urban world just doesn’t have a chance to collect to any large degree…. Hence, no posts….


Today’s post will also be truncated, and tomorrow’s may not appear at all, again. But. by Saturday all should be back to normal, if only until I take off again on the road…. We’ll see…


That said, you only get what is already ready, or can be added quickly, because, I’ve got stuff NOT do….


Shall we Pearl?


“A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)


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


No video today; I’m not currently watching much of anything…. I can suggest going to You Tube, type your favorite artist or subject’s name into the search box & watch whatever you find… Enjoy! After all, you’ll have chosen it….




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





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





Dont keep calm



    Anyone who’s been here at least twice should have known I’d use one from the archives…. Here’s a pretty standard politireligirant from April a couple years ago….


From 5/5/2013:




The thorns which I have reap’d are of the tree

I planted; they have torn me, and I bleed.

I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.


 ~~ Lord Byron (1788-1824) ~~


~~ Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iv, Stanza 10 ~~




Here, in a three line verse, Lord Byron has explained the flaw that exists in human nature, a flaw that will one day drive the species to extinction, if we don’t find a way to alter its effect on us, as a species. This flaw doesn’t manifest in every human, only in a certain percentage, not particularly large, but full of the people who affect society the most, i.e., the leaders, the politicians,  the aristocracy (the rich, or as I call them, the bankers….), and the preachers, all of whom are supposed to be ordering society to benefit ALL of its members.


Instead, these individuals, who have this fatal flaw, have ordered events to suit themselves, hoarding the largest part of the available resources, showing absolutely no compassion or willingness to share, and dismissing as unimportant all of the pain and suffering their actions cause to other people…. This selfishness gene will eventually kill us all, because the BRC, or Beloved Ruling Class, are so focused on their goals, and so unwilling to entertain the idea that their actions are wrong, they cannot comprehend the danger they have created by their pathology, to themselves as well as to the rest of us….


That is the unfortunate thing about any mental aberration; it’s very presence tends to limit what the victim can understand, because they are unwilling to look at the evidence….. No one wants to believe they are mentally off; it doesn’t fit in with our self-image as a competent human being. These folks never understand at all that the way they are leading their lives is a threat to the rest of us; they will only accept evidence that supports their unrealistic view of reality.


Unfortunately for the rest of us, these people are also the ones who are the most willing to use violence, and weapons, to enforce their will, and they already have control of more force than the rest of the public can possibly contend with to force a change. It is a very complex, delicate problem, with no solution that I can see as practical, or with any large chance for success….


The time we have to make the necessary changes to society is growing shorter every hour, as more and more millions of tons of CO (carbon monoxide) is pumped into the air, along with other particulate pollutants. This material in our atmosphere has almost completely destroyed the ozone layer, and the amount of heat reaching the planet from the Sun has raised the ambient temperature of the planet a full two degrees…


Two degrees may not seem like much, but, the fact that the change has taken place in less than a hundred years is a clear indicator that it is quite enough, as it continues to change the climate of the planet drastically. The polar ice is melting more rapidly than ever before, and at a geometrically increasing rate. The amount of oxygen in the air is decreasing in relation to other substances; if it changes two percentage points, there won’t be enough of it for our lungs to breathe; we will suffocate ourselves if it continues. The weather is changing all over the world, as the water from the polar ice melts, and changes the chemical balance of the air everywhere…. As plants die, the process will accelerate, and it will be a toss-up to see what will kill us first….


“Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and aesthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one.” — Edward Abbey


Not a pretty picture, is it? Unless, of course, you are one of the power elite, the BRC; then, you’re the one with the gun…. I’m sorry to have to bring doom and gloom into the morning, but, this is a subject that won’t go away, so I pound on it whenever I can…. The quote above, from Lord Byron, stimulated my sense of outrage at the sheer selfishness of the 1% (yet another name for those with the flaw of extreme self-interest….), so I ranted, if mildly. What bothers me the most is that what I’m saying here is absolute truth, and the people who read it are NOT the ones who need to change…. Of course, those folks wouldn’t believe it if they did read it, so it’s rather a thankless task, and relatively futile, to boot…..


“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good.” — Anne Frank


I think Anne was a better person than I am, because I have lost my  belief in what she says here…. I do believe that the majority of mankind is good, or at least tries to be good; I just don’t believe that those ffolkes are the ones that matter to our future, as much as the folks who are NOT basically good, for as long as the innocents allow the harm their leaders continue to cause to the environment in which we all have to live. I don’t know of a solution, other than the obvious one of becoming violent myself, and doing to them what they want to do to me, but doing it first….. But, then I become like them, and I’d have to kill myself, because I’d never be able to look in a mirror again….. I guess there’s only one thing left to do…..




Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day;

Let other hours be set apart for business.

To-day it is our pleasure to be drunk;

And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.


~~ Henry Fielding (1707-1754) 




~~ Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 2 ~~




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





Comedy_Tragedy








Early Observations


Until I knew there was more,

I wanted to know God.

They said he was a nice guy,

and would let me live forever.


All I had to do, they said,

was live my life for Him,

always living by scripture

cleaving only to his Way.


But, everyone I saw in church,

acted different at home.

Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,

nobody lived like they said.


Still, I tried to be like Jesus,

he was sort of cool.

He never hurt nobody

and walked on the right path.


‘Course they killed him for that,

they couldn’t stand his example.

Turned him into a martyr,

 hid his real words among their own.


Then I found the Buddha,

and met Lao Tzu at the gate.

They saw things real different,

showed me how to see straight.


Right thought, and right action

replace blind obedience and faith.

Reality becomes manageable,

fear retreats, the universe expands.


Brother John said it pretty well,

“Imagine there’s no heaven,

it’s easy if you try.”

Sounds like he knew why.


Day to day, life is grand,

we walk in eternal beauty.

Open your eyes and hearts,

find yourself already immortal.


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 5/12/2013


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





buddah-out-to-lunch_s




However many holy words you read,

However many you speak,

What good will they do you

If you do not act on upon them?


~~ Buddha ~~




You know? I don’t think this pearl needs any more; that pretty much says it all for me…


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


That’s all, ffolkes…. for now. I’ll be back Saturday…. Be real, stay alert, & try not to hurt anyone, okay?…




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….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
If yes, then, no. Otherwise….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				1			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“When in doubt, tell the truth.”


~~ Mark Twain ~~


insight-lander-drill-mars-surface



Artist’s rendition of EUSA Mars Lander “Insight”


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


Image from Space.com




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


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


Huh? What did he say?


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


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


From 6/22/2013:


Ffolkes,


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


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


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


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


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


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


Shall we Pearl?


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


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Solid_Rock_Rolling_Stones




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







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The Rolling Stones















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Dont keep calm


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


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




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


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


From 6/22/2013:


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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




Books are burning

In the main square, and I saw there

The fire eating the text.

Books are burning

In the still air

And you know where they burn books

People are next.


 ~~ “Books Are Burning”, XTC ~~




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Comedy_Tragedy




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




The Bargain


As I was going to St. Ives

I met a man with seven lives;

Seven lives,

In seven sacks,

Like seven beeves

On seven racks.

These seven lives

He offered to sell,

But which was best

He couldn’t tell.

He swore with any

I’d be happy forever;

I bought all seven

And thought I was clever,

But his parting words

I can’t forget:

Forever

Isn’t over yet.


~~ Ogden Nash ~~




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buddah-out-to-lunch_s




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




There is a time in the tides of men,


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


On the other hand, don’t count on it.


~~ T. K. Lawson ~~




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


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


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


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


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


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


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




He who knows man is clever;

He who knows himself is enlightened.


He who conquers men has force;

He who conquers himself is truly strong.


~~ Lao Tzu ~~




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




A-laughing-girl-and-her-camel



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




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch






dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
No tango tonight for you, Mortimer….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




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


 — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ~~


~~ Meditations, viii, 26 ~~


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


The Southern Cross


 Image from Space.com




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


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


Shall we Pearl?


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


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fats






Image from radiofreeamsterdam.com via Google Images




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




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Fats Domino















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Dont keep calm




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


From 8/31/2014:


“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mama Gump


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


“…there are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data

available to the so-called normal mind.  This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” — The Illuminatus! Trilogy — Robert Anton Wilson


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


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


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


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


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


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Comedy_Tragedy




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




Accentuated Lessons


Bold statements of calculated intent

Become common rule of the malcontent.

Avarice assumes such attractive wear

Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.


Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands

Legally proper in all the signatory lands.

Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul

Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.


Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards

Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.

While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor

Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.


Escape from reality is illusory at best

Often we falter and fail its daily test.

Only when focused on inner strength

Does peace stay with us for any length.


Peace lies within, always…..


~~ gigoid ~~




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buddah-out-to-lunch_s




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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….