Now renting parodies of human existence….

Posted on August 10, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Oh. My. Gosh…. (Hmm… just doesn’t have the same punch as the blasphemous version, does it?…. Oh, well, I like to be polite, and blasphemy so early in the morning is rude, even for me….) Any who, color me both surprised and dismayed…. Yesterday, or rather, night before last, I slept so hard, I hurt myself! All day yesterday, my left shoulder was killing me, no matter how much I tried to get ahead of the pain with an extra dose of meds. You can only go so far in that direction before being compelled to turn back, due to side effects, or overdosing concerns. No, I realized, around noon, the pain was because I slept so long on my left side, the shoulder was suffering from being held in one position for too long, and not being at all adult about suffering the pain in silence…..

In spite of the agonizing and contortions this caused during the day yesterday, you can see that it was such an unnerving episode that it’s still bothering me today…. It’s either that, or I’m being a weenie, and I don’t want to hear anything at all from the peanut gallery about that statement….. It was unnerving due to the ironic nature of the pain; if I hadn’t slept so well, I wouldn’t have been in pain…. I could easily attribute that kind of thing to Murphy, but, it’s a bit subtle for him; his sense of humor runs more to pie-in-the-face, or keystone kops, than it does to irony or subtlety…..

Hmm, I hate to say it, but, that only leaves the weenie option, which is just wrong, and doesn’t deserve the screen-time I’m giving the whole issue…. But, then, isn’t that what the intro section is for? Long-winded, barely sane, ironic, or sardonic, statements about issues that have no meaning outside my bathroom walls, for the most part, meandering for what often seems like forever through strange landscapes and even weirder concepts, all to get to some obscure, semi-intellectual question about matters that are unresolvable in light of modern technology, or modern culture, combined with some rather odd habits and beliefs about human nature….. But, think of this…. where would you be if you weren’t here?

Aha! See, you can’t answer that, not without stopping to read, and think about it…. And, the answer you’d find wouldn’t make you anywhere nearly as happy and amused as you are here, so, see? It’s not a waste of time, for you, or for me….. This concludes our exercise in the dangers of using logic before 6 PM….. I hope you have enjoyed learning about the most pressing problem faced by our society today; please feel free to take the handouts with you when you leave, and don’t forget to stop in the gift shop…. the starving children will thank you for all you purchases, 25% of which will go to their care and feeding….

How did we get there? And who was that guy? Just what is going on here? Sheesh, step away to get a cup of coffee, and two whole paragraphs appear on the screen! Ignore the last two, ffolkes, that was Murphy, doing his thing….. Though I do implore y’all to forget these excessively weird paragraphs even exist, I AM going to take them as part of the legal requirements for this section, and bring this to a close…. Alright, I can hear those of you not snickering breathing huge sighs of relief out there, so, I’ll take the hint, and get on with the business for today….

Shall we Pearl?…..
_____________________________

“HEY CONGRESS! What ever happened to the Constitution?” — Smart Bee

You would, as would anyone in this position, assume this to be the beginning of another rant against politics, and those wonderful examples of broken morality, our beloved ruling class. But, nope, it’s not…. Oh, it could be, if I wished it. In fact, that is what I started to do, when I first put it up there for your perusal….. But, to be honest, I’m just not in the mood for ranting today. Not that I don’t feel the outrage at their daily shenanigans…. My opinion of Obama took another nosedive day before yesterday, when he canceled his trip to speak with the leader of what’s left of the USSR, Alex Putin, because the Russians refused to extradite Eric Snowden, the former tech worker turned whistleblower….

I think that what Mr. Snowden did deserves the thanks and support of all the American people, for bringing to light still more of the clandestine activities being perpetrated by those in power. The reaction of the Obama administration has gone a long way toward destroying his image of a President who is concerned for the common man, as he continues to completely ignore the illegality of the entire issue (of the prisons, of the torture, of the internal spying, of the court with no oversight…) and refuses to even address his own part in all of it….. It’s infuriating to see a man of such patriotism and bravery (Snowden) being persecuted by his own government, though it shouldn’t come as a surprise….

Hmm….. It seems that if I allowed myself to do so, I could put out a pretty vitriolic rant; I guess my mood is more flexible than I had assumed for so early…. But, I still don’t feel like going all the way off, because, well, getting all emotionally worked up is not a good way to start the day, at least, not today…. Any who, to avoid any further complications due to angst or emotional outbursts, I’ll let Smart Bee put together a pearl, using the political scene of today’s society as a starting point for search parameters….. Or, as they are fond of saying downtown…. whatever, dude….

“Do thou restrain the haughty spirit in thy breast, for better far is gentle courtesy.” — Homer

“I’m just here for moral support. Ignore the gun.” — Smart Bee, channeling a Senator

“I see it as a compensation. I feel like I’m doing a good job. If no one is recognizing my good job, I recognize it.” — Orlando Arias, Los Angeles county health inspector, — after being filmed accepting a $200 bribe, — as reported by AP, November 10, 1998

“Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 914

“The Three Stooges, the sinking ship, and the lone lifeboat: Ronald Reagan: “Maybe we should save the women and children.”
Richard Nixon: “F**k the women and children!”
Bob Packwood: “Gee, do you really think we have time?”

— the Stilt Man

I think “immoral” is probably the wrong word to use…I prefer the word “unethical.” — Ivan Boesky, inside stock trader

“All military type firearms are to be handed in immediately… The SS, SA and Stahlhelm give every respectable German man the opportunity of campaigning with them. Therefore anyone who does not belong to one of the above named organizations and who unjustifiably nevertheless keeps his weapon… must be regarded as an enemy of the national government.” — SA Oberfuhrer of Bad Tolz, March, 1933

I’m going to stop there, because it’s beginning to get a bit obscure, and I don’t want to anyone to lose the message…. which, simply put, is this…. Despite all they will tell you, the elected officials in this country, from the top, all the way to the bottom, are NOT doing their jobs with YOUR best interests in mind, nor are they overly concerned with following the precepts of governing as set down in the Constitution by our forefathers. They are doing the best they can do to fill their own pockets, and the pockets of their friends, and anything other than that they tell you is a bare-faced lie…. Sorry to be the one to tell you, but, somebody has to….

Of course, the last guy who did so is now hiding out, being protected by the Russian (!!!???) government, not out of humanitarian impulses, but for political gamesmanship…. These days, it’s not a good idea to be publishing the secrets of the politicians… They get so annoyed, and swarm around, looking just like a hive of beetles under a rock, exposed to the light of day…..

Unfortunately, they’re more dangerous than beetles, because they have guns, and, sadly, the force of the laws they’ve written to protect their rights to plunder, and to allow them to lie to us….. Watch your step, ffolkes, or you may be their next target for exploitation (not that you aren’t already being screwed over…. but, it could become specific and personal, rather than just as a part of the general fucking of society that is taking place…..)

I’ll leave you with two final thoughts on the subject, just because I can….

“I don’t pick on politicians. They ain’t done nothin’.” — Red Skelton

“Truly, you are a person who speaks the truth, lives the truth, abides by the truth. And truth is, of course, stranger than fiction, and you certainly are too.” — Smart Bee
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Strangely enough, I’m still in the mood for Emily, so, you’ll have to put up with her insane genius for another day….

I cannot live with you,
It would be life,
And life is over there
Behind the shelf

The sexton keeps the key to,
Putting up
Our life, his porcelain,
Like a cup

Discarded of the housewife,
Quaint or broken;
A newer Sevres pleases,
Old ones crack.

I could not die with you,
For one must wait
To shut the other’s gaze down,–
You could not.

And I, could I stand by
And see you freeze,
Without my right of frost,
Death’s privilege?

Nor could I rise with you,
Because your face
Would put out Jesus’.
That new grace

Glow plain and foreign
On my homesick eye,
Except that you, than he
Shone closer by.

They’d judge us–how?
For you served Heaven, you know
Or sought to;
I could not,

Because you saturated sight,
And I had no more eyes
For sordid excellence
As Paradise.

And were you lost, I would be,
Though my name
Rang loudest
On the heavenly fame.

And were you saved,
And I condemned to be
Where you were not,
That self were hell to me.

So we must keep apart,
You there, I here,
With just the door ajar
That oceans are,
And prayer,
And that pale sustenance,
Despair!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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This section’s pearl is a tribute to perseverance; I’m tired, and just want to be done for the day, but, I must live up to my own standards, because nobody else will… any who, no worries, we’ll just do a random harlequin old-school style pearl, and all will be well…. provided SB doesn’t give me a hard time…..

“For the wise men of old, the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality. And the solution has been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. But for the contemporary mindset the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of man.” — C.S. Lewis “The Abolition of Man”

“He is the MELBA-BEING… the ANGEL CAKE… XEROX him… XEROX him –” — Zippy the Pinhead

“A State which is incompetent to satisfy different races condemns itself; a State which does not include them is destitute of the chief basis of self- government. The theory of nationality, therefore, is a retrograde step in history.” — Lord Acton (1834-1902)

“If you don’t run your own life, somebody else will.” — John Atkinson

“Never create by law what can be accomplished by morality.” — Charles-Louis Secondat Baron de Montesquieu

“It is so basic. A human being is an innocent part of nature. Our civilization has distorted this universal quality that allows us to feel at home in our skin. Other animals have coats that they accept, but the human race has yet to come to terms with being nude.” — Ruth Bernhard

“If you work on your mind with your mind, how can you avoid an immense confusion?” — Seng-Ts’an

See? All in the wrist….
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Producing these Pearls has, of late, been an epic undertaking…. but, since there isn’t anything else that is pulling at me to get done, I can only be grateful for having something that keeps me out of trouble, for the most part….. I’m not going to comment on what that may be costing me in terms of self-respect, but, whatever it is, my ego can take it…. and, no, I have no idea what any of that means, particularly…. Let’s see what kind of damage I’ve done so far…..

Okay, then…. That there is some serious business…. I didn’t realize I had come down so copiously on the BRC today, but, that’s okay by me, they deserve all the crap we can throw at them, just to keep things balanced…. Plus, it’s done, so, hey, I’m outta here….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

Those corpses died in the wool…..

Posted on May 30, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
And then, I woke up….. which may or may not have been a blessing; we have yet to reach a decision on so important a matter. Until we do, I suggest we all just settle down, and let the police do their work. Not that I’d ever get in their way, but, they do tend to get intense when they’ve been without a doughnut for over two hours, don’t they? And since yesterday, when one of the doughnuts bit back at an officer, well, they’re understandably a bit sensitive on the matter…. Silly officers….

Ah, that’s better…. This should improve matters by quite a measure in the next couple minutes; the above was written pre-coffee, so I can’t really claim responsibility for it, as we all know what going without coffee does to me. Now that I’ve had a sip or three (the first ones go down fast….), I may even be able to reach a degree of coherence heretofore unseen in these parts. It’s worth a shot, don’t you agree?

It’s much better than relying on my brain to be intelligible under duress, which is the listed definition of not having coffee, in the dictionary I use…. Murphy or no Murphy, without coffee, the world ceases to make any sense to me, and it is a good thing, for me, and for society at large, that I have arranged to have it within seconds of being awake and up. If not, I don’t know for certain if the space-time continuum would be safe, so it’s a good thing….

Perhaps, if I were less of a compassionate man, I wouldn’t be concerned about the state of the space-time continuum, but, I am, I can’t help it; if it goes, we all go, so, I’m just doing it for all of you, you see…. Really, I am. Of course, by doing so, I save my own sorry ass, so let’s not forget that little grain of salt, either.

With all that said, you may have guessed that I got too much sleep, and you’d be nearly right, as I got way more than the usual amount, arising at an almost reasonable hour, at 0437, after falling asleep at about quarter past eight. I forced myself to listen to the ball game, which started at 7:15, and it worked to keep me awake for a while longer…. It’s actually quite odd to feel almost normal, but, not surprising, I suppose….. feeling odd, that is, not being normal…. Ah shit, there I go again…. The hell with it….

Shall we Pearl?…..
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“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

For much of my life, since reaching what I like to call the age of reason, at about 10 or 11 years of age, I have been aware of this aphorism from Aristotle. If not the aphorism itself, the principle was clear to me from a young age, and I chose then to always strive to be excellent, in whatever I chose to do. You see, I also found out, it requires a deliberate choice to pursue excellence, because it a) doesn’t just happen by itself, and b) it annoys other people. It is the second factor that dictates the need to make a deliberate choice; most people make the opposite choice, to be average, to not stand out too much, unless it is to their advantage to do so, to control or impress others, not for the state of being excellent.

More explicitly, most people try to excel at tasks, or games, or whatever, in order to promote their own agenda, not for the sake of just wanting to do things right, or to scratch the itch of curiosity, or to be the best person one can be. And society at large is quick to show their disapproval if someone is too different in this respect; the normals are afraid of both of the other ends of the human spectrum, the incurably unintelligent AND those who perceive more, and when most people are afraid of something, they make life hard for it, if not downright unbearable, and/or dangerous. Pink monkeys don’t go over well in a brown monkey tree….. They tend to either leave the forest, live in misery, or dye their fur brown, in short order….

This is why the choice must be made, to pursue excellence; it’s not an easy decision, but critically important. It is also a decision that can’t be made half-way; once committed, it extends to EVERY area of one’s existence, requiring effort and dedication to achieve to any significant degree. I can only speak for myself, but it was the best decision of my early years, and I have never regretted making it, because the rewards are much greater than mere comfort, or any other I can think of that comes with giving in to peer pressure; to live with not seeking all there is to see, hear, and do in life, and do it with style, intelligence, and honor.

“By steadily disciplining the animal nature, until it becomes one pointed, it is possible to establish conscious awareness of The Eternal.” — Lao-Tzu

This is a bit metaphorical, but describes well the intensity and consistency of effort that is required to maintain an excellent attitude about life. It’s hard to keep it up all the time, and I have to admit I’m as human as anyone else, and get tired, not to say just plain frustrated, when I cannot easily, or even eventually, reach the goals I’ve set for myself. Fortunately, I also know that being human is okay, and just because I am not always at my best, does not mean it is not still within me, ever within my reach, whenever my perceptions are clear enough to show me the way. The path to Truth, fortunately, is always well lighted, though it may get confusing, and sometimes seem dark through the power of illusion; it never stops being the Truth, though, and that makes it always attainable….

Perhaps there will be some who will read this treatise, and think it arrogant, or condescending; I hope not, because it isn’t intended to be so. It is intended to be a sharing, of the understanding I have that can be of help to anyone in their life. This understanding is based on what I know to be true, and not on fear, or lack of understanding of what is real, in both Nature, and in people. There is great potential in people, much more than we, as a species, or as individuals, ever achieve…. partly because much of humanity is content to be normal, to sit back and let other people decide how the world should go, because it’s too much work to try to control their own world.

We can be so much more than a society of couch potatoes, sagely listening and nodding our heads in agreement with the talking heads we see on the Tube, or laughing ourselves mindless over the insane, or downright stupid acts of imaginary people meant to be metaphorical, but only seen as role models for a reality that doesn’t exist.

Even the advent of computer technology, with all its nearly unlimited potential for what only twenty years ago would have been called “magic”, has not inspired people to strive to be excellent, in work, in play, or in ethics; certainly not in government. Instead, we are drowning ourselves in fashion apps, or photo apps, or social media apps, and losing even more connection with the real world in the process….

Ah well, I suppose all will turn out how it will, in spite of my objections, or anyone else’s indifference. C’est la vie, as the French would say…. such is life; I think it appropriate that we hear from the ancient sages about that, as we started, to close this series of thoughts and rambles perfectly… well, maybe only one ancient sage…..

“Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle. Some things are within your control. And some things are not.” — Epictetus
So be it…. gigoid has spoken.
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After writing the above, I believe I have already written a poem that will fit right in with that theme, at least metaphorically, which is our primary defining characteristic around here… Ah yes, here it is…..

A Failure to Germinate

Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.

Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.

Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.

I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.

My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.

Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
that reality has boasted of proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.

~~ gigoid ~~

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So, here’s the deal…. I cruised SB, looking for quotes that would fit in with today’s apparent theme(s), whatever they are. This group is what my unconscious mind picked out; I didn’t pay much attention, other than as a peripheral check to determine whether it was publishable according to legal standards. Legal or no, here they are, and I’m seeing the whole group for the first time, just like y’all… this could be fun…. or not…. let’s see….

“Every guilty person is his own hangman.” — Seneca

“The mirror sees the man as beautiful, the mirror loves the man; another mirror sees the man as frightful and hates him; and it is always the same being who produces the impressions.” — Marquis D. A. F. de Sade

“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” — A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

“A thing is not proved because no one has ever questioned it…Skepticism is the first step towards truth.” — Smart Bee

“It is easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.” — Alfred Adler “Problem of Neurosis” [1929]

“A possum must be himself, and being himself he is honest.” — Walt Kelly

Not bad, not bad at all…. I’ve seen worse, and not too many better, so, pay heed, because it really does give some good advice…. And, it WAS fun….
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Well, let’s see how well I approached normality….. Oh, good, not close at all. Whew! I was worried about that a bit; I haven’t had this much sleep in weeks, and I wasn’t sure how it would affect matters…. Doesn’t seem to have caused too much havoc. It’s good enough to float, I think, so we’ll kick it out there and see….. I don’t know about y’all, but I had fun, so, not to be threatening, or anything like that, but, I’ll be back tomorrow, if the creek don’t rise any further…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

In the graveyard of the ancient toaster-ovens….

Posted on December 17, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Freeze-dried brain fever, that’s what I’ll call it. Fdbf, for short. I imagine all people get it, but it affects us who write much more severely than the general population, as might be expected of a pastime where the brain is an important factor in successful operation. We humans do tend to avoid activities that cause that organ to work any harder than necessary, so it becomes clear that having, and using, a brain is advantageous to the writer. I’d say that using it would be a prerequisite for the field, but there is so much evidence out there of the converse, I can’t say that….. The recent vampire story series, Twilight, is a prime example of literature written by a person of no brain, I’d say….. Sorry, in my world, vampires are never “cute”….. and they don’t hang around in Hollywood, even to make movies….

For a few moments this morning, it almost seemed as if I would be caught with my own case of fdbf; I was terrified when I sat down and saw a vast empty plain stretching away to infinity in my mind, completely bereft of any material at all. But, the plug loosened quickly, and words started leaking out, so I knew it was just a false alarm. I’ve had that syndrome previously, and it’s no picnic, believe me. A lot of authors go through some pretty strange rituals and activities to try to get rid of fdbf, or limit its visit, but I was lucky enough today; I didn’t have to break out the pomegranate sauce or the palm oil towelettes. Good thing, too, that palm oil is expensive…..

Even without having to cope with the absence of motivation or material, I’m a bit sticky today. I’m not even sure what I mean by “sticky”; it just seems like the right word. Like the bottom of your shoe gets something stuck on it, and every step slows you down…. It could conceivably be a side-effect, of the forced waiting I’m having to do while Social Security goes through all its bureaucratic posturing, but that helps me in no way, either to know or to prevent. In fact, like almost every time I have to deal with them, I am frustrated by their absolute dedication to procrastination and sloth. Bloody idiots….

Alright…. that’s enough blather for one day. I could rant all day on SS, and their woeful ways, but I’m sure I can find something a bit more entertaining. But, only if I ever stop this nonsense, and get on with the dive….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“Don’t bother attacking me. I have more hit points than Godzilla.” — Smart Bee
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“I’m going to Iowa for an award. Then I’m appearing at Carnegie Hall, it’s sold out. Then I’m sailing to France to be honored by the French government. I’d give it all up for one erection.” — Groucho Marx, 1890-1977

Though my life is in no way as exciting as Groucho’s seems to have been, I can relate to this sentiment completely. At this point in the narrative, I have a choice…. I can go personal, I can go humorous, I can go educational, I can go fantasy, or, I can just go on with what Groucho is implying with his remark, no doubt made when he was of an age similar to mine….. which leads me into a discussion of the manual, and what is NOT in there….

However, every time I start a piece about the manual (you know, the manual of Life, that we were all due to be given at birth….), something intervenes to take the wind from the sails of my rant, so I’m going to change things a bit, to try to throw Murphy off the scent, as it were…. Old school format then; that’s what you’ll get, and you’ll like it!…. Those are your ORDERS!….

Actually, you don’t HAVE to like it, just read it and weep…. Below are some quotes (big surprise….)…. Each one is a good idea, powerful enough to stand alone… In addition, each one is of such a nature that it SHOULD have been included in your manual. As I’ve implied, a LOT of stuff got left out of the manual, so it’s a good idea now and again to add some things to the Notes, just for reference…. Here are some you may have been deprived of in your copy….

“If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential — for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints; possibility never.” — Soren Kierkegaard

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful until it became risky. — C.S. Lewis _The Screwtape Letters_

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, Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism

“History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion — i.e., none to speak of.” — Lazarus Long

“The number of people who agree or disagree with you has absolutely no bearing on whether you’re RIGHT. The universe has a way of deciding that for itself.” — Smart Bee

I could go on for a long time; the manual is historically known to be poor in resources that will actually help. I have a feeling the job of creating them was outsourced….. but, the last one is worth the price of admission, all by itself…..
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A Patch of Old Snow

There’s a patch of old snow in a corner
That I should have guessed
Was a blow-away paper the rain
Had brought to rest.

It is speckled with grime as if
Small print overspread it,
The news of a day I’ve forgotten —
If I ever read it.

Robert Frost

Simple, deep, beautiful…. enough said….
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“A means of control should exist whereby access operators and their organizations are held responsible for what is posted on the Internet,” — Church of Scientology lawyer Helena Kobrin, 1995.

This is an absolutely astounding statement….. Scary, too, to think there are people out there so ignorant, and so intent on making other people think the way they do (well, if one can call such activity “thinking”….), they would go so far as to make such a ridiculous utterance, and attach their name to it. Especially a lawyer, though in one sense, I can see how this one is thinking of billable hours, as such a set of laws as she is suggesting would make litigation our newest popular sport, another national pastime, as it were, to go along with baseball and apple pie. Sue your internet provider, because they posted an article on the internet that disagrees with you…. what a unique concept! It’s kind of like shooting the milk man, because you’ve developed an allergy to milk….

I know, that example makes no sense at all…. but neither does what is said above. First, the Church of Scientology isn’t a church, so they really don’t have any right to claim the same sort of entitlement as the rest of them take, as they don’t fall into the same category of human stupidity. (Remind me to tell you about Scientology’s creation some time; it’s a story they don’t like being told….) Second, they don’t have the right they believe they have, to tell others what they should think, and aren’t going to be able to pass laws that favor ONLY their organization…. The other, so-called legitimate religions, will see to that, even if the rest of us don’t manage to do so…. which, I might add, is a distinct possibility, as we would probably get stuck laughing so hard we missed the vote….

I’m not going to rant any further, though I could; this subject lends itself well to such treatment. But, I’ve a lot to do today out in the Big Blue Room, and just wanted to furnish a reminder to everyone that people, and I use the term loosely, who think like this, and are invested in seeking out ways to control other folks until the world is all like them, really do exist, and are out there trying to find ways to slip their idiotic ideas into the public venue, hoping to turn things to their advantage. If we, the rational members of society, do nothing, they will achieve at least some success, and life will get harder for everyone…. Be aware, and don’t allow this sort of idiocy to take hold, ffolkes…. your own blog might be at risk, and you’d never even know until it was too late…..

“Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you…..” — Smart Bee
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One might think, to look at the last quote used in section three, that I am somewhat insane. This would be to my advantage, as I am not, but, I’ll just defuse the entire question when I tell you that this quote, found many places besides Smart Bee, was first told to me by my own father….. He DID smile when he said it, but also pointed out that any joke has an element of truth to it, and should, therefore, not be entirely dismissed as nonsensical, merely because it isn’t true for the majority of time. Since my father was one of the most solidly grounded individuals I’ve ever known, I’d say his take on this was pretty accurate, and that knowledge has served me well many times throughout my life…. Be alert, ffolkes, the world needs all the lerts it can get….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Forgetting to neglect the silliness factor….

Posted on December 4, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Lonely moments pass by, searching for companions with whom to travel their solitary road. But the bark of the aardvark sets them free, if only for the last time, and nobody seems to really even care. As the stores roll down their riot bars, the music plays on at the cantina, where the billycan boys gathered at noon to roast their geese, and take tea. With full intentions of grand exposure, those favored old engineers have quietly folded all the chairs, and put them in the rectory hall for safekeeping. Sadly, the nuptials were taking place, and had to re-water the plants, of course. At just that moment, reality intrudes, and the words, once flowing freely, stutter to a stop…..

And thank goodness they have….. I thought I’d never get out of there. In looking back over this paragraph, it reminds me of conversations I used to have with a couple of friends when we were in our college years. Tom and I, and Mark, and occasionally Johnny P., would all go into a Denny’s, or other local coffee shop, and start up a conversation that was as far from reality as we could make it. Nonsense statements, odd phrases, and just plain weirdness is what we were shooting for, and we got pretty good at it…. We also got run out of more than one coffee shop by irritated waitresses, but, hey, we were young and full of high spirits, if not tact…..

Well, today’s Pearl should prove to be interesting, if for no other reason than going in the direction indicated in the opening lines. I have a feeling that such strangeness has not finished manifesting today, and that we’ll see it’s like elsewhere in the process…. which is fine with me. I’m quite familiar, and comfortable with spending time outside the normal bounds of reality, having begun my explorations into that unknown territory while in my teens, and continuing my researches well into adulthood. Now, of course, I spend about half my time outside reality, looking in, wondering why I bother going back there at all….

Such is the life of a man in limbo…. I spend my time twisting reality to suit my needs, which allows me to avoid those parts of it that are painful and liable to increase my angst. Of course, reality, being what it is, rarely cooperates fully, so it’s all pretty much fooling myself. But, it seems to work, or at least, has worked so far, as here I am, still alive, fairly sane, and I haven’t killed any bureaucrats yet, in spite of the almost overwhelming urge to go down to the SS office and start firing away with my non-existent guns…..

Actually, when I wrote that phrase just now, I got this great mental image of myself, armed with a Super-Soaker 5000, standing in a room full of cubicles, spraying and soaking all the myrmidons until the dripping-wet look was the style of the day…. I feel better now….. Funny, isn’t it, how such a simple thing can do that? SIGH….

Well, I’ve wasted about as much time here in the intro as I can safely waste…. I’ll still be here at lunch time if I don’t get started on today’s dive for pearls. But, I guess if I’ve got the time to spend on crap like this, a bit longer to find some attractive oysters can’t hurt….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Free enterprise ended in the United States a good many years ago. Big oil, big steel, big agriculture avoid the open marketplace. Big corporations fix prices among themselves and drive out the small entrepreneur. In their conglomerate forms, the huge corporations have begun to challenge the legitimacy of the state.” — Gore Vidal

In his book, “Friday”, Robert Heinlein details a society of humanity’s possible future, one in which corporations have continued to grow beyond the boundaries of mere countries, until their interests become paramount even over that of the state, as observed by Mr. Vidal. We, of the society here on Earth in the early 21st century are witnessing that growth, as I write, and as you read…..

The small enterprise markets still exist, but only on the fringes of the economy, the major portion of which is busy manipulating the population into serving the economic trends that the corporations control, in the essential markets that cover everyone… In other words, the corporations monopolize most of the economy, allowing the fringe markets to exist to provide exotic, alternative toys and entertainments for the working classes.

Mr. Heinlein’s character, a young woman with designer genes, genius IQ, and Heinlein’s innate sardonicism, as part of an assignment, is required to perform a research and analysis of how the corporations affected the political and economic scenes of their society, obliquely referring, of course, to the one we have now. It is a very interesting part of a very good book, and well worth a read, not only for its perspicacity in explaining the piracy we are seeing today, but because Heinlein was a master storyteller, who created fascinating characters in fantastic situations, making it all seem perfectly normal and real.

“The phenomenality of organic, conscious existence should, could have made impossible the sadism, the unending hurt of our ways. The impotent fury, the guilt that master and surpass my identity carry with them the working hypothesis, the ‘working metaphor’, if you will, of ‘original sin’. To this expression, I am unable to attach any reasoned, let alone historical substance. On the pragmatic-narratological plane, stories of some initial crime and inherited culpability are universal fables — uncannily profound and lasting. Nothing more. Yet in the presence of the beaten, raped child, of the horse or mule flogged across its eyes, I am possessed, as by a midnight clarity, by the intuition of the Fall.” — Rudolf Steiner, Errata: An examined life, Phoenix — (a division of Orion Books), London, 1998), p. 169

At first, this quote may not seem to be related to the first. However, it is this “original sin” of which he speaks that is the root cause of the problems with corporations in society. Those humans who reject commonality with the rest of humanity are the villains in this play that passes for modern culture, for they do not accept their debt to the rest of the species, and have determined that they will use whatever means they need to become ascendant over the rest of us. Greed is only the most obvious of the ills that this group has subjected our culture to, with cruelty, dishonesty, and lack of compassion as side attractions. Through the actions of their corporate entities, they work to maintain their power and control of others, all for the sake of their own aggrandizement….

These are the men who run the trade in human trafficking, abducting and abusing children and women, for sex and slavery. These are the men who run the brothels, and the underground casinos, and the money-lending, and the protection rackets, and the drug dealing rings. What many folks don’t realize is that they are also the men who run for political office, or become preachers/priests, and the bankers, and the CEO’s, and other corporate officers, who make their decisions based on self-interest, never on altruism. They seem, and act like, they are the leaders of society, when, in fact, they are the very reason our society is headed for extinction….

Unfortunately, these men (and they are almost ALL men….) will not give up their power and control without a fight. They will not respond to reason, giving up all their wealth and perceived power, to benefit the rest of mankind. They will not suddenly see the light, and give it all back. They will have to be rooted out like weeds, tough, hardy weeds, and destroyed, if we are to have any chance of survival…. It is unfortunate, but no other method will work, and it brings with it the danger of falling into the same kind of behavior by which they operate. But, I can see no other way to solve the issue, since they will not cooperate with the rest of us for the benefit of all….

1. If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting.

2. What you settle for is what you end up with.

3. If you think that worrying about a problem is the same thing as solving it, then you must live in some other universe where different laws pertain.

–Smart Bee
__________________________________

A Draught Of Sunshine

Hence Burgundy, Claret, and Port,
Away with old Hock and madeira,
Too earthly ye are for my sport;
There’s a beverage brighter and clearer.
Instead of a pitiful rummer,
My wine overbrims a whole summer;
My bowl is the sky,
And I drink at my eye,
Till I feel in the brain
A Delphian pain –
Then follow, my Caius! then follow:
On the green of the hill
We will drink our fill
Of golden sunshine,
Till our brains intertwine
With the glory and grace of Apollo!
God of the Meridian,
And of the East and West,
To thee my soul is flown,
And my body is earthward press’d. –
It is an awful mission,
A terrible division;
And leaves a gulph austere
To be fill’d with worldly fear.
Aye, when the soul is fled
To high above our head,
Affrighted do we gaze
After its airy maze,
As doth a mother wild,
When her young infant child
Is in an eagle’s claws –
And is not this the cause
Of madness? – God of Song,
Thou bearest me along
Through sights I scarce can bear:
O let me, let me share
With the hot lyre and thee,
The staid Philosophy.
Temper my lonely hours,
And let me see thy bowers
More unalarm’d!

John Keats

I know, a lot of Keats lately, but, hey, if you’re gonna go with somebody else’s work, why not use the best?…..
__________________________________

So, I’m diving around, looking for oysters, and these random quotes on various aspects of religion kept popping up. Since I’m not particularly bursting with material or angst sufficient to either rant or write much of interest, I thought I’d string them together for an old school pearl…. my default position in these instances. There is no real point to be made here, though it may be entirely possible that there is one…. I just like these because they made me think…. and hopefully, they will do the same for you…. enjoy!….

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” — C. S. Lewis

We are arguing like a man who should say “If there were an invisible cat in that chair, the chair would look empty; but the chair does look empty; therefore there is an invisible cat in it.” — C.S. Lewis

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

“While it cannot be proved retrospectively that any experience of possession, conversion, revelation, or divine ecstasy was merely an epileptic discharge, we must ask how one differentiates “real transcendence” from neuropathies that produce the same extreme realness, profundity, ineffability, and sense of cosmic unity. When accounts of sudden religious conversions in TLEs [temporal-lobe epileptics] are laid alongside the epiphanous revelations of the religious tradition, the parallels are striking. The same is true of the recent spate of alleged UFO abductees. Parsimony alone argues against invoking spirits, demons, or extraterrestrials when natural causes will suffice.” — Barry L. Beyerstein, “Neuropathology and the Legacy of Spiritual Possession”, The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII, No. 3, pg. 255

“Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by dozens.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xii, Apology for Raimond Sebond

“…there can be no public or private virtue unless the foundation of action is the practice of truth.” — George Jacob Holyoake

No, it isn’t a trick…. The last one was, indeed, added on purpose, and actually brings all the rest into focus, making what I said above about this pearl having no point a lie…. or perhaps, premature ejaculation would be more appropriate….. Whatever it is, or might have been, or isn’t, it is what it is, so there…. And, believe it or not, it actually makes some sense, on a very basic level…. Any who, it was a few moments of exercising a muscle we all need to keep strong, so, all is well that ends well, yes?….. And, at the very least, you may comfort yourself with knowing it is ended….
__________________________________

I was correct in my earlier assessment as to the strangeness that could conceivably manifest itself today, but, examination reveals nothing that is toxic, or particularly offensive. A shame really, as I’ve heard it said that, if what you write doesn’t offend SOMEONE, you’re doing it wrong….. Don’t know for sure how right that is, but I’ve always tried to live up to it. This one isn’t too bad, all in all, so it’s going out, just like the rest of them have gone, naked and alone…. We’ll see how it fares…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Penny has yet to dance the lambada….

Posted on October 22, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Yesterday, I corrected Time, so we are all caught up in that respect; the missing day has been banished, and no longer exists, for our purposes. This has, unfortunately, allowed Murphy a whole new 24 hour period in which to plan his persecutory activities, and I’m a bit timorous about diving right into a day where he’s had so much leeway for setting up potential chaos. I don’t even have a clue as to where he might strike…. my head seems fairly clear, but I have yet to examine or test out Smart Bee. He could have messed with the program somehow, as I don’t think geeking is beyond his skill set; I’ve been hit too often with little glitches that only could have come from him….. Ya never know, with Murphy….

I suppose one of the reasons I make such a good target for him, and his minions, is that I really, really hate his guts. I don’t care how often he claims it’s his job; I don’t care that the universe HAS to have someone like him, to maintain balances. He’s an asshole, plain and simple, and I don’t care how important he is to the universe. He could figure out ways to fuck with people less than he does; it is obvious to the most casual, and causal, observer that he goes above and beyond the call of his job to create special pain for people. To me, this is unacceptable, and unforgivable…. to have the choice, to make pain for innocent folks, or to mess with them, just because you can, is completely the work of an asshole, and is deserving of the disrespect of every honorable man alive….

If you can’t tell, I’m still angry at Murphy from his actions on Friday morning…. Having the Social Security case worker call me at 0801, to suggest I might wish to WAIT LONGER to get my benefits, was a brilliant stroke on his part, if one considers such acts dispassionately. Nothing could have ruined my day, and my month, any better than that simple call. I did make the analyst pay, after a fashion…. Since his question had to do with my PTSD, I treated him to a full-on episode of emotional breakdown, at flash speed, complete with blubbering, shouting, and pressured speech, with the particular added bonus of my erudition at full out attack mode…. the man definitely got an earful in a short time….

I don’t know if that will help or hinder, and since the lawyer has yet to return my call (they’re a bit lax about that…. we’ll have to have another word or two on the subject, I can see…..), I am not sure how to think about it. I’m hoping I made it clear to the analyst that any further delays in awarding my benefits would only have a bad effect on me, and that their intransigent dallying is causing me no end of problems, both physical and emotional. Not that they care, particularly, that I can see, but at least I’ve made my position clear to them…. I can only hope the lawyer agrees…. and if not, well, they are the ones who are supposed to be guiding and controlling this process; they should start doing that, to my way of looking at it…. As may be apparent, my patience with the entire process is getting a bit thin…. and if something doesn’t break soon, I’m going to start looking for targets for my angst, which, I can assure you, is building up to a nice, big explosion….

Since I’m up and writing, and it’s only 0710 (bounced up at 0635 for some reason…. might have been the falling asleep at 2100 that did it…. but, hey, how ’bout them Giants, eh?…..) I suppose I’d best get started on today’s Pearl. Once again, I’m starting with zero material…. no quotes yet, and no incipient poetry, at least not at this juncture. Ah well, it’s been worse, for sure…. Shall we Pearl?……
__________________________________

“Why does this magnificent applied science, which saves work and makes life easier, bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended, civilizations are built up, excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top, and then it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down.” — C. S. Lewis

Sometimes it takes two to make the correct point….. Between these two quotes, we are given a glimpse of both the problem that mankind suffers from most, and the solution to that problem. Of course, the solution is one that, so far, has been unpalatable to most people, but, it is at least visible for discussion…. Most simply put, the whole problem that our species confronts can be ascribed to our spiritual deficits, as they pertain to both our treatment of each other, and our treatment of the world in which we live…..

In the first case, there are still too many people who think it is acceptable to seek power over others; in the second case, that spiritual flaw translates into a sense of entitlement that extends to how we utilize the resources of the planet, to wit: without proper or even minimal restraint. In the sphere of interactions between people, this deficit leads to misunderstandings, cruelty, slavery, and war…. in the case of planetary resources, it leads to strip-mining and unsustainable industry, unchecked pollution, and ecological suicide…..

I could spend a long time detailing just how far along the path to extinction our species has come; in fact, I’ve done so many times in the past. Such detailing is to little effect, however, so today we will assume it is already done, and we have established the fact that we are further along the road to perdition than most folks want to admit. At the same time, it is necessary to admit that we are also no closer to finding an answer to the question of how we are going to persuade the majority of mankind to make major internal changes, to their beliefs, their spiritual compass, and indeed, the very foundations of their entire existence, if they wish to live, and to give their children an even chance of the same….. This is a difficult proposition, as most folks won’t even admit to the necessity for change, much less what they themselves need to do…..

The depth of ignorance, you see, is not the only problem. For many, that ignorance will keep them from ever realizing just how bad things are, right up until the Grim Reaper comes knocking on their door. But, there are many, many people out there who know exactly what they do that is wrong, and they don’t care, because they believe it will have no ultimate effect on them, only on others…. To be so uncaring as to the fates of others, it is required that one be disconnected from reality, including the reality of one’s own motivation. These folks, who live for power, will not even examine their own motives, because they already know that they are flawed; they chose to be flawed deliberately, because it serves their own self-interests, and they are incapable of understanding that they will be as affected by the end game that is coming as everyone else…. and, in this case, one can see how deliberate ignorance becomes its own justice, eventually….

I wish I had an answer…. I wish I knew a way to convince those who need to know that what they, and the fools they allow to control the world through their own inability to see clearly, their own choice to remain ignorant, cannot continue to expect to live if they do not learn to open up their minds to a new way of seeing life. These fools are rushing into oblivion with their eyes closed, believing they are blessed and protected from harm by their faith in a mirage, when in reality, their faith, and their ignorance is guaranteeing their extinction…. and unfortunately, mine along with it… So, yes, I wish I had an answer…. but, I don’t, so I’ll have to make do with my plans to wreak severe havoc amongst the philistines when the time is ripe…. If we are all marked for extermination by the universe, I’m making sure some of the guilty are going down with me…. Trust me….

“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

“Here pigs will fly, lightning will strike twice, hell will freeze over, and eventually, things will get really interesting…” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

I’ve looked inside, and nothing is turning up in any of the dark corners where they hide, mumbling to themselves until I rip them out into the open air…. so we will have to make do, and settle for something from a proven source…. which shall remain nameless, until I find out who it is today…. Be patient, you will know soon enough…..

Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man

It is common knowledge to every schoolboy and even every Bachelor of Arts,
That all sin is divided into two parts.
One kind of sin is called a sin of commission, and that is very important,
And it is what you are doing when you are doing something you ortant,
And the other kind of sin is just the opposite and is called a sin of omission
and is equally bad in the eyes of all right-thinking people, from
Billy Sunday to Buddha,
And it consists of not having done something you shuddha.
I might as well give you my opinion of these two kinds of sin as long as,
in a way, against each other we are pitting them,
And that is, don’t bother your head about the sins of commission because
however sinful, they must at least be fun or else you wouldn’t be
committing them.
It is the sin of omission, the second kind of sin,
That lays eggs under your skin.
The way you really get painfully bitten
Is by the insurance you haven’t taken out and the checks you haven’t added up
the stubs of and the appointments you haven’t kept and the bills you
haven’t paid and the letters you haven’t written.
Also, about sins of omission there is one particularly painful lack of beauty,
Namely, it isn’t as though it had been a riotous red-letter day or night every
time you neglected to do your duty;
You didn’t get a wicked forbidden thrill
Every time you let a policy lapse or forget to pay a bill;
You didn’t slap the lads in the tavern on the back and loudly cry Whee,
Let’s all fail to write just one more letter before we go home, and this round
of unwritten letters is on me.
No, you never get any fun
Out of things you haven’t done,
But they are the things that I do not like to be amid,
Because the suitable things you didn’t do give you a lot more trouble than the
unsuitable things you did.
The moral is that it is probably better not to sin at all, but if some kind of
sin you must be pursuing,
Well, remember to do it by doing rather than by not doing.

Ogden Nash
__________________________________

“Don’t ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun — and neither can stop the march of events.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

As with many important truths, this one does not comfort one to know it; a common attribute of remarks by Lazarus, who has a tendency to voice the truth regardless of its potential, or even certain, effect on the audience. And, damn it, it is just so much simpler to let all the bad stuff hold sway on our attention, and give in to the depressive urge to berate and chastise the universe for its lack of tact and consideration for human sensibilities. It never listens, anyway….

My semi-rant in section one today is a perfect example of this principle at work; I do try to maintain some optimism in the face of reality; I even have learned to try to explain away all the weird stuff as being outside the statistical universe being considered. It’s a lie, but it’s my lie, so I usually can buy into it, long enough to allow denial to set in, and thus preventing the otherwise inevitable depression over how bad things have gotten…..

Actually, right now, it is fairly simple to stay completely distracted, as we always have the election, and all the shenanigans taking place on that stage, to draw our attention away from the imminent demise we face as a species, or even, more importantly, our personal concerns of everyday living. It’s easy to deny the inevitability of carbon monoxide pollution when we have Mitt the Twitt’s lies to chase down, or Biden’s latest zinger to admire, or Lyin’ Ryan’s latest example of elitism to watch with dropped jaw….. it’s a veritable circus, and the clowns are in full swing….

It’s not just the candidates providing the entertainment, either…. every Tom, Dickwad, and Mary is chiming in with their two cents, on TV, radio, and, most prodigiously, on the Internet, all trying to get SOMEONE to listen to them during the run-up to the election. Those two cents can get very, very strange, as each commenter tries to make the most outrageous statements and/or claims/accusations about all the actors on stage, and is a whole new package of entertainment for us to have on hand, each one vying for our attention at the top of their lungs, figuratively speaking…..

This is where the metaphor of the circus gains its credibility, although, more accurately, I am reminded by this, most emphatically, of just about any carnival at the County Fairs I’ve been to….. Disheveled, sinister-looking barkers, complete with suspenders and a cigar in their mouth, yelling out the prizes they promise, each one grander than the next, and easy as pie to win: exotic visions that promise endless satisfaction of desires, enormously valuable jewels and objet’s d’art for virtually nothing, and endless illusions to draw the eye away from the seediness and underlying, almost frenetic despair permeating the air….

Yes, indeed, the political scene here in America has always reminded me of a carnival, and the events and activities that prompt my impression of the election as an illusionary device, designed to fool the public into thinking that things will change if they vote, has never been stronger than it is now. I have hope that by voting against the obviously evil side of the campaign, the overall effect on the immediate future will be mitigated to some degree. But, I can find within me very little hope that the eventual outcome is in doubt, and that outcome is not one that anyone is going to like…. at all.

My optimism is fairly natural to me; I’ve always been a hopeful kind of person, and I continue to hold hope that mankind’s future will extend beyond this century, groundless as it may be. My pessimism, unfortunately, has the advantage of having the most evidence in it’s favor right now, even if Obama wins the election, as I expect he will. He is only one man, and the course of human events is very difficult to change once it is headed in a particular direction. My hope is based on the wish that more than just he will learn to make the inner changes needed for us all to survive the storms that are coming…. a slim hope, yes, but hey, it happens to be all we’ve got…..
__________________________________

I seem to have gotten stuck today, harping on the same general issue in both of the prose sections. This is no doubt the result of the intense mind-control I have now assumed, in order to keep from going stark raving mad….. That severe control is causing some stilted thought patterns, falling into short, but seemingly endless loops…. I suppose I will have to sacrifice a standard or two today, in order to clear the internal censors…. but, that is simple enough. I’m human, and temporarily setting aside standards is pretty simple for us, as a rule….

Besides, I have to decide on whether to write a poem, or find one, and that can be a decision of some magnitude, depending on, well, stuff…. stuff that isn’t always clear, to me, or for me… so the decision is made more tedious, as it were…. and I’m babbling now, so I’m going to put a stop to this, with some ruthless use of the power of will…. just watch me, I’m going to stop typing any moment now, and you’ll see…. keep a sharp eye out, or you’ll miss it…. Oops, there you see, all done…. did you catch it?….. I’m just happy there’s no blood….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Trading virtue for vice…..

Posted on July 19, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Frankly, I hadn’t wanted to be there at all, but there I was. A mature, employed, stable, responsible person, standing next to huge plastic clown, in the small hours of the night, waiting in the freezing wind to meet someone. Not just someone, but an alien. Not from Mexico, from Procyon 5, part of a Galactic Union consisting of thousands of worlds, all of whom were no doubt home in bed, like I should have been….

Well, that’s not bad…. I could punch it up a little, but it got the creative juices flowing, so we’ll just leave it there, with more questions than answers, and go do something else more productive. I know, many of you are now thinking, “What does he mean, more productive? I want to see the alien!”

Shhhhh!… you’ll wake up Murphy! He’s been asleep in my armchair since I got up this morning, and I’d just as soon he stayed that way for the time being. Things are difficult enough without his two cents thrown in…. What I mean is, I’m never going to complete the story that goes with that beginning, so it is more productive to start a Pearl, which I know I will finish…. and the alien can go fly a kite…. I didn’t like him anyway….

Now that the ice is broken, though, I seem to be a bit at sixes and sevens for material. Fortunately, having already spewed out a sufficient quantity to qualify, I can go on to the eights…. which may sound confusing, but is actually quite logical. So, with no further fussing about, we shall now go Pearl…. Shall we be off and about it?….
___________________________________

“But whether there’s some grand design really matters little to me. My only hope was this: to see what might be, to believe that it should be, and then to do all I could to bring it to pass, whatever the cost. When a life spins out as joyfully as mine has done, then the price, once paid so painfully, is now recalled in gladness. I have received full value. Here among the shepherds, my cup is filled with the water of life; it overflows.” — Orson Scott Card, “Treason”

In thinking back over the Pearls that I’ve put out in the last year, my general impression is that I spend too much time dwelling on the negative parts of Life and Society. There are reasons, no doubt, which will thankfully not be brought out today; I want to speak to a different point. In concentrating on those negative aspects of Life, my usual purpose is to create in the reader a desire to see that negative turned into a positive, to show that one’s own actions have an effect on reality, even if we can only make real changes within ourselves. Those internal changes lead to changes in action, which, as we all know, can spread influence like ripples on a pond. In short, I’m recruiting activists to fight against the forces of Evil that are at play in the world today….

The march of history, and human affairs, possesses an immense inertia; it takes hard effort over a long time to make changes in the direction in which we are heading. The forces of Evil are directing us to extinction, without even knowing that they do so. If they realized what their actions would lead to, they would change, for they are cowards, and don’t want to die any more than the rest of us.

It is just that they are so convinced of their own rightness, and their own right to do exactly as they please, they will not listen to the evidence that is so plentiful. Thus, it becomes the responsibility of the forces of Reason to find a way to change direction, with that kind of opposition as one of the first and biggest obstacles to get past, or resolve in some way.

I wish I had an answer, all laid out in logical lines, with ideas for getting the ignorant to learn. But, I don’t. I’ve been trying all my life to get people to look at things that are not merely beyond the end of their noses, but in fact, may be entirely outside their experience…. and they don’t HAVE to be afraid of it, just because it is unknown to them.

My efforts have been rather ineffective in the larger picture, with minor successes on an individual level…. not extremely encouraging. But, I soldier on, throwing facts and truth out there into their faces, hoping one or more of them will make them open their eyes a bit wider….. and if that includes a boot in the ass to get them going, then by golly, they can have a boot!…. And always remember…..

Truth is God’s daughter. — Smart Bee
___________________________________

Flower of Love

Sweet, I blame you not, for mine the fault was, had I not been made of common clay
I had climbed the higher heights unclimbed yet, seen the fuller air, the larger day.

From the wildness of my wasted passion I had struck a better, clearer song,
Lit some lighter light of freer freedom, battled with some Hydra-headed wrong.

Had my lips been smitten into music by the kisses that but made them bleed,
You had walked with Bice and the angels on that verdant and enameled meed.

I had trod the road which Dante treading saw the suns of seven circles shine,
Ay! perchance had seen the heavens opening, as they opened to the Florentine.

And the mighty nations would have crowned me, who am crownless now and without name,
And some orient dawn had found me kneeling on the threshold of the House of Fame.

I had sat within that marble circle where the oldest bard is as the young,
And the pipe is ever dropping honey, and the lyre’s strings are ever strung.

Keats had lifted up his hymeneal curls from out the poppy-seeded wine,
With ambrosial mouth had kissed my forehead, clasped the hand of noble love in mine.

And at springtide, when the apple-blossoms brush the burnished bosom of the dove,
Two young lovers lying in an orchard would have read the story of our love;

Would have read the legend of my passion, known the bitter secret of my heart,
Kissed as we have kissed, but never parted as we two are fated now to part.

For the crimson flower of our life is eaten by the cankerworm of truth,
And no hand can gather up the fallen withered petals of the rose of youth.

Yet I am not sorry that I loved you -ah! what else had I a boy to do? –
For the hungry teeth of time devour, and the silent-footed years pursue.

Rudderless, we drift athwart a tempest, and when once the storm of youth is past,
Without lyre, without lute or chorus, Death the silent pilot comes at last.

And within the grave there is no pleasure, for the blindworm battens on the root,
And Desire shudders into ashes, and the tree of Passion bears no fruit.

Ah! what else had I to do but love you? God’s own mother was less dear to me,
And less dear the Cytheraean rising like an argent lily from the sea.

I have made my choice, have lived my poems, and, though youth is gone in wasted days,
I have found the lover’s crown of myrtle better than the poet’s crown of bays.

Oscar Wilde

I don’t much care if anyone doesn’t care for this one, though I hope they do…. but, no matter. I love it, and as far as I’m concerned, Oscar is Da Man!….. The problems he had in his lifetime in dealing with a society that did not understand him do not, in my mind, detract from the brilliance of his writing. I would give a lot to have had the chance to converse with him over dinner, but, since I can’t, his poetry makes a decent substitute…..
___________________________________

I’m going old-school here again…. Failing to find within me the correct amount of outrage to fuel a rant, I will resort to my old method of stimulating cogitation among the masses…. Together, these quotes will direct your thoughts to a conclusion, one that, hopefully, you will heed, and share…. and that’s enough clues for anybody….

“To be happy one must be a) well fed, unhounded by sordid cares, at ease in Zion, b) full of a comfortable feeling of superiority to the masses of one’s fellow men, and c) delicately and unceasingly amused according to one’s taste. It is my contention that, if this definition be accepted, there is no country in the world wherein a man constituted as I am – a man of my peculiar weaknesses, vanities, appetites, and aversions – can be so happy as he can be in the United States. Going further, I lay down the doctrine that it is a sheer physical impossibility for such a man to live in the United States and not be happy.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956), “On Being An American”

If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. — Fudd’s First Law of Opposition

“The land of the free! This is the land of the free! Why, if I say anything that displeases them, the free mob will lynch me, and that’s my freedom. Free? Why I have never been in any country where the individual has such an abject fear of his fellow countrymen. Because, as I say, they are free to lynch him the moment he shows he is not one of them.” — D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)

“I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of “Admin.” The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result. But is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”– Preface to ‘The Screwtape Letters’ by C.S. Lewis

PAYCHECK: The weekly $5.27 that remains after deductions for federal withholding, state withholding, city withholding, FICA, medical/dental, long-term disability, unemployment insurance, Christmas Club, and payroll savings plan contributions. — Smart Bee

If this is a joke–I don’t get it. — Written on grave

They say the number of criminals is still rising. Where are we going to put them all? Prisons and government are already overflowing. — Smart Bee

That’s probably enough…. any more, and it would be too obvious, and I may as well have ranted…. Enjoy Life, brothers and sisters, while we still can….
___________________________________

Not too shabby for what felt like a throw-away…. Perhaps not a top ten contender, but readable. I’ll take it….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…. and watch out for stobor….. 😉

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Pale signs of obligatory horses….

Posted on June 4, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Far be it from me to fuss with a system that works…. For close to 11 months now, I’ve posted here every day, sometimes twice a day. Though the introduction is often strange, it has always been the most normal aspect of the entire process, as it is always done first, before I begin the search for pearls, and it provides the impetus for completing the rest.

I can’t say why it happened that way, but evolution is often more complex than we can see from our limited perspective. However it came about, it has always been the anchor post for the rest of the Pearl, pointing out the path we will be taking, or, at the very least, warming up the arthritic old fingers….

Introductory paragraphs also are important for setting the tone of one’s written offerings, whether humorous, serious, or somewhere in between. And, as noted here previously, the opening words of any tome are the most important words in the piece. The beginning must grab the reader’s attention with a fist of iron, and refuse to let go, or one takes the chance of losing them a few pages later, which rather eliminates the whole reason for being there….

Thus, I try to make the intro section special in some way…. sometimes it is a story opening; other times a litany of complaints. Often I’ll discuss personal ennui, or comment on some outrageous thought I’ve had, or some silly news story. Occasionally, like today, I will bore you to tears discussing the process of creating Pearls, which, though interesting enough to me, probably is putting you back to sleep as I type…. not good….

So, we’ll jump off this wagon, and dive into the water to search for some appropriate pearls…. about damn time, I’d say….
___________________________________

To make a long story short: Once upon a time….It was a dark and stormy night……..and they lived happily ever after. — Smart Bee

And I oft have heard defended,
–Little said is soonest mended.
— George Wither (1588-1667) — The Shepherd’s Hunting

As he sat staring into the screen at the last two seemingly unconnected pearls, he began to laugh, slowly at first, then rising in pitch and volume until the walls rang with the maniacal cacophony. “Madness!”, he thinks, “madness is here, and owns my wretched soul!” Caught in the maelstrom of his own inner conflict, he felt as if he were a drift of snow, blowing away in the howling winds, scattering to all parts of creation, never to be connected, or whole, again….

Yet, even more terrifyingly, Murphy’s henchman, the unthinkable terror of dissolution, holds him prisoner here, refusing to yield the pleasure of devouring every last bit of agony that can be dragged screaming from his beleaguered existence, keeping him anchored to the endless Now, with fear and loathing. Tears flow freely, long undefended by social convention, tears of grief for the lost possibilities, and tears of sadness for the loss of the years gone past.

Yet all things must pass….Remembering at last that the existence of pain is only confirmed by an equal amount of joy, the scale tips, and the duality of reality severs the hold of entropy on his emotions. The clouds disperse, as Murphy, well-pleased, slips laughing into the remaining mists….. Shattered and bloody, he sits, and thinks….

There you go…. long story short….

As long as we’re going insane, we might as well go the whole way. A mere shred of sanity is of no value. — Smart Bee

“Insanity destroys reason, but not wit.” — Nathaniel Emmons

I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘AAAUUGHHH’.
___________________________________

One of the greatest joys of my life is finding new stuff to read, and learn; here is a poem by someone I’ve never heard of before, in a wonderful modern style, and obviously from a very down home American standpoint, pre-idiocy period…. enjoy!

Knee-Deep in June

Tell you what I like the best —
‘Long about knee-deep in June,
‘Bout the time strawberries melts
On the vine, — some afternoon
Like to jes’ git out and rest,
And not work at nothin’ else!

Orchard’s where I’d ruther be —
Needn’t fence it in fer me! —
Jes’ the whole sky overhead,
And the whole airth underneath —
Sort o’ so’s a man kin breathe
Like he ort, and kind o’ has
Elbow-room to keerlessly
Sprawl out len’thways on the grass
Where the shadders thick and soft
As the kivvers on the bed
Mother fixes in the loft
Allus, when they’s company!

Jes’ a-sort o’ lazin there –
S’lazy, ‘at you peek and peer
Through the wavin’ leaves above,
Like a feller ‘ats in love
And don’t know it, ner don’t keer!
Ever’thing you hear and see
Got some sort o’ interest –
Maybe find a bluebird’s nest
Tucked up there conveenently
Fer the boy ‘at’s ap’ to be
Up some other apple tree!
Watch the swallers skootin’ past
Bout as peert as you could ast;
Er the Bob-white raise and whiz
Where some other’s whistle is.

Ketch a shadder down below,
And look up to find the crow —
Er a hawk, – away up there,
‘Pearantly froze in the air! —
Hear the old hen squawk, and squat
Over ever’ chick she’s got,
Suddent-like! – and she knows where
That-air hawk is, well as you! —
You jes’ bet yer life she do! —
Eyes a-glitterin’ like glass,
Waitin’ till he makes a pass!

Pee-wees wingin’, to express
My opinion, ‘s second-class,
Yit you’ll hear ’em more er less;
Sapsucks gittin’ down to biz,
Weedin’ out the lonesomeness;
Mr. Bluejay, full o’ sass,
In them baseball clothes o’ his,
Sportin’ round the orchad jes’
Like he owned the premises!
Sun out in the fields kin sizz,
But flat on yer back, I guess,
In the shade’s where glory is!
That’s jes’ what I’d like to do
Stiddy fer a year er two!

Plague! Ef they ain’t somepin’ in
Work ‘at kind o’ goes ag’in’
My convictions! – ‘long about
Here in June especially! —
Under some ole apple tree,
Jes’ a-restin through and through,
I could git along without
Nothin’ else at all to do
Only jes’ a-wishin’ you
Wuz a-gittin’ there like me,
And June wuz eternity!

Lay out there and try to see
Jes’ how lazy you kin be! —
Tumble round and souse yer head
In the clover-bloom, er pull
Yer straw hat acrost yer eyes
And peek through it at the skies,
Thinkin’ of old chums ‘ats dead,
Maybe, smilin’ back at you
In betwixt the beautiful
Clouds o’gold and white and blue! —
Month a man kin railly love —
June, you know, I’m talkin’ of!

March ain’t never nothin’ new! —
April’s altogether too
Brash fer me! and May — I jes’
‘Bominate its promises, —
Little hints o’ sunshine and
Green around the timber-land —
A few blossoms, and a few
Chip-birds, and a sprout er two, —
Drap asleep, and it turns in
Fore daylight and snows ag’in! —
But when June comes – Clear my th’oat
With wild honey! — Rench my hair
In the dew! And hold my coat!
Whoop out loud! And th’ow my hat! —
June wants me, and I’m to spare!
Spread them shadders anywhere,
I’ll get down and waller there,
And obleeged to you at that!

James Whitcomb Riley
___________________________________

Christ says, “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.” — C.S. Lewis _ Mere Christianity_

I cannot think of anything more terrifying than this concept! The thought of giving up one’s entire Self in order to be someone else, ANYONE else, gives me the serious willies, to use the vernacular expression for abject loathing. It doesn’t matter if the other Self one proposes that I assume is purportedly “better” than my current Self, or rather, it shouldn’t matter, and to me it doesn’t. To make the assumption that I’d be better off as Christ demeans me, and if one is actually a believer in a God, then that demeans God. Either way, I’m not copping to it without some protest….

I’ve spent a lot of years on this planet, trying to make myself into the kind of person I’d be proud to know. I can’t say that I’m perfect, by any means…. we’ve all made mistakes. If one hasn’t made any mistakes, then one hasn’t really been living. But I am also not entirely unhappy with myself the way I am, and I can’t see any logical, or even any illogical, but justifiable, reason to want to become someone else, even Christ. Besides, if I become him, who does He become? Me? Whoa, there, big fella, that doesn’t seem like a fair trade…. I lose out on my laptop, and I hate wearing sandals!

Generally, C.S. Lewis makes fairly lucid sense in his writings about Christianity and his faith, which was strong, by all evidence. But this concept is, to me, part of the explicit danger of faith without evidence. That danger lies in this surrendering of will, to what is construed as a superior power. It has never made ANY sense to me; even as a child the idea made me uneasy (I forget who said “Any religion whose basic concepts frighten the mind of a child cannot be true…”, but he was right…). Giving up free will not only turns a person into a sheep, it also provides the rationalization for much of the absence in modern society of virtues such as honesty, or compassion for others, since any acts made by a saved sinner are forgiven, as long as he/she has signed on the dotted line, and confessed….

I am perfectly aware of how virtuous Jesus himself was, at least according to the written reports. His actions toward his fellow men were compassionate and open, given the constraints he placed on himself to try to give his knowledge away with honor, and in a way it would be remembered by a species that is mostly afraid to think.

Yet even this most puissant human being, truly an enlightened soul, has had what he taught twisted and perverted to suit the purposes of the dishonest, indifferent human predators who took immediate control of the organization he started, using those teachings to manipulate the less perceptive into a governable herd….

The perversion has continued to the present day, and in fact has evolved, as any human institution will, into even more viciously bigoted, elitist sects, each of which is convinced it is the true path to salvation. And each one of them, from the mighty Holy Roman Catholic Church to the Western Baptist Fundamentalist Church, depends on people buying into the mind-set described above by Mr. Lewis, surrendering all their free will to the “will of God”, thereby placing their feet on that road of good intentions….
___________________________________

I’m guessing here, but I think it’s probably a good thing I never know when a rant will strike…. it seems to come out unexpectedly every time. Ah well, probably a defense mechanism set up in my unconscious to prevent any pre-censorship…. so be it. I’m happy with how it came out, so we’ll all have to live with it, such as it is…. Like Philip K. Dick said, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Zipping in fields of pizazz….

Posted on May 15, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Odd dreams, indeed, that persist into the day. Odder still when they ask for coffee. But there he was, a huge, red-skinned demon, complete with horns and a tail, big as life and twice as ugly, sitting in my only chair, and demanding coffee. I’m pretty sure, even without checking, that I’ve never had one of the nasty creatures that inhabit some of my less cheerful dreams sit in my living room, and the new experience wasn’t bringing me the thrill of discovery and wonder that one might expect. In fact, it was just pissing me off….

“What the hell makes you think I’m giving you coffee!” I said, calmly…. well, it would have been calmly, but for the volume set at “scream”…. My visitor merely smiled, looking at me as if I were a tardy student, and shook his head. “Because I asked for it?” he rumbled out of his over-sized mouth. “You’ve never been one to deny basic hospitality.” “I’m making an exception in your case, ” I snapped back, “since you seem to have invited yourself to this party.” “True, true,” he smiled, “but, you’ll feel better with some of it inside you, and we’ll have a better chat.” Fuming, but resigned because he was right, I moved into the small kitchen to pour a couple of cups.

There… that’s out. Better out than in, I always say…. I am starting today’s dive for pearls very late, as my body refused to get up at my usual time. I find myself here at my computer with three and a half extra hours of sleep, which I apparently needed badly. It’s not really hard to understand why. I just don’t like to admit that it is so exhausting to sit around and fight against pain, but there seems to be little I can do to deny it, as that is all I do, mostly…. Let me tell you, this getting old sucks, big time….

Not only does it suck, but it makes me whine, which I hate in myself. It’s bad enough to have the pain, which no one can see, but to complain about it lacks dignity, and I can use all of that I can muster. So, if y’all don’t mind, I think I’ll just drag this cloak of dignity I found laying here around my shoulders, take a deep breath, and dive into the pool on a search for pearls…. take a breath now, if you’re going with me…One…two… three…. dive!……
___________________________________

Here is a reverse pearl…. instead of a quote, or two, and my discussion of the subject, here are four excellent pearls, all of which I have previously discussed; there is really no need to write more about them, as my opinion is well-documented…. Instead, just read them all, in the order presented, and note how accurate a picture it paints of the current political scene in this country…. they clearly demonstrate, or at least highlight, how our own failure as citizens of a democracy has contributed to the position in which we now find ourselves….

“There is no such thing as security. There never has been.” — Germaine Greer

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
— C. S. Lewis

“It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives… When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.” — Dorothy Thompson, American journalist, author (1894-1961)

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” — H. L. Mencken

I was watching one of my favorite movies last night, “The American President” and one of the lines reminded me of just how far we have come from the dream our founding fathers had for us…. from the speech at the end of the movie, the President says, “I assure you, Bob Rumson (read: Mitt Romney) has no interest in solving your problems. He is interested in only two things, making you afraid of it, and telling you who to blame for it.” (That may be slightly incomplete or inaccurate as to exact wording, but the meaning and sentiment remain clear) If we elect a fool into office, we have no one to blame but ourselves. And me? I insist on only being afraid of what I choose to be afraid of, and what the political pundits would have me be afraid of is just an illusion…. another of the lies, the creation of which they are very facile and experienced….. stay alert folks….

“Liberty don’t work as good in practice as it does in speeches.” — Will Rogers
___________________________________

Unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. — New Testament — Matthew xxv, 29

This will be one of the shortest pearls ever, even including this superfluous opening. All I have to say here is what came to mind when I read it just now during my dive, which was, “Well, the bankers sure took this one to heart, didn’t they?” That’s all… just think about it… which is more than any Christian would do….

Heaven Holds a Place for Those who Prey — Smart Bee
___________________________________

“Whenever I’m faced with a difficult situation, I like to ask myself what my idol, Edward R. Murrow, would think; and I think Ed would call this censorship. But I also ask myself what my other hero, General George Patton, would think; and I think George would believe this country needs to be cleaned up. Why, if George were alive today, he’d take two armored tank divisions into Hollywood and knock those liberal pinheads into the ocean! So, as you can see, I’m a very confused man. And when I’m confused, there’s only one thing that makes me feel better: I watch TV.” — Les Nesman, “WKRP in Cincinatti”

I find this to be, while amusing, a very, very scary, and uncannily accurate, description of how most of this country approaches life. When things become too confusing, they go watch TV, so they can find out what they are supposed to be thinking. I personally know a great number of folks who center their entire day around what is on TV; hell, before I got them out of that habit, my own kids were almost suckered into that sort of approach. Fortunately, my daughter inherited my love of reading and books, and my son turned his attention to the real world, immersing himself in kung fu for most of this free time.

But, in general, what is on TV is what most of America will parrot when asked what they believe. Very few of us seem to have perpetuated the habit of thinking about what we’ve been told; sometimes it seems as the bloggers I follow are the only ones who are doing so. I certainly see very little evidence out in real life that tells me that anyone is paying attention to this issue.

Mostly, the folks who question authority try to remain true to the system, pursuing their goals within the constraints of that system. But, it doesn’t work, as the vast majority of folks in this country come home from their slave jobs to flick on the TV and let the nonsense fill their heads up with stuff that keeps them quiet and content, like “The Simpsons” or some such….. SIGH……
___________________________________

Not much needs saying here… this fine fellow is here merely to express my opinion of politicians, popes, kings, queens, ayatollahs, bankers, CEO’s, and every other type of human who seeks to assume power over others…. so there!…. and to illustrate the old saw about a picture being worth a thousand words… in my case it is often 1500 words, so this image saved you all from that this morning…. nice of him, eh?
___________________________________

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

My religious upbringing was pretty casual, since my parents weren’t particularly devout, at least outwardly. Most of my life we attended Presbyterian churches, but were never heavily involved. The whole story behind Christianity always seemed pretty improbable to me, even at the tender age of four or five when it was first introduced in Sunday School, where the kids in Presbyterian churches were sent during services to keep from either distracting the minister during his sermon, or to distract their parents from their nap during said sermon. (You can’t fool a four-year old about motivation….)

As I grew older, the things about church that first bothered me continued to grow in number, fueled most heavily by the actions of the church-goers. It always seemed to me that what was said in church on Sunday, and what actually happened out in the real world had nothing to do with each other. Nobody I could see was acting in a Christian manner anywhere but in church, and even then, it seemed pretty self-serving, as if the folks who were discussing morality were showing off for the preacher, more than they were invested in the morals themselves. (You can’t fool a teenager about hypocrisy….)

As my reading list expanded, I found that my suspicions and objections to Christian churches intensified, as I became more aware of what actually went on out in the real world, and was exposed to more religions and philosophies. It seemed, at least on the surface, that the proponents of the other big religions in the world were no less hypocritical in their actions than were the Christian, and further evidence of the accuracy of that observation has been in the news daily for a long time.

Nobody in the entire world, as far as I can see, really buys into any of the religions, unless they are so poor that they grasp onto the charitable aspects of their respective creeds in order to survive. I can find no religion, anywhere in the world, that has significantly advanced the cause of morality in humans; it generally has a negative effect instead, providing their constituents with reasons to practice immorality, as long as it is directed against those in other sects.

So, I continue to wage my own personal battle against the ignorance of reality that all churches demand of their followers, and promote rationality and reason as an approach to life, rather than encouraging people to submit to what, to me, is just another lie disguised as something supposedly “good for me”…. and I find the following statement to be extremely accurate, not only in the context of when it was written, but today as well…..

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936), “What’s Wrong with the World
___________________________________

It is unusual for me to find myself with nothing to say; I’ve never been unable or unwilling to form an opinion on almost anything, and being who I am, I’m not shy about sharing those opinions. But, I feel now, at the end of this morning’s effort, to be without anything useful to add. So, being the reasonable, rational person I am, I will stop now…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Even tough guys call him ‘Sir’….

Posted on February 6, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but mornings are,for me, an important time of the day. A lot depends on what takes place in that first few minutes, and colors what may happen the rest of the day. Today has been relatively normal, though I stayed up later than usual, and thus am up a bit later. All within normal parameters, so things are looking fairly routine. Whether or not this kind of serenity will help what goes onto the screen remains to be determined….we may as well just jump on in……
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“I’m trying to think, but nothing happens.” — Curly

I’m not sure why I wanted to include this one, except that when I read it, an image popped into my mind’s eye, and it aroused my outrage again. I could see the Junior Shrub (my own little term of affection for The asshole president Who Stole Two Terms, and yes I know the title should be capitalized; he didn’t earn enough respect to deserve it) in the now-famous video tape of GW Jr. sitting in front of that class in Florida when he was informed that the attacks had occurred on the Pentagon and World Trade Center Towers, on 9/11/01.

For seven agonizing minutes, the whole nation was able to observe firsthand how unqualified he was for the position of President. It was completely obvious that the quote above was playing in his head like an endlessly repeated loop for the entire time, and the parade of emotions across his face was painful to watch, as he obviously became more and more fearful with each passing moment.

But then, I’ve always believed that his father could conceivably had a hand in that whole mess anyway, and that the news that morning was not a surprise to Junior; it struck me right away how the attacks were very conveniently timed to draw attention from the news of the preceding day, which was focusing on the voting irregularities of the last election, the second time the results of the election were disputable.

After having read The Cocaine Papers, and personally observing his time in office, the whole scenario just stunk of the senior Bush’s talents; folks seem to forget he headed up the CIA during the time when that organization was busy interfering in governments all over the world, and was almost completely responsible for setting up the cocaine trade to the US from South America, aided by the work of CIA operatives in the area. Yes, it was an incredibly fortunate thing for GWB Jr. that we were attacked just at that time, or we just might have seen our second president go down in the glaring light of public sight, for having been found guilty of voting fraud in at least two elections, and forced to resign due to public outrage over his shenanigans….

But, as I say, he’s a lucky guy, isn’t he?……. it only cost us around 4000 American lives, give or take a few, and gave us the opportunity to hare off after the nasty terrorists, to exact our revenge from the civilian populations of Afghanistan and Iraq, to the tune of several HUNDRED THOUSAND civilian deaths. All things considered, we took more than we were entitled to, but then, it is the habit of our society to over-consume on every level, so it’s not particularly surprising. And, all things considered, I regard the period from 9/11/01 to now to be one of the most shameful periods of American history, and nothing to be proud of…….
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“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. it is simply too painful to acknowledge — even to ourselves — that we’ve been so credulous. (So the old bamboozles tend to persist as the new bamboozles rise.)” — Carl Sagan, “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” Parade, February 1, 1987

What is beginning to depress me about the state of modern society is how often I find myself in a state of outrage over the latest antics of the beloved ruling class. The above quote is absolute truth, (the telling of which is a habit of Carl Sagan’s….), and is probably the direct result of the continuous reduction taking place in the average IQ of the average human, when viewed on a society-wide basis.

We have discussed this proposition in this space previously, and have presented the scientific proof of this phenomenon, including its intrinsic inevitability; as time goes on, the species grows dumber, and there is no way to prevent it, other than population control, and humans won’t ever let that happen. The quotation below grows ever more applicable and as time goes on, approaches absolute truth; perhaps the only question remaining to be asked is “How much time do we really have to turn it all around, before it’s too late?” I don’t know about you, but I am very afraid of the answer……

“Yes, this is an age of moral crisis. Yes, you are bearing punishment for your evil. But it is not man who is now on trial and it is not human nature that will take the blame.It is your moral code that’s through, this time. Your moral code has reached its climax, the blind alley at the end of its course. And if you wish to go on living, what you now need is not to return to morality — you who have never known any — but to discover it.”” — John Galt
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— How many roads must a man walk down before he finds a damn good pub?

— Let us define n to be the number of roads a man must travel before he finds the pub defined above. We may thus define n+1 to be the first road which a man need not travel in order to reach a good pub. Now the traversal of road n+1 is not a necessary condition, but rather a sufficient one; thus it is sufficient for n+2 as well. Thus the statement is true for x roads where x is >= n. Therefore, by induction, it is true for any finite number x greater than n. We may conclude that the statement is true for sufficiently large x, or alternatively that as x approaches infinity, the number of roads that have been traveled become sufficient to have found a good pub.

Ya gotta love math! Especially as it is taught at English public schools…. Well, maybe not, but it might have been, right? Sounds just loony enough for schools that have to have a “headmaster”, presumably to lead their charges into their own mastery over the thick, nearly impenetrable British head. (Get it? mastery, British head? No?….ah, well….) And, as the above shows, the system works, sort of, so even the ones who didn’t get the math found a pub, and grew up to write for Monty Python…. those who took in the math went on to further glory in obscure positions in research on numbers theory as it applies to counting sheep….or money…..or the proper number of pints of stout for quoting from documentation manuals out of memory…..
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“Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than minority of them – never become conscious of them all. How much of total reality can such an apparatus let through?” — C. S. Lewis

Brilliant! This is the type of question that only occurs to someone who can be called a genius. Most folks never even consider any of these concepts; it is all they can do to keep track of their own preconceptions and assumptions, much less have the imagination to wonder what they would be able to do if they could see more clearly, clearly enough that meaning is absorbed with perception. There are many ffolkes (this is called a contextual clue) who do think about this kind of thing, but only the truly exceptional mind has the depth of perception, and understanding, to not only see the light, but to describe it to their brethren……
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Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled
About the center of the silent Word.
— T.S. Eliot

What is the silent Word? The Word Is……Not not, Is…..We may be, or not, but what is, is, and needs no word, but the Word remains….at the center, where it was seen and not heard by T.S…. Sometimes, powerful truth can be found in apparent nonsense, and T.S. was a master at creating very lean, very clean poetry whose very simplicity drove straight into the heart of Truth. I always feel more serene afterward, and find that reading his work brings me illumination, if not enlightenment…..
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The results are in, and we find that much of what is included today doesn’t bring much serenity, but is sufficient unto the day for its mere expression. It’s often that way; I often don’t know I needed to get something out, until it is staring at me from the screen. If nothing else, this has kept me off the streets for a time, which is always a good thing…..I tend to attract craziness out there, and it gets to be wearing at times. Probably why I live alone…..I’m old enough now to enjoy not having to worry about adjusting my self to anyone else’s standards, and have found that I’m pretty good company…… Y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Grep that snazzy peripheral!

Posted on December 4, 2011 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Softly, softly the lashes fall
Gently against her fair cheek
Happy dreams come to enthrall
and Morpheus’ chamber to seek.

Now you know why I don’t write poetry. I can make it rhyme, and the cadence isn’t bad. But it just isn’t very good stuff, is it? S’okay, I’m good with it. There are a great many things that I do well, so not being able to compose poetry very well isn’t the end of the world. But I sure wish I could……sigh…..
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“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle

In the past few weeks, I’ve made a few forays into discussing religion, and have probably upset some of my more devout readers. I will apologize if I have offended; however, I do not apologize for my opinions, such as they are. Religions have done a lot of good work throughout history, having always taken the side of the poor, and provided them with succor. But they have, in their own way, impeded the progress of mankind equally as much as they have done good deeds.

My primary argument with most of them is due to the sense of entitlement they give their followers, that sense of being different, and somehow better, than the rest of the universe. All of the Christian sects, and the Muslims, and for that matter, Hindus as well, tell their devotees that they are the “Children of God”, that we are the princes of creation, and have dominion over the rest of this planet’s inhabitants. This sense of entitlement is entirely false, and mankind is never going to grow up and look at the universe as an adult until they can throw that false belief aside, and assume a place alongside other life-forms, instead of over them.

Our intelligence was not given to us for OUR benefit only. I believe that we are to use it to understand more of the universe, and learn how to improve the quality of life for all creatures, not just ourselves. I think, if there is a God, an attitude of benevolence and generosity toward other life forms would be more along the lines of what he would like to see, rather than an attitude of belligerent, prideful entitlement that is completely unjustified…..
__________________________________

How happy is he born or taught,
That serveth not another’s will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!
— Sir Henry Wotton (1568-1639)
— The Character of a Happy Life

There, now, see the difference? Here are four lines, just like mine above. The rhyme and scansion are the same, but this one is just so much better! The technique completely eludes my grasp of understanding; I feel foolish and humbled yet again, by the power of the poet’s quill…..the message here isn’t too shabby either. Independence, strength, integrity, honesty, all the best qualities of a man are praised here, and in a manner that makes it attractive to hear, to see, and to contemplate. Boy, I’d almost be willing to deal with the Devil to be able to do that; fortunately, I don’t think even he wants my soul. It’s been out in the real world too long, and isn’t very shiny anymore…..
__________________________________

Although it seems obvious once defined, this concept is a subtle one, and one that most people will never even stop to consider. Analyzing one’s own actions is an activity that most folks just don’t care to pursue, and analyzing the motivation for those actions is even more foreign to their mindset. Most folks just go through life reacting to whatever happens in their vicinity, using their ingrained belief system to formulate a response that is designed to be beneficial to themselves, without ever taking into consideration any of the considerations or needs that other folks might have, that might have a bearing on their own lives. And so each man trudges on through the halls of reality, oblivious to reason, experiencing a series of stimuli, offering in return actions that are generated completely from a stock of pre-prepared responses to any situation, without ever understanding why they act as they do.

This predominant pattern of behavior among humans is a large part of why things are going to hell in a hurry. People have no idea of why they act as they do, and thus have no real control over it; they have no chance to apply any of the above mentioned virtuous actions, because they do not know that they can. Courage never comes into play, because they are reacting, not acting, and the presence or absence of virtue dooms the action to mere appeasement, rather than productive progress. The saddest part is that 99.9% of the people alive on this planet are in the group of folks who act without thought, and will spin their wheels in the same place for all time……I believe this would be an appropriate epitaph for Mankind: I prefer to stay where I am, thank you……..

“For the wise men of old, the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality. And the solution has been knowledge, self- discipline, and virtue. But for the contemporary mindset the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of man.” — C.S. Lewis “The Abolition of Man”
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Limericks are art forms complex,
Their topics run chiefly to sex.
They usually have virgins,
And masculine urgin’s,
And other erotic effects.

Punning is to prose as limericks are to poetry. I love them both; does that make me strange? Or merely stranger? I also like Haiku, which is the one form of poetry at which I can claim a small expertise, having created some decent ones in my time (I AM 61 years old, so using the infinite monkeys w/typewriters = Shakespeare assumption, not too surprising). Perhaps Haiku would be in the de-literalized zone between a pun and a limerick; they are capable of great beauty, but lend themselves well to the silly, too.

Some time back, a local radio station announcer challenged his listeners to complete a certain literary query, which was: If you described your whole life in six words, which words would they be? Of course, there were some witty, some profound, and some downright silly answers, but I like the one that I came up with for myself (as did the announcer, as he gave it on air). My life could be described this way….. Looked for love, found it everywhere….. Pretty nifty, eh? I suppose it leaves a lot out, considering the amount of drama I’ve been unfortunate enough to encounter over the course of my years. But it gives the primary thrust, because all I’ve ever wanted was to love, and to be loved; everything else is just what I do to stay busy when I am not so fortunate as to be involved in a committed relationship. My kids, the product of my marriage of 23 years, are my proudest accomplishment; they are both honest, forthright, and caring, compassionate human beings. They have their share of drama as well, but are living their lives well, if not always comfortably. In the final analysis, I am content with my how my life has progressed, and its not over by a long shot, so that’s something, eh?…….
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“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.” — H. L. Mencken

I believe the same as Mr. Mencken does, which makes, to my count, about eight of us now. It’s a start. Now all we have to do is get just one of the newest crop of potential world leaders to adopt this as their code of ethics, and their motivation for change. I know, I know, pipe dream, but a nice one, don’t you think?

“It’s easy to tell when a politician is lying. Watch his lips. If they move, he’s lying.” — Charles Lyall

I also know that you’ve heard this one before, and not applied just to politicians. They just happen to be the most egregious examples. I’ve only included it here because it’s the best expression of one my reasons for the ongoing argument I’m trying to provoke with our beloved ruling class. This statement doesn’t require any more proof; it is thoroughly documented in every major news outlet around the world every day.

The media’s coverage of the political arena in the last few days has been truly and amazingly oblivious to its own shortfalls. One series of articles was focused on discussing how much a current presidential candidate had been unchallenged for an obvious lie in an advertisement, editing a sound bite from the President to change its context. The media let the whole issue slide with merely a discussion that it was doing so, without ever going back to make an issue of it with the candidate. It was, and remains, an act of unaccountable cowardice on the part of the media, and I am ever more reluctant to confer on them any trust that what they report is either meaningful or accurate. A self-serving act of lying by omission, and it goes unnoticed by the public at large. 235 years ago, there were men living in this country who would have fought to eradicate any ties with such a society as quickly and as forcefully as they did with the English society of the time……

“And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the bible were used to beat plowshares into swords…” — Alan Watts

Alan has nailed it again. This is what we are now witnessing in our culture today. The religious fundamentalist sector of the Christian milieu is working very hard to force the rest of society to abide by their narrow set of principles, and crying foul at any disagreement. Far too many of the current political crop of wannabes are committed to the concept of ‘Dominion’ (see the Huffington Post from yesterday to see the comments made in that respect by an aide to one of the candidates), which would set the code of white Judeo-Christian values as the standard of law. They are serious, folks, and their ignorance is spreading.

I would advise everyone I know to stay alert to the news, because the day may come in the very near future when it will be time to jump quickly to avoid becoming a slave…….I only wish I were being humorous, but I don’t see much hope of avoiding major catastrophe of some sort in the next decade or two, as the minions of darkness and fear will set themselves against the seekers of the light and knowledge, with liberty as the spoils of the conflict……have a care!
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Well, I can’t think of anything I could write that would depress myself any more, so I’ll stop here, and hope I haven’t driven everyone away with my oppressive subject matter. I didn’t intend to get so deeply into the darkness, but I’m pretty afraid these days. Afraid that the darkness is winning, and I want to do all I can to keep dragging their secrets out into the light of day where they can be opposed more effectively. The powers that be may turn us all into automatons, but I’ll be damned if I will make it easy for them….. y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

gigoid

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

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: C.S. Lewis

Now renting parodies of human existence….

Those corpses died in the wool…..

In the graveyard of the ancient toaster-ovens….

Forgetting to neglect the silliness factor….

Penny has yet to dance the lambada….

Trading virtue for vice…..

Pale signs of obligatory horses….

Zipping in fields of pizazz….

Even tough guys call him ‘Sir’….

Grep that snazzy peripheral!

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