Ffolkes,
~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero ~~
— (106-43 B.C.) Roman Orator, poet, statesman– De Amicitia (44 B.C.) —
I envy, a bit, the luck this photographer had to catch these two in such a revealing posture; it almost appears as if they are actually relating in some way, or, if nothing else, the bear is giving a “stank eye” to the gutsy bird…. wondering if it’s worth the effort to try to snatch it up as a post-tea-pre-supper snack…. I don’t know, though, he/she looks pretty comfy. Plus, who knows, the two could be best buds….
The picture is one of a type I normally don’t like to keep in my comp, not because it’s a bad shot, or belongs to someone else, but, because I really don’t like the whole idea of zoos…. I enjoy the animals, but, seeing them in cages does something to my heart, every time, especially some of the more intelligent predators, who suffer greatly when caged, such as mountain lions, and, yes, bears…
The saddest creature I’ve ever seen in my life was a poor Crescent Bear at the L.A. Zoo, many years ago…. At the age of about 11, I stood & watched it, in horrified fascination, for hours, as it spent the entire day outside its cavern, pacing a 10-step line in front of the door, turning 180º on its two hind legs, then pacing back…. back and forth, back and forth, with a manic look in its eyes, occasionally giving a half-moan, half-crying voicing of its misery as it turned around…. The poor animal was, obviously, neurotic, more than half-insane with grief and pain, from being confined, and made to act against its every instinct, just so people, whom it fears and would not be near in the wild, unless forced, can stand where they are safe from the bear, to ogle it, until throwing garbage at it, to see it dance, giving it no respect, no dignity, and no quality of life….
People, believing in their self-given, egotistical, delusional mandate as the Lords of Creation, think nothing at all about how being caged feels to the animals… or, if they do, they manage to adopt one of the many, easily supported rationalizations for doing so, imprisoning them anyway…. Can you think of a more miserable existence on this planet, than to be a polar bear, living in a cage in Brazil, or India, during one of their summer heat waves? The old saw about the animals being pampered, are well-taken care of, and much safer and happier than in the wild, is merely the human’s delusional system having its joke on reality…. at the expense of some of the most beautiful, free creatures on this world…
So, I try to keep and view animal pictures that aren’t from zoos; unfortunately, I too have rationalized at times, to keep pictures that are good portraits, that show the animal’s beauty, or spirit, while trying to avoid getting parts of the cages in the picture.. This one is from yesterday’s SFGATE Day In Pictures feature at sfgate.com…. a site that is getting so loaded down with ads and video crap, it will actually slow down your computer, by filling up the internet cache in no time at all…. so, if you go view it, be aware you may need to perform basic maintenance afterward….
Enough ranting in the intro…. though, to be honest, this isn’t so much a rant, as another indictment, of human nature…. about which I shall say no more, except to comment thus: I often wonder what will happen if there actually IS a God, and we are made to take responsibility for the way in which we have demonstrated only the baser side of our nature in our dealings with the creatures with whom we share the planet…. I have a feeling that there are a lot of people, expecting to be passed through the Pearly Gates, who will, instead, be trying to figure out why it is so damn HOT in heaven….
Mankind, for reasons having to do with his false sense of entitlement, has shown nothing but a form of species chauvinism for our entire history, without ever learning to question their own perverted outlook… without any possible, reasonable justification for such delusional thinking…. My suggestion? Send all the animals back to where they belong, and put the people in the cages….
So be it…. gigoid has spoken….
Shall we Pearl?…..
“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.” — Albert Einstein
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Due to…. Oh, hell… I was going to try to be discrete, using formal language to disguise how SHITTY I currently feel, but, fuck it. I’m still experiencing vertigo whenever I move my head too fast; it’s not getting old, it IS old. Since I can barely sit up without effort, ranting, or even pearling is out of the question…. Fortunately, yesterday, in dealing with the same issue, I managed to sit down a number of times for a few minutes, & throw together most of today’s Pearl ahead of time…. Even so, ranting was out of the question, so, here is one from a couple years back, not really a rant, but, with the same general cause, and effect…. Enjoy!….
From May 15, 2012:
Here is a reverse pearl…. instead of a quote, or two, and my discussion of the subject, here are four excellent pearls, all of which I have previously discussed; there is really no need to write more about them, as my opinion is well-documented…. Instead, just read them all, in the order presented, and note how accurate a picture it paints of the current political scene in this country…. they clearly demonstrate, or at least highlight, how our own failure as citizens of a democracy has contributed to the position in which we now find ourselves….
“There is no such thing as security. There never has been.” — Germaine Greer
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
— C. S. Lewis
“It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives… When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.” — Dorothy Thompson, American journalist, author (1894-1961)
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” — H. L. Mencken
I was watching one of my favorite movies last night, “The American President” and one of the lines reminded me of just how far we have come from the dream our founding fathers had for us…. from the speech at the end of the movie, the President says, “I assure you, Bob Rumson (read: Mitt Romney) has no interest in solving your problems. He is interested in only two things; making you afraid of it, and telling you who to blame for it.”
If we elect a fool into the highest office in the land, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. And me? I insist on only being afraid of what I choose to be afraid of, and what the political pundits would have me be afraid of is just an illusion…. another of the lies, at the creation of which they are very facile and experienced…. stay alert folks….
“Liberty don’t work as good in practice as it does in speeches.” — Will Rogers
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With the above setting the tone, I believe we’ll go with something from this gentleman….
it was on the 2nd floor on Coronado Street
I used to get drunk
and throw the radio through the window
while it was playing, and, of course,
it would break the glass in the window
and the radio would sit there on the roof
still playing
and I’d tell my woman,
“Ah, what a marvelous radio!”
the next morning I’d take the window
off the hinges
and carry it down the street
to the glass man
who would put in another pane.
I kept throwing that radio through the window
each time I got drunk
and it would sit there on the roof
still playing-
a magic radio
a radio with guts,
and each morning I’d take the window
back to the glass man.
I don’t remember how it ended exactly
though I do remember
we finally moved out.
there was a woman downstairs who worked in
the garden in her bathing suit,
she really dug with that trowel
and she put her behind up in the air
and I used to sit in the window
and watch the sun shine all over that thing
while the music played.
~~ Charles Bukowski ~~
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“I don’t purr – I don’t beep – I ain’t cute!” — gigoid
Actually, someone else made this up; it does, however, describe me with disturbing accuracy, so, I’m laying claim to it, until I do find out who said it first, whereupon I’ll share that, then go eliminate them from this plane of existence, so I can keep it…. Yesterday, I spent a lot of time down, and while up, didn’t feel like surfing, or doing much of anything… but, I did manage a few minutes here and there, to collect pearls for today’s post, even if I didn’t know at the time how they’d be utilized…
It’s a trick I learned back in the early days of ECR, & even back to the original gigoid’s folly, that has helped before, when I run out of stuff to quote, and SB is being fractious, and/or I’m not up to much writing…. This one came out pretty well, as they are mostly just observations, and statements of reality from different viewpoints….. Enjoy, ffolkes, this one won’t really stretch the mind so much as soothe it… Watch your step though, it’s a nine-star pearl, so, there are extra thoughts required to get to any of the points that may be lurking within….
“Jehovah is an alien and still threatens this planet!” — Smart Bee, making gigoid chuckle
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.” — Epictetus
“Knowledge of divine things for the most part, as Heraclitus says, is lost to us by incredulity.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Coriolanus
“…there can be no public or private virtue unless the foundation of action is the practice of truth.” — George Jacob Holyoake
“Men are even lazier than they are timorous, and what they fear most is the troubles with which any unconditional honesty and nudity would burden them.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
“A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.” — Knights of Pythagoras
“Don’t wait for someone to take you under their wing. Find a good wing and climb up underneath it.” — Frank C. Bucaro
“A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.” — Ingrid Bergman
“Oh, well, I guess this is just going to be one of those lifetimes.” — Smart Bee
Lovely…. I love when a plan comes together….
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So be it…. Not only is that the best I can do, it’s all I can do…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid, the dubious
gigoid 