Pike staffs with curlicues….

Ffolkes,

“Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.”

~~ Franklin P. Jones ~~

Luna 2015


Luna, 12/25/2015

Image found at https://europasicewolf.wordpress.com/author/europasicewolf/


Hajime…. I’m unsure as to why eight hours sleep results in awakening if a foul mood; it’s foul enough I don’t give a shit. Everybody ELSE in the world, today, will just have to deal with it, because, I don’t intend to. For some reason, I woke up with absolutely no patience; not for foolishness, not for rudeness, not even for cat nonsense. Moreover, this time, I am NOT going to be the one making any fucking adjustments. Whoever crosses my path will act with perfect rationality, or they WILL pay a price for not doing so in my presence….

That out of the way, I’ll note today’s effort won’t be much of one, anyway…. I spent much of yesterday working on the no-doubt excessively wordy rant you’ll see today, but, it’s a pretty important one, to me, so, read it anyway, ‘kay? I worked on it pretty hard, even so far as to re-blog another bloggers most excellent piece as part of the lead-in to our subject matter today…. I guess the theme ended up being “how to fix things, or not” which is about as murky and unclear as I can make it… Sorry, not in a mood to be anything but straight-line. In fact, I’m done here; let’s get to it….

Shall we Pearl?….

Cat: Ethereal music wreathed in mystery.

~~ Bastet Bee ~~


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mozart2

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart


I’m in a rotten space, as I’ve noted. One of the few pieces of music tolerable at all are these two symphonies, by the man I consider the most talented musical genius mankind has produced, thus far. Don’t care if anyone feels otherwise; in this mood, this is the only thing that can bring me any peace, so, if you don’t appreciate classical music, you may move on to the ranting section, where you will be encouraged to use the mind you possess for its intended purpose…. See you there, if I can manage not to get arrested before I get there….


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Mozart
Symphonies 40 & 41

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le penseur-rodin

Le Penseur ~ The Thinker

August Rodin

“Never frighten a little man.
He’ll kill you.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

~~ from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love” ~~


At first look, this short, pithy assertion about human nature by The Eldest may not seem particularly apt, nor deep enough to warrant a picture of Le Penseur to begin an examination of such a complex subject…. No worries, mates; it’s much, much deeper than it appears, and, I’m about to explain why…. (For those readers who don’t know why I call Lazarus by that title, ask in a comment, & I’ll explain)

Since the first of our species, long ago, before any modern human can even comprehend, first picked up a rock or stick, to defend itself against an attack by a predator, or, even, another of its own relatively peaceful species when not aroused to violence, (all of which, after all, is a natural function of life on Earth before technology…,), and, by virtue of possessing a weapon, killed his/her antagonist, the human imagination has turned its power to the improvement of the stick, and/or the rock, as a weapon, and, to the various methods of killing other creatures, whether predator or prey, upon which it fastened, as our primary means of fulfilling its natural function, of creation…

We have spent the intervening millenia in creation, mostly along those lines, improving both our weapons of death, and, the use of our imagination, to give free rein to the most vicious side of our animal nature… We became the planet’s most efficient predator, so much more of a killing machine than any other, almost NONE  of our competitors are left, but for the power of Nature itself, which our imagination continues to attempt to control, to turn the very nature of Reality to its own vicious purposes, to the detriment of not only all the other animals and other life forms here, but, to the entire ecosystem, of which we are only a part… In short, we are so intent on the achievement of our own foolish desires, we are killing ourselves…. Stupid is as stupid does, it seems, is a truer representation of Reality than we knew….

If we are capable of viewing our species’ history in this light, the above statement takes on new meaning; the most dangerous human is one who fears…. There have been many sages throughout our history who, in contrast to those who pursue predation as their means of survival, have pointed out the folly of such avarice based upon ignorance and fear, and, of the necessity of learning about the universe, rather than fearing it, as we do…. Most people, because of the fear they feel, are given little chance to ever USE the mind with which we are equipped; from birth, they are taught to fear… to fear God, to fear other people, to fear reprisal of any kind….

The other side of that counterfeit coin is the promise of reward (i.e., the removal of fear), as well as the promise of ‘immortality’, which is, as is eminently clear, merely the province of the Universe as a whole… All of the individual PARTS of that Universe, in Reality, die, and change form into something else…. They, and everything that exists in Reality, ‘die’, and are ‘born’ again, as a different type of energy/matter…. Matter becomes energy, energy becomes matter, in a duet, a dance of Life and Death, through all of Eternity. Or, as much as we can perceive in this form.

That much is plainly visible to the simplest mind, as the proof is visible, in plain sight, in everything we witness in this consciousness we call Life…. This means, of course, the reward promised is fake, for each and every person is already immortal, as a part of the Eternal NOW, in motion through time, moving without cease, until it is destroyed, thus changing form….

One of the worst factors of this approach to Life the majority of our species has chosen, whether consciously, or not, is the sense of false entitlement, and, assumption of superiority which is characteristic of those who ascribe to any such philosophy…. It is particularly egregious, as well as culturally embedded, in the male members of humanity, who have, for all the time since we first became a species of killer apes, have abused their naturally greater physical strength to abuse and intimidate the female of the species, believing ‘might makes right’, no matter the resulting pain, or death, it may cause to others…. Only the wishes and desires of the strong, in their minds, have any validity….

I’ve often used the following meme, from ex-President Carter, to illustrate one of the ways this attitude has manifested throughout history, and, in truth, before we started keeping it in written form. It is a very clear summary of the issue, from the point of view of an intelligent, well-educated man, who was NOT one of those men who feel as most others do….

jimmy sez

    Before finishing this post, I had decided to re-blog the piece of work located at the link you see just below…. I’d like my Gentle Readers here today to take a few moments to read it, if they haven’t already, before resuming this narrative…. In my opinion, the story this woman has conceived is, absolutely, the most powerful, and, the most logically likely scenario for the familiar tale to have occurred, in true Reality, as opposed to what everyone today has been taught to believe…. In my mind, this is, most probably, the actual way Mary became known as the Mother of God…..

Be warned; it is a powerful tale, and not to be taken lightly; if you cannot disengage from your feelings while reading, you WILL weep before you are done…..

 

    Ffolkes, this has to stop. The men of the human race are killing each other, and all of us; raping women, and children; and, are, in general, strutting around the planet acting as if they are the only ones who matter at all…. They are not only dead wrong, but, they, in their extreme ignorance, blinded by the lust for power, and control over others, (which exists only to assuage their own fears of inadequacy), are in the process of killing us all; a species which does not act in concert to survive, will never do so… That particular rule of existence is written right in the basic roots of Universal Reality in this plane of existence….

Kindness, compassion, love, and honor are what characterizes my view of a Man; I see very few of our species living up to that standard…. The most painful irony, and, most painful truth is, most of the men alive on this planet are too ignorant, too weak, too afraid, and too wrapped in themselves to ever realize it….. The man of honor is no longer the majority, in this country, or, in the entire world, I’m afraid. Instead, they exist, only, as a rarity….

Pathetic is what they are; I guess it’s almost time for me to go hunting….

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.


Dont keep calm

    It seems gigoid has more to say….

Yesterday, after writing the above, I read a blog, written by a Palestinian woman I regard as one of the most intelligent humans on the planet; she is burdened by not being free to use her full intelligence, simply by being born in a place that places little regard in women, at all, and, are actively repressive to any who display such power of mind, in public, and mostly, in private….

Moreover, she is trapped in a country which is occupied by another, and must survive, protect her family, and keep herself safe in what is, essentially, a war zone, called Palestine, in Gaza, next to the zone occupied by the Israelis, at whose bloody hands the city has become a festering cauldron of murder, repression, and, quite simply, inhuman atrocity, against an entire culture…. all in the Name of God.

She wrote a long piece in her native language, which Google could only HOPE to come close to translating. However, it was clear enough to me she had written her usual brilliant analysis, with her own reactions, of a recent meeting with a man and woman she considers as mentors in rational Islamic thought. While trying to make sense of the translation, it occurred to me, she was also trapped by the same trap as every other woman, man, and child on Earth, to wit: she has been labeled…..

All of us bear labels; it is human nature to assign a word to another, in order to place them into the proper slot in their mind’s world view… We get so wrapped up in labels, we confuse our real selves with what we have been labeled as being, though it may not have any real relevance to what is in our hearts and minds….

Names, places, religions, skin colors, genders, hair/clothing/body/life styles; we all receive them, and, usually, accept them as true without thinking about it, since it fits into our preconceived notions of self, or others….

And, it’s all another fucking illusion, ffolkes…. To comment on her post, I wrote a more prosaic, somewhat shorter version of the following, which I have decided to entitle….

Manifesto

I was born in the USA;
it is a place on the Earth.

I am not an American.

I am a human.

If I MUST be labeled an American,
then,
I must also consider myself
to be :

Palestinian,
Egyptian,
Israeli,
Chinese,
 Russian,
Irish,
Belgian,
Kenyan,
Tibetan,
Afghani,
AND,
every other country
in the world.

If I am anything,
I am a citizen of Earth,
of Terra,
our Home.

As long as humans regard themselves any other way,
as citizens of different countries,
as proponents of different religions,
as possessors of different colored skins,
or different genders,
or,
as ANYTHING other than a human being,
FIRST and LAST,
we will never learn to make peace with each other.

Applying a label, of any sort, to a human,
is to place limits
on what they can be, or think, or do….

Accepting such labels
as truth
leads only
to death,
without honor,
without hope,
without peace.

Freedom,
true freedom,
has no limits;
there are no labels
among the free.

Humans don’t need
a creator,
money,
fear,
or,
violence.

Humans need
compassion,
kindness,
love,
honor,
and,
each other.

Simple logic,
and absolute truth
about human nature.

You won’t find it
in any version of a Bible,
or of the Quran,
or any other book.

You can only find
this absolute truth
in your own
heart and mind.

~~ gigoid ~~

1/3/2016


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Comedy_Tragedy

Future Shocked:

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

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

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

We all weep now…..

~~ gigoid ~~

7/22/2013

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Life at Large, Redux

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

“It’s amazing how much one person can do,
little by little,
over time.”

~~ Worker Bee ~~

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

“There are no mistakes.
The events we bring upon ourselves,
no matter how unpleasant,
are necessary
in order to learn what we need to learn;
whatever steps we take,
they’re necessary
to reach the places we’ve chosen to go.”

~~ Richard Bach, The Bridge Across Forever ~~

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“The chief cause of human error
is to be found in prejudices picked up in childhood.”

~~ René Descartes ~~

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

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”

~~ Flannery O’Connor ~~

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“A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa,
but people still line up to see the original.”

~~ Louis Armstrong ~~

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

“I do not believe in the creed professed
by the Jewish church,
by the Roman church,
by the Greek church,
by the Turkish church,
by the Protestant church,
nor by any church that I know of.
My own mind is my own church.”

~~ Thomas Paine ~~

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“Children are remarkable
for their intelligence and ardour,
for their curiosity,
their intolerance of shams,
the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.”

~~ Aldous Huxley ~~

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

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

~~ Soren Kierkegaard ~~

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

“Fortune rarely accompanies anyone to the door.”

~~ Balthasar Gracian ~~


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It’s done, & I’m still in a foul mood…. I’m gonna go play with Leelu, & see if I can find a bit of peace inside…. See y’all tomorrow; I’m pretty sure, if I can keep myself from going out into the BBR, I’ll still be here to do so…. Time will tell, the tattletale….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Tidy bonuses on a tiny table….

Ffolkes,

“It is useless to close the gates against ideas; they overleap them.”

~~ Metternich ~~

avenue of the americas

Avenue of the American Dream

Note the two signs….


Hajime…. No, don’t worry; I’m not going to start off with a rant. In fact, I looked below, & there’s already a good long one down there, so, no worries… the intro is safe…. I remember this one; it leaked out a few days ago, & I’ve been waiting to the right chance to use it…. It’a relatively long, but, it’s on a subject on which I feel strongly, so, I don’t  care. Y’all, as always, have the choice to read or not, but, I hope you do, because it’s all stuff that needs to be heard, by more than just y’all…. so, spread it around…. Just the subject is fine; I became a bit phantasmagorical at the end of this one; I got so worked up over the subject, I indulged myself with some dreams, so to speak….

We all have dreams; mine, like all else I do, are pretty strange, I’d guess, in comparison to many others; these are probably fever dreams, but, nonetheless enjoyable, on a private, personal level, for all that…. Now I’ve successfully told you nothing, about nothing, in more words than are, not merely necessary, but, desirable, by any stretch of the imagination. Nothing new there, right?

Hmm…. not much else to cover…. I did have a great time, yesterday, with my kids and grandson; I’m feeling the price today, physically, but, every minute is worth anything I must go through later, so, no complaints….. Can’t share pix, naturally; too many weird people trolling the Net for photos of children, especially good looking kids, to share with other perverts…. I may not LOOK cynical, but, believe me, I’ve seen the worst of human nature (I’ll speak of that below….) and it’s victims are NOT going to be from my family, if I can help it….

Enough blather, I think. I’ve wandered around, saying little to nothing, to little purpose other than to bring us here. We’re here, so, my work here is done…. Damn good thing, too, as I’m now fresh out of any ideas for what to do next…. I think Id best go find a video for today…. See y’all at the oyster beds; you’re on your own today for getting there…. You can just follow me if you like…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago.If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” — Edward O. Wilson

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stevie guitarplayerdotcom

Image from guitarplayer.com via Google Images


I feel like rocking out today…. Nobody can help with that better than this performer…. Enjoy, ffolkes….


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Stevie Ray Vaughan
Live at Montreux ~ 1985

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Dont keep calm

    This rant, a long one, didn’t just leak out; actually, it was all I could do to keep it this short, as I tend to get a bit worked up about this…. It’s fresh in the last week, and probably could use some punching up…. But, what you see, today, is what you get…. If you become uncomfortable when asked to think, or feel about injustice, well, better skip to the poem….

Plague of Evil


In this blog, I speak of a number of issues which are a part of human society/culture, most of which are discussions of how poor a record in embracing human rights, and/or, living up to the twin concepts of kindness and compassion, our species has exhibited throughout history…. One subject, which often gets neglected, for reasons we will discuss, is the abuse of women, and children, and, even some men; in short, the continued presence in our society of the abhorrent practice of human slavery, generally for the purposes of the sex-for-sale business, but, often enough, just plain slavery.

I refer, of course, to a huge number of corporately sponsored factories, farms, or other businesses, in various places around the world, who force children, women, and men, to work for pennies a day, to provide shoes, clothing, and/or luxury items, none of which any of them earn enough to afford… Hell, they don’t make enough to pay for much of anything on what they are paid for working 12 to 20 hours a day…. This, believe it or not, is the sole purpose of “Free Trade Law”….. That, however, is a rant for another day…

To my mind, the abuse of women and children in the sex trade is, perhaps, the most significant, as well as the least apparent, (certainly the least ‘admitted issue) of all the forms of slavery practiced by that portion of humankind.  In my mind, these people are subhuman, without any trace of any of the higher ideals, or evidence of ethical/moral beliefs of any kind, which are embraced by most of humanity…. In essence, these human predators, who have a completely false sense of their own importance in the universe, are without any morals, or ethics, and have given up their souls for the sake of an illusion of adequacy, unfounded, yet, enforced with violence which is never admitted, or, held up for approbation by society…. Pond scum is the nicest thing to call them, in my estimation.

These men (though there are women who subscribe to these sick, illusory beliefs as well…), believe women, or any other human they can intimidate and place under control, are property, less-than-human, and not worth any guilt or any sort of disapproval from a conscience; they have none. In my mind, this places them in MY category of those humans whose death, at the hands of another human, is NOT an unethical event, in any fashion…. If they die, screaming in pain and terror, so much the better, for they are completely without any redeeming value, as a human, or as a member of human society…. In fact, death is, in truth, too good for them; to give them a taste of how they treat others would be as satisfying for me, as long as that taste ended up poisoning them, slowly, so I could watch them go through the agony they deserve, in this life, or any other….

I’ve been writing about this subject for some time, after coming across a couple of blogs, written by women who had miraculously freed themselves from a life of such slavery…. Both had been abducted, or forced into prostitution at a young age, not being able to break free before the age of at least 30, spending more than half their lives as slaves to a series of evil men and women, forced to debase themselves on a daily basis for years, and years, and years….

For some time after coming across their stories, I felt so much rage, at the misogyny coating every level of or society, I began to plot ways to start removing the ‘snakeheads’ (the commonest term for those at the top of the chain in that trade….) from this plane of existence, one by one, personally…. In short, I began to dream of killing men who spend their lives abusing the rest of humanity, especially women and children, both of whom are their prey…. Using all the weapons at my disposal,  I would stalk the streets of the cities, removing them from life, until it became an underground certainty that pursuing such a course of business was a sure path to death….

Of course, to fulfill such a vengeful dream, I’d have to become like them, and give up certain of my ethical standards, in order to complete my chosen duty…. Y’know what? It took me a very long time, and is still not a settled question in my mind/heart; the urge to kill pimps and snakeheads is just as strong today as it was four years ago, when the depth and breadth of the problem, (which covers the entire world; every city, every country is guilty of NOT doing ANYTHING significant to address this issue….) first came to my knowledge, and understanding. I still argue with myself often; I must, as there are times I feel so strongly, it’s all I can do, to NOT tuck away my five knives, three ropes, my bow, and staff, then, toddle off to Oakland, or San Francisco, to go hunting men…

Believe me, I really, really want to… I have two sisters, and if either of them had been taken in such a way, I’d still be out there, killing. As it is, all I can do is write about it, to help vent enough of the rage so I can keep from losing control…. But, I have to say, I often wonder why I DO stop myself; nobody else even THINKS about it, as far as I can see……

At this point, even writing isn’t reducing the anger; I’m THIS close (holds up thumb and index finger, touching…) to just saying, ‘fuck it’… I’m 65 and NOTHING IS BEING DONE to either stop the trade, or, rescue its victims…. which is a part of how our misogynist society works, and has, for 10,000 years, and more, back to when the first asshole with a dick bigger than his brain, raped a woman, and nobody cared, or looked away, or watched in approval…. Even the stupidest idiot in the world cannot deny the evidence of this issue, yet, no one ever does anything but talk…. as I am limited by age to doing….

Moreover, not only does government, composed primarily of, and for, men, NOT act on this, or even acknowledge it unless confronted, but, even the churches, the so-called proctors of morals in society do less than the government. In fact, they are worse, for they pretend to care for their constituents equally, especially for the weaker and more vulnerable, such as children, women, and the elderly…. Here is what a former US President, who was, without doubt, the most devoutly Christian of all our elected leaders, ever, had to say on the subject…. I figure he ought to know, having studied Scripture, deeply, through his entire life….

jimmy sez

    Nor is the hypocrisy of these Dogma Dogs (as I like to call them) limited to women; what group in society, by clear evidence, as reported in the news for all my life, as well as by my own observations, and conversations with many of those who teach the delusions held by most of humanity, has made a consistent, centuries-long practice of abusing children, as well as women, to a degree no other organization, or entity of any kind, has ever approached… not even within shouting distance?

I am willing wager anyone at all, any amount, or deed, or, third-born child, if they wish, (Just kidding, ffolkes… only had 2; no more coming, ever….)(maybe I’m calming a bit; that was almost funny), they care to bet, if they can prove, or even suggest any evidence that can be confirmed, that the clergy, especially that of the perverted “celibates”, (What a ridiculous idea! How can anyone, with more than 3 neurons to use, even THINK such an act/habit/intentional lie, is either natural, or, healthy for any creature, much less one claiming humanity?), who claim the title of Priest, is NOT guilty of crimes against their own flocks, more than any other entity you can name…. It’s not only children who are abused by the church in such fashion, either….

It disgusts me; all of them. Pimps, snakeheads, priests who molest or break their vows (which they usually treat as ‘suggestions’….), politicians who lie so often it has to be a congenital issue, and is certainly a mental issue, known as sociopathy…. They’re all assholes, they’re all shitheads, or, any other vulgar name you care to suggest; scum of the earth is nearly right, but, doesn’t give an adequate feel for just how evil these wastes of DNA actually are, in reality…..

I’m not done, but, I’m through for now….. In closing, I will merely say, if you start seeing headlines, of a mysterious number of deaths associated with people, primarily male, who are known to be active in the sex trade, or, a strange number of men who had been convicted or accused of rape, or other abuse of women, but, walked free…. Well, it’s entirely possible that, shortly before the reports began, I stopped writing, and disappeared from sight…. & you’ll know I lost control….

It will be either that, or, the NSA, or some other fascist, paranoid group of assholes, caught me off-guard, & disappeared me…. Or, more likely,  came looking for me, and found me already gone….

It makes for a good dream, anyway…. and, if it happens, I may lose my ethical standards in one area, but, in another, I will be completely content with my karmic account…. Duty is as we choose it to be; I choose honor, which is rooted in compassion, and, when carried out with the proper attitude, as confirmed by reason, and experience, in kindness.

So be it…..

Dont keep calm

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

Comedy_Tragedy

    Today’s poem is one written not long after ending my 35 year hiatus from trying to write ANY poetry…. It’s not bad; I was in a rather tough state at that point in time, with lots of pain & anguish due to living on the edge of poverty, for the first time in MANY years…. so, it get a bit fusty & hopeless…. No worries, it all passed, & ends on a good note…..

A Seasonal Approach

Absolute stillness grips a frozen field,
anticipating dawn with such patient yield
morning burgeoning in dark winter’s hold
brings promise of tales yet to be told.

Lengthening days of pale sun unto night
slowly tell of time’s subversive flight
bringing such original songs of natural fire
with melodies complex in casual attire.

The months are certain they will always win
it is just the way it has always been.
None may argue, nor yet slow life down
Nor dim the eternal beauty of nature’s gown.

Winter evolves from fall into spring,
sending flocks and hearts ever awing.
Summer follows suit, t’other way ’round
Spring into fall, often without a sound.

Life is meant to be lived, beginning to end
choices abound, and change can be a friend.
Yielding with grace to reality’s compelling ploy
fills our plain existence with clean, honest joy.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/2/2012


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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Observations on Life at Large

***********

“To try may be to die, but not to care is never to be born.”

~~ William Redfield ~~

***********

“I haven’t a clue as to how my story will end.
But that’s all right.
When you set out on a journey and night covers the road,
you don’t conclude that the road has vanished.
And how else could we discover the stars?”

~~ Unknown Bee ~~

***********

“YES… LOVE IS A CONTACT SPORT…”

~~ il NOEGO ~~

***********

“Euripides was wont to say, “Silence is an answer to a wise man.””

~~ Plutarch — Of Bashfulness ~~

***********

“It isn’t so astonishing the number of things I can remember,
as the number of things I can remember that aren’t so.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

***********

“In the fight between you and the world, back the world.”

~~ Frank Zappa ~~

***********

“Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear.
Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together.
Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the  unsophisticated
deplore these formalities as “empty,” “meaningless,” or “dishonest,” and scorn to use them.
No matter how “pure” their  motives,
they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.”

~~ Robert A. Heinlein,  “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long” ~~

***********

“Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished:
if you’re alive, it isn’t.”

~~ Richard Bach ~~

***********

“When learned men begin to use their reason,
then I generally discover that they haven’t got any.”

~~ G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 11-7-1908 ~~

***********

“A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility”

~~ Aristotle ~~

***********

“There will come a time when you will discover a thing called loneliness.
But remember life’s cruelest irony:
The time you feel most lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself.”

~~ Douglas Coupland ~~


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

It’s done. Today, that’s the best I can say about it, as I haven’t gone back over it to look at how it hangs together…. As they say, in some places across the big pond to the East, c’est la fucking vie…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, most likely with a bit more pizazz…. whatever that is….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


All you can do is all you can do….

Ffolkes,

“… denn da ist keine Stelle, die dich nicht sieht. Du musst dein Leben andern.”

“… for there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life.”

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~

~~ “Archaic Torso of Apollo” ~~

small congress

A Small Congress


A bit of housekeeping… Yesterday, when I wrote the lines wherein I wished all my Gentle Readers a happy season, I, apparently, was not completely mindful, as I described my words as a Winter Wish…. It SHOULD have been a Winter/Summer Wish; by forgetting the Nature of Reality’s Duality, I inadvertently withheld the wish for the many (read: several….) Gentle Readers who reside in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is NOT winter, but, summer….. (thanks to the 23.4º tilt of Earth’s axis, in relation to the plane of the ecliptic)…. (Trust me on this…. It’s true….)….

To all of those wonderful friends, in India, Australia, or, wherever you live south of the Equator, my bad…. Sorry ’bout that; everything I said yesterday was sent to you as well… Believe it….

A few days before Christmas, I went back in time, as suggested by a link below the day’s Pearl, at the bottom of the page, to July 26, 2013. I re-read the Pearl for that day, & I liked it well enough to use it today, in toto, but for the poem, which was used a short time ago here. Below this paragraph, written today, you’ll find the Pearl from that date, as it appeared, but, with a different poem, so as to refrain from repetition too often…. Pearls at that time didn’t have a video section, which evolved later, in 2014, so, no video today; sorry…. Not many quotations in the pearls, either; it’s all pretty serious/somber material…. Nevertheless, I hope y’all enjoy it as much as I did….

Plus, posting this gave me a whole extra day to work on the next Pearl(s) you’ll see…. Bonus, for me, and you, as I’ll have more time to make it right…. Here then, is my version of a re-blog, but, of my own work… Works for me…. See y’all at the bottom of the page….

From 7/26/2013:

Ffolkes,

As some of y’all may have noted, yesterday’s Pearl was disrupted by Reality, whereas today’s will be characterized by Fantasy, or a reasonable facsimile thereof….The most pertinent item I recall seems to be the unexpected increase in planetary gravity that hit about 2 PM yesterday…. Didn’t you notice? It seemed quite significant to me;  I had been struggling all day to keep upright, as the normally severe sucking power of our planet pulled at me constantly, no matter what I was doing…. sitting, standing, walking, typing, driving, all of it seemed harder, as if I were swimming through heavy syrup, or wearing extra bags of sand or something…. By eight o’clock at night, I was exhausted from the effort to remain a simian of the modern variety, standing upright like a true hominid….

And, then, I woke up…. t’was a new day dawning, turning the blues and grays of the morning sky to a pale pinkish blue, lifting spirits along with hopes, unbidden. All the bad, mad stuff that filled the last days was gone, banished to wherever such things go when pinned with the light of day, and I am once again filled with piss and vinegar, so to speak, ready for whatever the new day will bring. Of course, being an inveterate planner, I already know what will happen today, at least, according to my schedule, but, Murphy has a tendency to ignore my schedules in favor of his own, with mine usually ending up in the trash, while I adjust to his…. the asshole….

I’m up at my usual hour, and intend to write as usual…. Intentions aren’t always enough, though, so we’ll see how it goes today. It has to be better than it was the last two days, which, even sans the kind attentions of the Murph, I spent in the dumps, thanks to the gift that keeps on giving (PTSD). I’m all better now, having thrown off the unreasoning sense of anxiety that pervaded my conscious mind, and gone beyond whatever it was that triggered the episode…. Once more, I am completely in the dark as to what that might be; I do wish I could figure it out, as it is a pain in the ass, and if I knew how to block its ascent into my consciousness, I would do so in a heartbeat…. Until I do, I am at the mercy of whatever it is, destined to fall into despair in an instant, never knowing why….

Ah well, so what else is new? Life with PTSD goes on, as I said, yesterday, sort of, if we don’t hang on to it too tight, and I’m determined NOT to grip it tightly enough to hold it in its place…. If you see me doing so, please tickle me, or throw some water, or something to let me know, as I’m done with feeling bad for no good reason…. It’s a waste of time I could use to be doing something more constructive….. Of course, writing this blog may or may not fall precisely into that category, but, it’s what I do, so deal…. And, speaking of what I do….

Shall we Pearl?…..

_____________________________

“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man.  The reason is not far to seek.  It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken

With this statement, Mr. Mencken has put his finger on the pulse of America, that is for certain. It goes a long way toward explaining why so many people in this country are so willing to believe the outright, egregious lies that are told to them every single day by the officials they elect every year at the polls that characterize our republic…. They do lie, you know, with almost every statement that comes out of their mouths…. They begin with the most important lie they tell, from which all the others spring, and that is the lie they tell when they tell you that they want to be elected so they can work for YOU! Each and every politician learns early in their career, if they are at all to be successful, they MUST portray themselves as a public-spirited, honest, and tireless worker whose only purpose is to make life better for their constituents….

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth…. NONE of them are at all concerned with any of that nonsense; they are there to carry out their own agenda, which has very little to do with what is good for the general run of mankind…. No, they are there to serve the interests of the men and women who pay them, those lobbyists and special interest representatives who run the businesses of the corporate masters. The people on the street cannot provide them with the perks, or the cash, that the clandestine rulers are able to come up with, other than peripherally, by electing them in the first place…. Once elected, their true colors come out into the light of day, and it can be easily seen how their actions are never congruent with what they have promised to the people who elected them….

It’s all about power and money to these folks, not service. In my entire life of observing politics around the world, I have yet to see a single elected official who could be shown to be honest, not at the national level. The one who came the closest was Jimmy Carter, and his presidency was marked by how little got done, because he was so honest that the true politicians in Congress blocked every reform he tried to institute during his time in office. His actions during that time showed him to be the exception to the usual rule for politicians, which is why, I believe, he was so ineffective as a legislator….

“Invest in America — Buy Japan!”– Smart Bee


Other than Carter, I have seen concrete proof that EVERY President of this country has lied to the American people, not just once or twice, but continuously, about nearly everything. Time and time again, public outcries are heard or seen in the news about some new revelation regarding something some politician lied about, just like it is breaking news or something, when it is actually the normal state of affairs….

I don’t know why it is, but if a man on a TV set, wearing a suit and tie, makes a statement to the public, the general public will believe it, sometimes fanatically, without ever examining it for whether or not it is true… Then, when it turns out they were lied to, they get all upset and vocalize their displeasure, never once admitting it was their own cupidity that allowed the lie to occur in the first place…. It makes me wonder what happened to people in this country, to make them go soft in the head….

“Doctors are the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.” — Anton Chekhov

Did you ever notice how many politicians were lawyers, first? Most of them, as it turns out, for the simple reason that learning to be a lawyer gives a politician two advantageous types of training… One advantage is that law school teaches the student how to lie in every imaginable way, in order to ascertain which kinds of lies are legal…. The other advantage is their primary motivation…. I

f asked, a very large percentage of lawyers will tell you their reason for becoming a barrister in the first place is that it is a good way to get rich, ( without mentioning, of course, that this is true only as long as one doesn’t give a shit about other people, and what that might do to them)…. In other words they make their money by taking advantage of people’s misery, holding them as hostages against their own destiny, in order to gain resources, i.e. money, and its sidekick, power…..

Then the lawyers realize that their training is perfect for politics…. The ability to lie with facility comes in very handy to anyone who wants to be in the public eye, as that is how one gets elected in the first place…. Tell people what they want to hear, and they will vote for you, every time, coming back to the same trough to eat, even though they get screwed, time after time…. Having the facility to ignore what happens to others, due to their own actions, is the other skill so important to the political set, and the training one receives as a lawyer fits right into that category….

“Watching the democratic party in a presidential contest is like watching a washing machine with a defective bearing:  It starts up smoothly enough, but soon, it begins to wobble and shake, jumping violently from place to place, until it tears itself to pieces, spewing dirty laundry all over the room.” –Smart Bee

Some people will say that there ARE some good lawyers out there, and I won’t argue that…. but, they’re still lawyers, not politicians, aren’t they? They’re doing what they can to help ffolkes find their way through the morass of our legal system to get what they need, even occasionally finding some justice….

But, they aren’t going further, and going into public service, are they? They’re still in place, where they can help, but, they are so few and far between, they are hard to find, and so are very busy, seldom having the time or resources to work against their less honest colleagues. Plus, they really are very few in number, as altruists seldom become lawyers in the first place….

I can see that this has evolved into a full scale rant, and we’ve just begun the day, so I’ll call a halt here. I often feel as if I’m preaching to the choir, anyway, when I go through this stuff again…. It’s all familiar material around here, so it isn’t as if I’m presenting new ideas for your examination…. No, this is all old stuff, and, sadly, doesn’t seem to ever create the outrage that I feel in very many other ffolkes… which is too bad…..  I forget who said that “if you keep on doing things the same ways as you always have, things will always be the way they’ve always been….”, but, they were absolutely correct…. We are on a path to our own destruction, clearly, but, nobody seems to care…

Nobody, that is, who seems able to DO anything about it, and they are the ones who will need to make the changes….. The people in authority over the rest of us are wearing blinders in this respect…. The idea that what they are doing is wrong, and will eventually kill us all, doesn’t fit into their world-view, so they won’t believe it, and will continue to refuse to make any of the changes needed to re-direct our steps onto a path less dangerous.

It is up to the rest of us to get it done, and that may entail overthrowing the current crop of rulers, either by the vote, or by the less agreeable option of using the necessary force, while making sure the new crop will act in OUR best interests, rather than their own…. If it does happen, it will be the first time in history, which is fine with me…. just as long as it is not the LAST time in history….

“… democracy is not something you believe in, or a place you hang your hat, but it’s something you do.  You participate.  If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles and falls apart.” — Abby Hoffman
_____________________________

Comedy_Tragedy

    Today’s poem was not originally used in this Pearl; that one, “A Dubiously Soft Morning”, was used just a few days ago…. I’ve replaced it with a poem from the same year, but, of a different tone altogether…. I hope you enjoy it; it’s actually one of my favorites of those I’ve written, because it speaks of my father…. Abondanza!

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

Fried eggs got nuthin’ on me
Ah’m not even sure of mah name,
or how Ah come to be;
no idea from where Ah came.

Ah does like a mystery tho’,
puzzlin’ things out so’s Ah knows,
good from bad fo sho,
Ah sho don’t want no rock pillows.

If’n Ah cain’t figure out what’s best,
Ah just falls back on mah Daddy’s words,
seems he knowed just whut’d stand the test,
‘n how to gentle the scaredest birds.

‘Course, he’d lived a good long time,
‘n had lots of stuff go on by;
Went to a war, n’ lost a piece or two,
never once used it fer an alibi.

He tol’ me once Ah’d best learn to learn,
school’s only cool if ya ain’t already a fool.
Yer own good measure you can earn,
by startin’ yer learnin’ with the Golden Rule.

Always seemed to me as Ah growed up,
he mostly only spoke if it wuz true,
‘n by doin’ that clued me to what’s up,
kept me from stuff that’d a made me blue.

Without ever sayin’ the word itself,
Ah learned ’bout honor, ‘n helpin’ others
not some fake stuff from some shelf,
but, knowin’ whut’s right, ‘n that we’re all brothers.

Ah’ve been around long enough now, Ah think
to get around the block at least two times.
I s’pose long as my head don’t shrink
Ah’ll keep on doin’ right, ‘n makin’ these rhymes…..

~~ gigoid ~~

4/6/2013


Last posted on WP 9/6/2014
_____________________________

“The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the deepest root of all evil that is in the world.” — Max Born, physicist

I like this, mostly because of its clarity and brevity of expression…. It’s perfect no-frills wisdom, with no ups and no extras, all you need for enlightenment in one short, pithy phrase. It also exposes the basic untruth of the mindset against which Thomas Aquinas warned, when he cautioned us to “Beware the man of one book.” I often wonder how the Church scholars managed to rationalize that statement into their set of dogmatic rules, and still canonize Saint Thomas as one of the icons of their faith; this statement is so diametrically opposed to all they teach, how did it become his entry into sainthood, with all the perks that involves, like, I don’t know, what, a better seat at holy dinners?

Any who, all sarcastic smirking aside, it doesn’t make sense, but, then, most of what I have heard and read about the more popular Christian religious sects doesn’t make much sense, either…. People seem to find it compelling, though, and manage to invest a lot of time and energy fulfilling whatever agenda items having those beliefs will engender.

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

These, to me, are the folks who find it easier to go through life allowing what other people believe determine their own thoughts and feelings, as it is less troublesome for them to have someone else do it for them, than making the effort to understand the world on their own…..

I suppose it’s okay, for them, to allow this, but, for me, it would drive me crazy in no time at all to try to believe some of what they would have me believe, because A) It doesn’t make any sense, and B) the assertions made, aside from the fantastic unbelievability of their nature, are offered without any evidence of their veracity, no proof of their actual truth. Given just those two requirements of mine for accepting something as true, none of what I heard in church makes the slightest bit of sense…

But, for well over two thousand years, this church, along with two or three competing churches, with slightly altered versions of the same set of beliefs on the same subject, has attempted to dominate human existence, saying it has the ONLY answers to the eternal questions, to wit: Is there a God? and, if so, What is He/She/It like?…. Simplistic, I know, but, an accurate paraphrased summarization, I think…. Honest, anyway, right? I mean, when one strips down the basic ideas to their bare bones, they sound ridiculous; then, when one sees there is also no real, incontrovertible proof of any of it, beyond logical constructions based on assumptions not proven, they become simply unbelievable, to my way of thinking….

Of course, one must actually THINK about this stuff, and not just assume it is true…. even what I’m saying should be examined for its own veracity…. I think all I need to do to offer proof of most of my assertions is point to either some part of reality, which generally proves without question what is real, or to something in the news that demonstrates the fallibility of what the churches offer as their dogma, which is legion. T

hen, once the information has been presented, it must be examined for it’s connections to what is real, in order to be able to determine for sure that it IS or IS NOT true…. Sadly, in my experience, most people skip that last step entirely, preferring to go along with what they’ve been told since they were little, because to examine it, one must first accept the possibility of being wrong in the first place…. and, that they are not willing to do….

That is the simple truth folks, no matter how much anyone tries to deny it. Reality determines what is true, not belief, or faith, and nothing anyone can say or do will ever change that simple fact of reality. There are no magic bullets, so, if we want to have magic in our lives, we have to make it ourselves, which leaves out the possibility of depending on anything in nature to do so for us, no matter how much we want it to be so, or how strongly we maintain our faith in what is unreal…. As some other philosopher has stated, “Just because a million people believe something is so, doesn’t make it so…. A lie is still a lie, even if a lot of people believe it…….. or, more colorfully…..

“If you call a dog’s tail a leg, how many legs does the dog have? Four. Calling a tail a leg, doesn’t make it a leg.” — Abraham Lincoln

So, spare me, please, the sermons, and pitying looks, because, quite frankly, the concept of Heaven bores me to tears; it sounds as if the Angel Satan throws a better party, and doesn’t expect his acolytes to curry favor…. plus, they never expect him not to lie to them, as he is right up front about it….

“I would rather be ashes than dust!  I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.  The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.  I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.  I shall use my time.” — Jack London, Jack London’s Tales of Adventure
_____________________________

Such an outburst! I can see that I am right to write every day…. This stuff tends to build up if I go too long without letting it out, and there’s no telling what kind of harm THAT may cause to the space-time continuum…. Let’s see if it reads half as well as it flowed out….. Hmph, well, I think that the Pulitzer committee may want to stand down, but, it’s better than most Pearls, all in all, and it’s all freshly made stuff, so, so be it….  WYSIWYG, today, anyway…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Which is Why….

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

~~ gigoid, the dubious ~~


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Past, last fasts are finest kind….

Ffolkes,

“Hmph! Seriousness. Hmph! Sobriety. A Jedi craves them not.”

~~ Yoda Bee ~~

moons of saturn

Saturn’s Moons, Aligned

Image from NASA via Space.com


Hajime…. Whew! Usually, as I sit to begin, I’m still half-awake. Today after half-a-cuppa, a visit to the throne, and a fast, hard 15 training session with Leelu (it seems to hold her for a while, if I feed her afterward…), I’m fully awake, if a bit out of breath…. She demands we move fast in the morning, as she’s been waiting for hours, no doubt, for me to wake up….. Ah, well, new routines always take time to feel comfortable with, so, so be it…..

With that being said, I’ve kinda messed up any nonsensical beginning; it also seems rather inappropriate to get too silly, or weird, after such a, well, realistic, if boring,  beginning…. As is my apparent habit, it has taken me only one and nearly a half paragraphs to lose my way. It’s a shame, really; I had this really strange, yet compelling opening all ready to go, then got distracted by Leelu to play, and, poof, out the window of my mind it went…. I guess I should shut that window….

Well, as long as we are this far down the page, I may as well wind this up and get on to the rest of the mess we’ve cooked up for y’all today. It’s not bad, as Pearls go; in fact, since some of it is from the archives, it should hold up quite well. Sometimes, it’s easier to poke holes in things when one uses an older style tool, from the days when brute force was our primary method of living…. Oh, wait…. Hmm. I guess I can’t say it WAS our primary characteristic as humans, because, as we see every day in the news, we still do violence quite well, and often…. Oh, well, there goes ANOTHER paragraph, down the tubes to oblivion….

Never mind. We’ll just employ one of our new toys, found in that drawer in the corner. The one we tried out before worked well, didn’t it? May as well try another one…. Let’s see what this little gadget, in such a nice, black color, will do when we push this button, marked, “Elsewhere”…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“I have tried marijuana, hashish, psilocybin, opium and heroin, but none of these have changed my way of seeing as much as has understanding the process of evolution by natural selection.” — purported J.B.S. Haldane quote

(Addendum: I must say, if J.B.S. found this to be true, he needs to find a new drug dealer; he’s getting ripped off….. Just sayin’…..)

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baby-sleeping-on-puppy

Image stolen from FB long ago


As might be surmised from the picture, and, to balance the raucous video we enjoyed yesterday, we are going Classical. We start with Brahm’s Lullaby, then, follow it with nearly 12 hours of soothing music, designed to help babies sleep (like they need help…..). Whether or not it works, it IS soothing to listen to, which is fine with me today…. Enjoy!

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Brahm’s Lullaby Plus

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We the People...

    I find myself spending a lot of the energy I previously put into ranting, by commenting on other WP blogs. Some of my recent comments approach the epic; so far, no one has objected, so, why not? It’s probably why I haven’t felt like letting it all out here, as is my habit. Feeling better gives me more opportunity for surfing the blogs I follow, so, this is, no doubt, a good thing… Since I have so many older rants in the archive, I figured, why not use them here? Indeed, “why not?” is a good question any time….

Here then is a rant suggested by WP at the bottom of yesterday’s post, in a blog from the LAST time we were working up to a Presidential election…. I made some observations then which are perfectly appropriate as a response to the upcoming charade; I found the comments I made regarding the GOP candidate from that year to be quite similar, in fact, eerily similar, to the entire GOP lineup of candidates in this year…. Go figure….

From 9/30/2012:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.” — Alexander Frazer Tyler (1748-1813), — The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic

It seems to me that we, here in America in the early 21st century, are just about at the selfishness phase(s). We’ve been using and squandering a large portion of the available resources of the planet now for quite a while, and apparently haven’t learned to play well with others yet, as a culture. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that we have entered the complacency stage, as we seem also to feel entitled to have so much, and share so little with the rest of the planet, which is a complacent sort of arrogance.

Elitist, to be sure. And in the election coming up in November, we have as one of the choices possibly the most elitist candidate ever to run for the highest office (though Reagan was no slouch at that….) (come to think of it, neither was Franklin Roosevelt, but he seemed to be able to put it aside, for the most part…. He wasn’t nouveau riche, you see; he still had some degree of noblesse oblige left in him….) Mitt the Twitt Romney is unapologetically elitist, and doesn’t seem to care who knows it, even the voters…..

“Whereas it has been known and declared that the poor have no right to the property of the rich, I wish it also to be known and declared that the rich  have no right to the property of the poor.” — Smart Bee

Even if we leave aside all the myriad of reasons that Mitt is unqualified for the position of POTUS, and, my use of the word myriad is both intentional and accurate, his sheer arrogance and lack of sincerity should be enough to convince people of his unsuitability for the office. There are literally thousands of reasons not to give this egregious fool such great power,  all of which indicate he would abuse that power from day one. But none of those reasons even matter…. to me, his greatest point of detraction is that he is, plain and simple, an asshole, or, as is sometimes used in lieu of that word, a dick….

Actually he is both an asshole and a dick, as those words are commonly defined. The running mate he chose is a perfect indicator of how little he cares about the voters, other than what they can do for him, not the other way around. Pauly, the Lyin’ Ryan is, if anything, a bigger asshole than Romney, though he might not be as big a dick, and is no more ashamed of it than his ostensible boss. Each of them is a bare-faced liar. Each of them displays the compassion and sincerity of a sub-lieutenant in Satan’s Army, on a good day. Each of them (Romney & Ryan) is motivated by simple greed, and the desire for power, and, of course, the wish to be handed the keys to the national treasury.

Both have been manipulating the system since their well-funded time in college; neither has ever even held a job that could be considered an actual job; they’ve been sucking at the public teat for their entire adult lives. Now, they are making their grab for the ultimate prize for a thief…. the keys to the national treasury, handed over by ignorant voters who buy into their lies, because they think that these two pieces of white bread will save them from the scary black man as President…. They are counting very heavily on the racist fears of part of the population to carry the tide of victory in their direction; moreover, they are feeding that fear as much as they can, with constant lies and misrepresentations, without even the illusory benefit of sincerity….

As we all know, I could rant about these two all morning, but there are things I need to do today, even though it is Sunday, and I don’t want to spend any more time stirring up shit, even though the shit is only what clings to the Republican ticket every time one of them opens their mouths to spit out another lie….. But, we’ll get on with the day, and try to find something more positive to do…. Just make sure y’all get out there and vote on November 6th, ffolkes, we need to show these assholes that there are more of us than there are of them, and we still have the vote on our side…..

“If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and measures you want to vote for… But there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.” — Lazarus Long

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Comedy_Tragedy

    After the old rant above, only one of my poems is appropriate; it’s kind of silly, but, I like it. Why wouldn’t I?…..

Geezer to Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks.
They talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.

“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.

Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

12/23/2012


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Yin-Yang-symbol-sun-and-moon

Naked pearls

A pearl of balance, about Life, lived well…

“Dream as if you’ll live forever.
Live as if you’ll die tomorrow.

~~ James Dean ~~

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

“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.”

~~ Voltaire ~~

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

“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point
than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.”

~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~

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

“Love all, trust a few.  Do wrong to none.”

~~ William Shakespeare ~~

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

Virtue could see to do what virtue would
By her own radiant light, though sun and moon
Were in the flat sea sunk. And Wisdom’s self
Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude,
Where with her best nurse Contemplation
She plumes her feathers and lets grow her wings,
That in the various bustle of resort
Were all-to ruffled, and sometimes impair’d.
He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i’ th’ centre and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the midday sun.

~~ John Milton — Comus, Line 373 ~~

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

“He who learns but does not think, is lost!
He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”

~~ Confucius~~

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“If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary,
you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion.”

~~ Lin-Chi ~~


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

“Be strange… it’s cool out there.”

~~ Hunter S. Bee ~~

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

“Dream as if you’ll live forever.
Live as if you’ll die tomorrow.

~~ James Dean ~~


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

Gee, that was fun…. Really, it was. But, it’s over now, so, in the words of Death from yesterday’s final pearl, I guess I’ll put the chair up, shut out the lights, & lock the door on the way out…. See y’all tomorrow, if they don’t shut off my power….. Bill’s paid, so we’re good to go….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 5012


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

The world is my oyster, I shall not whine….

Ffolkes,

 

“Don’t store garlic near other victuals.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

Posing Leelu

Leelu, platting her next move….


Hajime…. Today, our opening line from Lazarus Long has more meaning than usual, as well as more than is immediately obvious upon first reading it. To understand Lazarus’ point, one must put in some heavy, yet subtle thought on the matter, before the light dawns….. Some see it right away, but, for those who do not, & may mistrust me on this, let me assure you, it isn’t talking just about garlic….

For us, today, it has more meaning because it fits in with the day I had yesterday… at least, up until writing this, of course. Who can say what may happen after? Not me, nor will I even attempt such foolishness. I AM old enough to know better; moreover, I’m old enough to listen when I tell myself that.

I was awakened at 0722 by Leelu, who was annoyed a bit when I rolled over & ignored her for another twenty minutes of sack time…. Once up, coffee brewing, we played for a few minutes, then I distracted her with food while I drank my first cup, & tried to complete yesterdays’ Pearl; some of that episode was related there.

Today, I have managed, in between our mutual training sessions, to complete this Pearl, a full 17.5 hours ahead of the time I usually post, at 0600, or as close as I can get. AND, Leelu now will jump up almost anywhere I ask her to, on command…. Bonus!

Yay! Now, I can even try to work a day, or two, ahead…. To complete this Pearl, tomorrow morning, I’ll just need to write is the closing section, which I like to compose on the day I post…. That way, nobody knows if the Tardis was involved, or not…. Plus, it’s good practice for evading cyber-security paranoiacs…. such as our own government. Ya gotta do what ya can to confuse your metadata; then they can’t predict you as well…. and, they certainly don’t need to know when I use the blue box…. if you get my drift.

Ahem…. Anyway, this one’s done, complete with a new poem, freshly written yesterday, and two, yes, two sections with old-school pearls jammed with metaphor, as well as a touch of smarm and innuendo…. What’s a pearl without a little innuendo, eh? Not much to write home about, that’s for sure. To ensure this introductory section doesn’t even come close to that particular standard of quality, I think we’ll get on with the course of business for today, and get this slow on the toad…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“The present is only a mathematical line which divides that part of eternal duration which we call the future, from that which we call the past.” — H. P. Blavatsky

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dropkick murphys
Image from youtube.com via Google Images


Today’s video selection s a band to which I was introduced by a friend, a couple months ago, via Twitter… I’m not sure, exactly, why this seems appropriate, but, since I’ve listened to it, I have to say, it fits. I guess I feel like being raucous…. Enjoy, ffolkes; everyone else in this video did….

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Dropkick Murphys
Live: St. Patrick’s Day 2002

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“War would end if the dead could return.”

~~ Stanley Baldwin ~~

Dont keep calm

    As is probably becoming obvious by now, to me, if to no one else, ranting is becoming more of a chore than a joy. This doesn’t mean it’s over, or, there will be no more of them; it just means, now, I have to think of something else to do to sublimate the anger, and disillusionment I experience every damn day, not only reading the news, which never seems to change for the better, but, by walking on the damn streets, where all the bullshit the Asininnies have been, and, are up to, is becoming annoyingly ubiquitous.

That said, anyone who’s been here before already knows what is coming; any newbies will just have to figure out what happened later. For now, just read the following pearls, let them run around playing in your head, and you’ll have an idea of why I rant so fucking often….. I hope. If not, well, there’s always tomorrow……

 

Naked pearls

How’s the water in there?

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


“Water really has no value…. until the well runs dry.” — Subtle Bee

“Government, today, is growing too strong to be safe. There are no longer any citizens in the world; there are only subjects. They work day in and day out for their masters; they are bound to die for their masters at call.  Out of this working and dying they tend to get less and less.” — H.L. Mencken

” — Bother! said Pooh,as he joined Black September.” — Twisted Bee

“How do you like the new America? We’ve cut the fat out of the government, and more recently the heart and brain (the backbone was gone some time ago).  All we seem to have left now is muscle. We’ll be lucky to escape with our skins!”– Carlinesque Bee

“Monotheism is a gift from the gods!” — Sardonic Bee

“It seldom happens that a man changes his life through his habitual reasoning. No matter how fully he may sense the new plans and aims revealed to him by reason, he continues to plod along in old paths until his life becomes frustrating and unbearable – he finally makes the change only when his usual life can no longer be tolerated.” — Tolstoy

“Huh?” — Joe Average, Anywhere, Amurrica

“God Himself has no right to be a tyrant.” — William Godwin — “Sketches in History” 1784

 

Onwards Christian Soldiers,
Onwards Buddhist Priests.
Onward, Fruits of Islam,
Fight till you’re deceased.Fight your little battles.
Join in thickest fray;
For the Greater Glory,
of Dis-cord-i-a.Yah, yah, yah,
Yah, yah, yah, yah.
Blfffffffffffft!
 
~~ An Erisian Hymn~~~~ by Rev. Dr. Mungojerry Grindlebone ~~~~ KOB Episkopos, THE RAYVILLE APPLE PANTHERS ~~


The last line of the hymn, perhaps, says it all best….. Most days, I feel a Bronx cheer is the best response one might have to everything outside one’s own space…. which is about all we have any sort of control over…. Ah, well, Life goes on, doesn’t it? So far, so good…..

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Sir I admit your general rule
That every Poet is a Fool
But you yourself may serve to show it
That every Fool is not a Poet
~~ rendered from the French by Pope ~~

 

Comedy_Tragedy

 

 

Manifesto, sotto voce

In retrospect, I’ve gotta say,
it’s all been rather a muddle.
Life’s tough, ‘they’ say, it’s just that way.
Lots of misery, not much cuddle.
Me, I’ve found life a bit different
than ‘they’ seem to have done.
It’s all been rather excellent;
I’ve had loads & loads of fun.

 

Sure, there’s been some bad shit.
Who can’t say that?
All of that pales, all of it
when one hugs a dog, a child, or a cat.

 

I’ve seen, fought, and felt, more than my share,
the presence of evil in life.
The pain that remains often seems unfair;
I ask why I chose to deal with such strife.

 

I can always find the answer in the same place,
right where it has ever resided.
All we need to do is embrace
the joy we’ve given, and been provided.

 

 

Simple is good.

Balance is good.

 

Life can be both.

 

 

~~ gigoid ~~

 

 

 12/19/2015

 


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infinity
Naked Pearls

Life to Death
****************************************
   
“Nowhere is now here.”~~ Nakagawa Soen Roshi ~~

“It is past all controversy that what costs dearest is, and ought to be, most valued.” Miguel de Cervantes — Don Quixote, Part i, Book iv, Chap xi

(Comment, sotto voce: Is this not an excellent definition of Life? — gigoid)

“Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing.” — Adolph Monod

“When an idea is wanting a word can always be found to take its place.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“When Alexander asked Diogenes whether he wanted anything, “Yes,” said he, “I would have you stand from between me and the sun.” — Plutarch — Life of Alexander

“At the bottom no one in life can help anyone else in life; this one experiences over and over in every conflict and every perplexity: that one is alone. That isn’t as bad as it may first appear; and again it is  the best thing in life that each should have everything in himself; his fate, his future, his whole expanse and world.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“The world is no nursery.” — Sigmund Freud

“Be obscure clearly.” — E.B. White

“When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.” — Chinese Proverb

“When the first living thing existed, I was there waiting. When the last living thing dies, my job will be finished. I’ll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights, and lock the universe behind me when I leave.” — Death

Knowledge by suffering entereth,

And life is perfected by death.

~~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning ~~

~~ A Vision of Poets, Conclusion ~~


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

Done; not only done, but, done before I got up. Good thing, too; it’s taken me damn near an hour to wake up enough to write this. Ah well, planning solves many problems, if the plan works. Since it did, we’ll get on with the business of leaving, and, leave. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as my computer stays up, and the angst stays down…. I know crazy optimism, again…. Deal with it, until tomorrow….

 

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.Which is Why….Sometimes I sits and thinks,
   and sometimes,
I just sits.gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 5343


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Isles of Langerhans? No flights from here….

Ffolkes,

“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.”

~~ Erasmus ~~

Busy Leelu

Leelu, playing with her prey….


Hajime…. ‘Tisn’t often I forgo fooling around when I write. Hell, the whole idea of me writing is fooling around, if it comes to that. Which it has. Come to that, I mean. Therefore, and hence, today, I’m going to do the next best thing to promising NOT to do so, which is to just go ahead and fool around all I frigging want. See, I’m retired, and, as a retired American, old-fashioned variety, I can do whatever the fuck I please, as long as I keep what I do either legal, hidden, or, (for my own benefit), ethically sound. So, gird your grids, ffolkes, we’re goin’ in….

How was that? Any better than the usual crap? Ah, well, I kinda thought so myself….. It isn’t easy to do this EVERY DAY, you know. Perhaps, Y’ALL might try it someday; come up with an interesting opening, bright and charming enough, or compelling enough, to create the desire to keep reading in whomever may stop in to read. Only then can one realize they have completely fucked up, and have locked themselves into an activity which is pretty much guaranteed to drive one absolutely, fucking crazy, trying to do the nearly impossible….. No wonder daily newspaper columnists are considered the elite of the news rooms…

However, I’m the one who chose to do this, and, since the act of giving up isn’t an option for me, due to the strength of my earliest conditioning by the Sergeant and the Mom, (no, I don’t think of him like that; that’s what all the men he worked with in the Army called him, if no officers were around….), neither of whom would approve of abrogating a chosen duty. So, I’ll keep on muddling along, until a good reason to stop presents itself, whereupon I will have to go this entire process again…. Oh, joy….

Since I’ve now depressed even myself. perhaps we should just get on with the rest of today’s messiness….. That seems, to my limited perception, the only way to save this…. In fact, no Luigi, no Guido; I’ll just teleport all of us over to the oyster beds, and be done with it…. No need to hang on, or even put down your beverage; you won’t even notice, as I’ll use the newest toy in the Tardis to get us there; it’s pretty cool…. Watch this….

Shall we Pearl?….

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

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

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

    Today’s musical selection is in the Classical genre, with a composer whose works comprise possibly the largest number of works, of every category, as anyone who ever composed misic. His music is familiar to almost everyone who has watched movies made since before his death in 1921, as many movements from his symphonies were, and are, used as background for many scenes in dramatic and comedic films. I’ve included below a link to his biography on Brittanica.com; he was an interesting man, who led a very full life, adding much to the best art and thought of humanity…. Hopefully, what I’ve embedded will be a collection of his music in 50 You Tube versions, which should play automatically once begun….  Enjoy!….



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Camille Saint-Saëns

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le penseur-rodin

    I don’t have the chutzpah, or, any angst to speak of today, to write a rant/discussion, . Can’t say why; might have a lot to do with feeling decent for a change. Nor do I wish to burden y’all with another archived piece…. Whatever the reasoning, or reasons, I will, instead, limit this section to ONE graphic pearl, which just happens to be my favorite of all the memes and little pictures with sayings I’ve collected off the Net over the years…. This one is both a rant, and a discussion, all rolled up into one picture, and, a short verse from the Tao Teh Ching…. It’s all it needs, believe me….

Lao Tzu sez

Q.E.D.

Lao Tzu has spoken.

So be it.


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

Comedy_Tragedy

    I was looking through my poetry files, wherein I found one I haven’t used since 2013. It’s not bad, so, to allow my bones time to make more blood, after the new poem leaked out the day before yesterday (posted yesterday), I’ll use it today…. I hope you enjoy it. To some extent, it’s a metaphoric summary of my life, as it existed, so to speak, in that particular time….

Honorable Request

Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit;
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.

Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, never given a reason;
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.

Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown;
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.

Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found;
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/13/2012


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Yin-Yang-symbol-sun-and-moon

    My only possible comment on this pearl is “Wow”. You’ll note, please, I used that exclamation without the usual exclamation point; that is simply because it’s not THAT important. It is, however, a damn fine pearl, of, perhaps, my favorite sort, a random, harlequin pearl that created itself…. No apologies, but, you will definitely need to be on your mental toes for this one, ffolkes.

It’s strange, as it wanders into distant realms of thought, filled to the borders with truth and beauty; it also dives into the depths of human nature, where darkness, too often, has its way. But, it’s all fucking true, so, fucking pay attention, please?…. Besides, if you get it, you’ll also get a big surprise; something you were not expecting, but, will enjoy immensely…. Promise…. and, you know I don’t use that word lightly, ever…..

“But first, are you experienced?”

~~ Jimi Hendrix ~~


“Real life is, to most men, a long second-best, a perpetual compromise between the ideal and the possible; but the world of pure reason knows no compromise, no practical limitations, no barrier to the creative activity.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967)

“Do not be afraid of enemies; the worst they can do is to kill you. Do not be afraid of friends; the worst they can do is betray you. Be afraid of the indifferent; they do not kill or betray. Yet only because of their silent agreement, betrayal and murder exist on earth.” — Bruno Yasienski, contemporary Soviet novelist

“As every thread of gold is valuable, so is every minute of time.” — John Mason

“Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse.” — Lazarus Long, “Time Enough For Love”

“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” — African proverb

“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.” — Frank Lloyd Wright

“In endowing us with memory, nature has revealed to us a truth utterly unimaginable to the unreflective creation, the truth of immortality….The most ideal human passion is love, which is also the most absolute and animal and one of the most ephemeral.” — George Santayana, Reason in Religion

“Socrates was in the right to insinuate, in his elegant Greek expression, that what is got over the Devil’s back is spent under his belly.” — Alain Rene Le Sage (1668-1747) — Gil Blas, Book viii, Chap. ix

“A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.” — Michael de Montaigne — Essays, Book i, Chap. xxxviii, Of Solitude

“Hospes, ad hunc tumulum ne meias.

Visitors, kindly do not piss on these bones.”

~~ Anonymous Roman epitaph ~~

buddah-out-to-lunch_s

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

Done, in spite of several complicating factors. So complicated, the act of completing this missive became more than just a small challenge. Having successfully navigated the winding course to bring us this far, I’ll perform now my best act of compassion of the day. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if the Internet is still functioning…. Odds are good….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 5012


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Laughing at faces in the dark….

Ffolkes,

“(Someone once said) …time is the fire in which we burn.”

~~ Soran, Star Trek: Generations ~~

12-13 latest 012

Leelu, casting protective enchantments….


Hajime…. Today’s mess is pretty messy, but, at least it’s all freshly made; it will take longer to begin to decay. Now, don’t go thinking that’s a dig at my own ‘stuff’; it’s just realistic. Everything decays with time; that’s how existence in this universe works. Nothing escapes the changes made mandatory by nature’s duality; light cannot exist without the dark. Nor can there be life without death. Or, as Yul Brynner once said, “Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera….”

If you had never been dead, how would you know you are alive?…. Answer that, and, you will understand…. Change is the one thing in this universe that will NOT change; entropy exists, and will not be denied. Moreover, no matter what any religious philosopher tells you, a supernatural creator is NOT necessary to explain any part of how the entire universe behaves, even if we don’t fully comprehend how it works…. Why should it be? Everything there is to perceive, that we CAN perceive with our meager five senses, is right out there, just there, waiting for us to perceive it…..

Okay, so, now we’ve eliminated the logical justification for most of the religions in the world, how should we round out the morning? Maybe a shot or two at the insane fallacies inherent in believing, as humans, we need a government? I’m not entirely sure I can come up with quite so damning an indictment as the one in the first two paragraphs; not in as few words, anyway. I think it’s pretty fair to say it isn’t easy to dismiss the relevance of the belief systems of 90% of the world’s population in under a hundred words; I’m positive I won’t be able to do it twice in a row, especially since, now, this paragraph has gotten involved in the whole issue, adding way too many useless, irrelevant words, in support of, (or, more likely, in search of….) rational thinking.

That said, to little purpose, as is our habit, I suppose we ought to think about wandering down to the meat of today’s material; it may not be lobster, but, it ain’t chicken!

Hmm…. Okay, it’s worse than I thought, ffolkes. We’d best be on our way, before anything untoward takes place….. I mean, other than merely being here, being weird, etc….. You know what I mean, and, if you don’t, so much the better for me and Luigi, who is driving today….

Luigi… Luigi! Damn it, he’s drunk again! Oh, well, it was probably Guido who got him that way; Guido loves to fly, and he’s not above screwing a friend (not my definition, his….) to get a chance to fly this bucket o’bolts…. Something about hours on retro planes, & his rep….. Any who, he’s already boarded, and going through the checklist, so, we’ll be on our way tout suite…. if my French is correct. If not, well, that’s okay; the only place I’ve ever spoken it is in the kitchen…. There’s the no-smoking light, so, see ya at the oyster beds, if we all live through it again….

Shall we Pearl?….

“We must become new people or be satisfied the way we are.
 Either way we risk tragedy.
But by the first we choose life.
 By the second we choose death.”

~~ Corita Kent ~~


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

SRV

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Image from guitarworld.com via Google Images


Today’s video selection isn’t very long; considering the quality of what you’ll hear and see, I can’t help wishing it were longer. However, since Stevie plays just about the hottest licks I’ve ever heard, as he totally KILLS this song, we’re gonna play it anyway…. Any true fan of guitar work will be jazzed at this one….. By following the link to the page where I found it, you can hear lots more of Stevie, along with a number of other most excellent performers, with whom he played prior to his unfortunate early demise…. This, as we are wont to say ’round here, be some good shit, ffolkes….


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STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
 VOODOO CHILE

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Dont keep calmWe the People...

“All history shows that every man who has authority is led to abuse it; he does not stop until he comes up against limitations…Things must be so arranged that one authority checks another.” — Montesquieu

The men who founded this country, based upon the ideas brought forth in the document you see above, obviously knew the principle, and flaw in human nature, outlined so clearly in this statement by Mssr. Montesquieu. The government they formed was designed in such a way, each of the three parts, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, acts as a check to the power and authority of the other segments. It is an excellent design, with only one flaw, which the oligarchs spotted immediately…. That flaw can be most simply stated thus: The success of the system designed will fail if even one segment falls under the influence of outside interests. If ever one branch of the triad becomes corrupted, that corruption WILL spread to the others.

Guess what, ffolkes….. This process, corruption of the US governing bodies, began within HOURS of the signing of the final copy of the Constitution. Jefferson, Paine, Franklin, and others, took note, and wrote letters showing they were concerned at how banking interests had already made inroads into the corruption of elected officials…. In short, the battle between the people, and the oligarchy, began more than merely 200 years ago; the cause of its continued presence in our lives can be laid at the feet of the people themselves, as far, far too many of them never paid attention to the single most critical factor in assuring the defense of their legacy of freedom. They did not, and still do not, keep themselves informed as to what their leaders are up to….

“If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be … If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” — Thomas Jefferson

Oh, it’ not all their fault, of course. The people who have usurped the halls of government are quite adept, having long experience, at keeping the general public unaware of their activities, in back rooms and alley ways, behind the curtains and closed doors, where they do their best work at corrupting officials. They have the complete assistance of every religious organization, too, all of which preach obedience to authority, whether it be secular, or religious….

From the cradle, people are conditioned to accept the words and ideas of their ‘elders’ and ‘teachers’, and ‘leaders, none of whom ever even KNEW the truth of Reality, but, have blindly passed on their own brainwashing to their children, without ever having looked at any of the concepts upon which they have based their lives, to see if it has any actual truth…. Those who do know the truth behind the lies, and tell them anyway, are, in my consideration, the very scum of the earth….

“All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.” — Thomas Paine

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

When these two entities work together, as they have throughout the greater part of human history, most people really don’t stand a chance. Their brainwashing begins the moment they are born, as their own parents begin teaching them the delusions upon which their entire lives are based, to wit: money exists as more than just an idea, and is more important than people; second, they are taught there is a supernatural authority, which insists all of us believe whatever we are told, about it, or the world, without ever testing those ideas against reality, and what we actually know inside ourselves….

It’s small wonder the world we live in is in the state we find it today; the hairless apes have been having running around the planet for millennia, making a mess of things, as they have attempted to reconcile the bestiality of their nature, with the potentially civilizing power of their intellect and imagination. It is becoming increasingly obvious, every attempt made has been more than just a little disappointing…. As Arthur C. Clarke once observed, their is no evidence available which proves there is ANY survival advantage attached to intelligence…. not as we have employed it…. Now, it is just about time to pay the piper, and, sadly, almost nobody has even read the contract.

I think that’s probably enough for one morning; the people who need to see this will never do so, which leaves the only reason to keep on ranting as the desire to indulge my own need to purge my mind of this dross and drivel. I believe I’ve gotten enough onto the page to defray the cost of any angst built up…. I’ll finish this with a short set of pearls, a bracelet, as it were, all of which will have something to say on these matters….

See ya down the page a ways, ffolkes; please, if you take nothing else away with you today, let it be the resolution to wear your thinking caps all the time, and, encourage others to do the same. It may be the only chance we all have to see in the next century, as a species….

**********

“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.”

~~ Euripides ~~

**********

“He who is bent on doing evil can never want occasion.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 459 ~~

**********

“It is wrong always, everywhere and for everyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.”

~~ W. K. Clifford, British philosopher, circa 1876 ~~

**********

“Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth,
so Truth be in the field, we do ingloriously,
by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength.
Let her and Falsehood grapple:
who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?”

~~ John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica ~~

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“Human beings don’t live like this.”

~~ Humanist Bee ~~


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Comedy_Tragedy

Measures of Intent

Hell is never far away; it slips in, then out,
like a ninja, bent on stealth, and death.
Life metamorphoses, in the space of a breath,
sordid entropy fills us, within, and without.

Tide turns again; back and forth it tumbles,
like those little wind up toys, yet never stays.
All our efforts, all our silly little ways,
disappear like seaweed, as sanity crumbles.

The duality of reality in which we are firmly caught,
seems to inhabit every part of our natural selves.
Nothing is ever still, nor can it be placed on shelves;
we are dark, and light; balance must be taught.

Life is lived only one moment at a time,
past and future have no power to alter this at all.
We can choose to fly, or choose to fall;
finding truth, and beauty, can never be a crime.

~~ gigoid ~~

12/14/2015


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buddhacat

    Today’s final offering brings most welcome balance to the entire Pearl; note, please, we began in Fire; now, we end, in Fire….. Not bad for serendipity, eh? Not that we’d wish to come to depend on it, but, it is certainly most welcome when it appears…. Enjoy this one, ffolkes, I did, and do, strange as it is. I forget where exactly I got the picture, though I’m pretty sure it was stolen from Facebook long ago; it is here today because, well, it just works….

Oh Rose, thou art sick;
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy;
And his dark, secret love
Does thy life destroy.

~~ William Blake, “Songs of Innocence” ~~


“Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors and miss.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“As you are, so shall you wish. As you wish, so shall it be.” — Pensive Bee

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

“There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.” — Confucius Analects

“If anything is certain, it is that change is certain. The world we are planning for today will not exist in this form tomorrow.” — Philip Crosby, Reflections on Quality

“PRESENT, n. That part of eternity dividing the domain of disappointment from the realm of hope.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

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

Avarice, envy, pride,
Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all
On Fire.

~~ Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy ~~


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

Well, as Ollie used to say to Stan, a lot, “This is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into!” It is, no doubt, a good thing, from more vantage points than I care to contemplate just now. In fact, it is also, no doubt, a good idea we are at the close, else, we would be in more of a mess than we are now.

I believe that statement can only be followed by a Q.E.D. So be it. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; mark it down, if you don’t trust your memory, because, I like people to have a little warning before I mess with their heads…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 5012


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Oddly decorated with fleurettes of aubergine paraffin….

Ffolkes,

“For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is  always wrong.”

~~ Mencken’s Metalaw ~~

~~ H. L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy ~~

blue eyed tiger

I see meat….

Image from Twitter; @DESPERADO #AmazedbyAnimals


Hajime…. There is now no reason for doing any of this; the whole purpose here, beyond the stated exploration we are compelled to pursue, is to afford me an outlet to purge the dross and drivel from my mind, so it doesn’t sit in there and rot, as it did for many years…. But, if I’m bonkers, as they say, it isn’t working, is it? I mean, if that’s the case, what’s the point? I bet Daffy would know….

But, we don’t have him at hand to ask, so, we’ll have to struggle on, while actively resisting the urge to howl the fire and spit the wind. For sure, and for certain, that would drive off any remaining Gentle Readers I may have accumulated in the recent past…. It probably wouldn’t fret some of them, but, they’re old hands at this, and expect these outbursts of angst in the intro on occasion…. It’s a well-known factoid one can, in time, get used to the volcano in the back yard; one acclimates, so to speak. But, for any newbies, or those who worry, try not to do so for long, as it will wear you out long before I return to any sort of coherency…..

But, then, you knew that, didn’t you? Sure, you did. Don’t try to kid me; I’ve been around the block more than twice; I know what a pile of doggy doo-doo smells like. So, wipe your shoes, and come on in; it won’t hurt, I promise. If you know anything about me, if I can’t keep a promise, I won’t make it. Even in the deepest depths of my darkest dreams of personal hell, that wouldn’t change. My personal critic/teacher, who still watches over my shoulder in my mind, would NOT have allowed any such abrogation of duty…. Dad was tough, but fair. Didn’t say much, but, never had to, to get his point across….

Now I’ve wandered around in my own head, rather indiscriminately, I’m afraid, perhaps we should wander down the page a bit further, to a point we can gracefully slide out of this reality, where weird shit seems to pour out of my head, into our alternate, temporary fantasy reality, where Guido just happens to be waiting, politely, as always, for us to get ourselves organized, choose our beverage, and take our seats. Since all that is checked off, we can be on our way to, well, who the fuck knows? If I did, I’d probably have mentioned it some time ago….. Oh, well; hang on, it’s gonna be one of THOSE days. ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?….

“History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion;

i.e., none to speak of.

~~ Lazarus Long ~~


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

animals 2-early

Eric Burdon & The Animals, circa 1975

Image from music.naiji.com via Google Images

2015-Animals

Eric Burdon & The Animals, 2015

Image from wallyingram.com via Google Images

In 2011, it was, apparently, the 50th anniversary of the recording release of “House Of The Rising Sun”, by Eric Burdon & The Animals, a British band who followed in the wake of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc. (My memory says 40-some years, but, it’s hazy for that period…. go figure….) The band became something of an icon of the era, with around 15 or 20 #1 hits….

I’ve embedded the 2011 performance by the band commemorating the song, and, I can honestly say, it rocks. The second link is to a play list with most of their hits on it, with a number of other excellent video selections, not all from the 60’s & 70’s, & not all this band…. I hope you enjoy this retrospective of an iconic tune, which scandalized all the politically correct of that era, by speaking/singing about the perils of those who frequented the the finest brothel in New Orleans during its heyday…. with all the attendant emotional impact such music can carry…. Let’s see how the boys have held up over the years, shall we?….

You know what? They only got better…. The lead guitar player kills the opening solo performance, exhibiting some incredible licks and brilliant improvisation….. and, what a great guitar!…. It (the guitar) looks as old as I am, but, has one of the best TONES I’ve been privileged to hear….. Every note it makes justs swells with beauty and the joy of simply existing…. the true heart of music…. He and that guitar have made a lot of music together, for a long time…. Don’t miss it….

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

Eric Burdon & The Animals
House of the Rising Sun

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

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

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


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

Dont keep calm

“I’m pretty good with people on an individual basis, but in groups, I really can’t stand the bastards!”

~~ George Carlin ~~


Trust George to put his finger directly on a feeling common to all of us, at times. It’s what the greatest comedians, who are the jesters, the bards, the conscience of society, do best; expose our own nature for us to observe, in irony, in jest, in Truth…. As a practicing curmudgeon, this statement appeals on many levels, aside from the merely annoying necessity of dealing with mundanes on a daily basis…. In fact, of late, I’ve taken to NOT arming myself so heavily when leaving the house; I’m too tempted to use one of my hidden, lethal toys, just to get the satisfaction of wasting some idiot who is probably better off dead, than annoying the general public…. Not to mention the bonus of removing at least one irritation from our consensual existence….

Ah well, such is life in Amurrica today…. I’m tired of ranting about all that has gone wrong in this country, and in the world at large. Rather than harp on it any further today, I’ve collected a nine-star pearl for your perusal, with a graphic meme from the internet to close the grouping, each of which can be seen as an expression which defines for us most of the reason(s) WHY our national persona has turned into an asshole of such immense proportions…. Some are forthright, clear statements of obvious truths; some require some thought (go figure, eh?). All of them have contributed some way to the mess we now observe, all around us…..

If you disagree with any of them, feel free to say so…. That’s what a true Patriot of this nation does, you know…..

“The discovery of America was the occasion of the greatest outburst of cruelty and reckless greed known in history.” — Joseph Conrad

“Money by right means if you can; if not, by any means.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)

“I … reject the argument put forth by many fundamentalists that science has nothing to do with religion because God is not among the things making up the  universe in which we live. Surely if a necessity for a god-concept in the universe ever turns up, that necessity will become evident to the scientist.” — physicist Ralph Alpher, Theology of the Big Bang, Religious Humanism, Vol. XVII, No. 1 (Winter 1983), pg. 12

“St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great who asked him “how he dares molest the sea.” “How dare you molest the whole world?” the pirate replied: “Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an Emperor.” — Noam Chomsky, Pirates and Emperors.

” In truth, there never was any remarkable lawgiver amongst any people who did not resort to divine authority, as otherwise his laws would not have been accepted by the people; for there are many good laws, the importance of which is known to be the sagacious lawgiver, but the reasons for which are not sufficiently evident to enable him to persuade others to submit to them; and therefore do wise men, for the purpose of removing this difficulty, resort to divine authority.” — Niccolo Machiavelli

“Law stands mute in the midst of arms.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

“Most legislators are so dumb that they couldn’t pour piss out  of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel.” — Savvy Bee

“I believe there is a limit beyond which free speech cannot go, but it’s a limit that’s very seldom mentioned.  It’s the point where free speech begins to collide with the right to privacy.  I don’t think there are any other conditions to free speech. I’ve got a right to say and believe anything I please, but I haven’t got a right to press it on anybody else….. Nobody’s got a right to be a nuisance to his neighbors.” — H.L. Mencken

(Hint: Think Main-Stream Media…. Fox, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, etc.)

“War is good business – invest your sons.” — Corporate Bee

fabricate-supreme-being

    For those who choose to respond, in any fashion, I’ll point out there is a comment section at the bottom of this page…..

Hmph…..

gigoid has spoken

So be it.


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

Comedy_Tragedy

    Recently, the dark days with which my life was filled came to an end. Well, for now, anyway….. There are, and will be, still times when I hurt, everyfuckingwhere, it seems…. But, they are fewer, and further between, and I can deal with that…. Here is a poem I wrote one time, late last year, when it was particularly noisome being me…..

Elemental, dear Watson….

Don’t worry,
it’s not
me
you hear
screaming.

It is
only
my bones,
giving in,
to
cowardly,
pathologically,
repetitive,
fucking,’
complaints
of
past abuse,
and
all the fun
we had.
playing,
hard.

I don’t mind
too much;
I can spend my
TIME
in another space
in my head,
pretending
my bones
don’t
exist….

It
is,
indeed,
a shame
they
always
come
back….

Fuck.

It
hurts.

More proof,
I guess,
either
God isn’t,
or,
He  is.

IF

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

IF

He is?
Then,
I don’t fucking care
who
doesn’t like it,

I say,

He
is
a bully,
a coward,
a hypocrite,
and,
truly,
an enormous asshole.

I suppose,
God
 is
what comes,
to,
and
from,
People,

because

 they
feel
a need,
for
someone
to
blame,
for
a
Universe
they
cannot
understand
or
accept.

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/14/2014


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

About Hopi Indian Symbols

    What we have today is what I would call a side-view pearl, due to the point of view from which each of the statements was created, and expressed. Some of the quotes you will see will touch on subjects which are part of everyone’s life, but, very few ever really consider. Others will be familiar… All of it, I assure you, will be on your own Final Quiz, when it is time for you to take it…..

“He that fears not the future may enjoy the present”

~~ Thomas Fuller ~~


“How do we come to think of things, rather than of processes in this absolute flux?  By shutting our eyes to the successive events.  It is an artificial attitude that makes sections in the stream change, and calls them things… When we shall know the truth of things, we shall realise how  absurd it is for us to worship isolated products of the incessant series of transformations as though they were eternal and real. Life is no thing or state of a thing, but a continuous movement or change.” — S. Radhakrishnan

“A detective story generally describes six living men discussing how it is that a man is dead. A modern philosophic story generally describes six dead men discussing how any man can possible be alive.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men

“He knew that insofar as one denies what is, one is possessed by what is not, the compulsions, the fantasies, the terrors that flock to fill the void.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, _The Lathe of Heaven_

“The work of an unknown good man is like a vein of water flowing hidden in the underground, secretly making the ground greener.” — Thomas Carlyle

“He made one of Antipater’s recommendation a judge; and perceiving afterwards that his hair and beard were coloured, he removed him, saying, “I could not think one that was faithless in his hair could be trusty in his deeds.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Philip

“Almost everything you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” — Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

“Time is only an illusion produced by the succession of our states of consciousness as we travel through eternal duration, and it does not exist where no consciousness exists in which the illusion can be produced; but “lies asleep.” — H. P. Blavatsky (1831-1891)

Ros:  Do you think death could possibly be a boat?

Guil: No, no, no…Death is…not. Death isn’t. You take my meaning.
Death is the ultimate negative. 
Not-being. You can’t not-be on a boat.

Ros:  I’ve frequently not been on boats.

Guil: No, no, no—what you’ve been is not on boats.

 ~~ Tom Stoppard ~~


There you go. As I’ve always tried to relate to y’all, timing is everything, and, balance is the key…. Stay alert out there, ffolkes. It’s getting strange out there in the Big Room….

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

Okay, then. Thanks to the Tardis I have on loan from the Doctor, it’s done. Since it is, I had this idea I should go post it. I wonder why I didn’t think of that before? Ah well, I guess I was busy. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; it’s just one of those things we’ll all have to deal with, as it happens….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 5012


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Just the fax, Sam….

Ffolkes,

“Solitude makes a wonderful mistress but a terrible wife.”

~~ Emerson ~~

3 moons over Vqllejo

Three Moons over Vallejo


Hajime…. Over the course of time, Pearls of Virtual Wisdom/Exploring Consensual Reality, as a blog, has evolved in structure and appearance, as I became more accustomed to using the WP platform, until settling on the five-sections for each subject we use today. In the past two or three months, it’s shown itself to be flexible enough for me to use even when I am not completely whole, either physically, or mentally. Thus my luck with serendipity is made clear once again, as I chose better than I knew. Thanks, Me!

Oh! That hurt! I should know better than to pat myself on the back; with my shoulder’s arthritis, such a movement comes with a high price in pain…. Oops. Ah well, even the simplest literary trick can be, well, tricky, eh? That will teach me not to try those sorts of literary shenanigans before I’ve started on my second cuppa; I just don’t have the chops until then to make it work as it should. Now I’m stuck here, talking in real time, exposing my own ignorance, again…. As we who have lived on the street are fond of saying in such situations, FUCK!

Oh, well, sorry if I’ve offended anyone. That particular venting vessel is one that has probably kept me off the WP Freshly Pressed list ever since I began…. It seems even ONE word that MIGHT be offensive will keep a post off that page, so, I’ve never been there, even if I was ever nominated (a fact of which I have absolutely no clue…. especially as it doesn’t matter, since it’ll never happen…. I refuse to edit for PC in any form…). I don’t care, as I don’t write for fame, or money, merely for sanity…. or as close to it as I can get….

All that being said, in such honest, if boring fashion, I suppose we can just get on with today’s mess, and probably be better off for it. I won’t even pretend Luigi, or Guido is here today, nor that we are off to anywhere other than my imagination and ego trips. That’s okay, too…. at least it’s real, which I find to be always a good thing to observe…. really, I do…. So, without further ado, or adon’t, we’ll be off to the nether portions of the blog for today…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“”There’s nothing an agnostic can’t do if he really doesn’t know whether he believes in anything or not.” — Monty Python

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

IrishRovers2010

The Irish Rovers in 2010

Image from kpbs.org via Google Images


I hesitate to pull the covers of anyone, but, I remember listening to these lads when I was a lad myself. My parents had an album they enjoyed playing sometimes when I was young; I remember specifically listening to them, often during Christmas when relatives were over…. I still enjoy their music, so, here they are, for your enjoyment as well… If you don’t enjoy traditional Irish music, perhaps you’re ready for the ranting section….. Fair warning; you’d best be so. Ready, that is…. Section three can be a bit of a challenge if you’re not ready for it…… Why don’t you listen to the music while reading; it might help….

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

The Irish Rovers

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

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

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


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


Dont keep calm

   

“The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be; all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.” — Socrates (BC 469-399)

In more modern language, the concepts Socrates has presented in this statement could be summarized thus: “The more you practice being honorable and real, the more real and honorable you become.” I’ve stated it thus, so simply, because, it seems to me, the modern person’s mind has not grasped the concept of virtue, or honor, or even reality, with any degree of actual understanding. This, of course, is just the way the people who govern the world, and those in their service, to wit: churches, politicians, lawyers, police, and military myrmidons, want the public to be, that is to say, as ignorant of their true nature as they can make them…..

Now, this sounds like a rant in the making, and, in the normal course of events, you’d be correct. But, I find myself exhausted, still, after my recent long physical ordeal; quite frankly, it’s all I can do in a day to write this blog. Any further activity is confined to keeping Leelu entertained, which takes up more time than one might think; she considers herself in training, and me to be her personal trainer. And, she’s really, really serious about it, so, whenever I pause in my typing, I find her sitting at my chair-side, mewling and crawling into my lap to ask me to play…. like right now….

Okay… I managed to distract her by opening her window, from where she can watch the birds and traffic on the street; it can keep her fascinated for a good twenty minutes, so, I’ll try to get this done before I’m once again summoned to throw crumpled paper about the house. We’ll sublimate my urge to purge my angst with a series of statements from various smart ffolkes, on the subject at hand, to wit, the Asininnies, and our Beloved Ruling Class, including the Dogma Dogs, the Highly Conditioned Uniformed Myrmidons, and the eternal butt of everyone’s favorite jokes, the scum of society, lawyers of practically every ilk…. Let’s see what Smart Bee comes up with today, shall we?…..

“The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy. Not for nothing was the revolver called an ‘equalizer’ Eqalite implies liberte. And always will. Let us hope our weapons are never needed — but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the  government — and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws.” — Edward Abbey (1927-1989)

(On a personal note, me, too, Ed….)

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

“I honestly believe that the doctrine of hell was born in the glittering eyes  of snakes that run in frightful coils watching for their prey. I believe it was born with the yelping, howling, growling and snarling of wild beasts… I despise it, I defy it, and I hate it.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

“– Bother!”, said Pooh, as he found a politician in his honey pot.” — Twisted Bee

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken

“An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.” — Simon Cameron (1799-1889)

CORSAIR, n.  A politician of the seas. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.” — Charles de Gaulle

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

“The doctor is to be feared more than the disease.” — Latin Proverb

Okay, so, it’s a little light on shots against Big Pharma, the AMA, etc…. the last one summarizes that issue quite well, I think…. Okay, off we go, to something a bit more entertaining…. Well, I think so….

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

Comedy_Tragedy

    For those Gentle Readers from around the world, who may not know who Joe Friday is, allow me to explain…. Joe Friday was a character in a TV cop show, called Dragnet, which played here in the US in the 1950’s to 60’s. It was, I believe, the first cop show of its kind, fictional, but trying to portray true-to-life situations. The lead actor, whose name I forgot until now, was Jack Webb, and he had absolutely NO acting ability, at all. He played Joe Friday as an emotionless, flat-voiced asshole, (a rather prophetic portrayal, given that the biggest percentage of modern ‘cops’ are quite simply, ignorant assholes with a badge….), whose favorite and completely over-used phrase was “Just the facts, ma’am.”…. Hence, the title of today’s lament re: the illusion upon which Western society is based….

Joe Friday’s lament


Life is short, and though I’m odd, they say
it really doesn’t bother me
to realize there is no God, per se.

Though other folks will disagree
and tell me I’m wrong
I won’t believe it, with naught to see.

Liars called padre tell me, have humility,
and do as the authorities say,
then fondle little boys with facility.

They also tell me to share the wealth
and give them a 10% tithe
so they don’t have get it by stealth.

So spare me the delusions, please
don’t bother with such a tale;
I’m nobody that needs such a tease.

Keep your fantasies under your hat
and out of my face;
I don’t need them, they’ll make me fat….. headed.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/6/2012


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

“So then, these are the foundations, as they call them,
of all mixt bodies, and of all wonderful operations:
and whatsoever experiments they proved,
the causes hereof rested
(as they supposed)
and were to be found
in the Elements and their qualities.”

~~ Giambattista Della Porta ~~

~~ Natural Magick ~~

pearls_3


Today’s final old-school pearl is special. Why? Hell, I don’t know. It’s just the way it turned out. Those who are at all familiar with pearls here on ECR received a clue; there is seldom a quote above the picture in this section. Today, the statement from Natural Magick serves perfectly as both warning, and disclaimer…. Enjoy ffolkes, this will take your mind and turn it around so it looks you right in the eyes…. Are you ready to see?….

“All that we see or seem, “

is but a dream within a dream.

~~ Edgar Allen Poe ~~

~~ from “A Dream Within a Dream” ~~

~~~~~~~

“Are you the dreamer or just the dream?” — Alan Edgar Bee

~~~~~~~

“I do not want to die…
until I have faithfully made the most of my talent
 and cultivated the seed that was placed in me
 until the last small twig has grown.”

~~ Kathe Kollwitz ~~

~~~~~~~

“If a pessimist is always right, is he a realist?”

~~ Cynical Bee ~~

~~~~~~~

“Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them.”

~~ Suzanne Necker ~~

~~~~~~~

“In this world, you have to be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.
I spent years being smart.
I recommend pleasant.”

~~ Elwood P. Dowd ~~

~~ played by James Stewart in “Harvey” ~~

~~~~~~~

“Silence is argument carried out by other means.”

~~ Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara (1928-1967) ~~

~~~~~~~

“Loosen up; the unaimed arrow never misses.”

~~- Zen Bee ~~

~~~~~~~

“Here pigs will fly, lightning will strike twice,

hell will freeze over, and eventually,

things will get really interesting…”

~~ Prophetic Bee ~~


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

It’s done. Whew! Boy, Leelu will be glad; she’s been staring holes through me for twenty minutes. I’d best just close this out, and be off to make it up to her…. I shall see y’all tomorrow, I would hope in good spirits, as I am these days, much more often. True freedom is the release from pain…. believe it. I’ll be back, as Hollywood’s favorite assbite has said more than once…. but, I won’t try to eradicate the human race….. Ta, then, luvs…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Artful dodging: a retrospective…

Ffolkes,

“How difficult it is to save the bark of reputation from the rocks of ignorance.”

~~ Petrarch ~~

Swords Street scene

Main Thoroughfare, Swords, Dublin


Hajime…. As a student of human nature, history, and philosophy, as well as a practicing curmudgeon, it can be hard to summon up very much positive feeling about the future of humanity. This, naturally, will tend to carry over into one’s personal life, just as a matter of course, making it hard to find any peace within…. That being said, today’s Pearl is, in a manner of speaking, a harbinger of future events, which, oddly enough, brings with it a plethora of positivity, completely unasked for, or expected. I suppose that is the result of coming out of the mental fog in which I seemingly have been existing for longer than I care to contemplate.

Why, you may ask, should such a confirmed cynic feel so good about the future? Easy. I don’t hurt anywhere. It’s amazing to note how much power is in the short little phrase, “Sleep is a weapon.” Not only is it a weapon, but, it is a weapon of great power and flexibility, ubiquitous in the good it creates within our bodies, thus, by concatenation, our minds as well. I had not realized how much stress I had been absorbing, and ignoring, during this past two months, as I fought insomnia and my own brain’s rebellion at making changes to its chemistry. The major effect of ONE solid night’s sleep is, seemingly, incalculable. (The great massage beforehand didn’t hurt, either…. *grin*)

Pain is a familiar old friend, but, on those days when he/she/it takes a break, I can’t say I miss it at all. And, having that space from the pain leaves the mind free to perform functions much more pleasant than the constant effort to diffuse, distract, or otherwise obfuscate the pain and accompanying misery of insomnia. In short, hip, hip, hooray! About bloody time, too….

Without even thinking about any of the issues that surround this news, which in and of themselves have contributed to the difficulties, we will go forth into a new day, with the firm understanding that from this point on, I will only feel better, and stronger. and more clear in my mind, as I resume the scholar/warrior’s true path, from which I strayed so long ago. I know, a bit pompous, but, when giving one’s self a pep talk, enthusiasm is good, even if pompous….

Besides, I’m a pompous guy. I was trained thoroughly, as we all are, in how to observe custom, and whenever seriousness or sobriety is called for, the ability to fall into pomposity is a valuable tool. Sure keeps the mundanes off your back. As long as one doesn’t buy into the crap BEHIND the reason for the customs, they’re simple to follow. And the mundanes never know you’re strange….

Where was I? Oh, right. Harbinger, future, & all that. Well, I think that’s quite enough fantasy for one morning, don’t y’all? It’s probably best if we get this slow on the road, before I turn all maudlin or something. It can happen when I start rambling like this. Okay, Luigi ( Yeah, he’s back…. we had to take him back; he’s got tenure….), let’s get moving for the oyster beds…. Fire that sucker up, & let Zeke kick us up to the edge… Ffolkes, if I were you, I’d hang on…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Somebody who thinks logically is a nice contrast to the real world”

~~The Law of Thumb ~~


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JeffersonAirplane

Jefferson Airplane
Image from tonedeaf,com.au via Google Images


A few days back, I put up a video here of the Jefferson Starship. A blogger friend mentioned that he had always preferred them as the Airplane version. So, here is the Airplane, just for chuq…

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Jefferson Airplane
11/28/70 – Fillmore East

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bellowing stag

Call to Battle by Nature’s H(e)art….

Image found without attribution.


I was going to rant today, freshly, but, in my archive cruising yesterday, I found this, which is just about what I had to say, anyway. It will do….

From 2/26/2013:

“We are going to have to find ways of organizing ourselves cooperatively,sanely, scientifically, harmonically and in regenerative spontaneity with the rest of humanity around the earth…. We are not going to be able to operate our spaceship earth successfully nor for much longer unless we see it as a whole spaceship and our fate as common.” — Buckminster Fuller

Bucky said this some time around 1968 or 69; Google would know…. but I remember it well, as part of the argument that first convinced me of the imminence of the danger from overpopulation, pollution, climate change, and all of the other foolish, self-destructive behaviors in which our specie has engaged for millennia. The cumulative effects of all of these issues is approaching a flash point, a point that, quite possibly, may already have been reached, and passed, without anyone noticing….

Perhaps the worst example of the entire problem is the movie “An Unpleasant Truth” with former VP Al Gore narrating a summary of these issues, with all the then currently available evidence, all of which taken together was rather impressive, as well as unarguably accurate. In other words, it told the exact truth, and clearly….

I call this the worst example because this perfectly told truth of the matter was ridiculed, reviled, and dismissed, by the governments, and the public, one by ignoring it, and the other by refusing to listen, reacting instead to an unfortunate delivery style. Yet, every word Al spoke in this movie is true, and is being proved today, with the already extreme climate changes we are witnessing on a world-wide scale….

“What are the facts? Again and again and again — what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell,” avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable “verdict of history” — what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!” — Lazarus Long

Sadly, the stupids keep on decrying any changes have happened, and blithely ignore the warmer, dryer winters, the cooler, wetter summers, the shrinking polar ice (at BOTH poles!…), the instability in the biosphere, the tons of carbon monoxide, chemicals, and particulates being added into the atmosphere every second, and all of the other evidence that PROVES them wrong. It isn’t a matter of there not being any real evidence, it is a matter of the evidence being ignored, or challenged, that is proving to be the hardest obstacle to be overcome, if we are to survive beyond the next 100 years.

Yep, that’s my estimate, based on all the different estimates I’ve read about, the evidence I’ve examined, and my take on how society is dealing with all of it….. I don’t see the changes needed happening, not yet, nor is there much indication that a way to stop the assholes in power from their insane intransigence, and selfish hoarding of resources for their private use.

The atmosphere is almost full, and the balance of the gases and elements that make up the air we breathe is, WITHOUT FAIL, going to begin to change, eventually changing into air that will not support our life form, meaning, we won’t be able to breathe it; we will suffocate….. This process, well understood by science, has already begun, and will happen faster with each passing day, once it reaches a certain critical point…. That point, if not already reached, is not far off.

“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” — Lazarus Long

Now, I know there is hope, and that everyone who reads this will give me positive reasons for that hope…. and I agree with all of them. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want my children, or their children, to have to face the same issues in order to save themselves. To be completely honest, I’d much rather just shoot the motherfuckers who are causing all of it right now, and be done with it…..

Sadly, that won’t work, so we’ll have to figure out something else to do. I am not enough of a genius to be able to figure out exactly what that might be, though I have some ideas that would help, I’m sure. But, I’m not in a position now to have those ideas instituted, so they are moot, unless I can assume such a position….

Hope is, therefore, just about ALL I have left…..

gigoid has spoken

So be it.


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Comedy_Tragedy

    I’m not sure, but, I may have used this recently. However, it fits in so well with today’s material, I made an executive (i.e. stupid & unpopular) decision, and will use it again today, whether it was used or not. So there. Try to enjoy it anyway, please?

Accentuated Lessons

Bold statements of calculated intent
Become common rule of the malcontent.
Avarice assumes such attractive wear
Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.

Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands
Legally proper in all the signatory lands.
Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul
Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.

Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards
Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.
While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor
Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.

Escape from reality is illusory at best
Often we falter and fail its daily test.
Only when focused on inner strength
Does peace stay with us for any length.

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid ~~


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About Hopi Indian Symbols

    Today’s final old-school pearl is pretty standard, but for the relatively obscure reputation of those quotes we’ve chosen for today. Most of them are from people nobody heard of, at least, not on the streets. But, they all have a valuable little idea to impart about Life (hence the icon, inverted) at Large, so, ’tis best to pay close attention, lest you miss that one thing that might just turn your life around…. if it needs to. If not, well, save it for when it does….. Enjoy!….

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

“Men are rewarded and punished not for what they do, but rather for how their acts are defined. This is why men are more interested in better justifying themselves than in better behaving themselves.” — Thomas Szasz “The Second Sin”

“It is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top.” — Virginia Woolf

“A little hobgoblin fools consistent minds.” — Witty Bee

“In adversity remember to keep an even mind.” — Horace (8 BC)

“Nae man can tether time or tide.” — Robert Burns — Tam o’ Shanter

“To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child.  For what is man’s lifetime unless the memory of past events is woven with those of earlier times?” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), Orator

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” — Oscar Wilde, “Oscariana”

“It seems that nature has concealed at the bottom of our minds, talents and abilities of which we are not aware. The passions alone have the privilege of bringing them to light, and of giving us sometimes views more certain and more perfect than art could possible produce.” — La Rochefoucauld

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Okay, right. So, here is where I stamp your papers, and tell you your application for admission to Utopia has been rejected. Sorry, we’re full up, so, until somebody dies (doesn’t happen often; we’re immortal), you’re S.O.O.L…. which is the correct way to write that particular euphemist abbreviation. But no worries, I’ll be back tomorrow, when you may submit another; there’s no limit to how many times you may apply, as there is no limit to how often you will be rejected out of hand…. Hah! Take that, sultry poltroons! Oh, wait…. Sorry, forgot this wasn’t the Daffy Duck cartoon….

Never mind. I’ll see y’all tomorrow. unless one of you is successful in your assassination attempts…. Good luck with that; I’ve got a Tardis, so, how are you going to find me? That means, I’ll be here, regardless of the legality….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

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À bientôt, mon cherí….