Plausibility makes a good secret sauce…

Posted on March 12, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Remember all ye that existence is pure joy;that all the sorrows are but as shadows;

they pass & are done; but there is that which remains.”

Liber al vel Legis 2:9

comet-lovejoy-dark-energy-camera

It has finally come to pass; I am so bereft of ideas for any opening material, I am going to cheat in the intro…. Here is the intro section from the Pearl posted a bit over two years ago, on 2/15/2013. It’s perfect for today, as it matches my current state of mind quite closely…. We’ll see if we can’t find something a bit fresher for the rest…. for now, this will have to do, or we won’t get started at all…. and, no comments from the peanut gallery about such an event maybe being a good idea…. I have all the help I need, thank you very much….

Let us begin….

Ffolkes,

Once again, fear strikes deep into my soul, faced as I am with a blank sheet of paper and an empty mind. That’s figuratively speaking, of course, as we’ve progressed beyond the paper stage, so it’s actually a blank white screen I’m looking at…. The mind remains empty, alas, and the fear grows….. Well, literal or figurative, we’ve got some issues to deal with, so, I’d likely do well to follow my usual policy in such cases, and go take a break now…. I’ll be right back….

In the usual state of affairs around here in the morning, such a break would solve any difficulties I am encountering in getting started, but today seems to be resisting normality a bit more than is standard. Of course, ‘normality’ is rather scarce here anyway….. The paper/screen is now a bit less blank, thanks to my gift for producing something from nothing, but still with no indications of anywhere brilliant to head off to…. I’m going to have to figure something out here pretty quick, as we’re now two paragraphs in, and still not a single clean idea, or literary device, to be seen…. The brain cops are going to want me to move along soon, so let’s try this….

Howdy, ffolkes! How are y’all this fine morning? It’s 0458 here in Northern California, and I’m once again up, eyes wide open, and rarin’ to get going on today’s Pearl, having already had coffee and a session of worship at the porcelain throne! Why I am up at this hour remains a mystery, but, since I’ve been arising at 0400-0500 now for the last six days or so, I suppose I have to accept that arising at this insane hour is becoming a new routine, that my brain has decided upon without any input from my conscious mind. I’ve tentatively come to terms with it, as I don’t seem to be able to sleep past those hours, no matter when I crash….

But, that’s okay! I’m fine! I’m happy! I’m absolutely fucking crazy!…… Well, maybe not quite that far yet, but, if this keeps up, it won’t be long before that latter statement becomes reality….. Come to think of it, though, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing….. If nothing else, it might give me a whole new set of ideas for intro sections, coming at the issue from a totally new, and unpredictable direction every day! Hmm…. well, for now, I’ll keep total insanity in reserve, as a backup procedure, such as I had to use yesterday, when it was necessary to break down and use Emergency Procedure #4….. I think I’ll call this one the Bell Jar Procedure, in honor of Sylvia Plath….

And, see, it works….. or, rather, it worked today…. Without having to actually go totally batshit crazy, and without actually having to write anything particularly coherent, or sensible, I’ve completed a five-paragraph-intro….. without you ever noticing what I was doing! Amazing, eh? And so creative! And, if I keep on with the exclamations, and the back-patting, I’m going to hurt myself, so, maybe we’d best get on with the rest of today’s effort…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering.” — Steven Wright

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Frank Zappa by Mark Hanauer

Few people of my age will need any introduction to this artist; it is a very great shame today’s young people do not know of him, or of his music, or his influence on the world we now live in…. This is not unusual, as much of mankind is never aware of the greatest among them. I didn’t see it here, but, if any of y’all ever get a chance to hear it, Frank cut an album (actually, a 3 disc set) of pure instrumental music, playing most of the instruments himself, as well as performing much of the musical engineering and mixing on the album. All 3 discs are pure Zappa music, with no lyrics…. amazing stuff, showing off a side of him many never knew….

He was. without a doubt, one of the premier artists of the latter twentieth century, whose influence, though forgotten by many, remains evident throughout every level of music today, from hip hop, to jazz, to rock, to contemporary pop…. all of them felt his imprint…. Enjoy, ffolkes; we will never see his like again….

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Frank Zappa

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https://youtu.be/U6hc6khQpSk?list=PL4A836CCC01F43F29

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

Lazarus, in his most excellent iteration of the inherent flexibility of the human condition, gives us a very good idea of what a human needs to do to live up to potential. He very studiously avoided amending the list with any of those habits and/or characteristics we should avoid, due to their well, sheer stupidity… Oh, he didn’t forget them, I believe; he just didn’t mention any of them here, as being counter-productive to his point. I think, however, he managed to portray the “look and feel” he was shooting for while leaving the door open to addendum….

To my way of thinking, (admittedly different than many….) one characteristic of our nature is necessary as a precursor to all of the above, to wit: curiosity, tinged with doubt…. Critical thinking, in my mind, comes first, before ANY other facet of our nature; if we don’t possess the ability to determine the veracity of what we perceive, none of our efforts will come to fruition, for we have failed to account for Reality, or the very powerful influence of Chaos, and Entropy upon the universe in which we live…

Sadly, the greater portion of Mankind fails at this juncture; mostly all of the people I’ve met, and seen, in this world are about as gullible as Goober Pyle; I often wonder how so many people survive to breeding age. Of course, those among us who ARE aware of reality’s demands make sure they never learn how to tell what is true, and what isn’t, by brainwashing almost everyone before they even get to the age of reason, coloring their perceptions with perversions of truth until the poor fools never even know their own self-worth, but, are content to allow almost anyone tell them how they should think, and believe, and behave….

“Some foolish men declare that a Creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised, and should be rejected. If God created the world, where was He before creation? How could God have made the world without any raw material? If you say He made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression … Know that the world is uncreated, as time itself is, without beginning and end.” — The Mahapurana, Jinasena

Throughout history, some of those who can see have tried to share their wisdom with the masses, such as with the following pearl. But, so few of those in the mainstream are capable of even grasping reality, most of them are never heard by anyone but those of a like mind….

“In English, “I beseech you, my brothers, _remain faithful to the earth_ and believe not those who speak of supernatural hopes. Poison mongers are they, whether they know it or not.” — Nietzsche, “Also Sprach Zarathustra”

The Beloved Ruling Class (BRC) learned ages ago how to distract the public, to keep them occupied with shadows and illusions, convincing them of their own inability to protect themselves, playing on their fears until they are cattle, easily herded from this field to that, at the mention of a threat they cannot see…. It’s actually quite simple, when one looks at the issue with eyes free of delusion, but, for most of our population, such clarity of sight is not possible, nor even conceivable….

“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers.” — Thomas Pynchon

Once the people have been indoctrinated to believe anyone in authority, reality becomes less understandable…. For those who cannot see, or think for themselves, the following is either a cup, or, it is two faces, about to kiss….. Which do YOU see?….

Rather than limiting oneself to seeing Reality as merely ONE viewpoint, one learns to see the above as “a loving cup”, merging the two diametrically opposed images into one reality, of our own choosing….. Thus, one learns to examine ALL of what we see, or are told, for truth; we learn to see Reality as it is, not as we are told it is…. Thus we are freed from the influence of illusion….

“The popularity of conspiracy theories is explained by people’s desire to believe that there is -some- group of folks who know what they’re doing.” — Damon Knight

The truth of this statement by Mr. Knight cannot be doubted; there is too much proof readily at hand. We CAN learn otherwise, though, if we can find it within ourselves to let go of all we were taught when young…. One man who has done so is the following columnist, Mark Morford; his periodic columns are regular calls to let go, to try the new, to throw off the yoke that is placed around our necks by our misconceptions and untruths, learned from an early age.

In this column, he offers another way to see the world, one that just MIGHT change everything you believe…. IF you can let go of prejudices held for too long, what he relates here can literally change your world…. It’s a great picture, too, isn’t it? I got it from the article, so, you can, too….

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/files/2015/03/welcomehome.jpg

I’ve tried today to keep from getting too “rantish” (wow, Spell Checker didn’t react to that word…), attempting to keep it light, not so dark. Hopefully, I’ve succeeded. I had to try something, to keep myself from feeling like nothing I say is being heard…. It gets a bit frustrating to be able to see what is wrong in the world, to keep trying to share it, and watching it all fall apart anyway…. SIGH…. The following pearl says exactly how it feels at times….

“You are elevating futility to a high art. There is nothing you can do to prevent the catharsis of spurious morality.” — Valeyard, The Ultimate Foe

Another way of saying I’m preaching to the choir, I suppose. Ah well…. I guess I COULD be one of those old fogeys sitting around the park, ogling young girls and complaining about the youth of today… At least this way I get it all out of MY head, and that, if nothing else, will do….. Okay, ffolkes, I’m done blathering for today….

So be it.gigoid has spoken

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Once again, we’ll go with one of mine, to save embarrassment for anyone else….

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Stolen from M. Morford’s article on SFGATE

This is one strange pearl. I don’t have a clue as to what it may mean to anyone else; to me, it speaks quite coherently about a great number of the people I’ve seen in my life, in one way or another. It also speaks of how to avoid some of the very nastiest mistakes we can make in dealing with that life, in a very real sense…. But, then, I’m strange, too…. Enjoy the trip, if nothing else, even if you don’t know where you end up….

“Some people are born idiots, but many more become stupider as they go along.” — Smart Bee

” — I’d love to, but… I’m doing door-to-door collecting for static cling.” — 14 of 101 Easy Ways To Say NO

“You have the capacity to learn from mistakes. You’ll learn a lot today.” — Smart Bee

“Hang sorrow! care ‘ll kill a cat.” — Ben Jonson (1573-1637) — Every Man in his Humour, Act i, Sc. 3

“No one regards what is before his feet; we all gaze at the stars.” — Quintus Ennius

“Therapy helps, but screaming obscenities is cheaper.” — Smart Bee

“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.” — Mark Twain

“Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.” — H.L. Mencken

“Well, it just seemed wrong to cheat on an ethics test.” — Calvin

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Well, that was something; I won’t even TRY to say what. In fact, I’m going to get myself out of here before anyone catches on to what I’ve done today…. I’m content; it’s all relatively fresh, aside from the intro, and y’all know I gave up on that ages ago…. Ah well, so much for another day’s folly…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, with one more try to get it right….

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….

First the socks, THEN the shoes….`

Posted on March 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?

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

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The Red Priest ~ Antonio Vivaldi

Google Images

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

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Four Seasons ~ Vivaldi

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http://youtu.be/GRxofEmo3HA

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

From 12/22/2014:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So be it.

gigoid has spoken

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

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

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

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

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

~~ Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky” ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Seven good reasons….

Posted on February 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west;

people create distinctions out of their own minds

and then believe them to be true.”

~~ Buddha ~~

The View Outside the Door Into Summer

(Thanks to Clifford D. Simak)

Alright. Admit it! You have no idea who I am!

But, then, the reverse is also true. Since we’re on even ground, perhaps we can just drop the whole matter, by agreeing to move on to some sort of mutually agreeable task, rather than such a controversial, ultimately unproductive interaction, which can only end badly. It’s way too early in the Pearl to even consider such a possibility; we’ve got a long way to go.

We also have seven good reasons to find….. Today’s title keeps niggling at my brain; I HATE that. As most of y’all are aware by now, the titles of these posts have no meaning, at least, not to me, and not in relation to whatever I write here. I merely string together words which make a compelling, funny, or somehow eye-catching title, with no intent to ever connect it to the blog post. Some days, such as today, the words I came up with, while exactly what I needed, seems to stick in my head, until I figure out why…. Very distracting, when one is trying to cudgel one’s brain into coming up with something more coherent than ‘ugh’, or Red’s favorite all-purpose word sound, ‘meh’….

It’s also a big waste of my time, efficiency-wise, as I’m usually trying to figure out just what to put in this section, my biggest challenge of all of those I’ve come to use as part of this blog. The ironic part of all this is, no matter how hard I try, or what I do, I still need an intro section, just to get to the rest. It is both logical, and real, ffolkes. You can’t start without a beginning…

One might think I’d finally gone off the deep end, wouldn’t one? One might be right about that. But, then, one can never tell, can one? Or, even two…. On that silly note….

Shall we Pearl?

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

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Leonard Cohen is a truly iconic artist. When young, he made his initial impression on the public with what the public took for comedy, but, was actually philosophy in disguise. Later, he began to sing, and write songs and music to be sung; in this he also achieved a rather unique distinction, as a singer/songwriter distinctly unlike anyone else. Here is a compilation, made by You Tube, of his early comedy works, with some music mixed in.

As usual, following the link gives the Gentle Reader the option to choose their own videos to watch of his, as there are literally hundreds of related videos listed with each one playing on screen. Enjoy, ffolkes, he’s a REAL human artist, who made it his own way…. A true Singer, in the Samuel R. Delaney tradition… (See the S. R. Delaney story, “Time, Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones”)

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Leonard Cohen Standup Comedy

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http://youtu.be/cgiflcf4klM?list=RDcgiflcf4klM

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Okay, everyone out of the gene pool!

Y’all know, since I harp on it nearly every day, I’m pretty sure we humans don’t have a lot of time left, to find some way to avoid falling prey to the same issue to which so many other forms of life, (including, possibly, our own…), have succumbed to in the past, to wit: we just don’t have what it takes to survive in this universe. Since I’m not presently inclined to, yet again, preach to the choir in a fresh rant, here is one from the archives, which clearly demonstrates I’ve held this opinion for some time now, along with a great deal of evidence to support my theory/opinion…. Enjoy, ffolkes… If nothing else, it’s a good way to stretch those mind-muscles for a few minutes…. maybe more than just a few….

From 2/8/2014:

This pearl will be displayed in the new format I’ve been working on as a change of scene around here…. These are headlines from SFGATE, a news web site I use as an average news collector, as it tends to display a fairly even grouping of the world’s and nation’s news, without TOO much bias, though certainly not without any…. The headlines I’ve included below, viewed as a big picture, are, as we can see, downright fucking crazy in how they portray the insanity so prevalent in today’s society…. Here then are more indications we are currently living through Heinlein’s “Crazy Years” here in America…. My comments, as always, are parenthesized for clarity….

http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/2014/02/07/tesla-driver-blames-fatal-crash-on-new-car-smell/

(I’m pretty sure I don’t need to make too many comments about this guy, or about how typically asinine he is, in as he cluelessly exhibits not only his selfishness, but, also his stupidity in public, without any idea of how ridiculous he sounds or appears to others….. “New car smell?” As the justification for running over a pedestrian? I suppose, in one way, it’s a perfect example of both the corruption so prevalent, and of the lack of any sort of system of ethics at play, in the lawyers who took the case to bring suit, as well as in the sense of entitlement that the average American asshole feels, to think that they can escape any consequences for their actions by finding a loophole in a law, or some weird psychiatric justification for acts that were at best, stupid, and at worst, deliberately, carelessly, and, feloniously, ignorant….)

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Elderly-woman-slain-in-Oakland-home-invasion-5215511.php

(Again, no comment is necessary to make any clearer how sick our society has become, when there are people in the world who can actually perform these kinds of acts, without any compassion, or any connection to how another person feels…. I didn’t read the article, as I’ve seen its like too often to need to put myself through that again… I already know, having dealt with them for many years, the depths to which the human psyche can sink in its pain and reaction to a lifetime of abuse by the world…. It still doesn’t excuse any of it, or justify it, to understand why it happens…. But, it sure does make me want to go out, buy a gun, and start picking off some of the names, on my own personal list of those the world would be better off without….)

http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Russian-TV-shows-doctored-video-of-Olympic-rings-5214936.php

(More comedy from Russia and their current dictator, Vlad “Glad Impaler” Putin, trying to convince the world that hey, nothing wrong here, move along, nothing to see…. when, in fact, almost everything the world is seeing in Sochi points up another issue that the Soviet government has screwed up in its repressive attempts to maintain the status quo….. which, after all, is the ultimate purpose of any dictatorship, or essentially fascist government…. or ANY government, for that matter…. Democratic, Republic, Monarchic, no matter what form government takes, its bottom line priority is to maintain the status quo, to ensure the people stay out of the government’s way as they plunder, steal, and cheat…. The video to which the article refers is merely the latest symptom that shows exactly how the world’s society at large, and, Russian society in particular, is falling apart at the seams…..)

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/SAC-Capital-ex-trader-convicted-of-insider-trading-5211174.php

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

(Whoops, gosh, look here! A stock trader cheated! A bank(er) was involved, a large, shadowy, amorphous corporation was involved, a government agency screwed up their job, a rich businessman profited, and the poor scapegoat is the only one to go to jail…. Have we seen this story before? Isn’t this a rather familiar scenario over the last, oh, 120 years or so? Why, yes, yes, I believe that’s so…. I can remember seeing stories exactly like this one 50 years ago, back in the 50’s and 60’s, as well as many from history that would be classed as clones of this one…. But, the media has to present each one as if it is some sort of big surprise…. SIGH…. It’s almost too easy for me, when they act this stupid….)

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/02/07/senate-judiciary-republicans-blame-a-lawyer-adegbile-for-a-client-abu-jamal/

(Oh, right, this one…. This is SO STUPID!!!! So stupid, it caused me to go momentarily insane, with my fingers flashing out four exclamation points without conscious control, just to vent my frustration…. You know, it’s completely possible that commenting on this story could turn into a rant….

The Republican Party has become a conglomeration of some of the stupidest, most hidebound fools I’ve ever witnessed, even in American politics, and remember…. I was there when we had both Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon to push around, so, I KNOW about corrupt, greedy, amoral politicians….. This current group in the House, and the Senate, as well as spread throughout all the state’s houses of political machinery (chicanery?), are among the stupidest and most viciously ignorant that I’ve ever seen….

This particular set of idiots involved in this article are perhaps some of the most egregiously ignorant of the lot, and show the extent of how much the conservative mind has turned to mush over time, especially when dealing with issues that are, essentially, non-partisan in nature…. It seems to me that finding the most balanced people to be judges, or attorney general types, would benefit BOTH sides, more so than choosing biased people, who only make things worse for everyone…. Of course, I’m not stupid, I have no investment in pursuing my own agenda in this issue, nor do I desire to use the issue for any political gain, so, perhaps that would color my perceptions…. I certainly hope so….

Please note, I am certain, and have seen proof of the fact, that the Democrats are no brighter, in toto, or even, on average, but, somehow, they don’t seem to publicly stick their foot in it quite so frequently as the GOP pundits. I can’t blame the media for that, entirely, as they obviously have no more claim to intelligent design in their actions than do the politicians. Each of the political parties that dominate this country’s bureaucracy (it long ago ceased to function as anything else….) feels the media favors the other; that’s a typical reaction for a creature that suffers from paranoia, and the political scenario attracts schizophrenics like flowers draw bees…. (Actually, it would be more accurate to say that politics attracts the psychopathically insane like shit draws flies….. but, I won’t say that….) (Oh…. whoops….)

Nonetheless, it seems to me that BOTH of the parties that are currently ensconced in the halls of Congress in Washington have been taken over by a bunch of really, really selfish, more than stupid in their deliberate ignorance, rich, white, old men, with the random woman, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Latin-American tokens thrown in here and there to provide proof of our “diversity”….

The funny thing about those politicians of color or gender…. when they talk, they SOUND EXACTLY like a rich, white, stupid old man, no matter whether they are young, female, black, yellow, or brown…. Next time Ted Cruz puts out a sound bite on TV, close your eyes and listen…. He will not be distinguishable from any of his peers…. Note also, the terms to describe the token members of Congress deliberately set them apart as being ‘different’ Americans than the others, don’t they? They sure do, and that’s just fine with the old white dudes, as it provides camouflage for their inherent racism and bigotry, making them appear as if they welcome input, from those parts of society THE SILLY ASSES DON’T REALIZE ARE NOW IN THE MAJORITY IN THIS COUNTRY!…..

It’s too bad, really, and frustrating for those of us who can understand what is going on…. Intelligence is the only factor in our makeup that enhances our chances to survive, especially in the oncoming crisis in the environment of our planet, even though such intelligence has never proven its worth as a survival tool… These idiots are continually, and continuously, displaying behavior that is counter-productive to that survival…. and they don’t even have the wit to know it. In fact, most of them are so insanely wrapped up in pursuing their own agenda they refuse to even listen to anything that doesn’t fit in with their own preconceived misconceptions….. Idiots, every one of them….

Okay, that’s enough…. I could conceivably spend a very long time at this…. I’ve got a long litany of complaints about government, and those who indulge in that particular vice…. But, I’m getting worked up, and that’s making me tense, and that makes my back hurt…. So, for my health, I’m calling a halt to this rant…. (For my health…. right…. Can you see my skeptical expression?….) Since the entire rant, short as it may be, is in parentheses, I can do that without any permits, or even any hand signals….

gigoid has spoken…. So be it…..)

“When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people.” — Seneca

Well, you know what they say…. Ignorance is bliss…..

Final note from 2015: Here is a fine, quite fitting closing pearl for the above rant…. (which is an interesting rant, in and of itself; the section below the last link used is completely parenthesized! What a brilliant concept! Once encased in parentheses, one may say anything at all, while enjoying perfect exemption from all standard rules…. of grammar, punctuation, syntax, logic, rationality, AND, common decency! Bonus!….)

Don’t open your eyes, you won’t like what you see;

the devils of truth steal the souls of the free…

don’t open your eyes, take it from me.

I have found you can find happiness in slavery…

~~ Nine Inch Nails, “Happiness In Slavery” ~~

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This poem is one I first wrote as random piece of prose, which came to me, unbidden, one day as I sat in front of the computer, trying once again to find something in my mind with which to begin a Pearl; that’s why it doesn’t rhyme. I think, even without the rhyme, it speaks of a vision that arose out of my inner eye, directly from my spirit….

Stray Cats

The veils that billow and fold
between dreams and reality
may sometimes part,
showing the visions of one to the other,
blending, bleeding as one,
only to bring us up short,
closely jammed against immovable fate.

Still, we keep our watch,
seeking to find the vision
that brings with it the mark of reality’s regard,
a humble mind, and a compassionate heart.

Events of broad impact draw us away again,
distracting with shiny glitter and tinny music,
leaving our feelings raw and bruised,
the victim of universal disregard.

Now, in the twilight of years, the music is fading,
and the glitter has all gone, yet,
the memory of visions remains sharp and clear,
melancholy reminders of reality’s promises,
unkept…..

~~gigoid~~

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Today’s old-school pearl is one of my favorite types, because Smart Bee gave me quotes suitable for expressing my own thoughts and feelings on the subject at hand. Today, it will show you the path my mind followed to arrive at the set of beliefs I hold today, regarding what I consider the oldest scam in human history, otherwise known as creationism, or, the One God Fallacy….

“A man devoid of religion, is like a horse without a bridle.” — Smart Bee

“The history of the rise of Christianity has everything to do with politics, culture, and human frailties and nothing to do with supernatural manipulation of events. Had divine intervention been the guiding force, surely two millennia after the birth of Jesus he would not have a world where there are more Muslims than Catholics, more Hindus than Protestants, and more nontheists than Catholics and Protestants combined.” — John K. Naland, “The First Easter”, Free Inquiry magazine, Vol. 8, No. 2

“The major contribution of Protestant thought to the knowledge of mankind is its massive proof that God is a bore.” — H.L. Mencken

A religion is a cult with an adequate army” — Smart Bee

“Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I’m concerned — I support your right to enjoy it. However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect for the rights of those people who do not wish to share your dogma, rapture, or necrodestination.” — Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book”

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

Wearers of rings and chains!
Pray do not take the pains
To set me right.

In vain my faults ye quote;
I write as others wrote
On Sunium’s hight.

~~ Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864) ~~

~~ The last Fruit of an old Tree, Epigram cvi ~~

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All I can say at this point is, it’s a damn good thing this got done yesterday, mostly, or, it wouldn’t have gotten done at all. On that cryptic note, I’m outta here for another day. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, given a fair wind and a favoring tide….

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….

Are those Foster Grants to block out the bright light of illumination, or are they rose-colored?…

Posted on February 11, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Audemus jura nostra defendere…”

[Let us dare defend our rights.]

~~ Latin for everyday occasions, stolen by gigoid ~~

3D Art by Odeith

Click on image to enlarge, a little

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Life certainly presents us with some rather interesting scenarios, doesn’t it? Without going into details that could conceivably tip things in the wrong direction (read: bad for ME…), let me just say, if it weren’t for human nature, none of us would be in this fix. With that said, I will also go on to say this: If the way I feel about the world right now is any indication, this old ball of mud is about to burst into flames, and go down hard. Just sayin….

But, we each have to deal with our own inner demons, regardless of how many of them are now outside of us, in our face, being rude. Often, they take the form of humans, working their demonic evil on those of us who refuse to participate in the madness, making Life much more difficult than it needs to be. Ah well, it’s all going to come out in the wash, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot any of us can do about it. The insane assholes who have created the scenario have lost control, and the shit is going to fly, soon.

Thus, it behooves those of us with the wit to see the shitstorm coming to do what we can to mitigate the worst of the misery to come, by making our time left here a little more fun…. Well, that’s the way I see it; it makes no sense to me to allow the assholes to determine HOW I die, even though it seems I can’t stop them from killing us all. We may as well have some fun while we’re on the road to hell….

So, let’s see what I can come up with today to bring a smile or two to all those morbid faces out there, eh? I may even try to write a new poem; who knows? There is a lot of crap, stuff, and maladaptive nonsense all running around my head, so, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a few that will bring a chuckle to a friend. If not, at least it won’t be the usual somber bill of faire…. I hope…. I can do more than try, as it is said…. Really, somebody said it; I heard them, at least once, back in ’63…. Ah, well, screw it…. Let’s go find some smiles….

Shall we Pearl?

“Nothing personal, baby…” — Uncle Frank.

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

Here you go, ffolkes. If this guy doesn’t bring a smile to your face now and again, it’s too late for you…. Enjoy!….

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

Weird Al Yankovic Playlist

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http://youtu.be/w-0TEJMJOhk?list=PL6torJshqXqP6Hwo-nRHt81YWpD7-cHIi

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INFIDEL, n. In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one who does. (See GIAOUR.) A kind of scoundrel imperfectly reverent of, and niggardly contributory to, divines, ecclesiastics, popes, parsons, canons, monks, mollahs, voodoos, presbyters, hierophants, prelates, obeah-men, abbes, nuns, missionaries, exhorters, deacons, friars, hadjis, high-priests, muezzins, brahmins, medicine-men, confessors, eminences, elders, primates, prebendaries, pilgrims, prophets, imaums, beneficiaries, clerks, vicars-choral, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, preachers, padres, abbotesses, caloyers, palmers, curates, patriarchs, bonezs, santons, beadsmen, canonesses, residentiaries, diocesans, deans, subdeans, rural deans, abdals, charm-sellers, archdeacons, hierarchs, class-leaders, incumbents, capitulars, sheiks, talapoins, postulants, scribes, gooroos, precentors, beadles, fakeers, sextons, reverences, revivalists, cenobites, perpetual curates, chaplains, mudjoes, readers, novices, vicars, pastors, rabbis, ulemas, lamas, sacristans, vergers, dervises, lectors, church wardens, cardinals, prioresses, suffragans, acolytes, rectors, cures, sophis, mutifs and pumpums. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

This space left unused for anything.

This space used for gold.

This space folded over into a ring.

This space remained untold.

No, I have not a single clue where the hell that came from, nor will you ever catch me asking, myself, or anyone else. In fact, I am going to state here and now, I didn’t say that, and you can’t prove I did.

I actually did leave this space blank, but, that was because I sort of intended to write a fresh rant this morning; I’ve got plenty of angst built up, trust me, what with crossing blades with large soulless corporate entities, butting heads with power-hungry local yokels, and dealing with my own personal inner demons as a result, well… trust me., I have more than enough about which to rant. But I’m tired of it all, and want something a bit more light hearted…. Let’s see what happens if I do this…..

Soft, intimate notes of romantic violins fills the air, while cooling breezes lift curtains to swirl and wave against the cerulean sky, peeking brightly through the tall windows. Mellow voices murmur quietly, spilling through the balcony doors, standing open to allow the elegantly dressed crowd pass in and out, enjoying the night air. As a young couple strolled hand in hand through the open passageway, a sudden scream rang out, stilling the crowd, piercing through the music as a hot knife through butter. Silence fell over the room, until a loud voice rings out, “Don’t worry, folks. She saw one of the clowns….”

Hmm… No, I don’t think that’s going to do it…. How about we go for an old-school pearl? I think, maybe, it’s the only chance we have left…. Since this is the ranting section, let’s see if SB can find us some nice, funny pokes to take at some of our favorite targets, shall we? (That is SUCH a rhetorical question! Obviously, it’s now our ONLY chance…)…. Come on, we’d best get to it…. Oooh, here’s a good one to start….

We can’t really be wrong if we’re just following Gods orders
You know,
He wrote this book here
And in this book
He says that He made us to be just like Him
So if we’re dumb, then God’s dumb
(and perhaps a little ugly on the side)

~~ Frank Zappa ~~

Not too shabby for a beginner…. let’s see if we can finish this off with some style, or, maybe even some humor….

“I have no problem with God. It’s his fan clubs I hate.” — Smart Bee

“Yow! And then we could sit on the hoods of cars at stop lights!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Now playing: “Man of La Muncha”” — Hannibal Lecter Dinner Theater

“It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man’s deeper nature is soon found out.” — Oscar Wilde

(Oops. Sorry, Oscar slipped that one by me…. It’s not too far out there, so, it stays…)

“Rush Limbaugh: The Pillsbury Doughboy on acid.” — Smart Bee

“Ooops.” — Captain of Titanic

“If God is so great, how come everything he makes dies?” — George Carlin

Well. That was…. something. Not exactly your average mind numbing, brain-blowing experience, was it? Oh well. I guess we should go do something else now…. Oh. I see the problem now. How could I have forgotten THIS?

“When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.” — Mark Twain

Duh….

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

Good news, ffolkes…. Milady Maggie Mae, over at her site, maggiemaeijustsaythis, has posted a new poem… Yay! It’s always a treat for me when that happens… I don’t know ’bout y’all, but, this one makes me shiver, on several levels of perception (believe me, that’s a good thing….). Enjoy; if not. well…. Loosen up, then, try again….. Look at it this way; it isn’t one of mine, again….

Personally, every time have I re-read this poem (so far, thrice….) I sit for longer, just shaking my head in amazement at the new depths I’ve plumbed with each repetition…. Remember, ffolkes, metaphor, and math, and pain, and pain, and metaphor, are everywhere, sometimes; other times, not so much.

Bella Donna

Death cherries flow in secret
places. I know them. I know how they reek
of the burgundy final curtain

for me. The sun takes from the dawn.
Every day, I sit twisted in worn lace;
the Devil’s rash bursting me
into deadly night shade. I go

willingly at times,
tangled up in Bella Donna’s
sweet hand shake,

but, God, when she inhabits me
with her thick, twilight witchcraft
I forget

that I am forged by what
has already been written.

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

https://maggiemaeijustsaythis.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/bella-donna/

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Hmm… Smart Bee threw this group out for me to pick from, whereupon I noted no picking or choosing was necessary. I merely added one last correct pearl to the group, to bring it to the intended point, where we speak of Life, lived Large, with just a touch of symmetrical intentions….

“If you wish to succeed, consult three old people.”

~~Smart Bee ~~

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

“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin

“As I look at your image, I see only the light which was not absorbed.” — Mark Middleton

“Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature”

“Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height.” — Buddha

“Your reasoning is excellent – it’s only your basic assumptions that are wrong.” — Smart Bee

Art is long, and time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still like muffled drums are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

~~ Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882)~~ A Psalm of Life ~~

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As I sat down to start today, if anyone had offered me even odds I would NOT get done with this, I wouldn’t have taken the bet. The fact I AM done is, to be sure, a complete surprise to me. Since I have nothing else left in my head worth sharing, I guess I’ll go away now. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. If you can take it, so can I…..

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….

Mmmm…. soft! Is it plucky, too?….

Posted on January 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it,
Time in hours, days, years,
Driv’n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov’d; in which the world
And all her train were hurl’d.

~~ Henry Vaughan ~~

~~ The World ~~

Self Portrait of Curiosity, the Mars Rover, on its search for signs of life on The Red Planet

Down here in The Holler, we been havin’ some fowl weather…. Now, before y’all go & figure I’m just some iggorant hick, let me explain…. Most places, they get some hard rains, they say it’s been rainin’ cats & dogs, right? Well, t’other night, it was rainin’ hard all right, but, ’tweren’t no cats nor dogs comin’ down…. It was chickens! Actually, chicken gizzards! Beautiful, juicy, chicken livers, hearts, necks, & kidneys. Not only was they fallin’, right out o’the sky, but, they was fully cooked! Boy, we was havin’ a BALL that night, nukin’ ’em up in the microwave with some spicy BBQ….. beaudacious! Them necks boiled down just fine, for a big ol’ pot o’ chicken & dumplin’s…. We’re hopin’ next week maybe it’ll rain some beef ribs, and we kin have us a real party!….

Okay, enuff, er, enough of the hillbilly crap. I couldn’t think of anything else, and now, I’m really sorry…. But, it’s done, and we can just forget it. Please?

Sadly, that does leave us here, halfway started, but, nowhere to go. I could go in just about any direction now; the smooth start part of this is already been ditched for the nonsense above. Now I find myself reading over it, and actually editing, to give it more of a hick sound, as if it needed it… I must have had too much sleep. I don’t believe I’ve had this much sleep, three days in a row, for years. An average of five hours a night for those nights, has cleared my head quite a bit, though the effect on the pain itself is minimal; only the strength to fight it is replenished…. But, that is indeed better than the alternative, and I’ll take it….

It almost makes me wish I didn’t have so much of today’s post already done; it would be cool to see how well I could rant, with all this energy…. But, it’s already done, during my little pieces of peace during the day, when I am able to distract myself enough to sit and write. Oh well, I can spend that time proofing & editing, to buff and polish this until it shines…. Well, as much as they ever do so….

I think, before I wander into an area of discussion from which we can’t remove ourselves, we’ll bring this to a close…. Ah, there’s the signal from the pilot, anyway…. I’ve managed to blather long enough today to actually reach one of the scheduled entry points, where there is plenty of room to maneuver, and no danger of any ambush by the locals; it makes for a smoother dive, all around. So, if y’all would kindly hang on, we’ll be going in in just a moment…. Enjoy the dive, ffolkes, I did my best today to make if fun, and/or stimulating…. and, if not, well, at least it’s better than Good Morning, America, right?…. Well, I think so….

Shall we Pearl?

“Diogenes said once to a person who was showing him a dial, “It is a very useful thing to save a man from being too late for supper.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Menedemus, iii

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A few years ago, while surfing the web, I saw a video, which showed a cat and an owl, playing together. They had obviously, by the evidence of the video, been friends for years; watching the video is an excellent lesson in how easy it is for creatures to learn to get along, a lesson far too many people in this world never learn…. Here is that video, or, in this case, videos, as the one that plays first should go right into the next, showing a record of how they met, became friends, and learned how to live in harmony…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is one of those GOOD stories, that make up, a little, for all the crap we have to see every day….

The Beginnings – How Fum & Gebra met

http://youtu.be/-nih7QllbMU?list=PL3ATEDaAiytqcTkgGQjd8kpANV_6ftRTm

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“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

For a few days now, I’ve been moving this link down the list of material to be covered in a rant. Patently, I found it on my friend Lou’s site, where one may always find a new, and/or different take on the subjects one sees in the mainstream news, with a heavy leaning toward the latest in conspiracy theories, UFO sightings, spiritualism, Zen Buddhism, science, myth, and any number of other subjects, all of interest, especially to someone with my expansive list of interests, all of which is/are found at one time or another on his site…. (Pardon the “is/are”, I couldn’t, and still can’t seem to figure out which of the pronouns the verb should agree with…. SIGH, another clue I need to SIMPLIFY….)

This particular article gives a rather excellent viewpoint, which many people might not have considered in the wake of recent news from around the world, with all of the insanity that seems to be exploding, everywhere…. You should read it, then we’ll talk….

http://talesfromtheconspiratum.com/2015/01/14/exclusive-terror-attack-in-ukraine-world-outraged-je-suis-donbass/#comment-145798

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

It took me a long time to find the real truth about the current President. He is one of the most skilled politicians (liars) ever to hold that august office, so skilled, he is hard to pin down on those occasions when he does make the error of getting caught at lying, either saying what he didn’t mean to say, or, being exposed, and having to respond. Otherwise, he has developed the incredibly subtle skill, discussed in works by Twain, Heinlein, and, I’m sure, many others, of being able to hide his lies behind the actual truth. The skill lies in being able to shut up at the correct moment, then not speaking again, to allow the listeners to make their own (erroneous) assumptions about what was NOT said…. In other words, he tells a small part of the truth, in a way that leaves room to make excuses later, then shuts up….

But, we see now, since the exposition by Edward Snowden of the scope of what is NOT being told to the American public, it is patently clear how he has maintained the public’s belief in his essential truthfulness, which is a COMPLETE lie. His administration has prosecuted more journalists and private citizens for leaking information they consider secret than any other in our nation’s history, by a factor of 10…. This is not speculation, or information new to me; I saw this in print many months ago in the mainstream press…. though, in a small article, with no follow-up, ever….

The author of the above article shows clearly how this applies to current life on this planet, and gives us a fairly accurate idea, I think, of the scope of the problem…. He also uses what I would call an old school pearl to illustrate his points, most excellently, using a number of pearls used previously on this blog…. It is, I admit, as good a pearl as any I’ve ever done…. I won’t try to match his group; it was nearly perfect, as far as I could see. But, I will end with one last illustration of how it all strikes me….

“Politicians aren’t born, they are excreted.” — Cicero

Trust me. I know. Thousand don’t, and look at them now….

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

Here is one of mine we haven’t seen for a while… It’s not bad, all things considered. I hope you enjoy it….

Off the proverbial cuff….

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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

This is a very special pearl; it’s too long a story for this section, which is already long enough, but, take my word, they don’t often come out like this…. Too bad, too… Just follow the bouncing ideas, ffolkes, and you’ll get to a nice, warm fuzzy, strangely enough….

For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress.
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
It is never too late to start doing what is right.
Never.

~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~~

“In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.” — Aristotle, Nicomachen Ethics (4th c. BC)

“We write our own destiny: we become what we do.” — Madame Chiang Kai-Shek

“Without followers, evil cannot spread.” — Spock, “And The Children Shall Lead”, stardate 5029.5

“He who hurries can not walk with dignity.’ — Chinese Proverb

“There is nothing so arrogant as ignorance.” — Erasmus

“In comparison with heaven and earth, man is like a mayfly. But compared to the great Way, heaven and earth, too, are like a bubble and a shadow. Only the primal spirit and the true nature overcome time and space.” — Lu Yen (fl. 800 A.D.)

“Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Roman Apophthegms, Cato the Elder

“One who is to enjoy the purity of both body and mind walks the path to enlightenment, breaking the net of selfish, impure thoughts and evil desires. He who is calm in mind acquires peacefulness and thus is able to cultivate his mind day and night with more diligence.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

“A wide-eyed, innocent UNICORN, poised delicately in a MEADOW filled with LILACS, LOLLIPOPS & small CHILDREN at the HUSH of twilight??” — Zippy the Pinhead

“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.”

~~ Irish proverb ~~

Oops! Sorry, Zippy slipped his restraints again…. But, you know, it almost fits; he tries hard, bless his pointy little head…. (Well, okay it’s a pointy BIG head, but we don’t want to hurt his feelings, do we? No….) I think we’ll let it stay, and just finish with a proper ending quote, if SB is willing to cooperate once more… Ah, yes, this will do nicely; so nicely, I believe I’ll center it, to create a bit of symmetry, and move this paragraph out of the way…. Or, as they would say in the nearest bureaucratic institution, see the above….

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

“Captain! That’s all she’s got! The warp engines canno’ take no more!” — Commander Montgomery Scott, Stardate 2695.2, 2243.5, 2350.0, and a host of other dates….

At this point in today’s narrative, I know exactly how Mr. Scott feels; fortunately, the strain on our warp engines may now cease, and Mr. Scott and the engine crew can stand down, because, we’re done. Lest y’all think this is merely a shallow boast, intended to tease you into thinking we are finished, allow me to say this…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if the world lasts that long…. It’s looking a bit chancy out there in the BBR…..

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….

Set your phasers on Twinkle, troops….

Posted on January 15, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind
down the foggy ruins of time
far past the frozen leaves
the haunted frightened trees
out to the windy beach
far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.

Ah, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
silhouetted by the sea
circled by the circus sands
with all memory and fate
driven deep beneath the waves
let me forget about today until tomorrow.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~

The poster you see above this line is from NASA. Yep. If you click on the picture, you’ll see a larger version, which will allow you to read the small print beneath the picture. When I feel phantasmagorical (Specifically, in my case, the state of wishing for a fantasy world, wherein the human race DOESN’T become extinct….), I look at the poster, and the two others they have displayed over at the NASA web site, and dream of traveling to far-away planets…. It’s been happening a lot of late, as, here on Earth, life is becoming somewhat tenuous in nature, with a great deal of uncertainty as to how much longer our human presence will be tolerated by our abused home’s landlord, whomever that may be….

But, the intro is not the place to get into an issue of such scope…. Just click on the picture, and, if you wish, go download a copy yourself (or, download it right from the page where you see it…), and join me on the next flight to Kepler 16b…. I hear the interstellar transport ships are becoming quite luxurious, just like the old time cruise ships back on Earth, before the apocalypse….

Alright, I’m back, I think, though I don’t really want to be…. But, it’s just like that hive of bees there in my head, you know? There they are…. and, here I am….. SIGH….

Sometimes, I am more in tune with the future than I know. But, that’s a story for another time. Yesterday, the rant I wrote left me, for a while, in the dumps regarding any future for the human race…. Being a human, I was able to forget my/our doom, and get on with living, just as, eventually, I’ll get on with this Pearl. In fact, perhaps, given the fragility of my mood this recent past, we should do that now, before the risk of any unpleasantness becomes greater than my desire to avoid any such ungentlemanly behavior…. I do TRY….

Thus, if I could persuade y’all to place whatever adult beverages you chose for today’s dive, into the holders provided in your seat armrest, buckle up tight, and brace yourselves, we can be on our way. The sign re: no phone usage aboard this craft is there for a reason; please don’t make or take any calls, or we could drop from the sky like a stone…. But, no worries, the ink on the pilot’s license is fully dry; I checked…. Trust me….

Shall we Pearl?

(Boy, ain’t it the TRUTH! Have you listened lately to FOX news? Or, for that matter, to ANYTHING on TV, or issued as a public proclamation of almost any kind? I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but, for sure and for certain, all reason in the world has gone missing, stranding us here on the train to madness, without a return ticket….)

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

One advantage of the internet over previous times, in at least one respect, is this: if one should wish, or need, some GOOD news, it’s a bit easier to find…. For example: I found this in a link to the ABC network channel web site you see below, , referred by an article on Rolling Stone’s web site I received in a daily email summary…. Believe me, this one makes it hard to find any reason to feel bad, if only for a moment or two….

Meet Eclipse, the dog who figured out how to ride the bus all by herself

http://abc13.com/472964/

http://abc13.com/video/embed/?pid=472964

~~~~~~~~~

Here is another video, along the same lines, found at the same web site, abc13.com….

British bulldog hates bottle of water

http://youtu.be/vnqywtFJUw8

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

I am currently so involved with affairs in the Big Blue Room, there is little room in my head to spare for collecting angst, at least while awake…. No telling what my unconscious mind throws out there while I’m sawing logs, as far as I do so…. One of the referrals to the archives that Word Press makes each day, as one of the suggested Pearls at the bottom of the post, held the following religirant, one of my better treatises on the subject of humanity’s oldest scam…. Enjoy, please, or, at least, don’t take it personally….

From 9/7/2012:

“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is NOT a sin–just stupid.)” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

It would be foolish to try to claim that there is NOT a part of me that wishes there was a God, as described by most of the Christian sects, or the Islamic, or Jewish, or any other of the major and/or minor religions in the history of Man. Who wouldn’t want to have all the responsibility for thinking, or for acting within reason, taken out of their hands? It would be wonderful, but as it’s pretty unlikely, to all appearances, that part of me will have to remain unfulfilled….. I’d rather adopt and set the above moral standard as my own, as I happen to agree with it wholeheartedly. It forms the root, the base, the touchstone of all of my morality, the basic raison d’etre for my every decision of whether or not to act, and how to react, from an ethical standpoint of my own choice, without thinking about whether or not it is according to dogma.

I first came across this particular quote from Lazarus when I was about 15 or 16 years old, right when I was taking classes at my parent’s church to fulfill the requirements for admission as an official, saved member of the church (Presbyterian, if it matters….), and wondering how I was going to break it to all of them that I couldn’t do it…. It was a hard decision, but, since the teachers couldn’t answer my questions about Bible incidents that puzzled me (not part of what we studied, but from different chapters I had read…), I stopped attending any services, because I didn’t want to be a hypocrite…. I could even rationalize my decision, as having been made out of concern for the safety of my family and friends, since now the church could conceivably fall down on them if they were with me when I came in…..

“Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I’m concerned — I support your right to enjoy it. However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect for the rights of those people who do not wish to share your dogma, rapture or necrodestination.” — Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book”

I also happen to agree with Frank on this one. What I do believe about religion, and the concept of God, or god, or Dog, is my own business, and begins with not pressing it on others, unless they ask; in such cases I will discuss the subject superficially, without expressing any preferences one way or another….. Unless, of course, they begin to proselytize. In THOSE cases, I will use every bit of shock value pop psychology I know of to lead them down some primrose path, messing with their heads until I get bored with them…. That usually doesn’t take long; they’re generally fairly uninteresting people. I tend to prefer people who have a bit of salt to their personality, just a touch of insanity somewhere in their blood…. Such ffolkes are much more fun to be around than folks who spend their time feeling bad about wanting to feel good….. and they annoy me far less often, as a rule…..

If God is omnipotent, why does he need my money? — Smart Bee

“The human condition is such that pain and effort are not just symptoms which can be removed without changing life itself; they are rather the modes in which life itself, together with the necessity to which it is bound, makes itself felt. For mortals, the ‘easy life of the gods’ would be a lifeless life.” — Hannah Arendt

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

In the same post with the rant in the section immediately above, I also found this poem, which I believe I may have not used since…. I don’t remember, and I’m certainly not going to go look…. It will do for today, certainly…. I hope you enjoy it….

Vague Glimpses of a Rainbow

All the sad notions of propriety had fled,
Screaming their anger for pausing in song,
Until late came the rabid fog, colored in red,
As serenity cried, unafraid to live so strong.

Fallow fields in faithful patience set free,
Dragged from birth, by their own nature cast
Saving each moment against fear yet to be,
Carved into silence, by ignorance held fast.

Historical forces plod slowly ’tis often said
Anxieties streaming stiffly, one epoch to the next.
Cultural mania stands nonchalant in its stead
No sadder epitaph has such bittersweet context.

Patterned bags of forgotten virtue lie in wait
Blessed by reminders whose souls value affinity
Frozen webs surround the fields in gravid state
Grasping passionately within obvious opportunity.

Passage to future realities isn’t guaranteed
Small favors for deities was left off the menu
No roses, nor manna, nor gallant aerial steed
Left traces of fatal, yet originally gracious venue.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

SIGH…. After almost an hour, the following pearl is the best I could coax out of SB…. Look at this….

“Anaximander says that men were first produced in fishes, and when they were grown up and able to help themselves were thrown up, and so lived upon the land.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Symposiacs, Book viii, Question viii

?!?!?!?! In the modern vernacular, WTF!

That, I have to say, is downright scary, it’s so…. weird. It’s probably deeper than it seems; much of what Plutarch said comes out that way. But, I think, with this one serving as the best we can find, it would be well to go back to the archives again, and call it a day…. Why, look! It seems the same Pearl I posted way back when, the same one wherein we found today’s rant, and poem, also had a very fine closing pearl, so…. It’s almost like Fate, isn’t it?…. Planning? No way….

Also from 9/7/2012:

Having just spent three hours (okay, I exaggerated…. only two….) searching in vain for a pearl with which to finish, I became incensed with frustration, and rather than scare my new neighbors with a verbal outburst, I calmly set a parameter, and collected the following pearls on one subject, to wit: human nature…. As far as I can tell, all of them rate a solid 10 on the truth scale….. As always, just follow the bouncing thought as it explores your own inner self….

“The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth–that the error and truth are simply opposite. They are nothing of the sort. What the world turns to, when it is cured on one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one.” — H. L. Mencken

“The ultimate evil is the weakness, cowardice, that is one of the constituents of so much human nature. When, rarely, unalloyed nobility does occur, its chances of prevailing are slim. Yet it exists, and its mere existence is reason enough for not wiping the name of mankind off the slate.” — John Simon

“We are all terrible little creatures.” — Martin Amis

“The tragedy and the magnificence of Homo sapiens together rise from the same smoky truth that we alone among the animal species refuse to acknowledge natural law.” — Robert Ardrey, _The Social Contract_

“Man, were he not corrupted by Governments, is naturally the friend of Man, and that human nature is not of itself vicious.” — Thomas Paine

“I think we’re all Bozos on this Bus!” — Firesign Theater

Now I feel better….. and, you do, as well….

Note from 2015:

Okay, I’ll confess. I also used a bit of hyperbole for THIS pearl…. I did find TWO pearls before giving up, but, when you see this one, you’ll realize why I went back to the past, rather than staying in the future, or the present, or whenever the hell we are now…. It’s gotten a bit confusing in here today…. SIGH…. Here, see what I mean? This is what SB gave me before I gave up…. It’s very poignant, for some of us, but, very, very naughty, in some respects, in a way that isn’t quite, well, healthy… Oh, hell, you’ll see….

“You are not permitted to kill a woman who has wronged you, but nothing forbids you to reflect that she is growing older every minute. You are avenged fourteen hundred and forty times a day.” — Ambrose Bierce “The Devil’s Dictionary”

See? True enough, but, a bit cruel, thus making it hard to appreciate the humor, or the irony, without a touch of guilt… Oh well, at least I’m done now….

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

And, thank God for that! Wait…. Can they arrest me for saying that? In the same post as a religirant? Hmm…. Maybe I should take it back….. Nah. That would be like, hypocrisy, man…. If I don’t believe it, why should I worry about blasphemy? Blasphemy, by definition, has no basis in reality, so, nobody can, in reality, punish me for saying it….

Well, that’s logical anyway, but, since most of the proponents of those who follow such beliefs tend to react so violently when someone doesn’t believe the same way, I think I’ll put on my Kevlar vest for a while…. Better safe than sorry, right?…. Right….

On that cheerful note, I bid thee adieu for another day. Provided none of those I’ve insulted today find me before then, I’ll see y’all tomorrow…. If they do, it’s possible I could be involved in a bit of a firefight; don’t worry about me, though, I recently upgraded my weaponry, and am now capable of withstanding an entire military platoon, as long as they are not equipped with anything more dangerous than, oh, say, a tank….

I could handle a tank, or two…. If they call for air support, I could have to retreat to my hidden compound, but, other than that, it shouldn’t be a problem…. When the Ground-To-Air SAM’s I ordered arrive next week, I’ll be all set to deal with any sort of conflict on my territory.

Okay, all of the rental time for our fantasies has now expired; it’s all been put returned to the vendor, and we may take our leave…. (Don’t tell the vendor, but, I kept the bazookas….) Again, ffolkes, I bid thee a fond farewell, until tomorrow…. Maybe I’ll find a touch of sobriety by then…. you never can tell, can you?….

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….

With music playing in the background….

Posted on December 22, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“When Thales was asked what was difficult, he said, “To know one’s self.”

And what was easy, “To advise another.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Thales, ix ~~

I suppose bass ackwards is as good as our normal format. Due to the constraints placed upon me by the loss of function in my hands for much of the day, these Pearls have been going through a series of changes in how they are constructed….. The new technique involves a break, to rest my hands, or shoulder, or back, or hip, until it stops complaining, about every five to ten minutes…. Even now, as I type this, my left arm is growing numb, thus forcing an adjustment in content and structure….

From your viewpoint, this is probably a good thing, as it keeps my ranting to a minimum, thus shortening these Pearls by a significant margin. That’s okay by me, they’ve been growing too large for even my taste, and I’ve been looking for ways to cut it all back a bit…. I didn’t, however, think that would be accomplished by forcing me to experience enough pain to alter my habits…. So much for my vaunted intelligence, eh, what?….

Ah well, such is life, and it goes on, and on, and on, regardless of our reaction to it…. Whining about it won’t help, so, I’ll stop right here, resolving to, instead, jump right into today’s effort, just to see if there is any way to get it done in this frame of mind…. I’m all about new adventures, though I think I’d prefer a bit less pain involved in whatever happens…. just a personal preference, which, I’m sure, Murphy and his myrmidons will be happy to ignore….

That’s it…. that’s all I’ve got, ffolkes…. This, choppy and sparse as it may be, is all there is going to be in the intro today…. I’m giving in, after a fashion, to expediency, just like a well-trained consumer should do at this time of year, during the annual commercial frenzy held each year’s end to stimulate the economy, so all the corporate entities can start off the new year with a solid profit margin….

Yawn…. there he goes again…. Never mind, ffolkes, let’s get on with it, okay?….

Shall we Pearl?

“Don’t be confused by surfaces; in the depths everything becomes law. What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. Walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours–that is what you must be able to attain.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

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

Today’s video offering is a lead-in for the rant to follow, in section three of today’s post. This will give y’all a solid batch of supporting evidence, as well as a taste of the proper attitude to assume when speaking of our beloved ruling classes, to wit: disdain, bordering on disgust….. At least George was able to make us laugh about it; I suppose it’s better than crying, which would be just as appropriate, under the circumstances….

GEORGE CARLIN – Upper Class Pays No Taxes

http://youtu.be/Ko35qhKnRXs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My life is light, waiting for the death wind,
Like a feather on the back of my hand.”

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

I’m not sure, but, it seems to me that I’ve seen more little phrases like this one, perfect in almost every way, with T.S. Eliot’s name appended to them, than I have seen from just about any other poet I know. It demonstrates the kind of beauty, power, and simplicity of expression I strive to achieve, whenever I open up one of my veins to allow a poem to leak out of my imagination…. Here is one wherein I came somewhat closer, than in most of what I write….

From August of 2012:

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 ~~

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

Life sure does seem like a crap game sometimes, doesn’t it? This pearl took almost an entire day of wrangling with SB, who, for some reason, has been reluctant to cooperate very much of late…. Ah well, it’s done, and came out fairly well…. Enjoy…. or not. Your choice, as always….

“We never reflect how pleasant it is to ask for nothing.” — Seneca

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” — Socrates

“Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth. When perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt
to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.” — Tacitus

“Think of your ancestors and your posterity.” — Tacitus (54-119 AD) — Agricola, 32

“Believe me, a thousand friends suffice thee not; In a single enemy thou hast more than enough.” — Ali Ben Abi Taleb

“What is man’s chief enemy? Each man is his own.” — Anacharsis (f1. c. 600 B.C.), Scythian philosopher — Quoted in Stobaeus, Flor., II, 43

Ain’t no time to hate
— barely time to wait.
Whoa ho, what I want to know:
— where does the time go?

~~ Robert Hunter ~~

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

If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect myself of cheating…. Nonetheless, it’s done, and just in time for me to explode into inaction…. On that cryptic note, I shall leave you for another day…. According to the plan, as it now exists, I will see y’all tomorrow…. Keep in mind, however, what ‘they’ always say about the best laid plans…. Oh, boy, ffolkes, NOW I’m scared….

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….

Casting the runes unnerves some people….

Posted on December 9, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Are you mentally here at Pizza Hut??” — Zippy the Pinhead

There may be many out there who read this, (which shows just how optimistically silly a mood I’m in; I can count, and, only a few hardy souls brave these pages each day…), who will question my use of the infamous pinhead to start out the day, but, to look at the expression on Albert’s face, he knows exactly why Zippy is at the top, as well as the answer to his query, which, naturally, is delivered in a piteously querulous voice, filled with apprehension and angst…. how else? I know for a fact Albert had a very silly side; I have a graphic example, to go along with ample text evidence, which has been presented here previously…. My graphic proof is, of course, this picture….

Previously, I’ve related what Albert said about Life, to wit: “After figuring out the shape and characteristics of space and time, wearing plaid with fuzzy slippers is easy.” (Or something like that….) There’s graphic proof, or suggestive evidence, anyway, of this one, too…. See?….

I’m really not making fun of Albert; I don’t have the chops to carry that off, obviously…. In fact, my irreverence is taken from him, and his own attitudes about living, as I understand those attitudes from my reading about him…. Sadly, he died when I was five, well before I had any chance to realize how wise he was; most of my knowledge of him comes from what he left behind, the legacy of what he wrote, and what others wrote about him…. That alone has been sufficient for me to realize he was one of the two or three wisest men who lived in the twentieth century, not only for his work in helping mankind to understand the physical world, but, for his insights into human nature, and life at large…. Plus, he was damn silly at times, obviously with a great sense of humor, and a keen appreciation for the absurdity inherent in reality…. The latter is a sure way to get MY attention, as y’all know….

Now, a large portion of that legacy, of information of his life, in the form of papers, letters, and pictures, of him, by him, and about him, covering much of his early life, is a much larger body of information, available to anyone who can access the internet. Princeton University, with which Einstein was closely connected for much of his adult life in the United States, has digitized ALL of the papers they had in their possession, and with the approval of the Einstein estate, have posted them online, without restrictions, for anyone to read…. Much of it is in its original German, the language of Albert’s youth, in which language he wrote his personal letters all his life; for those who don’t speak or read German, an English translation of each document is made available….

You can find it all at this address:

http://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol1-doc

I, for one, will be spending a great many hours, happily perusing as many of those pieces of Albert’s mind at different points in his life as I can tolerate, both in German, (when I can follow it…. it’s been a long time, and I learned it well after he learned to write it; it will be thick, for sure, but, I’ll have a translation right there to help…. Yay!….), and in English…. Mostly the latter, I’m sure; it has been a VERY long time since I read any German…. But, who knows? Maybe it will break loose a whole big bunch of memories, or give me reason to find someone to speak it with me…. For now, I’ve meandered quite enough… we’ve got a lot of silly to get to today, I think….

Shall we Pearl?

“It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish.” — Aeschylus

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

Ffolkes, nobody has a stranger view of the universe than this man…. For your viewing pleasure, I give you now, the world’s most DIFFERENT mind….

Steven Wright Special (1985)

http://youtu.be/UB8ZDrNb3B0

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“He asked me if I knew what time it was. I said, `Yes, but not right now.'” — Steven Wright

It isn’t every day I delete a rant which I’ve completely finished, but. yesterday, that’s exactly what I did…. I had it polished, buffed, and fitted out with appropriate pearls, all fresh crap straight out of my head, taking aim at myself, the Asininnies, aka the BRC and the Dogma Dogs (yes, that’s their new name…), the drones, and all us fools caught here on this particular plane of existence. Accurate aim, too, I think, though, the longer it’s gone, the better it gets, of course….

Dumb ass that I am, I failed to close the program I wrote it in, which then auto-saves whatever I’ve written there, so, when I inadvertently clicked the shut down button, forcing programs to shut down, all I’d done in the last eight hours, two or three minutes at a time, then breaking for pain, well… it all just went away, to wherever electrons go when they’re not given a memory address to stay in, so we can find them later….. SIGH….

Now what? I know…. I’ll go extreme….

“Hiccuping & trembling into the WASTE DUMPS of New Jersey like some drunken CABBAGE PATCH DOLL, coughing in line at FIORUCCI’S!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Now, THAT is monumentally silly! Sad, yet, silly…. Sort of like today’s Pearl, come to think of it…. I suppose now I’ll have to make a pearl here, to keep from breaking into a song, which would then turn into a rant, against Mary Poppins, or some such idiotic icon of her level of respectability…. If what we’ve seen so far is any indication, we’ll do fine, as long as we can keep from sucking milk up our noses…. Let’s not think about it coming, or going, in ANY other direction, okay?…. Instead, let’s go find some pearls, of the random silly variety….

Birth, n.: The first and direst of all disasters. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Nobody HAS to do anything.” — McCabe’s law

“Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“Be good to your friends, or they may develop psychokinetic powers and destroy Tokyo.” — Smart Bee

“Where do we keep all our chainsaws, mom?” — Calvin & Hobbes

“A bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down — And won.” — John Prine

HASH, x. There is no definition for this word — nobody knows what hash is. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Enough! Any sillier, and we’d start circling the drain, clockwise….

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

Nobody does silly better than this poet….

Adventures of Isabel

Isabel met an enormous bear,
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care;
The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,
The bear’s big mouth was cruel and cavernous.
The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do, Isabel, now I’ll eat you!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry.
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.
Once in a night as black as pitch
Isabel met a wicked old witch.
the witch’s face was cross and wrinkled,
The witch’s gums with teeth were sprinkled.
Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed,
I’ll turn you into an ugly toad!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry,
She showed no rage and she showed no rancor,
But she turned the witch into milk and drank her.
Isabel met a hideous giant,
Isabel continued self reliant.
The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid,
He had one eye in the middle of his forehead.
Good morning, Isabel, the giant said,
I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She nibbled the zwieback that she always fed off,
And when it was gone, she cut the giant’s head off.
Isabel met a troublesome doctor,
He punched and he poked till he really shocked her.
The doctor’s talk was of coughs and chills
And the doctor’s satchel bulged with pills.
The doctor said unto Isabel,
Swallow this, it will make you well.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She took those pills from the pill concocter,
And Isabel calmly cured the doctor.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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

I’m not entirely sure what this pearl is trying to say, but, it all seems pretty important, so, I’m letting SB do what it wants with it…. Maybe there will be a point, but, given today’s theme, it’s somewhat in doubt…. making it a perfect ending pearl….

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)

“Common and vulgar people ascribe all ill that they feel to others; people of little wisdom ascribe to themselves; people of much wisdom, to no one.” — Epictetus

“The doctrine of human equality reposes on this: that there is no man really clever who has not found that he is stupid.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton

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

“Integrity needs no rules.” — Smart Bee

“We keep, in science, getting a more and more sophisticated view of our essential ignorance.” — Warren Weaver

“The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.” — Frank Zappa

Oops! Sorry, ffolkes, that last one slipped by me for a moment…. It’s too true to be cut, so, I’ll just find one more pearl, to finish this off properly, and leave it where it is, as a nod to its excellence…. Here’s the right one to end with….

“Time as he grows old teaches many lessons.” — Aeschylus (525-456 BC) — Prometheus, 981

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

My brain is clear, my conscience, though challenged, is clean, and, I don’t even like Jesus just now; I suppose I make a damn poor Amurrican. Since that’s a moniker I hope never to have applied to me, in any fashion, I’m outta here, before it occurs to someone just how silly this all is…. Oh, right. I guess it’s a bit late for that, isn’t it? Oh, well…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can’t talk myself out of it again….

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….

Stereotyping promotes bigotry, it’s clear….

Posted on November 30, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Neither genius, fame, nor love show the greatness of the soul.

Only kindness can do that.”

~~ Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire ~~

Right on time, it seems, yet still clueless. It seems keeping to a strict schedule is no more consistent than being late, or early, for the purposes we attempt to address each morning. Of course, it would help, no doubt, had we any clue as to what KIND of consistency we need, or, for that matter, the purpose we are attempting to fulfill. There is that old saw, about “if you don’t don’t where you’re going, don’t worry, when you get there, you won’t know where you are, anyway”, or some such snarky, condescending bit of doggerel to tell us how much of an idiot we are.. Why is that? Ah well, I guess it makes people feel better to put someone else down for not knowing something basic….

Not that I care overmuch where we end up, as long as all the passengers arrive relatively safely; injury-free is good, too. The insurance guys love that. But, we aren’t always concerned with safety around here; it doesn’t go with the concept of thinking for oneself. Refusing to buy into the crap that most of the world is trying to feed us is a dangerous business; the BRC and the rest of the Asininnies really don’t like it when we do that. They spend a lot of time and money to make sure we’re all stupefied with the pressures of life, handicapped with so many issues to resolve daily we barely have the time to scratch an itch, much less spend a lot of time in wondering what might work better for us…. just the way they like it….

You will please note, at this point, I am stopping myself, deftly heading off what promises to be a rant of some proportion, in order to save the opening section from driving everyone off again…. I try to come out silly, or nonsensical, but, somehow, seem to fall right into ranting by the second paragraph in…. It’s frustrating, but, I think I’m starting to find the rhythm to keep it moving…. If I can just make this turn here, to send us closer to the path we’re supposed to be on by now, we should make it just fine…. Of course, it won’t be the same without Mickey, but, I’ll bet y’all hadn’t even missed him yet….

No, he didn’t get fired; who could fire a mouse of such a gentle nature…. No, Mickey sacrificed himself to a cause yesterday… It’s a long story, and actually, the details are gory enough, we’ll not be sharing them here this morning, lest we not only ruin breakfast, but, lunch, too…. Suffice it to say, Mickey, by allowing himself to be run through that threshing machine, saved the lives of millions of insects, not to mention the President of Disney World, and his entire entourage, who would otherwise have been wiped out completely…. Not bad for a rodent, eh?

Now, then, before anyone tumbles to the metaphor there, I’m going to make an executive decision, to take us out of here via the first available route…. which, as can be seen, is coming up just ahead…. It looks to be a fairly smooth exit this time, so, tightening your seat belts should be sufficient measure to comply with safety regs…. and, if not, well, just hang on to the arms of your seat, and you should be fine…. Hey, look at the bright side…. if anything DOES happen, you’ll be free to sue us down to our socks…. Bonus, right? Right….

Shall we Pearl?

“He who knows nothing, doubts nothing.” — Italian Proverb

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

When I was young, before the age of ten, my mother had a record of Andres Segovia playing classical music on the guitar…. I was impressed by the sounds he made, seemingly echoing an entire orchestra on one instrument…. Needless to say, it gave me an appreciation of the guitar which has been with me ever since, ever growing to include new musical venues which feature the guitar…. Brazilian music has emerged as one of the most well-known genres of modern music to do so, which makes it my pleasure to introduce any of y’all who aren’t familiar with it, to a good example of the finer aspects of human nature…. Enjoy!….

João Luiz e Douglas Lora – Brasil Guitar Duo

http://youtu.be/bw7JWO_U0V0

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

And in your dreams you can see yourself
As a prophet saving the world
The words from your lips
I just can’t believe you are such
A fool.

~~ Frank Zappa, “Oh No” ~~

Politicians. Dogma dogs. Snakeheads. Myrmidons, Pimps. Sleagles. (A newly coined word, to describe sleazy legal eagles, i.e., those lawyers who end up as politicians, or living up to the latest lawyer jokes, not a single one of which I’ve ever heard that wasn’t true as the day…. for most of them, anyway….) To my way of thinking, this list names the six categories of the human species responsible for the greatest part of the misery in this world… These are the real predators of our species, who prey almost exclusively upon their fellow man…. Whether they do so out of sociopathic egotism, misogynistic ignorance and fear, or deliberate choice of evil, these people have usurped human society for their own ends….

In the past 5000 years, these Asininnies, as I call them, have brought us all to the brink of extinction, a fate we cannot escape unless we figure out how to break the hold these assholes have on the resources of the planet, for their own benefit, at the expense of everyone else…. This is not a new viewpoint of the structure of our culture; our most ancient sages speak of the self-same issues, with the same degree of cluelessness as to how to stop them… For example, here is an observation from approximately 2600 years ago:

“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

These villainous pretenders to the name ‘human’, relatively few in number, compared to the power they wield, are aided in this predatory behavior by willing allies from within the ranks of the less bold, but, no less evil individuals, who act as their sycophants, giving service to the same ideals of selfishness, and personal gain, while pretending to serve the public good…. They do this by encouraging the less intelligent among us to buy into the delusion of their own special nature, to wit: religion, fostering the attitudes which also lead to nationalism, and the divisiveness that plagues mankind…. The weak, foolish, easily-seduced members of the public are promised they will be rewarded for their submission to authority, with the gift of eternal life, which, for some reason, they actually believe is within their grasp, despite all the obvious evidence to the contrary….

These hypocritical dogma dogs teach unwitting fools to give up their right to think for themselves, usually convincing them of this deliberate lie before they are able to think at all, in childhood, with scary tales of what will happen if they do not submit to the will of God… with more lies to describe the perils of eternal Hell, should they ever think for themselves…. If you need any proof of this assertion, well, it’s right out there where anyone can see it… to wit:

“In much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” — Old Testament — Ecclesiastes i, 18

Yet people continue to fall for the same old bullshit stories, because it plays into their laziness, and their need to see themselves as ‘special’, in a universe they do not comprehend, surrounded by fearful sounds and sights, all of which is too hard, and too scary, to try to figure out on their own…. So, they buy into the elitism of being “God’s children”, whether they call God Yahweh, or Allah, or Krishna, or Guan Yin, or any of a hundred other names humans have come up with to try to explain those things they don’t understand…. They do this because it saves them from having to use their minds for anything other than thinking up ways to cheat or steal from their fellows…. which is far easier than working….

I know this sounds somewhat like sour grapes, but, believe me, I don’t miss what I see others have in their faith, at all. Nor do I wish to give up what I know to be true. I have found this truth by gathering my own evidence, upon which I have based all my conclusions; I won’t give it up in order to buy into something that, as far as all the evidence shows, has no existence in the real world; not the one in which I live, anyway…. None of it makes any sense, and never has; it just doesn’t hang together, logically, and is NOT supported by the physical evidence that exists…. But, they never let up the pressure, with sentiments such as this:

“Be not faithless, but believing.” — John 20:27

Such obvious little gems of manipulation typically remind me of how one is treated when trying to buy a car…. You know, when the salesman says something to the effect of “Trust me! Would I lie to you?” I’m often tempted to answer them (both the car salesmen, and the dogma dogs, who try to sell me nonsense…), perfectly truthfully, with a simple “No, thank you. Yes, I’m certain you would.” But, then I think of how much I need the car…. So, I tend to work the salesmen with my own manipulations, to lower the price…. Hey, turnabout’s fair play, right? Right….

Well, perhaps it isn’t exactly honorable to engage in a battle of wits with unarmed persons, but, one has to live in the world, if not of it, so, I figure it’s a wash, as they would do unto me first, unless I did unto them first…. It’s a moral dilemma, I admit, but, I’m on my side, just like everyone else…. Unlike the dogma dogs, whose every word is designed to extend their control over the minds of their constituents, I try not to make others do my will without good cause, an attitude, and a courtesy which, I assure you, is not reciprocated by most of the world’s inhabitants…. Especially if any of them have had legal training, or are heavily dependent upon catechism for their moral state….

“If it weren’t for lawyers, I think we could have invented a universal symbolic representation of reality.” — Smart Bee

I’ve delivered my indictment, and have run out of steam…. Many will say it isn’t soon enough, but, we never listen to them, anyway, so. I’ll just bring this to a close here, and hope for the best…. If nothing else, I got all the anger and angst out far enough to provide me with a bit of peace for a time…. which is the entire purpose of this exercise….

Any of y’all, or any other folks who may drop in to read, who may find this to be new information, are encouraged to follow this line of thought to its logical conclusion, whereupon, you, or they, will be ready to take up arms, and try to help the rest of us kick the assholes to the curb, so we have at least an outside chance of surviving our own idiocy…

If not, well, I suggest you take the following piece of observation to heart, and, at the very least, begin to laugh at the assholes, thus showing them the respect they deserve…. Hell, it can’t hurt, and just may help….

“You have a mongrel perception of humor, nothing more; a multitude of you possess that. This multitude see the comic side of a thousand low-grade and trivial things — broad incongruities, mainly; grotesqueries, absurdities, evokers of the horse-laugh. The ten thousand high-grade comicalities which exist in the world are sealed from their dull vision. Will a day come when the race will detect the funniness of these juvenilities and laugh at them — and by laughing at them destroy them? For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon — laughter. Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution — these can lift at a colossal humbug — push it a little — weaken it a little, century by century; but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. You are always fussing and fighting with your other weapons. Do you ever use that one? No; you leave it lying rusting. As a race, do you ever use it at all? No; you lack sense and the courage.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910), “The Mysterious Stranger”

So be it….

gigoid has spoken….

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

This poet needs no introduction… All you have to do is read, and enjoy….

Ode

Bards of Passion and of Mirth,
Ye have left your souls on earth!
Have ye souls in heaven too,
Double lived in regions new?
Yes, and those of heaven commune
With the spheres of sun and moon;
With the noise of fountains wound’rous,
And the parle of voices thund’rous;
With the whisper of heaven’s trees
And one another, in soft ease.

Seated on Elysian lawns
Brows’d by none but Dian’s fawns;
Underneath large blue-bells tented,
Where the daisies are rose-scented,
And the rose herself has got
Perfume which on earth is not;
Where the nightingale doth sing
Not a senseless, tranced thing,
But divine melodious truth;
Philosophic numbers smooth;
Tales and golden histories
Of heaven and its mysteries.

Thus ye live on high, and then
On the earth ye live again;
And the souls ye left behind you
Teach us, here, the way to find you,
Where your other souls are joying,
Never slumber’d, never cloying.
Here, your earth-born souls still speak
To mortals, of their little week;
Of their sorrows and delights;
Of their passions and their spites;
Of their glory and their shame;
What doth strengthen and what maim.
Thus ye teach us, every day,
Wisdom, though fled far away.

Bards of Passion and of Mirth,
Ye have left your souls on earth!
Ye have souls in heaven too,
Double-lived in regions new!

~~ John Keats ~~

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

Here is an old-fashioned nine-star pearl, freshly picked, in the style in which they were first created. Each one will stand alone, as good advice, or a clear observation; together, they give us a blueprint for a Life, well-lived….

“I love to doubt as well as know.” — Dante

“Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 633

“He who is able to conquer others is powerful; he who is able to conquer himself is more powerful” — Lao Tzu

“A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.” — Jack London

“It is better not to live at all than to live disgraced.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Peleus, Frag. 445

“Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.” — Voltaire

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” — The Buddha

“The meaning of life is that it stops.” — Franz Kafka

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 in Essay on Death in The Prophet ~~

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

Today’s Pearl came together quite nicely…. Now, let’s see if it’s worth posting….. Well, that’s really not too shabby, I think. Of course, that is ME speaking, and I tend to be a bit loose in judging myself…. I figure that’s best, since the rest of the world tends to judge me by harsher standards, none of which make any particular sense to me…. SIGH…. Ah well, life does go on, until it doesn’t…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as nobody talks me out of it….

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….

This bear’s brain has been softened!….

Posted on November 21, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“We have met the enemy and they are us and you are me and we are all together”

~~ Walt Kelly, Lennon, and the Beatles ~~

Given the state of affairs in which most of us exist, it seems pointless to bother explaining my own particular brand of insanity; nobody would blink, or wail, or fall down in shock and awe. Of course, if my own oddities don’t cause any sort of public display of astonishment, beyond the occasional snort of disdain, or the random chortle at my discomfiture, (only present, I assure you, because it’s too damn early in the day for such philosophical discussions)…. well, then, I wouldn’t expect to astound my audience with tales of strange behavior on the part of our Beloved Ruling Class, or that of my own particular nemesis, the dogma dogs….

When I think of the centuries of progress we have lost by listening to these fools, it depresses me, deeply; no other human activity plays such a large part in holding us back, as does the delusion of a supernatural force at large in the universe that, according to those who buy into that sort of thing, has some sort of obsession with having us worship them, bend our will to them, and otherwise surrender much of our humanity in order to make this delusion happy…. Now, if you were offered that as a deal for a used car, would you take it? Would you make that deal? I don’t think so; we all know how much used car salesman have OUR interests at heart…. Tricky Dicky taught us that….

I’ve done it again, haven’t I? Ranting before I even wake up, it seems, as I am, just now, finally awake enough to take note of what my fingers have been up to the last few minutes…. It seems my sub-conscious mind is chewing on the subject of dogma dogs, and their deleterious effects on human culture, since first gaining popularity back in the early days of our civilization’s rise from living in caves to living in cities built of metal and brick… Not that this “rise” has taught most people to think any more efficiently than when their most complex need was where to find another animal to kill. Hell, most of the folks alive today wouldn’t last ten minutes if they had to feed themselves, if there was no Burger King nearby….

Ah well, I suppose it’s only natural for me to complain; I am, after all, a human, with the same faults and prejudices most of us fall prey to, with, perhaps, just a few less delusions than is usually the case. Some of us humans have learned to pay attention to that little voice that whispers to us when we are told something that challenges our understanding; most people give that up to avoid having to think, or make decisions for themselves about what to believe. Those of us who have decided not to engage in such weakness, unfortunately, don’t seem to be able to convince the rest of the world of how little they actually see, or understand…. Instead, the world trudges on toward its doom, blithely blind to their own danger, or their own part in creating that danger.

Having now completely lost all track of where we might be in this process, I think I’ll abandon all hope, and just go on with the rest of today’s Pearl…. There doesn’t seem to be much point in belaboring this point any further; I’m mostly preaching to the choir, anyway, I think; most of my Gentle Readers, I find, are of that part of humanity that doesn’t buy into the bullshit being tossed around by the BRC; it might be more effective if anyone who actually needed to know this stuff would stop in to read…. But, that probably wouldn’t work, anyway, as they’d just bail the first time I asked them to think, or to answer a question they don’t understand…. SIGH….

But, we’ve managed to get far enough down the page to allow me to get us out of here without further claptrap (wonderful word, that….), so, I’ll just turn this little wheel here, push this lever down, press this button, and, voilá, we’re outta here!…. Hold on to your loose packages, ffolkes, the turn here is a bit sharp….

Shall we Pearl?

“In the handbook, it says that most people ignore the strange and unusual; while I myself *am*… strange and unusual.” — BEETLEJUICE

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

I feel like a bit of political satire, with a dash of impropriety, and some well-earned snark…. in other words, let’s see what our old friend Russell Brand has been up to of late, shall we?….. He is one of the few people in the public eye who is actively proposing world-wide revolution against those who would kill us all in achieving their own ends…. Here is his interview on Letterman last month, with a number of other available videos listed at the You Tube page where the link leads…. Listen up, ffolkes, he’s telling it straight….

Russell Brand on David Letterman – October 13th 2014 – Full Interview

http://youtu.be/_9h7clmd6Vc

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

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live. It is asking other people to live as one wishes to live.” — Oscar Wilde

I’ve ranted already, filling up a great deal of the intro with my usual diatribe against organized religion, and the dogma dogs who would have us believe all that nonsense, so, I’ll spare you another one today, and proceed with an old-school pearl to serve the same purpose…. This one is, obviously, aimed at those foolish, but dangerous predators who prey upon the weak and gullible among us…. a group which sadly includes the greater portion of humanity….

Note, please. the first entry, which attempted to warn people against these liars and manipulators, is part of a work written long before the birth of Jesus Christ, the dogma dogs’ most frequent choice for their insane machinations….

“The Church hates a thinker like a criminal hates the police.” — Smart Bee

“To certain individuals of small minds and overweening ambition, there is no greater insult than to be proved wrong.” — Thomas H Dyer 1984

“People in general are equally horrified at hearing the Christian religion doubted, and at seeing it practiced.” — Samuel Butler, in “Samuel Butler’s Notebooks”

“Worship the gods, listen to their advice, but don’t lend them money.”– Smart Bee

“Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.” — Oscar Wilde “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young”

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Smart Bee is a bit testy this morning; these are the best I could find…. So, I’ll leave you with a short statement of my own advice when confronted with someone trying to get you to swallow their hook, line, and sinker…. to wit:

“Get a taste of religion. Bite a preacher!” — Smart Bee, with gigoid’s full agreement

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

Some poems, and poets, need no introduction, nor adornment…. Enjoy!

I Speak Not

I speak not, I trace not, I breathe not thy name;
There is grief in the sound, there is guilt in the fame;
But the tear that now burns on my cheek may impart
The deep thoughts that dwell in that silence of heart.
Too brief for our passion, too long for our peace,
Were those hours – can their joy or their bitterness cease?
We repent, we abjure, we will break from our chain, –
We will part, we will fly to – unite it again!
Oh! thine be the gladness, and mine be the guilt!
Forgive me, adored one! – forsake if thou wilt;
But the heart which is thine shall expire undebased,
And man shall not break it – whatever thou may’st.
And stern to the haughty, but humble to thee,
This soul in its bitterest blackness shall be;
And our days seem as swift, and our moments more sweet,
With thee at my side, than with worlds at our feet.
One sigh of thy sorrow, one look of thy love,
Shall turn me or fix, shall reward or reprove.
And the heartless may wonder at all I resign –
Thy lips shall reply, not to them, but to mine.

~~ George Gordon, Lord Byron ~~

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

Since Smart Bee is a bit out of sorts, we’ll go with a choice from the archives…. This pearl was first posted on 7/13/2012, though, to look at it, you’d think it was made to go with the rant section above….
——————-

Here then is an old-school pearl…. Strung together, each of these distinct ideas blend to become one scathing exposé of society today…. Just what that exposé consists of is, of course, left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…..

“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

“Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

“What do you mean, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch?” *YOU* are the free lunch!” — Solomon Short

On a sidewalk near Portland State University someone wrote `Trust Jesus’, and someone else wrote `But Cut the Cards’. — Smart Bee

Those Jesus Freaks
Well, they’re friendly but
The shit they believe
Has got their minds all shut.

~~ Frank Zappa, “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing” ~~

“Honesty isn’t any policy at all; it’s a state of mind or it isn’t honesty.” — Eugene L’Hote

“Apes evolved from Creationists!” — Smart Bee

Well, there you have it…. perhaps a bit less scathing than sardonic, but attractively presented, if nothing else, eh? Don’t forget to offer a cut to the player on your right before you deal the cards ….

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

Well, I’ve done it again, Ollie…. There’s no going back now, and, since I never intended to do that, anyway, we can proceed to close this out with only minor guilt, which, I’m happy to say, I gave up years ago…. We all need a hobby, right? Right…. On that note, I’m outta here, ffolkes…. See y’all tomorrow….

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….

gigoid

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

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Tag Archives: Frank Zappa

Seven good reasons….

Casting the runes unnerves some people….

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