Great deals on used sidewalks….

Posted on July 14, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Life is full of surprises when you’re up th’ stream of consciousness without a paddle…”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

Surreality on a Train….

Good morning…. Today’s opening quote from Zippy is one with which we are very familiar in these parts. Without going into what would no doubt be described as Too Much Information, let us merely say, in the interests of full disclosure, I’m going to cheat. You won’t be required to do anything out of the ordinary, other than the two new injections required by law. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt (much), and it’s GOOD for you. We have the assurances of our BRC this is true; now, don’t you feel better?

Hah!…. Sure…. Let’s do this…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Work is not an end in itself; there must always be time enough for love.” — Robert Heinlein

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

It’s been a while since I thought of this band…. I like them a lot; they’ve made some great, innovative music over the years. Here is a live concert from not very long ago. It’s nice to think they’re still making new music for us to enjoy….. So, please do so….. Otherwise, we don’t get our kickback….

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Blues Traveler

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https://youtu.be/JQv66WUDEFw

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The following rant(s) makes up a rather long ranting section; I don’t mind, because the subject matter is one I believe in strongly. The message is one ALL of humanity needs to heed….

Last posted in June of 2014, created in May of 2012:

It has been a long while, too long, since I posted anything on the subject of human trafficking/sex slavery, one I consider to be truly evil, with its own category of posts that touch upon the issue…. To make up for that, below this paragraph you’ll find TWO rants on the subject, both from May of 2012, when I first began to write about it…. Please pay attention to these rants, ffolkes, and spread them around if you will, to spread this message to all who need to hear it, which is virtually everyone alive…. Men, especially gentlemen, have a big responsibility to uphold, and need to be made aware of how they are failing to do so….

Free our sisters, free ourselves…. take note, ffolkes, and pass it on….

From 5/2012:

O men with sisters dear,
O men with mothers and wives,
It is not linen you ‘re wearing out,
But human creatures’ lives!

~~ Thomas Hood — The Song of the Shirt ~~

Yesterday, I reblogged an article posted by rmott62, a very strong, inspiring young woman who writes about her experiences as a sex trade slave. I use the word “slave” deliberately, for no other word describes how the women, and children who are trapped, abducted, or even tricked into becoming prostitutes. I have reblogged her work, and the work of a couple others who have been fortunate enough to have exited the system in which they were entrapped, several times, and I will continue to do so as long as she, and I, still are publishing. I do this because I am ashamed….

Yes, ashamed…. I am ashamed at myself, and of all the other men in the world who turn their faces away from this issue, and pretend that there is nothing they can do about it. I am ashamed that this practice, of raping and abusing women and girls, just for their own pleasure (though I fail to see how it can be pleasurable to rape or abuse…), just because they can, not only has been present for thousands of years, but continues unabated in today’s supposedly enlightened culture. To my way of thinking, all of us men are responsible for this, and it is our DUTY to do whatever we can to put a stop to it.

Back in the days when mankind lived in caves, when a man in the tribe became dangerous to others in the tribe, for stealing, for abusing others, for whatever reason they had that went against what was good for the tribe, the other men in the tribe made it a point to discipline that man. It may have been merely a physical beating, or banishment from the tribe, or even death, but the other men took it upon themselves to see that the will of the tribe was upheld. Somehow, when culture grew, and started inhabiting cities, and there was more interchange between various tribes, the system broke down. The people of the society were now supposed to be protected from such depredations by law….

But, at about this time, the unscrupulous among us started to solidify their power over society; the richest among the tribes were those who made the laws; they were also the same ones who saw nothing wrong with raping and abusing women, assuming that was their privilege as one of the beloved ruling class. And so the laws were made to reflect that attitude, and the die was cast. This system has survived the centuries, and now the attitude that prostitution is an integral part of society is so ingrained that even those without any other kind of power over others can go to a brothel and act out their sick fantasies, at the expense of a woman or child who has no defense against the violence that occurs if they should object…. and if there is a discussion it is always about a “victimless crime”….

It disgusts me, right down to my core. It is perhaps the sickest part of our society, and very few people are even aware of it. There is certainly no discussion in the public at large of the issue; it is far too volatile for any politician to ever take the chance of siding with the women who are being abused. Hell, a good half of those assholes in office are trying to take away the few rights women have managed to get into law over the last 40 years; Roe vs. Wade has already been set aside, and the asshole men who can’t stand the thought of a woman having the right to choose anything, much less their own sexual nature, are trying to make sure it never gets revived.

I’m not sure what can be done, at least not on a society-wide scale. The attitudes, and laws, have been so set in stone for so many years that it may require surgical removal to make any progress. But, on a smaller scale, I can make noise about it, and try to shame any man who believes otherwise that he is not only a fool, but an asshole fool, and doesn’t deserve to call himself a man. When I was in college, the women’s rights movement was in its beginnings, and there was a phrase coined that says it all, to me…. Free our sisters, free ourselves….

None of us men will ever be truly and completely free until we have freed our sisters from such servitude. That is a fact. It is not just my opinion, it is a fact, and we would do well to pay heed…. and those who engage in this industry had best watch out, for if no one else does, I will be looking for them, and when I find them, I will do all I can to end them. You can interpret that however you wish; I have no doubt in my mind as to what I mean, and I mean “end them”…..

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From 5/2012:

“I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round.” — John Lennon

Men are afraid of women… hence all the jokes about them taking over, over slyly ruling us without us knowing it. Men’s fears of just that thing are what cause him to hate women, because they do not understand them, and fear arises out of lack of understanding. Here are a few examples of such lies, the lies that perpetuate the war between the sexes…..

“My notion of a wife at 40 is that a man should be able to change her, like a bank note, for two twenties.” — Warren Beatty

A lady is one who only shows her underwear intentionally. — Smart Bee

— Yo momma……so fat she has to buy two airline tickets. — Smart Bee

“A beautiful woman is paradise for the eyes, hell for the soul, and purgatory for the purse.” — Smart Bee

“Passionate kiss like spider web, lead to undoing of fly.” — Confucius say (No, he didn’t, but liars don’t care….)

Really, really sexist and paranoid, yes? Yes….

The mere existence of these jokes, and others like them, indicates clearly what men are afraid of in women, and that is their sexuality. We… well, men, not necessarily we men, because not all of us hate them… No I don’t understand them, but that doesn’t make them any less fascinating or wonderfully different. I am aware of my own self, and my own powers, and they have naught to do with what women can do; I feel no need to compare the two, or to assume one is stronger or better. They are just different, and what is different about women is not to be feared, even if not understood. It is just to be learned, that’s all….and the learning is a totally awesome trip, I assure you….

But, back to the sexuality that men fear. It is because these men have never learned to understand themselves, or their place in the scheme of things, that makes them unable to understand women, and turns their ignorance to fear, from thence to hatred and abuse against them. Men cannot stand the thought that a woman might be more important than him, and that is a certain sign of lack of confidence, and of ignorance. Men who know their place in life, and who are confident of their own ability to cope with that place and its demands, have no need or desire to be more important than anyone; they are complete within themselves….

Too many men in this world don’t come anywhere close to this kind of self-knowledge; most go through life without exercising more than two neurons at once, and those tend to lose function whenever the blood goes elsewhere than the brain (such as during an erection). Most men are so afraid of women that they spend half their life telling jokes like the above, and spreading the nonsensical lies that perpetuate this atrocity.

Yes, atrocity, because it is this fear and loathing, of both themselves and women, that leads to issues such as domestic abuse, sex trafficking, prostitution, and abuse of children. The only women who are actively engaged in these activities are those who have been brainwashed to believe the crap they’ve heard all their lives, and who have given up their own humanity; they are very few in number. Otherwise, it is men who perpetrate these vile actions on women…. all because of their own fear and ignorance…. and I say, shame on them, for they are not men, in my world…. they are vicious, unredeemable beasts, and should be put down like the dangerous creatures they are…..

“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

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Dreaming, I wait….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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Today’s final section’s entry turned out to be an odd little pearl; it took SB three separate tries to get it right, and, it still looks as if it could be bigger. It’s actually fine the way it is, with a fairly coherent little message on how to approach the process of growing into your humanity…. Well, okay, so, maybe not QUITE so rarefied a concept, but, it works for me…. Enjoy!….

Living Dead
the path is chosen,
to live forever
is to die
forever.

To not know
when you’ll die
is to find life
wherever
you are.

~~ Alagad ~~

“To know others is wisdom. To know yourself is enlightenment.”

~~- Lao Tzu ~~

“It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

“Each of us bears his own Hell.”

~~ Publius Maro ~~

“Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.”

~~ Glenda Cloud ~~

“It is a good thing to be rich and strong, but it is a better thing to be loved.”

~~ Euripides ~~

“Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”

~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~

~~ Essay on Death in The Prophet ~~

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As noted, quick, if not short. I’ve done what can be done, and shall take my leave forthwith. Y’all try not to worry too much, okay? I know things out there look bad, but, remember, there are still more of us than them, so, all we have to do is maintain the world as we see it, and it will all be fine in the end…. And, if not, well, there’s always the next incarnation, when we can try again…. Regardless of all the reasons to NOT do so, I’ll be back tomorrow, so, see ya!….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Thereby hangs a pail on a nail….

Posted on July 3, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool;

it gives me all the world and exiles me from it.

~~ Ursula K. Le Guin ~~

Interior scenes from a train….

Good morning…. I got nothin’. Nothing at all, at all…. Not only can I think of nothing to write about, I can’t seem to even work up any angst about not being able to do so. this is going to make it a hard row to hoe today, for sure and for certain…. I suppose, that being the case, I’ll just issue the usual warning about keeping your hands inside the vehicle, and get on with it…. Try not to expect too much today, alright? I hate to disappoint people, & it looks as if we’ll be having a special on that today….

Shall we Pearl?….

“.. I wonder if I ought to tell them about my PREVIOUS LIFE as a COMPLETE STRANGER?” — Zippy the Pinhead

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It’s time to head back to our roots…. Here is a collection of cartoons starring the clown who started it all…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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Bozo The Clown

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https://youtu.be/ayV2JD2AwT8?list=PLZs0gQed9tMR4V8_eLxr_b1Vuhm8a8hIF

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“And it does matter. An honest man or woman is an honest man or woman more because he or she is honest in the small, everyday things that “don’t matter” individually, but which make up a well-lived life, than because of some single great temptation that was passed. A person who is concerned about individual rights or about individual dignity makes his or her difference not because of any sweeping great statement or action, but because of the accretion of small, individually seemingly insignificant acts that spread that dignity and confirm those rights through every action they take. It matters because every action you take, and every action I take is an expression of the human spirit.” — William Oliver (oliver@uncmed.med.unc.edu)

What a fine beginning quote for a rant; it fits right in with our usual theme, and provides a good jumping off point for a discussion of current events…. Since a rant, or even a discussion is pretty much out of the question today, I’ll fill in with some rather good pearls from SB, before it went into its current snit…. Here for your morning enjoyment are some comments on modern life, as seen here on ECR…. The first one will give y’all an idea of exactly how far humanity has advanced over the last 4800 years…..

“The Earth is degenerating these days. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer mind their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching.” — Assyrian Stone Tablet, c.2800BC

“The gods can either take away evil from the world and will not, or, being willing to do so cannot; or they neither can nor will, or lastly, they are both able and willing. If they have the will to remove evil and cannot, then they are not omnipotent. If they can, but will not, then they are not benevolent. If they are neither able nor willing, then they are neither omnipotent nor benevolent. Lastly, if they are both able and willing to annihilate evil, how does it exist?” — Epicurus — Aphorisms, c. 300 B.C.

“Heaven does not choose its elect from among the great and wealthy.” — William Makepeace Thackeray, The Virginians (1857-59). Chapter 5

“The remedy in the United States is not less liberty but real liberty — an end to the brutal intolerance of churchly hooligans and flag-waving corporations and all the rest of the small but bloody despots who have made the word Americanism a synonym for coercion and legal crime.” — Archibald MacLeash (b. 1892)

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

“From the standpoint of any sane person, the present problem of capitalist concentration is not only a question of law, but of criminal law, not to mention criminal lunacy.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Case In Point, The Outline of Sanity

“Americans like to talk about (or be told about) Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an ‘inconvenience.’ We have opted instead for an authoritarian system *disguised* as a Democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there.” — Frank Zappa

“There are some politicians who, if their constituents were cannibals, would promise them missionaries for dinner.” — H.L. Mencken

“Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing.” — Walt Kelly, Potluck Pogo

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Well, of COURSE it’s one of mine; I told y’all I had nothin’ new…. Ah well, sometimes old is better….

Random Exposure

If I only knew what I was doing here,
I could give others a clue.
Reality gets stranger every year,
and I’m not sure what I should do.

Singing happy old tunes, in an old, gravely voice,
gives me a lot of pleasure.
I’m only glad I can still make a choice,
to look at life, to take its measure.

Memorable moments keep passing by
gilded, framed in precious emotion.
I never have to ask anyone why,
no need for a stronger potion.

Everything in life is clear, to me
there is no doubt, no misunderstanding.
We’re all good, as you can see,
members of Life, in good standing.

Life can be hard, or it can be great fun;
the right path is there for each of us to take.
That choice is often a difficult one;
pay close attention to the choice you make.

~~ gigoid ~~

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As noted in the intro section, I’ve got nada…. This, of course, means you get another archived pearl for the final section…. The pearl I found to fill in today is a pretty good one, from a pretty good year…. Enjoy!…

From 5/5/2013:

Today has turned into a traditional Pearl… though the intro is shorter than usual, the rest of it follows format perfectly, with a rant in section one, a classic poet, and poem, in section two, and a third section, which obviously is supposed to be an old-school grouping of pearls…. I confess that I keep a stash of quotes from Smart be, to the tune of about eighty-seven pages of a document, so I’m not as short of quotes as I’d thought to be. I’m going to use it for a couple days, & let the real Smart Bee have a vacation, to see if that will fix the corruption in the file….

I know, wishful thinking, but, it’s worth a shot… If it works, it will piss Murphy off, so I’d do it that way anyway, for just that reason…. Any who, today’s group will be VERY random, so bear with me…. Buckle up, please, we can’t proceed until all seat-belts are fastened securely…. insurance rules…

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

~~ Charles Mackay — Eternal Justice, Stanza 4 ~~

“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” — Robert Heinlein

“Life is a long lesson in humility.” — James M. Barrie

“Ridicule is the best test of truth. — Lord Chesterfield

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.” — Hermann Hesse, _Damian_, 1919

“There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life: “Know thyself”, and “Nothing too much”; and upon these all other precepts depend.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Consolation to Apollonius

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” — Smart Bee

Now, that’s not bad at all…. a very cogent grouping, I think…. Let yourself flow with it, and you’ll end up in a place you will like, I guarantee… If not, well, that’s okay too…. some of us need to let things stir around a while before consuming it… or something…. Ah hell, just listen to the last one, and all will be well….

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It’s done. Since that is the BEST I can say of it, we’ll let it die a peaceful death, moving on to the next item on today’s agenda, which happens to be missing…. Oh well, I didn’t feel up to much, anyway…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should there be no other option….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Pigeons, smidgeons…. we’re going in hatless!

Posted on June 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God but to create him.”

~~ Arthur C. Clarke ~~

Scenes from a train….

Good morning…. In the still, peaceful quiet of early morn, sleepy birds sing, suggesting the presence of intimate time, filled to bursting, formal and replete. No cats, no rats frighten the flock, yet, they stop, to listen as the spirit of the hunt passes by. No one cries out for safety, no one speaks to the night. Only as the last bird flies away does the last child drop back into the lap of sleep, quickly, before the mast, not after….

Hmm… A bit of fanciful meandering, as it were, through the back corridors of a dark mind, still sleepy after a half-cup of the blood of life, yet determined to complete a fresh Pearl, come what may…. even if I have to…. well, I won’t go there just now, to save us all losing our breakfasts…. Instead, I believe I see an opportunity to set out for the oyster beds right over there, so, we’ll snatch it up, and use it…. Some days, ya just gotta take what presents itself, ya know?….

Shall we Pearl?

“Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.” — Plato, The Republic. Book VII. 536

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Image from fansshare.com via Google Images

Everybody knows Betty, but, not everybody knows Betty got banned for being naughty…. Today’s video is a compilation of a number of the cartoons which led to her being put on the list of entertainment thought to be TOO immoral for the American people…. and, no, I don’t know who the hell they thought they were…. But, I enjoyed the cartoons, and so will you….

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Betty Boop

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https://youtu.be/VkG9c1yy2lg

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“Everything you know is wrong.”

~~ The Firesign Theater ~~

I’m fairly certain the above quote from the ffolkes at TFT is one of the most cogent, accurate summarizations of this section I’ve come across in my reading. It’s a perfect description of the mental status of almost everyone on this planet over the age of 4 years (right about the time we begin serious interactions with the world outside our immediate family….), based on the assumption the parents of any four year old were slaves to begin with, thus passing on many of their own misguided assumptions about Reality.

Now, I could spend a long time sharing the incontrovertible evidence I’ve accumulated to support such an assumption; in fact, I’ve done so. For the past 3.8 years I’ve posted here on a daily basis, with about 60% of those posts including some sort of rant against the machine, whether of a political, religious, or philosophical nature. I’ve done my best to share what I know to be true, to give those who come to read a chance to compare what I present against their own thoughts and experience…. In all that time, nobody, and that means nobody, has ever presented any arguments suggesting any of the evidence is wrong. None.

This could mean I’m right; it could also mean nobody who disagrees ever comes to read…. My own guess is the truth lies between those two points; mostly I preach to the choir, and those who aren’t convinced to sing aren’t brave enough to argue the point…. or, some combination of factors…. It remains true, however, that what I’ve said is all true, to the best of my knowledge, so, there’s something in that, for what it’s worth….

All that being said, I’m not going to rant today, merely to give us all a break from all the bad/evil shit with which we are surrounded every day on the news…. Instead, I’ll just throw together an old-school pearl, with some random thoughts about those members of the species upon whom I heap all of my disdain and vitriol, our Beloved Ruling Class and Friends…. those silly, yet dangerous humans who prey upon their own kind…. Yes, it’s the Asininnies, all of them…. The Bankers (aka Corporate Snakeheads), Pimps (aka Human Traffickers, aka Scumbags), Politicians (aka Congenital Liars…), Preachers (aka shamans, priests, imams, etc….), Faceless Myrmidons (Police, military, spies, and wannabes…), and, of course, Mrs. Grundy ( aka Everybody’s Nosy, Bigoted, Racist, Fat-headed neighbor….).

Enjoy…. I intend to enjoy putting it together, so, y’all may as well join in the fun….

Who love too much, hate in the like extreme,
And both the golden mean alike condemn.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ The Odyssey of Homer, Book xv, Line 79 ~~

“Not every soil can bear all things.” — Virgil (19 BC)

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

“It is better for a city to be governed by a good man than by good laws.” — Aristotle

“You have to realize that the government, any government, is insane. You have to treat it the way pagans treated their gods: As an irrational, capricious,
and powerful entity which will mete out total destruction if not sacrificed to or otherwise placated.” — Mike Long (future Libertarian revolutionary)

“Any priest or shaman must be presumed guilty until proved innocent.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“Of a rich man who was niggardly he said, “That man does not own his estate, but his estate owns him.” — Diogenes Laertius — Bion, iii

“Our own age is not likely to be distinguished in history for the large numbers of people who insisted on finding the time to think. Plainly, this is not the Age of Meditative Man… Substitutes for repose are a billion dollar business. Almost daily, new antidotes for contemplation spring into being and leap out from store counters. Silence, already the world’s most critical shortage, is in danger of becoming a nasty word. Modern man may or may not be obsolete, but he is certainly wired for sound and he twitches as naturally as he breathes.” — Norman Cousins

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under ‘t.

~~ William Shakespeare ~~

~~ Macbeth — Act i, Sc. 5 ~~

To conclude, let us turn to one of the masters of metaphor, The Kwisatz Haderach (aka, Frank Herbert, author of “Dune”):

“Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife – chopping off what’s incomplete and saying: “Now it’s complete because it’s ended here.” — Muad’dib

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Future Shocked:

Weeping, I wake;
waking, I weep, I weep.
I weep for the ages to be lost,
for the children never to be born.

Time comes calling, strident and spare,
nudging us toward the future with bony hands.
No pausing, no waiting, always away,
Frantic hearts unseen, unheard.

Spirits are dark, afraid.
And the Beast hunts, hungry and cruel,
seeking out the weak, and the foolish.

We all weep now…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 7/22/2013.

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Today’s final old-school pearl is…. well, I’m sorry, it just IS. Beyond that, deponent sayeth naught….

On a huge hill,
Cragged & steep, Truth stands, and hee that will Reach her, about must, and
about must goe;
And what the hill’s suddenness resists, winne so.

~~ John Donne ~~

Conventional wisdom, isn’t.” — Smart Bee

“No man can purchase his virtue too dear, for it is the only thing whose value must ever increase with the price it has cost us. Our integrity is never worth so much as when we have parted with our all to keep it.” — Colton (1780-1832)

“Death, the most dreaded of evils, is therefore of no concern to us; for while we exist death is not present, and when death is present we no longer exist.” — Epicurus

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” — H. G. Wells

“Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.” — W. Somerset Maugham

“Sigh… Every day I thank my statuette of Wilma Flintstone that I was born normal.” — Zippy the pinhead

See what I mean? No word, or words, I could come up with would suffice to explain such an event. But, I digress…. I hope nobody got seriously injured on that last turn; more than three would get my insurance canceled…. Oh well, it’s fresh, and it’s all in the “for sure & for certain” category, so….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken.

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

Done. All fresh, too. Not bad for an old phart with phlat pheet and phrequent phlatulence, eh? Oops…. By the looks of the last sentence, I think it’s time to get us the hell out of here…. Next, I’ll break out in an old show tune…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can continue to find the rhythm…. Could be tough; the rhythm method is a particularly unreliable resource, in many respects…. or, so I’m told….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

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

Posted on June 11, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

Willow’s Rose Tree

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?

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

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

Image from vector.junky.com via Google Images

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

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

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

Bugs Bunny

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https://youtu.be/DqGCVQ7pOyE

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

Image from turbosquid.com via Google Images

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

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

From 9/18/2012:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

———————–

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

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

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

Painful candor

I sit, and ponder, then try to write…
seeking always to keep from sounding trite.
My record so far is less than grand;
we’ll not be striking up the hometown band.

Poems come to me, with cadence and rhyme,
that’s the easy part, every time.
Finding words of wisdom herein to include,
makes short shrift, however, of my attitude.

Still the words keep floating up in my head,
harbingers of danger, of wisdom, of dread.
Challenge is issued. in the weight of persuasion
Fey shadows of intent for any bright occasion.

Following along becomes habit and routine,
which naturally tells us where we have been.
New vistas beckon just out of sight
Pulling me forward, from day into night……

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/18/2012.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.

~~ Lao-Tzu ~~

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Portraits of affable wallet accessories….

Posted on May 8, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“In the dark time will there also be singing?”

“Yes, there will be singing about the dark time.”

~~ Bertolt Brecht

Artist’s rendition of proposed EUSA Lunar Base

Image from Space.com

Good morning, ffolkes…. The new, minimalist method I’ve developed for the intro section seems to have worked out fairly well… If I have aught to say, well, I can…. If not, such as today, it’s perfect…. Let’s let it do its thing, okay?….

Shall we Pearl?

“Passive activity income does not include the following: Income for an activity that is not a passive activity.” — IRS form 8583, Passive Activity Loss Limitation

And, don’t you forget it!….

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

Image from wikipedia via Google free images

This little guy was my childhood hero; I never missed one of his cartoons on Saturday, for as long as I can remember…. Enjoy!….

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

Mighty Mouse

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

https://youtu.be/lxUPYqQ1Lrs

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

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

“Written laws are like spiders’ webs, and will like them only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful easily break through them.”
— Anacharsis (f1. c. 600 B.C.), Scythian philosopher — Quoted in Plutarch, the Lives of the Nobel Grecians and Romans, Solon

I decided NOT to produce a fresh rant, though I certainly could; there’s plenty of stuff going on out in the BBR at which to pick…. But, I found this older piece that works just fine with the above stimulus quote, from a few years back…. It’s actually two pearls from the Pearl posted in March of 2012. Enjoy, ffolkes! It’s all real, not to mention still relevant….

From 3/27/2012:

“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

“…You don’t have many suspects who are innocent of a crime. That’s contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not suspected.” — Edwin Meese

Viewed in light of the first quote, if one may assume its veracity, even temporarily, for the sake of argument, the second quote, while disappointing in the extreme, is not as surprising as it might otherwise have been seen. Oh, where to begin a response to such an outrageous display of ignorance and bigotry? I count only 26 words here, and can think of at least 14 ways this is just wrong, just off the top of my head. It piles one false assumption on top of another until any glimmer of possible relation to the truth, or reality, is completely obscured. Unfortunate as it is, this mind-set is still all-too-common, especially amongst the political pundit review currently on parade.

As a matter of fact, this mind-boggling distortion of our actual laws on the subject, reminds me very strongly of three of our esteemed Republican candidates being followed avidly by the news-mongers, especially Mitt the Twitt…. in the last week alone (post Etch-A-Sketch), he has made, (and I, along with a fairly large number of bloggers & citizens keeping track, counted), at minimum, 19 apparently deliberate lies that involved vague accusations of impropriety by the current administration. Each and every one of these statements, when checked against reality, or what was reported in other media sources, was obviously made up on the spot, or completely in reverse of what actually occurred. He is so desperate to appear to be confident and forceful, he is completely oblivious to the fact that no one is buying into his nonsense any more; in response his lies get more and more removed from any connection to reality or truth. His two closest challengers are no better; they make a habit of making statements that have absolutely no bearing on the subject under discussion, or accuse the media of playing favorites to distract the audience from whatever question they attempting to avoid answering by doing so.

All of these men have lost touch with reality in a lot of areas, and their denial of this fact serves as further evidence of that loss. Their belief, that they have their finger on the pulse of the American people, is so far removed from the truth it approaches the realm of delusion. They have completely lost track of, or denied, any connection they may have once had to the rest of their countrymen, insisting that their out-dated, ignorant policies, that didn’t work 45 years ago, or 90 years ago, will nonetheless work in today’s changing face of global politics, while completely ignoring the mountain of evidence to the contrary. They have assumed the mantle of the fanatic, a segment of the population that has previously been clearly identified as those folks who, when they have lost sight of their goal, redouble their efforts. Sad, and a terrible waste of everyone else’s time and energy to have to even listen to such nonsense. They have given up their place in the human tribe, and don’t even know it…… Pathetic, if you ask me…..

Mi taku oyasin. (We are all related.) — Lakota belief
___________________________________

There are times when the pearls I find that stimulate me to want to write about them are found in clusters. Several at once, all closely related, or similarly themed, just throw themselves at me, clamoring for inclusion. On these occasions I’ve learned to let them have their way. It is just as effective a lesson as my comments usually can claim to be, and has the added bonus of requiring less actual work on my part; the authors I choose have all done my thinking, and expressing for me, and usually much better than my discussions. Below are some observations on politics, patriotism, and the price of liberty, from some pretty well-respected political observers……

“In a state-run society the government promises you security. But it’s a false promise predicated on the idea that the opposite of security in risk. Nothing could be further from the truth. The opposite of security is insecurity, and the only way to overcome insecurity is to take risks. The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side.” — Theodore Forstmann

“My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one’s country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” — Thomas Jefferson to A. Stuart, 1791

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” — H. L. Mencken

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

“Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.” — Kin Hubbard

(Don’t ask…. it just fit, that’s all…)

and finally….

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,–
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.

~~ William Shakespeare

~~Much Ado about Nothing — Act ii, Sc. 3~~

(Will was obviously channeling George Carlin…)

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

Since I haven’t had it in me to rant much of late, here’s a poem about ranting….

A Few Words of Note

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Ffolkes, THIS is a pearl; in might even be called a prototypical pearl. It’s a wonderful nine-star collection of some of Life’s lesser known lessons, couched in less than ordinary terminology, wrapped tightly in extreme metaphor, yet, each one with a valuable piece of information, each essential to getting the whole picture of Reality as it is, not as we guess it might be… Most are stuff you either already know, or, ought to; if not, well, there’s still time to learn, even for slow-learners…. not that I’d ever suggest any of MY Gentle Readers could be such…. All of them, I’m sure, will chuckle right to the end, then just go, “yep…” Well, the polite ones will…

“Ah said, pay attention, boy!”

~~ Foghorn Leghorn ~~

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

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” — Isaac Asimov

“It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.” — The Vatican Sayings, Epicurus

“It ain’t loafing unless they can prove it.” — Dick Brown

“I only took the regular course.” “What was that?” inquired Alice. “Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,” the Mock Turtle replied; “and then the different branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.” “What else had you to learn?” “Well, there was Mystery,” the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flippers, — “Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling — the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: HE taught us Drawling, Stretching and Fainting in Coils. I never went to the Classical master, though. He taught Laughing and Grief, they used to say.” — Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.” — Edith Wharton

“Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’, but it’s free.” — Kris Kristofferson

“You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?”

~~ Steven Wright ~~

See. ffolkes? I’ve always told you, it’s all in the wrist….

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

Yet another day’s duty done; it’s not a bad feeling. In fact, it’s so good, I’m taking it, and my leave…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the Apocalypse isn’t scheduled for tomorrow….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Slick Willie’s sick sailboat…

Posted on April 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there

Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare

And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair

Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there”

~~ Box of Rain by Lesh, Hunter ~~

Curiosity Rover trundling across Mars

Photo by NASA orbiter via Space.com

Aw, fuck.

Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say that out loud? My bad…. I guess I should either explain, or start over. Hmm…

Good morning, ffolkes! Yes, yes I did bail on the first beginning…. No explanations for you. “Too bad, so sad, try again next time,” he said, with a nasty smirk. That’s because he woke up in the weirdest fucking mood he’s ever experienced; in fact, ‘weird’ just doesn’t make the grade at all… He has no clue what person to write in, first, second, third, or weird; the latter seems the most achievable, at this point. In fact, we’re going to admit defeat, so we can get on with the rest of today’s mess, a process y’all realize just became even more volatile than usual…..

Why is that? Well, last time I had this issue, the stock market crashed. No, not really, but, I did feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if a million voices had all… wait, no, that’s Obi-wan’s line. Sorry, wrong page.

Okay, I’m busted, I guess. Since I didn’t, and won’t, have a clue as to how to find, or create, yet another exciting, passionate, obviously brilliant opening section, I figured this would serve to fill in. How’d I do? I know, it’s kinda sappy, but, hey, it’s better than most of them, I’d say. Of course, I’m pretty biased, as we all know, especially in THIS instance; I certainly have a vested interest in finding some way to make it work every day. It’s really too bad Reality is never going to cooperate in that goal, since it has absolutely no investment, or interest, in helping me out…. Asshole.

Oops. No swearing at Reality. It’s easily offended, and the payback is, quite simply, a…. you thought I was going to be vulgar, didn’t you? Hah!

Iconoclasm as a way of life… yeah, that’s the ticket!….

Okay, that’s plenty, I’d say. If we, or I, or y’all, or somebody doesn’t assume control here, we’ll be stuck here forever, listening to me try to achieve enough coherence to bring this to a conclusion (at this rate, that would be sometime in the next millennium….). I think it’s time for the application of another colorful metaphor, so to speak….

Fuck it. I’m through being nice…. Luigi, take us in!…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Insanity in individuals is something rare – but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Beyond Good and Evil

I’m not sure how I should take that…. I AM an individual!…. I guess that makes me rare… or, perhaps, merely sane in an insane world….

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

Google Free Images

This young lady needs no introduction; her fame is intact. The cartoons I’ve included below are a collection of those banned from TV and theaters for their adult/controversial content…. Certainly a cultural icon, she was the first fantasy girl for many a young American lad….

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Betty Boop

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https://youtu.be/VkG9c1yy2lg

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

“The more laws, the less justice.”

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) — De Officiis (44 B.C.) ~~

Here is an epic rant from the archives. It first appeared in 2012, and shows up about once a year, it seems, so, it must be okay…. Enjoy, such as you may….

Last posted 4/26/2014:

One of the hardest parts of blogging on a daily basis, I’ve found, is keeping the chosen material fresh, especially when I tend to rely on a small set of subjects upon which to rant on a regular schedule…. As you know, if you’ve been here previously, I do like to take my shots at the BRC, which consists primarily of the men who prey upon the rest of humanity for their own benefit; most especially, I like to take my best shots at those assholes who prey on women and children, enslaving them as sexual objects for their own profit and sick indulgence….

However, as I tried to explain in the last post in which I spoke of this, it is extremely hard for me to write about, as it tends to kick in my PTSD symptoms…. I get a large jolt of adrenalin when I start to think about this, and my mind turns immediately to buying weapons, ammunition, and starting the planning process to go hunting, for pimps, snakeheads, and any other assholes involved in the sex trafficking trade….

Bleeding hearts may proclaim all the sad stories they know, or speculate, stories that might explain why these assholes are the way they are, but, I don’t really give a shit how they got the way they are; to do what they do, a conscious choice must be made, and, to my mind, that is enough to warrant removing them from the society of decent people, permanently…. If that means I’m playing God, well, so be it…. I am liable to be as good at it as any of the delusional versions; I have the advantage of actually having a physical form that can be touched, so there’s no question of my involvement, or my reality….

Just writing those last two paragraphs has me so worked up, my breath is speeding, my heart rate has jumped over a hundred, & my musculature is loosening up, relaxing and stretching…. I’m starting to breathe more deeply, too, as the adrenalin widens all of my blood and air passages in preparation for fight, or flight…. Having spent eleven years living with random adrenalin attacks, while working at Atascadero and Napa State Hospitals, frequently wrestling with the violently insane to save their life, or my own, I am all-too-familiar with those symptoms…. which include the necessity for waiting for up to three or four HOURS for them to wear off completely…. It’s a pain, to be honest, and I don’t like it at all…

Which is why I am going to cheat…. I’m going to reprint a rant from the archives, one of several I wrote during the year it was first posted, when I first began to write about this issue regularly…. This is one of my better rants, so I hope you enjoy it…. I have added, here at the beginning, a perfect pearl that I found as an appetizer to what follows…. Here then, our rant for today…..

“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.” — Frank Leahy

From 12/4/12:

“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 large multinational 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

Note from 2014: To finish this, here is one last pearl, with a perfect description of the assholes who prey on their fellow men, or worse, women and children…. Pearls like this are good channel markers, for helping to identify the dickheads….

“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” — Epicurus

Note from 2015: Thank goodness for the Tardis! I’ll leave you with another appropriate closing for THIS year….

“Sometimes I think the world has gone completely mad. And then I think, “Aw, who cares?” And then I think, “Hey, what’s for supper?” — Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

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Written December, 2012, last posted October, 2014:

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
of which reality boasted 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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Today’s old-school is bifunctional. It’s no surprise Spell Checker doesn’t like that word; I did just make it up, as far as I know. But, that’s true of the pearl, as well, so, hey, symmetry, right? Works for me…. Ask me sometime, & maybe I’ll remember what I meant by that….

“Grasp the whole world of reason, life and sense
In one close system of benevolence.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

“He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge; and one only evil, namely, ignorance.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Socrates, xiv

“In the midst of winder I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.” — Carl Sagan

“I have found power in the mysteries of thought.” Euripides

“Depend on no man, on no friend, but him who can depend on himself. He only who acts conscientiously towards himself will act so towards others, and vice versa.” — Lavater

Euripides says,– Who knows but that this life is really death, and whether death is not what men call life?” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pyrrho, viii

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction, ice
Is also great
And would suffice

~~ Robert Frost ~~

~~ Fire and Ice ~~

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“Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself, for he shall never cease to be entertained.” — John Powell

Bwahahahahahaha!….

However, let me assure you, I mean that only in the best of ways….. And, yes. I am endlessly entertained by my own antics, in making my way through this beautiful, ugly, puzzling, simple, wonderful journey called life…. But, that’s probably just me; what do I know?…. With a bit of luck, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Laughing echoes of forever….

Posted on April 24, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~

The Old Swan

Kensington, London, UK

Time shattered. Lost…. Somewhere in space, he sits, mind blank as the edge of night, seemingly caught in a web of immense danger, yet, hopeful of coffee soon…. Oh, wait. Did I say all that out loud? Oh, gosh, I’d better start over….

I’m very late, again, since the return of insomnia and angst to my life recently. I’d thought to not see them again for a time, but, I guess the retreat only went two weeks, so, they’re back, filled with enthusiasm, and ready to make my life a living hell, again… Whoopee….

Fuck it. I don’t care. I’ve got a Pearl to write, so, let’s just go do it, okay? Okay…. Luigi, get us outta here…. Hang on ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a saber;

for though the wound may heal, the scar of it will remain.”

~~ Saadi (1184-1291) ~~

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

If you have never heard of Doc Watson, you’re in for a treat…. that is, if you like guitar pickers…. Doc was one of those artists who EVERYONE else who plays looks up to, only wishing they knew what he had already forgotten…. Truly, a master of the instrument he plays….

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

Doc Watson ~ Live

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

https://youtu.be/iGReRGvU4GE

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

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

From the introduction of the Pearl posted on 9/17/2014:

Ffolkes,

“A bird can fly, but a fly can’t bird.” — Tao of Pooh.

It occurred to me, yesterday, as I sat in my chair, looking at this picture (which I’ll explain below, momentarily…), most people don’t really believe that horses, or other “lower” animals, feel the emotions with which we humans are so familiar, which cause us so much grief, due to the failure of most people to understand their place in our existence, other than as a stimulus to either act, or not act… In short, they don’t believe that animals are smart enough, or complex enough to feel love, or affection, or grief, or loyalty, or any of those higher emotions they prize, yet do not comprehend at all…. and, they couldn’t be more mistaken, at all….

Pictures such as this one are but a small, yet consistently convincing piece of the evidence available to the contrary of most people’s opinion of animals, evidence which inarguably proves, not only do animals experience emotions; moreover, they also think, with a variable degree of imagination, at a level consonant with the needs of the evolutionary niche they inhabit. They also, as we do, have feelings about those thoughts, and show those feelings just as we do, but, with way less less drama, and, no apparent need to be cruel….. Well, maybe a little, in cats, when they play with captured prey…. Mostly, though, animals express only harmonious emotions, in support of each other, and, even tolerance, for other species…. far more than we show them, or each other…

Additionally, by my assertion of their emotional and cognitive functionality, I am implying, no, claiming, they are only as smart as they need to be, without being so smart, it becomes a barrier to the actual development of their nature, to reach the potential that is there, and almost never reached in the members of our own species…. In other words, people are too damn smart for their own good; rather than being an aid to survival, and advancement as a species, their vaunted intelligence often gets in the way of their ultimate success in life, in ways the greatest majority of them do not even understand, and which, from what I observe, very likely will prove their undoing, thus, ultimately preventing them from accomplishing their most critical life task, to wit: survival of the species….

The picture of the affectionate goats is one of many I’ve saved from Facebook; this particular photo was saved quite a while ago, long enough I don’t remember what week it was, but, it was earlier this year, for sure…. Any who, to finish my thought(s)… Most people think that humans are the apex of the evolutionary ladder, merely because we are self-aware, and have a sense of that self over time… but, this demonstrates that most people just don’t understand the full concept behind evolution…

Unlike how most people tend to view evolution, it isn’t a ladder, unless one thinks of each species having its own ladder, that each member must climb… If one MUST use the tired metaphor of a ladder, then, I assert each species has its own, and, no matter how high up our species has actually climbed our own ladder, it doesn’t mean we have climbed higher, than any other species on theirs….

In fact, when one considers how well other species have adapted to this planet, how effortlessly they hold their place in the WEB of life, it becomes clear those species….. dogs, cats, cattle, ants, cockroaches, (especially these amazing critters; after 50 million years of thriving, without having to mutate at all, or alter anything about their form or abilities, they should be considered the absolute Masters of survival as a species…. Yeah, I know, creepy little buggers, but, fast, fertile, and tough as hell….), spiders, insects, and birds and reptiles, all on their own branches of the web….. well, if one looks at the Big Picture, it is only honest to admit, all of them are, in truth, much more advanced, and more efficient at surviving, than is Homo Bozoidus, (a word I coined, to very accurately give a mental image of the real evolutionary status of humans, in relation to other forms of life on this planet, as well as, perhaps, explaining a part of why we fail, so well, and so often, at becoming ourselves….).

“Give them an opposable thumb, and they think they’re special.” — Smart Bee

You see, the structure of Life more accurately resembles Reality when described by envisioning, not a hierarchy of species, arranged in a pyramid, with humans at the apex, as many people choose to see it…. but, rather, as a complex, beautiful spider’s web, (with no gravity, meaning there is no up and down, no one higher, or lower…. we’re all just in our own space…. with the choice as to whether or not to stay connected to the rest of the web…), a web shaped the same as any web on Earth, but, rotated through three dimensions, to form a sphere as big as the Universe, with each species of life inhabiting its own particular branch or segment (their strand, if you will….) of that web.

Each species has the same task as all the rest, the same inherent purpose, which is create and add our own part of the whole, one that will help to make the entire web stronger, melding the beauty of their weaving with the overall pattern of the entire sphere of life, working in harmony with all the other web dwellers…. Our purpose can not logically be found to be a matter of wasting our time and effort in life, by trying to take over the center, or steal another’s strand, or to indiscriminately kill the other inhabitants, who are peacefully living alongside us, going about their business in harmony with each other…..

Now, I’m not a religious man, as you know; I do, however, realize, as any educated man, that religions, of all types, use at least a small part of the truth to augment, and help justify the more delusional aspects of their beliefs… Jesus Christ was, in the most basic sense, a compassionate and brilliant socialist reformer, who used the methods he did to try to get the most important messages of his understanding established as part of the culture of his time… and part of his message was indeed, a large piece of the truth…

The idea that we, and all other forms of life, are one, and can only be successful if we act in harmony with the forces of nature, was not new, but, after he was killed to shut him up, this one concept was one of the first ideas to be buried; it wasn’t convenient for the Catholic Church’s founder’s plan, so, as with much of what Jesus actually taught, the final version of his churches in no way resembles what he probably, logically said… For our purpose, it is enough to know that the concept of living in harmony with the other creatures on the planet was an integral part of his teaching…. NOT the concept of being the superior, entitled master of all creatures, but, in the truest sense of the words, their cohort, their compadre, one who cherishes and husbands life, not one who uses and destroys it….

In today’s world, very, very few people actually LIVE according to the precepts of behavior and understanding that Jesus laid down for his disciples and adherents to follow; of those who are high in the hierarchy of priesthood on this planet, or ever have been, in my experience, it is rare to see one come close to living as Jesus instructed….. One exception to this experience was/is Martin Luther King, Jr….

All in all, I thought he was a pretty wise man, very much like the current Dalai Lama, (and, possibly, the new Pope; don’t really know enough about him, but, he seems sincere thus far, in his intent to live a Christian life…); Reverend King, Jr., though, seems to have a bit of Bible Belt Revival Rapture type of preaching as part of his persona, just for balance to his sobriety…. Any who, Martin Luther made a very cogent, deeply insightful statement that I’ve always liked, because it isn’t particularly locked into a purely Christian view of the universe, but, is pertinent to all of mankind’s diverse cultures… to wit:

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”” — Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a way, this is almost identical to a thought I’ve seen many times, uttered by the leader of a much different religion/philosophy than Christianity, to wit:

Since I have spoken so long on this subject in the introduction, I’ll try to count it as today’s rant, so I don’t go overboard, again… though, to be honest, I can see how I might already have done so…. I have been KNOWN to rant here in the intro before, but, not generally to the extent of today’s outburst, (which, I have to say, came to me pretty much out of nowhere, yesterday, when the picture of the horses flashed on my screen, as part of my ever-changing desktop background….). I will honestly give it the old college try, but, as you know, it’s hard for me to promise, or give any guarantees, because, I have trained myself, in the last three years, to NOT keep my self from speaking(writing) whatever comes into my head, even when I’m not pearling….

Now, let’s see if I can come close to meeting my commitment, by heading out to dive for pearls of virtual wisdom, just as if I hadn’t spent the last hour and a half, yesterday, spewing out my usual dross about human nature, and its so obviously flawed beauty….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Animals can be driven crazy by putting too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s — “Time Enough For Love”

Note from 2015:

I’d love to continue writing, but… the monsters haven’t turned blue yet, and I have to eat more dots. Onward….

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Pensive early and late…

Endings aren’t always a new beginning
I’m sad to say.
Sometimes it’s just an ending
there’s always a price to pay.

Still, it’s only money, he said
watching it piss away.
Did everything ‘cept meet Fred
‘n had a good time the whole way.

Even the bad stuff turned out well,
life lessons are just that way.
Knowing what’s right, you can’t always tell,
we don’t always know the right things to say.

I’ll take all the hard times, without complaint,
learning isn’t always easy to take.
Kindness, patience, and compassion without restraint,
are still the best decisions we can make.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 4/26/2013.

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Today’s final old-school pearl was constructed as a lesson… Oh, not that I’ve got all that much to teach; I just enjoy the process, for what I learn from completing it…. It’s one of the few kinds of pearls created in a conscious fashion; most of them I pick by feel, so to speak, with just a vague idea of what will work, or happen… This one, since it was devised as a lesson, naturally, has a Zen koan, of sorts, as a closing pearl…. Enjoy!…. Oh, and, those who aren’t used to this, try not to hurt yourselves; you aren’t getting paid….

“Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.” — Francis Bacon

“It was a saying of Demetrius Phalereus, that “Men having often abandoned what was visible for the sake of what was uncertain, have not got what they expected, and have lost what they had,–being unfortunate by an enigmatical sort of calamity.” — Athenaeus (c. 200 AD) — The Deipnosophists, vi, 23

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

Dum vivimus, vivamus. “While we live, let us live.” — Epicurean axiom

“Only the educated are free.” — Epictetus

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

One day it was announced by master Joshu that the young monk Kyogen had reached an enlightened state. Much impressed by this news, several of his
peers went to speak with him. “We have heard that you are enlightened. Is this true?” his fellow students inquired. “It is”, Kyogen answered. “Tell us”, said a friend, “how do you feel?” “As miserable as ever”, replied the enlightened Kyogen. — Smart Zen Bee

Well…. There you go. I think, this is one of those times for which the following phrase makes the most sense, to wit: further, deponent sayeth not….

gigoid, the dubious deponent

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It will have to do. I don’t have the time… oh, wait. Well, yes, I guess I do. But, I was about to add, nor the inclination (so there!) to work on it any further…. Hence, the “it will have to do…” part, because, hey, it will have to do…. The other part of that is, I’m outta here, so, see ya tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the new towels get delivered on time….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

We’ll bathe it in linseed oil and mint….

Posted on November 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“When the fox gnaws — smile.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

~~ Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love ~~

The picture, one I took a few days ago at the bus stop down the street, is a perfect metaphor for the lies told to us by our beloved ruling class, and by the perpetrators of public slavery, perpetually the BRC’s most ardent supporters, the preachers, imams, and dogma dogs who spout off about religion, to whomever will listen….

In a quite beautiful setting, we are reminded of how ‘they’ offer us ONE choice to salvation, but, god forbid you should be able to park while making your choice…. Perfect alignment, don’t you think? One Way/No Parking…. What better metaphor/euphemism for how the mass of humanity is treated by those who would control their very lives….

Oh, good grief, stop shouting!…. Control yourselves…. Put down that stick, you’ll hurt yourself with it…. For goodness’ sake, did you think I was going to rant at you in the first paragraph? Shoot, not even I am that cruel, though, if anyone has any comments to the contrary, with evidence, of course, I’d welcome them, as it’s been a long time since I found anyone willing to challenge my conclusions…. It must come from basing them on evidence, instead of faith…. Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to take another shot, this one aimed at those who buy into the delusions they’re offered at every turn….

Okay, you’re right, I’m busted…. Yes, I did mean it…. The people to whom I refer, those who embrace the dark side of human nature, quite simply, are assholes…. As I see them, they deserve every vile curse, every vituperative description, every fucking expletive we can think of to apply to them, in recognition of the thousands of years of deliberate theft, deliberate lies, and deliberate cruelty, to those whom they claim to love, or whom they claim mandate to lead, for their own good…. What a crock of shit THAT is!….

Sorry, I guess I did start ranting, didn’t I? It’s just so damn easy, when every frigging word out of the mouths, of preachers, or politicians, or business moguls, or police chiefs, or any of the other societal “leaders” who purport to work FOR the people, is a bald-faced lie…. In truth, they are busily at work doing every fucking thing they possibly can think of to screw the people over, in a myriad of ways…. Or, even scarier, they are as stupid as those they purport to lead, being brainwashed themselves into believing their own lies….

Every where I turn, every time I turn, I’m presented with new evidence of how often, and how deeply they screw those who trust them, and it just pisses me off anew, each and every time, making me wish I wasn’t so damn ethical/moral myself, and could feel less conflict over treating them the same way they treat us….

If I did that, I’m afraid they’d start dying at a much more rapid pace, which would be just about the length of time it takes me to re-load, then, focus in on another target…. With a well-concealed stand, and a crowd where I can acquire targets quickly, I could make some significant headway in a relatively short amount of time before having to become smoke…

However, those who engage in preying on others, for religious reasons, for political reasons, or whatever their personal justification may be, all believe the same tired old lie, which claims the end justifies the means…. I reject that notion categorically; to abrogate honor and responsibility for the sake of expediency, no matter how compelling the reason, removes any positive moral value such acts may otherwise be due. To do right, for the wrong reason, is to do wrong, in my world. To do wrong, for ANY reason, no matter how well rationalized, deserves nothing from me but disdain, and active resistance….

Well…. where did THAT come from? As I’m not sure just now, I think we’ll just take this opportunity to go on, and see what else may pop up today…..

Shall we Pearl?

“We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success; We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” — Samuel Smiles

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Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, like all fields of human endeavor, are subject to Sturgeon’s Law, which states: “90% of everything is crap.” This physical law has been tested repeatedly by scientists, sociologists, and psychologists, with the same results every time…. It is the absolute truth…. Hence, my reluctance to committing perjury, or displaying undue arrogance, by calling the Pearls I create anything but what they are, to wit: occasionally brilliant, but, mostly just acceptable, as entertainment for the strong of stomach…. If they were in the newspaper, they’d be suitable to line birdcages, for sure….

But, as I said, some can be pretty good, because I, too, with due diligence, and a bit of work, can jump into that 10% of human output that actually helps improve life by its presence…. The same is true of all fields in which humans put forth effort, so, naturally, it’s true of TV shows, and literary works…. I guess I’m just saying, some stuff is better than other stuff….. This Sherlock Holmes story, to me, falls into the latter category of stuff….

Sherlock Holmes – Season 5 – The Problem Of Thor Bridge

http://youtu.be/17lht_Ke-1g

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You may have noted my initial outburst, up in the intro section…. It was a rant, a sharp stick to the eye of religion, mostly, though there was quite a bit of angst left over to take some pokes at the rest of the Asininnies, too, such as politicians, police myrmidons, corporate snakeheads, human traffickers, and any of those ilk, who prey upon their own species, with the full support and tacit approval of those dogma dogs who keep the general populace under control, softening their minds with bilge water, so they are easier to corrupt and manipulate….

It has been a while since I took aim at those delusional buttheads, a group for whom I hold absolutely no respect whatsoever….. They take the words of one of the world’s greatest social reformers, and twist them until they are practically unrecognizable, but, mold the minds of the people who buy into those twists into shapes more amenable to control by others….

‘Tis a natural result of putting one’s faith in ideas that have no visible proof in reality, but are based on blind faith; it leaves the one holding the belief in a vulnerable state of mind, ready to believe all kinds of nonsense, as long as it’s told to them by one of those they have learned to believe, without the benefit of examination for truth….

But, that is what they all count on… all those preachers, and priests, and the others mentioned above…. They all count on the gullibility of the average person to believe what they’re told by authority figures…. And, they are justified in that, as my compatriots around the world seem to fall for their bloody bullshit every time….. SIGH…. I sometimes wonder how mankind even developed the idea of their own mental superiority, when they continuously act as if they haven’t two spare neurons to rub together at all….

However…. Today, I am feeling generous, or, at least, sympathetic to your pain…. So, I shall cease ranting about those assholes, and compose a seven-, or nine-star pearl, which will serve the same purpose, but, with a bit less sobriety, and a lot more tongue-in-cheek fun…. Let’s see what SB can come up with for us, to jab some sharp sticks in the eyes of a few dogma dogs….

“Ignorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows.” — Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

“The territory behind rhetoric is too often mined with equivocation.”– Dunne’s Law

“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.” — Margaret Mead

“A Sunday school is a prison in which children do penance for the evil conscience of their parents.” — H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“The mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.” — Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

“Death, the most dreaded of evils, is therefore of no concern to us; for while we exist death is not present, and when death is present we no longer exist.” — Epicurus

“Religions change; beer and wine remain.” — Harvey Allen

“O imitators, you slavish herd!” — Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) (65-8 B.C.)

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

Okay, so, it kept growing; Smart Bee is on a roll today…. To use Winnie Churchill’s method of making a point, I’ll give it a good whack with my sledge hammer, with one final piece of proof, of how the dogma dogs attempt to establish their mind-control, with entries such as the following, in that book they use as their most effective manipulative tool….

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” — Proverbs 3:5,6

Sure, do that…. put your faith in what you cannot see, or touch, or hear, or otherwise prove exists…. That’s a good idea…. NOT!

So be it.

gigoid has spoken…. a lot…..

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

There is so much of my stuff today, with some deep help from SB, I’d best go with my own poetry, to avoid getting any of this on anyone else…. I know, we’ll go with an old favorite….

Rejection

“Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so…”
I’d be crying a river, I thought
if ever such crap I bought.

Sorry if it hurts your sense of style,
but, hypocrisy always gives me bile.
Being lied to accidentally is okay,
but, deliberate lies make me angry, and fey.

Oh, God, hear what I pray!
Keep me from your followers today.
Having to listen to so much that is wrong
makes me puke, before it makes me strong.

I don’t know why it isn’t clear to other folks,
which is alright, you know, different strokes.
But, why should that mean that they must
force me to believe, or fail in trust?

Spare me the lies, and the make-believe,
fairy tales are easier to hear, and to weave.
They give us a lesson which we can feel
but don’t pretend at all to be real.

Reality can scare us, that’s a given fact,
still, met with care it will leave us mostly intact.
Met without fear, standing tall and alone
Life will allow us to make it our own.

Folly beckons, and so many follow
mass delusions seem to me most hollow.
I’ll have to stick to my own chosen way
while so many go so sadly astray.

It’s lonely at times, it may seem sad,
but really isn’t, and I’m quite glad,
that knowledge is always stronger than fear,
year after year, tear after tear…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Today’s final pearl is a perfect adjunct to the ranting section…. This group gives us some pretty good observations about being human, at the other end of the scale from those who are unable to find the means to USE the intelligence with which they are endowed…. Reflect upon these, and you’ll find them a map to a rich, fulfilling life….

“Over my mask is your mask of me.” — Mitsuye Yamada

“Once when Bion was at sea in the company of some wicked men, he fell into the hands of pirates; and when the rest said, “We are undone if we are known,”–“But I,” said he, “am undone if we are not known.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Bion, iii

“A child is a person who can’t understand why someone would give away a perfectly good kitten.” — Doug Larson

“If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind! The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe, the speculum of all creation.” — Chuang Tzu

“I believe that part of what propels science is the thirst for wonder. It’s a very powerful emotion. All children feel it. In a first grade classroom everybody feels it; in a twelfth grade classroom almost nobody feels it, or at least acknowledges it. Something happens between first and twelfth grade, and it’s not just puberty. Not only do the schools and the media not teach much skepticism, there is also little encouragement of this stirring sense of wonder. Science and pseudoscience both arouse that feeling. Poor popularizations of science establish an ecological niche for pseudoscience.” — Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, — Vol. 12, Fall 87

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive–to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love….” — Marcus Aurelius

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

“There are many things worth living for, few things worth dying for, nothing worth killing for.” — from Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”

“Now my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we *can* suppose. I have read and heard many attempts at a systematic account of it, from materialism and theosophy to the Christian systems or that of Kant, and I have always felt that they were too simple. I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy. That is the reason why I have no philosophy myself, and must be my excuse for dreaming.” — J. B. S. Haldane, British geneticist (1856-1928) — from “Possible Worlds”, in “Possible Worlds and other essays”, — Chatto & Windus, London, 1927. p286

Smart Bee was in a very generous mood today, eh, what?…..

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

‘Tis a good thing much of this was begun yesterday…. I’m up a bit late, but, it’s all good, as it’s done, and in good time…. If the proofing isn’t too horrendously complicated, I may even get another hour’s sleep before the day can begin out in the BBR, where I’ve several tasks to complete…. Since I do, we’ll leave it at that, and be on our way, royal ‘we’ syndrome notwithstanding…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Excessive salivation won’t help, or hinder….

Posted on November 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Pascal ~~

Filafa zobrino…. Cantano prodilli, comedaren porsovolo. Sellente fortuita pregente forse. Sile voncuba sekrateike, grabeesee soltranito…. Pesce sagua?

Coolness…. It seems I have another language in my head, ready to deploy for releasing all of that really vulgar, insulting, and probably illegal stuff that comes out of my emotional holding area into the atmosphere, where it won’t harm anyone, and so far, is not affecting the already scary situation with climate change…. it’s too toxic for even us to use in any meaningful way…. But, then, what would we know of meaningful around here, eh? Not much, I can assure you…. It’s okay, though, the meaning of the above is such that, if I told you, not only would I have to kill you, but, you’d probably want to kill yourself…

No, I have no idea what language it is; it was probably beamed down to me from the mother-ship, sometime during the night while my software was rebooting… It DOES seem to have some sort of resemblance to Italian, but, with some spillover out of, or into, Greek…. Hell, maybe it came from Saturn’s moon, Titan…. Lately, there have been some indications of stuff going on down on the surface of that moon that indicates possible intelligent actions…. or, they could be just anomalies in the telescope. It’s a bit hard to determine from Earth; the camera on the telescope that took the pictures we’re receiving are several hundred million miles away now, on one of our probe satellites, launched years ago, and just now completing its mission around Saturn…

But, it DOES trip off the tongue rather elegantly, don’t you think? No? Well, I do, and it’s my blog, so there….

As you can see, some days around here are more organized than others….. This particular day is such that I’m not sure how to proceed; it all could change on me in a heartbeat, and there I’d be, still trying to translate a language nobody’s ever heard or seen before into some kind of meaningful, or, at least, a partially honest, yet condescending episode of parenthetical ideation. Works for me, but, not everyone has my degree of tolerance, or my panache at making shit up….

On that rather silly note, I think I’ll wrap this up, and go see what other kind of crap I can come up with today…. I’m feeling good, (well, as good as it gets these days…), and hopeful for a reasonably pain-free hour, if not day…. Meantime, I see an opportunity to take us out of here without any serious bloodshed coming up, so, we’ll take this slow on the road, and see if it will float…. And, yes, I paid good money for those cliches; I’m damned if I’ll let them go to waste…. Hang on, ffolkes…

Shall we Pearl?

“The makers of fortunes have a second love of money as a creation of their own, resembling the affection of authors for their poems, or of parents for their children … and hence they are very bad company, for they talk of nothing but the praises of wealth.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

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

I’m in the mood for something cerebral today, (that’s cerebral, not cereal….), so, here is a mix of classical pieces put together by a You Tube downloader, designed to stimulate and relax the mind at once, to enhance study habits and retention…. I like the little text that pops up at the start…. “Keep Calm And Study Hard” with a royal crown above it…. the icon of the Queen’s wisdom, as it is portrayed, with affectionate cheekiness, on souvenir cups, key chains, and clothing all over London, starting during her Golden Jubilee Celebration a few years ago….

3 HOURS of Classical Music

http://youtu.be/pzQqvi1-hHE

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

“You are not a fool just because you have done something foolish;

only if the folly of it escapes you.”

~~ Jim Fiebig ~~

Headlines from the UK Guardian, 11/4/2014:

Fresh Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone raises fears of new infection chain

I’ll bet the Guardian wouldn’t cop to the idea they are contributing to the problems faced by trumpeting the latest inducements for panic released by official information sources…. Every little dangerous new piece of speculation about what the disease MIGHT do, or how bad the situation COULD POSSIBLY become is reports like this, with the explicit use of the phrase, “… X raises fears of new….”….

By analyzing the sub textual meaning of this, it becomes crystal clear they are engaging in speculation, making an unwarranted assumption of the ubiquitous veracity of Murphy’s laws, which, though powerful, are not omnipotent…. It is entirely possible the newest information means something entirely different than their predictions of imminent doom; the reality of it will most likely settle somewhere in between the best and worst potential scenarios…. But, bland reports of technical information doesn’t sell any papers or ads….

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles prompt RSPCA warning

The charity group RSPCA has raised their best Monty Python silly voice in protest over the possible effects this more than just a little silly movie has had on the baby terrapins of the world… They’ve seen an upsurge in “abandoned turtles” since it came out, a number which has grown beyond the point of reason, as the owners tire of the turtles, when they are no longer “cute”….

SIGH….. No… It isn’t a joke I put here; it’s a real headline, and story, and actual events acted out in the real world, by, who else, people who haven’t a clue as to what life is all about, or, their own place in reality…. I think this headline, along with the others below, and above, will give a very clear portrait of just how STUPID people are, in general, as well as providing more evidence in support of yesterday’s rant, concerning the same issue, to wit: rampant ignorance and stupidity, at work in the real world….

Let’s see what else we can find, to give y’all an idea of how dim is our candle of hope….

From the 11/4/2014 UK Guardian Book Review:

Benjamin Zephaniah: people all over the world are living in fear and to me all those people are being terrorised

“In the second part of an interview by group members DG Readers, the Terror Kid author talks about terrorism, governments, why it’s really important to be an activist and how the revolution starts with chocolate cake”

Oh, yeah, that’ll do it…. We’ll either bribe, or threaten the corporate masters of the world to stop preying on mankind, by offering them chocolate cake…. or, by eating it ourselves (maybe in front of them, without sharing?…. It would piss ME off, for sure….) Sure, that’ll do it….

Ffolkes, do I really need to tell you why this is so stupid? If so, I think the effort most likely would fall into the category of “sheer unadulterated futility”…. for what, to me, is a patently obvious reason… I’ll give you a five-word-clue…. Pollyanna is a FICTIONAL character….

From Think Progress, 11/4/2014:

IPCC Scientists Emphasize Immorality Of Inaction By Focusing On ‘Irreversible Impacts’

Excerpted from the article:

What do the world’s leading scientists mean by “irreversible impacts”?

“Warming will continue beyond 2100 under all RCP scenarios except RCP2.6. Surface temperatures will remain approximately constant at elevated levels for many centuries after a complete cessation of net anthropogenic CO2 emissions. A large fraction of anthropogenic climate change resulting from CO2 emissions is irreversible on a multi-century to millennial time scale, except in the case of a large net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere over a sustained period….

It is virtually certain that global mean sea-level rise will continue for many centuries beyond 2100, with the amount of rise dependent on future emissions. ”

The report by the International Panel on Climate Change was released a week or so ago…. Since it came out, there has been an almost deafening silence on what is reported by the agency from ALL public sources, such as the government, a silence that extends into ALL its branches…. Very few public figures, pundits, talking heads, or even news anchors. are saying much about this at all….

This article is one of only a couple I saw in my morning cruise through the news reader…. which tells me, the most important report about our future that exists is being treated just like any other unwelcome piece of news, with complete and utter denial, by well OVER 99% of the people who will be most affected by it….

Now, I don’t know about y’all, but, to me. that is really, really, REALLY STUPID…. (sorry for the redundant descriptive adjectives…)

From the Associated Press:

Shy bladder group protests DirecTV ad

I decided, after perusing the first couple sentences of this article, to not read any further…. Quite frankly, I do NOT want to know anything about this issue, or the ad, or the group that is complaining….

In fact, I think, since we are talking about the power of human stupidity, we’ve pretty well provided all the evidence required, and have proved the point to a degree of massive certainty… So, I’ll let it go, and go on to something else…. I will leave you with the following thought….

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” — Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength of Love, 1963

Snicker…. As if a preacher hadn’t known that since the first class in seminary school…. One might think it shows a bit of hypocrisy, but, to mention anything so critical of MLK Jr. is to take one’s life in their hands, for the criticism and vituperation pours out from those who have already canonized him…. As if he weren’t a human being, with the flaws and misconceptions each and every member of the species possesses, as part of their genetic legacy…. Oh, well… since he’s right, we’ll let all that go, to get us out of here….

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

Today’s effort, thus far, seems to fall into that category where nobody else should be required to take any of the blame for it…. hence a poem of mine from the archives…. Hmm… Let’s just take a little trip overseas, and let it go at that….

Days and Nights of Eire

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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

This turned out to be an odd little pearl, which should serve well to highlight the overall oddity of the entire Pearl…. When I started to collect the entries in SB, I hadn’t quite decided on the parameters to use, so, it came out a bit random (See the third entry below, by Seneca the Younger, to understand how that happens…)….

But, all in all, and to carry that metaphor a bit further, the current seems to have made any skill at sailing, or knowing where to go, a moot point, as it brought us to a pretty cool destination, where some pretty cogent observations, and, some decent advice, were to be found, all around the subject of being human, always a challenge, while trying to deal with Life at Large….

” For others do I wait…for higher ones, stronger ones, more triumphant ones, merrier ones, for such as are built squarely in body and soul: laughing lions must come.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views…which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.” — Doctor Who, “Face of Evil”

“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” — Seneca (the Younger)

— Bother! said Pooh, for no apparent reason.

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

It is never too early or too late to care for the well-being of the soul.” — Epicurus

To each his suff’rings; all are men,
Condemn’d alike to groan,–
The tender for another’s pain,
Th’ unfeeling for his own.
Yet ah! why should they know their fate,
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies?
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
‘T is folly to be wise.

~~ Thomas Gray (1716-1771) ~~

~~ On a Distant Prospect of Eton College, Stanza 10 ~~

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

Okay, so, this went pretty well, (Well, okay, you’re correct; I didn’t count the first few sentences as part of the stats for today….), which is a good thing, as I’m pretty sure anything I might have tried to do wouldn’t have worked so well…

In any case, it’s DONE, our only REAL requirement…. Having completed my chosen Duty, I shall bid thee adieu…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Fear is both tool, and weapon; use them, or be used by them….

Posted on July 31, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He had that rare weird electricity about him — that extremely wild and heavy presence that you only see in a person who has abandoned all hope of ever behaving “normally.””

— Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist — Fear and Loathing ’72

Look! It’s a plane! No! It’s a turd! Hooray! It’s Toilet Man!….. Enough! I can’t do it…. I am, as the theme above suggests, NOT normal. It’s okay, I never wanted to be, anyway, so, it’s not going to hurt my feelings to be accused of missing out on that particularly noisome state of mundanity. Me, I could never figure out why it was so attractive, or so important for people to feel they were either on their way to becoming normal, or were already considered to be one of the conformist crowd…. Sure, I like people, occasionally, but, I sure wouldn’t want to BE like any of them…. But, no matter how I feel about normal, I can’t take advantage of it that way….

That, of course, is just the curmudgeon in me talking, which I can’t seem to stop from happening, all too often. According to the training rules for us curmudgeons-to-be, we are supposed to USE our skills, but, we aren’t supposed to make other people feel bad thereby, necessarily, although it is acceptable under certain conditions, such as being accosted by one of the stupids, and needing to put them out of their misery. That’s okay, but, generally, we aren’t supposed to load our foul moods onto other ffolkes; only if they deserve it, for which there are strict requirements to fulfill, to ensure they are a deserving recipient of our ire….

At this point, I’d probably do well to mention that we are still quite a far piece from reality, so, you shouldn’t be taking any of this too seriously, or trying to figure out whether or not my tongue is in cheek, or somewhere less appropriate than that. This is also a good point to tell you, the picture is from SFGATE, from a photo feature a few days ago, highlighting signs around the world with funny or odd statements, such as the above, and the name of the photographer is on the picture (in VERY small letters…) …. I have actually seen a sign very similar to this, in Beijing, during a visit there in 2004. Such signs were a constant source of amusement, as many of the English translations in the advertisements on billboards were simply hilariously mashed up….

Of course, it’s important for me to remember…. this kind of opening, as fun as it may be, does have its own potential risks…. For example, here we are, a good three to four paragraphs down the pike, and we have yet to whine about being late, or how lazy I’m feeling (somewhat….), or any of my usual techniques to draw your attention away from the lack of any sort of elegance, not to mention the lack of any sort of visible evidence of intelligent life as we know it. The risk in this should be obvious, even to…. no, I won’t go there. I’m not going to be one of those bloggers who insults my readers, just to show I can, or some other misguided reason….

I am, however, going to have to call a halt to this, even though we’re just beginning to have some fun with it, and it’s starting to flow nicely…. Too bad I’m completely out of any more ideas as to what to put here…. In fact, my brain is emptying out so fast, I’m getting dizzy, and had best take a break…. You know what this means, so hang on….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“It’s snowing still. And freezing. However, we haven’t had an earthquake lately.” — A.A. Milne’s Eyore

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

In keeping with the theme which has thus far characterized today’s effort, let’s see what the headlines around the web have for us….

http://www.theonion.com/articles/exxonmobil-chevron-locked-in-bidding-war-to-acquir,36561/

Oh. My. Gosh….. Okay, well, so it doesn’t quite have the same impact, or cathartic release factor, as the usual blasphemy I could be expected to come out with in such cases, but, I think employing the use of such a mild epithet will, no doubt, save me some hate mail…. Of course. that would help, if I actually got any…. Nonetheless, expletive expressions notwithstanding, I was a bit surprised to see the above headline, which, since you can’t see it all, says, to wit:

“ExxonMobil, Chevron Locked In Bidding War To Acquire Lucrative Pennsylvania Senator”

Flabbergasted, flummoxed, flustered, and, just a little bit surprised, I was, when I first saw this…. Then, of course, I noticed where it was published, on The Onion, and, so realized it was only humor…. pointed, sharp humor that accurately skewers Reality in America, but, humor…. In this case, what needs to be noted is the source of the humorous nature of the piece, which is rooted in the fact that it is probably true, though not necessarily for the exact companies named here….. You may be certain, however, that the concept itself is NOT completely out of the realm of possibility in the US Senate…. not in THIS Reality…..

I’m almost certain my creative juices aren’t quite up to turning this into a rant; it’s just too ironic…. which, coming from me, is pretty ironic, as well…. True, though, so, I’m going to go with my instincts, and go with an old-school pearl, a collection of pointed sticks to jab in the eyes of all those in our Beloved Ruling Class who are so diligent in their efforts to screw the rest of us….. Enjoy!….

“Anyone who has had a bull by the tail knows five or six more things than someone who hasn’t.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“I’m not against the police; I’m just afraid of them.” — Alfred Hitchcock

“A little truth helps the lie go down.” — A direct quote from the US Senate publication, “Communication Tips for New Senators”

“Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.” — Tom Robbins

“Not all the conservative are stupid, but all the stupid are conservative.” — Benjamin Disraeli

(The oddest part of this quote? Disraeli, by modern standards, would call himself a conservative…. To me, it just goes to show, ALL of them need help…. and, by that, I mean professional help….)

“This sickness doth infect
The very life-blood of our enterprise.”

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iv, Sc. 1

Well, there you have it, ffolkes…. I’m thinking I may have been a bit too eclectic; most of these wouldn’t be understood at all by any of the people it targets…. which rather eliminates part of the point, doesn’t it? Oh well, there’s always tomorrow; I don’t think they’re going to add on any IQ points overnight, so we’ll have another chance to make a dent in their intransigent stupidity….

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

I repost this poem at least once a year, just because it is one of my favorites, it goes so well with much of the material I end up producing…. and usually ends up saying what I was trying to say, better than I said it…. Enjoy, please…..

À Bas Ben Adhem

My fellow man I do not care for.
I often ask me, What’s he there for?
The only answer I can find
Is, Reproduction of his kind.
If I’m supposed to swallow that,
Winnetka is my habitat.
Isn’t it time to carve Hic Jacet
Above that Reproduction racket?

To make the matter more succinct:
Suppose my fellow man extinct.
Why, who would not approve the plan
Save possibly my fellow man?
Yet with a politician’s voice
He names himself as Nature’s choice.

The finest of the human race
Are bad in figure, worse in face.
Yet just because they have two legs
And come from storks instead of eggs
They count the spacious firmament
As something to be charged and sent.

Though man created cross-town traffic,
The Daily Mirror, News and Graphic,
The pastoral fight and fighting pastor,
And Queen Marie and Lady Astor,
He hails himself with drum and fife
And bullies lower forms of life.

Not that I think much depends
On how we treat our feathered friends,
Or hold the wrinkled elephant
A nobler creature than my aunt.
It’s simply that I’m sure I can
Get on without my fellow man.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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

Y’all are getting the benefit of my laziness again today; a rant just doesn’t seem attractive right now…. I guess there’s only one thing to do, as I don’t have any goo Art to go with…. another old-school pearl, which will serve several purposes, at least three of which cannot be discussed in this venue without notifying certain officials, which we don’t wish to do…. so, those purposes shall remain secret, as long as y’all can keep quiet…. In fact, I insist…. Why don’t y’all have a seat right there, and listen up….

“Could you tell night from day?” “No, I regard all such distinctions as logically impossible.” — Heraclitus

“Be ruled by time, the wisest counselor of all.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Pericles (B.C. 495-429)

“He who receives a good turn should never forget it; he who does one should never remember it.” — Charon

“The hardest part about gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche. As long as that niche is occupied, evidence and proof and logical demonstration get nowhere. But once the niche is emptied of the wrong idea that has been filling it – once you can honestly say, “I don’t know,” then it becomes possible to get at the truth.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs…” — Epicurus (341-270 B.C.)

“Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“If one studies too zealously, one easily loses his pants.” — Albert Einstein

Well…. This turned out quite well, thank you; balanced, sharp, and deep. Plus, a new quote from Albert that I’d never seen…. I’m happy there are still a few left in Smart Bee for me to find…. especially when they’re like this, and help to create a fine pearl…

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

Wow… I got so jazzed about the potential to be finished, I forgot to close it out…. Now I haven’t a clue as to what to say here; two minutes ago I had it all planned out, but, after going back to edit, it went away, to whatever place in my mind where such ideas go to cry themselves to sleep…. Not a particularly rational image, but, poignant…. Any who, it’s done, such as it is, so, I’m outta here….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

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: Epicurus

Fear is both tool, and weapon; use them, or be used by them….

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