Poignant palindromes prevent perverted pixels….

Posted on October 13, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?
All fear, none aid you, and few understand.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

— Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 261 —

A while back, you may recall a series of posts here with The Wise Old Pine Cone as the featured subject, with pictures describing his adventures living here with me, his girl friend, and The Young Paduan Cone….. Then, the stories stopped, simply because the Old Cone disappeared, along with his charges, not to be seen again until a couple days ago, when I happened to spot him, managing to speak to him a moment, to find out what happened… I took this picture to show where he’s been hanging out, literally….

It seems he got a call one night, after I’d retired, calling him to an emergency far away (no, he doesn’t use the phone; he’s telepathic, obviously…. he couldn’t hold the handset anyway….). Realizing he’d be gone a while, he took his student, and his girl friend, who, unknown to me, was pregnant…. By the time he’d taken care of the issue in Bulgaria (don’t ask…. I didn’t, so I don’t know why it was in Europe….or, what pine cones might be having trouble in the area…..), she was almost due, so, he rushed home, and found a nice tree, where she produced the batch of young cones you see above…. Nice story, eh?

All perfectly nonsense, naturally…. The truth is, I forgot about the cone, then, when I went to find it, it was all crumbled up, too dried out and old to hold together….. SIGH, oh well, at least I got a picture out of it, and a short story to go with it, which also served as a decent, if a bit awkward, beginning for today’s effort…. Hey, they can’t ALL be gems, can they? Well, if so, I haven’t found the technique thus far…. The hell with it, it’s good enough for government work, and since I no longer work for them, but, quite the opposite, it’s damn well good enough….

It’s also gotten us far enough I can be thrifty, bringing this to close with a reasonably moderate length, rather than wandering around, blathering, whining, or fantasizing until I find an exit point. In fact, this one worked so well, I see it has brought us to one of those points in jig time, instead of island time, reputed to be slow…. Having not set foot on the islands (Hawaii, etc….) since I was four, I’ll take their word for it, and just take advantage of the way out…

Shall we Pearl?….

It is our choices …. that show what we truly are far more than our abilities.” — J.K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

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Death in itself is nothing; but we fear
To be we know not what, we know not where.

— John Dryden (1631-1700) — Aurengzebe, Act iv, Sc. 1

“There is scarcely an occurrence in nature which, happening at a certain time, is not looked upon by some persons as a prognosticator either of good or evil. The latter are in the greatest number, so much more ingenious are we in tormenting ourselves than in discovering reasons for enjoyment in the things that surround us.” — Charles Mackay — Extraordinary Popular Delusions. . .

Humanity has been doing this ever since we moved out of the caves, having spent much of our time before that discussing the matter in full, as we huddled in those dark, oppressive shelters, shivering in the cold, suffering in the heat, and generally living without a clue as to how the universe works, beyond what we could see in front of our noses…. Cowering in our fears, our imagination peopled the forests, rivers, oceans, skies, and even animals, such as ourselves, with demons, fairies, goddesses, gods, and all manner of dangerous creatures of unknown, and therefore, presumably evil intent…

In doing so, it seems to me we, as a species, using our imagination, fueled by ignorance of reality beyond our perceptions, adopted this BAD habit, of assigning anthropomorphic identities/qualities to those natural objects and functions we did not comprehend, such as rain, thunder, fires, pain, fear, our own body’s functions, etc., in our attempt to establish some kind of order we could understand, thereby utilizing our allegedly advantageous, vaunted intelligence, with the immense power of imagination, seemingly limited in other species, to survive….. It has done that so well, we have become a danger to ourselves, and every other living creature on the planet…. and, we’re still doing it….

Just because we no longer live in caves does not mean we are any less of a fearful, small, uncertain entity, each of us, totally unclear on the true reality that goes on all around us…. In our haste, and daily rush to survive, by the only methods we have learned, we do not have, or take, or make the time to actually use our minds the way they were designed to be used; nor is the imagination, of most people, of much help to them in surviving, beyond gifting them with a talent for mimicry, which is mostly what people use to get by in life.

For most of humanity, by my observation, routine actions and behaviors are not motivated by conscious choice, made after examining all the available information, but, rather, are utilized because it is the ONLY way they know, the same way their mom, or dad, or big brother, or priest, or teacher taught them to act, without ever knowing WHY they do so….

http://nadiaharhash.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/what-is-it-that-makes-people-join-daesh/

Nadia Harash is a new blogger, a Palestinian Muslim woman, who is providing the world with her viewpoints, which, given her gender, religion, and location, marks her as a very brave, very strong, very intelligent woman, obviously fighting to find a way to stay sane, and alive, in a world gone mad…. She asks a question that can be answered, at least in part, by our subject here today, to wit: human stupidity is, over time, becoming universal, making it all that much easier to manipulate them, as they are driven by fear, unreasoning, irrational, unthinking fear, which they sublimate into anger, generally against women, but, often against infidels…. any sort of adjective will do as a focus for hatred, it doesn’t much care who or what it hates….

The people who are joining the jihadists are those who have no rigorous mental structure of their own, nothing to serve to remove, or even lessen, their fear of everything, and everyone; this fear, naturally, leads them to hate, for all anger (from which hate springs…) comes from obstructed desire, in this case, the desire to be free of fear, thus leading us to see that all those chanting, rifle-waving maniacal fanatics are nothing more than little boys, whistling in the dark, and using modern technology to allow them to assuage their fears by killing….

But, the Western governments don’t help, for they are doing the exact same thing…. But, they are using their own positions in power to justify their fears, saying all their acts are motivated by national security, or to protect the “homeland” (remember what the Nazi’s used to call their country?….Yep…. the homeland…). However, they are doing so in ways that mark them as craven cowards, ordering jets, and tanks, and drones, and ships with missiles to do their killing for them, without ever having to leave home at all…. They do this, without ever realizing, or even considering, how their actions are making the entire issue worse, by increasing the fear on the side of those being bombed….

It all has to do with what I’ve been pounding on for years now…. The governments of the world are not under the control of the people who elect them, or allow them to rule, nor have they EVER been so. The people in actual control of all the resources (money) are watching their OWN agendas being carried out, agendas that have NOTHING to do with helping the general populace live a better life; it’s all about making themselves more powerful, and safe from exposure, while the world goes up in flames, from all the distractions, such as wars, violence on the streets, slavery, drug running, religion, sports, television, and all the other ways the people are kept oppressed….

It’s been going on for millennia, and will continue until people, as a whole, wake the fuck up and throw the assholes into a deep pit…. I have a feeling I could rant on about this for a long time; hell, I already have, any number of times…. instead, since this is long enough already, we’ll just take a few closing shots, as selected by Smart Bee, to round out our attack on the powers that be for the day…. enjoy….

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

“I love this nation, but we have some of the stupidest people here.” — Smart Bee

“I learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus. A cactus has its pricks on the outside.” — Morris Udall, Former U.S. Rep. on his education in public life.

“The majority isn’t silent- the government is deaf!” — Smart Bee

“Boy, am I glad it’s only 1971…” — Zippy the Pinhead

Now, to some, that pearl might be a bit obscure, but, trust me, it’s not…. For now, just go on to the next section…. it will hit you later….

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Another relatively unknown legend of music from the latter half of the twentieth century, Kate Wolf was well known in Northern California, where she lived, writing songs that celebrated the beautiful country, and her life… Her song, “Red Tail Hawk” is considered by many to be one of the best folk tunes written in that era, along with a number of her other works…. The link I chose was one that connects to a page with a great many links to her works…. but, if you choose the link to her full album, “Close To You”, you’ll find a number of links to other artists in the folk genre, including Emmy Lou Harris, along with numerous others…. Enjoy!…..

Kate Wolf: 27 Videos

http://youtu.be/PsXGzblg7Ws?list=PL548AB8C2799B312B

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This poem needs no introduction, nor any comment….

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley ~~

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Today’s final pearl will be put together using pearls that struck my fancy…. now, if I could remember where I put it, we’ll be able to get this done in a timely fashion… if not, well, oh, well….

“It is sometimes expedient to forget who we are.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 233

“Intelligence is the ultimate aphrodisiac” — Me & Smart Bee

“Cats are PROOF there is a higher purpose to the Universe.” — Smart Bee

“It [the Bible] is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910) — Letters from the Earth (1905-1909)

“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.” — Buddha

God must love assholes — She made so many of them. — Smart Bee

“What is left when honour is lost?” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 265

I wasn’t sure about this one at first, but, any time we end up with Mark Twain, Publius Syrus (twice!), and Smart Bee three times, you can be sure the pearl works…. which, it does, quite well, I’d say…. But, then, we all know I’m prejudiced about this, so….

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Okay, I’m a bit late, and, I’m already half-brain dead; at least the weather today promises to be a bit more livable…. I think I’ll go take a walk in it…. See y’all tomorrow ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Worshiping at the altar of self-mockery….

Posted on October 12, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.” — Thomas Jefferson

I’m not altogether proud of this picture, obviously with good reason… It’s the best shot of the full moon I managed with my little Cool Pix camera, sitting on top of my walking stick to keep it steady as the moon rose over the trees…. It has kind of a hint of all that, the clouds, the trees, the moon… without ever quite bringing into enough clarity to make it compelling, other than as an exercise for the eye/brain imagery interface, to resolve the flaws when it gets into the brain, using our resident equivalent to Photoshop… sort of a Photoshop for the brain, so to speak… I suppose one could claim it is ‘mysterious’, but, that might imply one was TRYING to make it that way, which would be a lie….

According to Jefferson, then, I have naught to fear…. from truth, or lies…. Well, at least, in this instance, anyway….

Other than that, it serves only to anchor down the top of the page, after a very good quote, while, at the same time, yet, inadvertently, I assure you, providing material to fill the first paragraph…. SIGH…. I couldn’t have done it better if I’d actually tried, believe me or not. Oh, and, no worries if you don’t; believe me, that is….. I’m not very much offended by being misunderstood, even when that misunderstanding isn’t my fault, or doing; I just hit the miscreant with a brick, and go on about my business. So,as you see, as long as you put on the helmet we offered you at the door to the cabin, you’ll be fine. They (the helmets) are fully tested to be able to withstand much more than a mere brick wielded by an old man with arthritic hands & a grumpy disposition….

Golly, Wally, now what? The usual lack of creative material is currently holding sway in my brain, in spite of adequate morning ablution. This means it will get rantish later on (oops, I think I just coined another word, applicable to blogging…. rantish…. I like it…. It’s going in the dictionary….), but, it can’t be helped. I’m betting though, just the mere act of coining has distracted all of us enough we didn’t even notice how well the new word will fit well into a poem…. Spell Checker showed me several similar words that rhyme quite nicely, when I told it to add it to the list of acceptable words, one of which was an all-time favorite of mine, as it is another word that describes ME…. that word, of course, is dilettantish….

Okay, I’m going to be a nice guy…. I’ll stop here, without subjecting you to further early morning teasing. I know this hasn’t quite achieved the usual level of aggravation, to which y’all have become accustomed, but, we’ve got a ways to go, and I’m a bit tired this morning…. I guess opening that second bottle of John Daniel’s finest wasn’t a good idea, though, I must confess, it seemed like it at the time…. Of course, that was probably just the first bottle talking, but, hey, we listened, so, we have no excuses….. nor, are any offered, as my relationship with John is a private matter, between the two of us alone… and, I’m lying anyway, to prepare you for section one, where we will talk about our beloved ruling class; it’s best to give some warning, I think….

Of course, warning you gives you the chance to slip out, and just go on to the video section, but, hey, I’m required to make the attempt, if only for my own records, to cover my butt, which is hanging out quite attractively, don’t you think? I do…. But, whether or not the sight of my butt drives anyone away, we are going to go on with this, just because my dad taught me to finish whatever I start…. even the silly stuff….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity – these are strictly confined to man; he invented them. Among higher animals there is no trace of them. They hide nothing. They are not ashamed.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910) — Letters from the Earth (1905-1909)

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REVOLUTION, n. In politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment. Specifically, in American history, the substitution of the rule of an Administration for that of a Ministry, whereby the welfare and happiness of the people were advanced a full half-inch. Revolutions are usually accompanied by a considerable effusion of blood, but are accounted worth it — this appraisement being made by beneficiaries whose blood had not the mischance to be shed. The French revolution is of incalculable value to the Socialist of to-day; when he pulls the string actuating its bones its gestures are inexpressibly terrifying to gory tyrants suspected of fomenting law and order. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/oct/11/russell-brand-revolution-alienation-despair

Perfect timing; Russell Brand, the British comedian/shock jock/social critic, just released a new book, entitled, “Revolution”. The above link leads, not to the book, but to a reporter’s review of it, including comments from the author as to his motivation for writing it, and for now espousing revolution in the world, for realio-trulio, no foolin’, no bullshit…. which, as you might imagine, is a concept I can get behind in a New York minute (which, as you may know, lasts about a nanosecond…)…. Can I call ’em, or what?

I’ve been saying for a couple years that the Asininnies were getting so egregious in their looting of society, they’re not bothering to hide as much, and that this would eventually lead to revolution… Of course, I was the one making the suggestion, but, I also knew, and stated, that society was going to mirror my own reactions, and the idea of revolution would become more real as time went by. It had to happen, as history provides us with many examples of following the same path in previous centuries…. This has all happened before, ffolkes; the names have been changed, not to protect the innocent, but, just because new assholes are born every minute…

“The United States has entered an anti-intellectual phase in its history, perhaps most clearly seen in our virtually thought-free political life.” — David Baltimore

And, WHY are the Asininnies so able to lie to the public so successfully? Well, because people, for the most part, and in the greatest number, are fools, easily led by the nose, and perfectly susceptible to manipulation, due to their gullibility…. They, the pundits and talking heads who get elected, KNOW this about people, and are shameless, and ruthless, in applying it as often as they can…. which is all the damn time, every damn day…

“If a lie is repeated often enough all the dumb jackasses in the world not only get to believe it, they even swear by it.” — B.B. Franklin

I was glad to see that the movie about Edward Snowden is coming out; it will certainly add to the situation described above, i.e., it will provide that much more evidence of how the governments of this world have worked to subjugate and repress the general population, increase the wealth gap, and, steal as much as they can, while they can…. Below, you’ll find a link to a review of the film, a link to the trailer on You Tube, and a player to watch that trailer here, if you wish…. I hope everyone alive with two working neurons in their head will see this, for then, revolution would be assured….

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/11/citizenfour-review-snowden-vindicated-poitras-nsa-journalism

“He means well” is useless unless he does well.” — Plautus

As far as I can see, Mr. Snowden has done well….

http://youtu.be/XiGwAvd5mvM

At this point, I will show mercy…. I could easily rant for a while longer, but, to spare you further torment like that, I’ll finish off this section with a relatively short pearl, to take the rest of my shots at the Asininnies, wherever they might be….

“There is a great deal of human nature in people.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)

“The right to revolt has sources deep in our history.” — Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

“The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” — Isaiah, Isaiah 2:4

(Gee, why does it NOT surprise me to see this, and to realize that, when it comes to government, they stopped paying attention to this sort of idea long ago?…. In fact, I’m fairly sure it has NEVER been tried….)

“Cops do it with nightsticks.” — Smart Bee

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

“The price of liberty is, always has been, and always will be blood: the person who is not willing to die for his liberty has already lost it to the first scoundrel who is willing to risk dying to violate that person’s liberty. Are you free?” — Andrew Ford

That should do it….. So be it. gigoid has spoken….

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A great many people will never have heard of this artist, which is a shame, but, pretty much was the way he wanted it. Fred Neil was a legendary performer, not to the public, who only knew of him through two of his songs, which EVERYONE heard on the radio at one time…. Other than those, he produced only three albums, which never hit the mainstream….

But, among other artists, he was, and, is still regarded as one of the very best blues players/singers to ever live, with an incredibly creative talent on the guitar for making new melodies and riffs, and a voice that could rip out your heart with feeling…. The video is the best version of his most famous song, but, you can see more of his work, including all his albums, by following the link to the You Tube page…. Enjoy, ffolkes; if you haven’t heard him before, you are in for a huge treat… You especially must listen to his song, “The Dolphins”…. it is INCREDIBLE!…..

Fred Neil: Everybody’s Talkin’ At Me

http://youtu.be/M-Ql1284QLw

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While searching for another poet, I came across this gem, which is new to me…. Since it also fits in with an ever-present theme here on ECR, I though it would go well, even if it’s a bit long…. It makes up for it with relevance….

Television

The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set —
Or better still, just don’t install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they’re hypnotised by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink —
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!
‘All right!’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow:
THEY … USED … TO … READ! They’d READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start — oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

~~ Roald Dahl ~~

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To finish of today, Smart Bee came up with a seven-star pearl made up of some comments/observations regarding the bane of our existence as humans…. ourselves….

“And it shall some to pass that idiots shall roam the earth, and morons shall rule the masses.” — Smart Bee

“We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.” — George Bernard Shaw

“It’s not very pleasant in my corner of the world at three o’clock in the morning. But for people who like cold, wet, ugly bits it is something rather special.” — A.A. Milne’s Eyore

“When we talk of tomorrow, the gods laugh.” — Smart Bee

“The frightening thing is not dying, the frightening thing is not living.” — T-Bone Burnett

“Extinct is forever.” — A little reminder from Smart Bee

“A little learning is a dangerous thing but a lot of ignorance is just as bad.” — Bob Edwards

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Here is your homework for tomorrow, ffolkes; as determined by SB, this will give you the best chance of surviving the night with your insanity intact…. Write an Essay: “Describe the universe in 500 words or less and name 2 examples.” I thought it would be a good addition to also have you explore one of your two examples (not this one), with proof of completion to be provided by a video recording of your trip…. If you need a camera, the equipment desk has a number of Go-Pro models for you to check out for use….

There…. I don’t believe I can do any more, or cause any more confusion, so, I may as well get on with the rest of today…. I hope y’all enjoyed today’s Pearl; it took some effort and thought, both of which I am currently in short supply….. and, no comments from the peanut gallery about always being in short supply of those products…. Do I insult you? Well, not directly, anyway…. I think it would be best if I just go now…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Reverting to paleolithic mode….

Posted on October 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.” — Buddha

The flower looks a bit worse for wear, doesn’t it? I took this picture in late July, when all the flowers had been blooming for some time, all through the summer, collecting comparative photos to show off the very little bit of seasonal change we see here in Northern California. Living here, we don’t see much of the dramatic changes seen back east, but, there are smaller, more subtle signs, if one is the type to notice them… but, then, I suppose one could say that subtlety isn’t all that common, either, in humans…. Most humans run to the type of mind that appreciates the Three Stooges kind of humor, with lots of violence and pratfalls…. Witness the long-term popularity of such shows as Benny Hill, or The Beverly Hillbillies,

Now we see an example of how these intro sections get away from me…. I have not the faintest clue as to how we started out with flowers and seasons, but, ended up with Jed Clampett & Granny. Just one of those mysteries we are destined never to solve, I guess. If I had continued down that path, there is no telling where we might have gone, or what might have happened to us on the way. It has been noted previously how often this section ends up as a rant, or, at the very least, a pre-cursor to ranting, but, in these cases, where we finally come to is generally uncharted territory, with completely new and different standards to observe, usually before we can figure out how to exit the area…

But, hell, I got almost seven straight good hours of sleep last night, and you’d be amazed at the difference it makes, even if waking up stiff and sore… Even the pain is less bothersome, when there is ample energy to fight back with; as long as I’ve remembered to set up the coffee, so it’s ready within moments, all will be well, and all will be well…. or, as close as we ever come to wellness…

The opening quote, by the way, is one I used recently in my life, to remind myself of where the center lay…. We all get lost in our own minds at times; there is no doubt whatsoever of that truth. Even I, who spends so much time thinking about the mind, and consciousness, and how that relates to the world and society, can lose track of my own center, losing track of it while focused on dealing with the pressures and oddities of living, with which we deal on a regular basis. Finding our way back isn’t always possible alone, which is why we have each other…. So, as long as we can remember that our center, and our inner peace, are already there, inside us, waiting for us to merely acknowledge its presence, in order to enjoy the benefits thereby….

One benefit is that my mind clears more quickly in the morning, with or without coffee…. though, the latter is a condition I have avoided for many years, and cannot actually say I’ve tried in a long time; I suppose that makes the previous statement a load of bilge water, but, hey, it’s already too late. This is the last paragraph required by law, and today, the rest of the Pearl’s sections kept growing, until this came out a bit long, though, it’s all fresh…. I suppose we’ll find out how that goes over, or, as my Mom used to say, “It’ll all come out in the wash….”

I never did know exactly what she meant by that….

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

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

“A sane environment in one in which there is room to be crazy. A crazy environment is one in which there is no room to be sane.” — Solomon Short

This pearl started out as another rant on the environmental crisis, on the basis of what I read in the first article, from weather.com. But, as I looked for any other reports on the subject on other sites, other subjects indicating how the world is going insane kept presenting themselves, until the final one, which I read starting out because it was interesting, then because it filled in some holes I’d been seeing in another subject, which related, peripherally, to the original subject of our imminent doom, or at least, period of crisis…

In order to keep it reasonably short (hah!) I’ll confine myself to short comments at first, then finish my arguments after the fourth…

http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/antarctic-sea-ice-reaches-all-time-record-high-nsidc-20141008

This could affect the rotational speed of the planet, as the weight of the ice redistributes, possibly causing changes in the magnetic, and other energy fields that envelop Earth….Terraforming in action…. without even realizing we are doing it…..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11144442/First-hint-of-life-after-death-in-biggest-ever-scientific-study.html

Long article, key phrase by investigating scientists: “We just don’t know what’s going on.” Duh!

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/09/crypto-wars-redux-why-the-fbis-desire-to-unlock-your-private-life-must-be-resisted

Very good article; clear, concise, informative, incredibly scary in its implications….

http://www.theguardian.com/science/lost-worlds/2014/oct/09/supersized-dinosaurs-divided-up-their-dinner-sauropod-diplodocus

You never need to feel guilty about eating meat, or plants, or anything, ever again…. Regardless of the nonsense vegetarians will tell you about evolution, the stark reality of nature is this… We, and by we I mean ALL forms of life in the known, visible universe, eat each other, all the damn time… It has nothing to do with evolution, or how our jaws, teeth, etc. developed; that is what is so interesting in this article, for it shows this exactly (which we can discuss another time….) in its detail, particularly in how each type of dinosaur life adapted to eat a different type of plant, or vegetation of some kind… as other dinosaurs adapted to eating other types of dinosaurs, or dead things, mostly, of one sort or another… as we do….

But, even back then, after a time, they died… Some of them may have indeed been long-lived, but they died, then they decayed, and, in essence, became food for the plants, eventually, as their individual components decayed into their more basic ingredients, then into dirt, and/or dust, as all the useful materials were utilized to FEED the plant life that lives in the ground…. growing abundantly up so other forms can eat it…

Then, along came mammals, including Man, and a few other species, who eat damn near everything in front of them… making them that much more adaptable, sort of like cockroaches, who seem to be able to eat damn near everything, including many of the toxic substances created by our technology, which would KILL us instantly…. Kid you not, I’ve sprayed half a can of Raid directly on a palmetto bug in Florida, and watched it crawl away… it slowed down, and almost died, but, managed to get into the wall before I could try again to smash it… which had not worked the first time I hit it, with ONLY a frying pan, as hard as I could…

I have a feeling they will still be in those walls when we are all dead and gone, having choked on the toxic air, or died from starvation as the oceans rise, or, in the earthquakes from the shifting polar caps affecting our orbital rotation, or one of the other practically inevitable catastrophes that are coming, that we cannot even guess at yet, because we know so little about the forces we have set into play….

Terraforming is serious business, especially for a culture that has yet to figure out how to get into its own solar system, much less to the stars, with a reliable unlimited energy source available, before killing ourselves, by war, or famine, or species extinction by environmental decree…. It will become a bit hard to survive when the air is unbreathable, and food will not grow in the ground, nor in the water….. at least, not any food WE could eat….

We do have the technology available, if pressed, to be able to survive in space, but, the effort to do so, to plant colonies in the asteroids, or Mars, or on the moons of Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, or Uranus, would take most of the resources of the planet left to us, in a very short amount of time…. It would also take ALL of mankind’s efforts, acting together, to make it happen to enough of a degree to ensure the species would survive in space, once the planet has become lethally toxic to us…..

The race is on, the clock is ticking…. but, nobody is running…..

Oops….

“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“It did not matter, after all. He was only one man. One man’s fate is not important. If it is not, what is? He could not endure those remembered words.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, spoken by Gaverel Rocannon, Rocannon’s World

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

This concert gives a good look at how hard Janis pushed herself to make a song her own…. Note in the first section of the film, her voice strains and cracks at one point, but, other than a clearing of the throat, she gave it no rest, but, pushed it past its boundaries…. the exact perfect metaphor for how she lived, and part of what made her unique…. This concert, while good, isn’t as good as others I’ve seen (including the two or three live performances I’ve seen, back in the day…. I went to UC Berkeley in the late 60’s, and I saw her several times back then…. Incredible energy, and she was so in love with the crowd, you could see her glow during the applause…. To her, the audience’s adoration was food, drink, and drug…. she craved it all….

To see some more of her work, some of it without the flaws in this recording, use the link to go to the You Tube page, where there are more examples of her, along with choices of similar artists, some from the same era…. Enjoy….

Janis Joplin, live in Frankfurt:

http://youtu.be/5NuZxUxHN0o

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In the interests of brevity, and avoidance of blame, here is another of my own poems, such as they are….

Funny Bones

Dreaming the way home, lost, unseen,
from the dance, where
he felt so free, and clean.
Sorrow couldn’t find him there.

Waiting, filling up the hours, hoping,
some connection can be found
keeping busy as bees, coping.
Love creeps in, without a sound.

Fat days, skinny nights, passionate
visions of semi-conscious entities,
cannot seem to fully illuminate
or hide our innermost frailties.

Resolute, find the perfect sense, codify
simple rules with every breath
never waiting, anxious to modify.
fear nothing in life, not even Death.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

For a pearl that started out as a simple, old-school pearl, this grew beyond all measure… but, it’s pretty good, so, enjoy!….

Smart Bee, as I’ve mentioned, is the tiny little program holding the database of quotes I use most often for these Pearls; it’s like my own little bed of oysters, with a high percentage of them holding pearls…. It was compiled some years ago by a group of hackers, as, sort of, an adjunct toy to the tagline that shows up whenever a Unix box is fired up… the first lines to come on screen are always a text tagline from the dB in Unix.

This particular dB, Smart Bee, holds a lot of stuff that the hackers either didn’t have attribution for, or came straight out of their own head…. Those are the quotes that I label “Smart Bee”, because, to the best of my knowledge, they all came from one of the parties responsible for SB’s existence…. All of the pearls below concern the state of being an advanced computer user, programmer, code monkey, or other industry adepts, such as wizard, god, super-user, sys-op, network manager, or, resident geek…. so, they probably know whereof they speak….

“Reality is in the mind of the beholder.” — Smart Bee

“Under the most rigorously controlled conditions of pressure, temperature, volume, humidity and other variables, the computer will do as it damn well pleases.” — Harward’s Law, as applied to Computers

backups: always in season, never out of style.” — Smart Bee

“A feature is a bug with seniority.” — Dave Bartley

File library corrupted: Life.exe Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic (S)uicide — Smart Bee

“In place of infinity we usually put some really big number, like 15.” — Anonymous Computer Science professor

A novice of the temple once approached the Chief Priest with a question. “Master, does Emacs have the Buddha nature?” the novice asked. The Chief Priest had been in the temple for many years and could be relied upon to know these things. He thought for several minutes before replying. “I don’t see why not. It’s got bloody well everything else.” With that, the Chief Priest went to lunch. The novice suddenly achieved enlightenment, several years later.

Commentary:

His Master is kind,
Answering his FAQ quickly,
With thought and sarcasm.

You know, it’s really too bad most people, even hackers, are so reluctant to acknowledge how much computers reflect our own nature as humans; if they would, we’d probably be able to figure out a rational way to avoid a lot of the problems we now are facing as a species…. We are so afraid to see our own design flaws, we fail to account for them, a behavioral tendency computers have been built to mimic… It’s built right into the codes used to give them instructions….

Sadly, people have always had a hard time admitting their faults; that is what keeps most of them from ever learning anything more complicated than driving a car, a feat that remains a challenge for most people, especially now they are expected to TALK at the same time…. Witness the car crash statistics, especially since the advent of Blue Tooth…. Too many folks on the road end up with the same sort of conundrum they face when asked to walk & chew gum at once…. (Long, drawn out West County Irish SIGH…..)

Just think! When computer technology advances to the point where keyboards are unnecessary, as one will merely speak to the computer to give commands, or assign tasks, THINK of all the new ways to screw up communication people will have to explore, in their relationship with the computers, to which we are relinquishing much of the drudgery of living….

As computers do more and more of what people formerly had to do, just to get by, the opportunities for missed communication will multiply geometrically, up to the point of exponentially, as a parabola that approaches infinity…. What fun we’ll all have!…. Dyslexia will take on new significance if not new meaning…. Imagine a dyslexic trying to give two commands at once to a house droid, but, getting the commands reversed: “R3D3, put the trash in the back yard, and the dog in the compacter….” Oops! Dad might have a hard time explaining that one to the kids….

“All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace”

I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.

I like to think
(right now please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.

I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.

~~ Richard Brautigan, 1967 ~~

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

Well, it came out a bit long, but, hey, I can’t do EVERYTHING…. I wrote it; someone else is supposed to keep track of how much of it there is…. Of course, that person didn’t get paid for a few months, so they quit, which probably explains why it gets away from me so often. I haven’t had time to interview for a new one, and couldn’t actually pay them anyway, so, what’s the point? As it is, I find myself unmoved by the complaints about how long it is…. I mean, just read faster, for goodness sake, and it won’t take any longer…. It’s not as if you’re going to find any of this on the Quiz, is it? No, of course not….

Now that we have completed the required dose of complete, utter nonsense, as required by curmudgeon rules, I can finally lay this to rest, and go about getting it posted…. Whew! I’m beat; this one took it out of me…. If I didn’t have business to take care of, I’d be back in bed in five minutes… Ah well, I guess I’ll go eat some worms, then go catch the bus…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Aiming at center mass…..

Posted on October 6, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“To love someone deeply gives you strength.

Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

If one accepts the premise set forth above by Lao Tzu, then I am immensely strong, but, have yet to be able to define courage in myself…. a thought that occurred to me as I read it this morning…. Oh, that isn’t to say I am not loved; I do have children, both of whom still talk to me, so, I’m good to go there…. Also, I have friends, who have been so named for over 50 years; I know well the love that abides between us…. But, of the love he speaks about here, I am apparently unfamiliar…. and, to be honest, that hurts…. a lot.

Enough that it sent me into a deep hole of depression, for a time, until I managed to put a bit of distance between myself and the pain…. a process with which I am quite familiar, both physically and mentally…. Unfortunately, that distance isn’t enough to prevent the onset of the symptoms of PTSD, including the depression; my feelings, torn and bloodied as they are, tend to stay quite near the surface, so that the relief of weeping is always just a nanosecond away from release, whether I wish it or not…. Bit of a pisser, that, as it can, and does, strike at the LEAST convenient moments….

Add in arthritis, heat enough to melt cheese on the sidewalk, and a touch of dizziness left over from vertigo, and you’ve got the makings of a very miserable day…. or three…. At least I have this to help me get it out, which a great many people do not possess; for three years now, being able to vent has kept me reasonably sane, or, enough so to avoid prosecution for any outlandish public behaviors…. But, it still doesn’t help me get an intro section done, which, really, is all I’d hoped for today…. Well, maybe it’s working… we ARE three paragraphs in, and, no blood yet, even though we’ve already had our whine, and some cheese…. or, a mention of cheese, anyway….

Ah well, such is life, I suppose…. The picture above is amazing, to me, not because of the rarity and beauty of the shot, but, for giving us a reminder of how much we don’t know about our own planet, and its denizens…. We see here the largest creature on the planet, jumping completely out of the water, for its own reasons, possibly connected to the large growth of barnacles on its underside, visible in the above photo… Some scientists believe the whales breech like this to try to remove those barnacles; if so, I can see how it might work,as several TONS of animal crush down on the growth, with a LOT of force…..

Regardless of why the animal jumped out of the water, (an incredible physical feat, to say the least, to lift that weight completely out of the depths, into the air….), the photo, (again taken from the London Daily Telegraph, in one of their photo features…) is a beautiful shot, and well worth the placement I gave it, as a small piece of “amazing” to start the day…. It also got us far enough into the day to declare this a legal intro, and allow us to take advantage of this little ending point…. Which one? This one….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Virtue is its own revenge.” — E. Y. Harburg

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

REPORTER: “Senator, are you for or against the MX missile system?”

SENATOR: “Bob, the MX missile system reminds me of an old saying that the country folk in my state like to say. It goes like this: “You can carry a pig for six miles, but if you set it down it might run away.” I have no idea why the country folk say this. Maybe there’s some kind of chemical pollutant in their drinking water. That is why I pledge to do all that I can to protect the environment of this great nation of ours, and put prayer back in the schools, where it belongs. What we need is jobs, not empty promises. I realize I’m risking my political career be being so outspoken on a sensitive issue such as the MX, but that’s just the kind of straight-talking honest person I am, and I can’t help it.” — Dave Barry, “On Presidential Politics”

It may seem as if I’m cheating, but, that’s okay; I’m in enough of a bad mood I don’t give much of a shit. The above, to me, is PERFECT. It is absolutely an accurate portrayal of the typical Bull Shit spewed out daily by our pundits and talking heads, on every conceivable subject. I’m not in the mood to rant, not effectively (when depressed, I tend to get vicious, & not always perfectly reasonable….), so, instead, I’ll furnish y’all with some links to more evidence of the kind of crap being pulled on us by our so-called leaders… then, a couple of questions, followed by some pearls to take a few satisfying shots at those assholes…. I will probably sublimate the need to rant by making short comments between pearls…. fair warning….

Why does our government feel it to be so important to develop all these new robotic weapons, and maintain such close surveillance on their own people? Do they, perhaps, expect some sort of revolution?

It’s worth thinking about…..

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/04/nsa-surveillance-reform-politicians-2015

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/05/us-navy-unmanned-drone-boats

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/05/us-drone-strike-kills-five-pakistan-militants-north-west

“A man does not serve his country by canting, snuffling and marching in parades, he serves her by striving to make her clean, brave, just, intelligent and worthy of respect.” — H. L. Mencken, Baltimore _Evening Sun_, June 13, 1916

(1916, eh? This is a very uplifting thought, and, given the truth of the sixth pearl in this group, 1916 was apparently the LAST time anyone in this country voiced such an idea…. In today’s world, nobody at all buys into this….)

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

(Again, in today’s political world, this remains an inarguable truth….)

“This is not politics… it’s to protect the innocence of children.” — Sen. Bob Dole on the introduction of his new Protection of Children From Computer Pornography Act of 1995

(Sure, Bob…. we believe you….)

“There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if only you begin to inoculate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity.” — Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

(Another truth from the past adopted as gospel by today’s pundits and preachers…. and, a very accurate description of just how the powers that be indoctrinate the public….)

“I’m all in favor of the democratic principle that one idiot is as good as one genius, but I draw the line when someone takes the next step and concludes that two idiots are better than one genius.” — Leo Szilard

(Too late, Leo…. our society adopted that belief back in the early twentieth century, and has strengthened the position with every law enacted since 1963….)

“You can’t crush ideas by suppressing them. You can only crush them by ignoring them.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

(Truth absolute…. see pearl # 1, above, for its typical application in Reality….. Also applicable to pearl #4 in this group….)

“I don’t vote. It just encourages them.” — A Maine woman

(For sure…. and, I think I may just adopt this woman’s position, if only for the aggravation it will save ME…..)

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

Today’s video shows off the talents of one of the finest voices of the previous century, in his final performance…. Brilliant!…. Okay, so I like simple, clean, pure voices…. sue me…. But, first, enjoy the video….

Roy Orbison – Black & White Night Live (Full Album)

http://youtu.be/HWCBwaNvHbE

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

Yesterday’s poem was also from this author; as mentioned then, he is often underrated….. Hence, the relatively dubious honor of being twice-featured here….

The world is too much with us; late and soon

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune,
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

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

I’ve said this before, but, it remains true: sometimes, this business of creating pearls works better than others…. and, again, this is one of those times… Just follow the bouncing ball, as it shows your mind what direction to follow, then, at the end, just let the point wash over you, like manna from heaven (well, hey, if the preachers can promise that sort of spiritual ecstasy, I can do the same, and have an equal chance at having it be true, right? Odds are…)…. Whatever…. this is a good one, ffolkes, so, you might want to have a pen and paper handy…. for notes…

“Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.” — Thomas Paine

“Ambition is in fact the avarice of power.” — Smart Bee

“The judge is condemned when the criminal is acquitted.’ — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 407

“To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.’ — Plutarch (46 AD-120 AD)

“If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vi, 21

“He who knows does not speak, He who speaks does not know.’ — Lao Tzu

“…just when I had you wriggling in the crushing grip of reason, too…” — Calvin & Hobbes

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

I am unsure of exactly how I got this done; if it weren’t so much of a routine, I wouldn’t have been able to do it, I think…. I suppose I’ve done this long enough, autopilot features have evolved; I certainly didn’t install them… Regardless, it’s done, and I’m thankful, because now I can go do whatever I need to do to work my way out of this hole I’ve dug… Like the old Cowboy said, “When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is… stop diggin’…..” Makes sense to me…. Until tomorrow, ffolkes, if I’m lucky…. I won’t comment on your luck….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Buttery smooth and savory…..

Posted on October 4, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

~~ G. K. Chesterton ~~

This is a picture of the work space where Pearls of Virtual Wisdom are composed; my virtual oyster bed, so to speak…. I hope the picture was taken from enough distance, to keep from giving away too much personal information, of the sort that I have not already related at one point or another…. I do try to be discreet, to some extent, as to where I am, physically, though, for anyone with any real geek in them, it wouldn’t be difficult to run down more exact info than is apparent in this, I’m sure….

Hell, information on anybody is so ubiquitous on the internet, I no longer use Google to find information about friends, just because it tends to show TOO MUCH info… If I do, then I’d have to tell them what’s there, so they can cork their leaks, and deal with all that, so, it’s just better to leave sleeping dogs lie, in that respect…. So, I know it wouldn’t be too hard to find me, but, from the picture, I don’t think anyone can find anything to either pinpoint, or to litigate…. especially our friends over at the NSA, FBI, and/or anyone else who might be mining the data the NSA gets from Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc…. so, it makes for a good opener, yes? I think so…. If nothing else, it needs no attribution, so, bonus….

As for the poets and cheese, I don’t believe Mr. Chesterton actually cared about that; cheese has very few of the qualities upon which a good poem might expostulate. No feelings, no special place in human affairs, no compelling features to extol… boring…. But, he’s right, also, in that one would think that everything had been given at least one poetic glance, if only as a peripheral mention in a poem about something else entirely….. But, I can’t think of a single poem where cheese plays a significant part, can you?…..

Well, maybe it’s not such a big deal, anyway…. It did, however, provide us with just about enough blather to get us down the page far enough to call this legal… It will be close, but, I think, since it’s Saturday, all the monitoring agencies are closed, with nobody on duty to tell us otherwise, so, I’m pretty sure we can slide by on a technicality…. If not, we’ll just run for it, okay? So, don’t change out of your sneakers, just in case we need to book on short notice….

I know, I know, cheap…. but, also, done, so, deal with it…

Shall we Pearl?….

“You will know unexpected happiness. You will know the sorrow of seeing what is dearest to you cut down before your eyes. Accept that. That is the nature of human existence, and you have no time to buffer this fact with fairy tales and illogical explanations.” — Deng Ming-Dao

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

“Whatever power you give to the good cops, goes to the bad ones, too. Never forget that.” — Phillip J. Birmingham

I feel like ranting, but, there is so much material to choose from, I can’t seem to pick one…. I could talk about the NSA, and the latest developments on the illegal spying front…. I could talk about police militarization… I could talk about the prisoners of war our leaders are holding captive without charges, force feeding, and torturing for information…. I could talk about the latest police shooting of an innocent citizen…. All of those have a headline and/or articles in the news over the last couple of days….

But, I’m tired of ranting about all that, and never seeing any changes take place; sometimes, it seems as if nobody listens…. But, then I see other blogs with the same issues being addressed, with the same results…. The fact is, ffolkes, the government of this country no longer cares at all what the public may think, or want; they are going to carry out their agenda regardless of anything the American public thinks about it…

They will continue to wage wars without public or Congressional sanction; they will continue to torture and abuse prisoners captured during our illegal wars. They will continue to arm the police forces of this country, preparing for an armed revolt, which they seem to be deliberately provoking by their actions….

Below you’ll find some links, to articles discussing these, and other issues, none of which are related to the ONE issue we NEED to address, to wit, the imminent, catastrophic environmental crisis that is rapidly coming to a head on our planet, caused by the deliberate ignorance, and stubborn denial of those who control all the physical resources…. This issue is the only one that is going to make any difference to us, very soon…. There won’t be any time at all to worry about all the other BS going on, because we will HAVE to focus on just staying alive….

I may be a grump, and a curmudgeon, but, I am not blind, and I can see clearly how things are going, and how they’ll continue to progress…. and, it ain’t pretty…. Ah well, here are some links to highlight some of the problems we are facing, followed by a short pearl to drive home the thoughts presented today…. I hope….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/11139023/US-government-seeks-to-stop-Apple-and-Google-encryption.html

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/03/guantanamo-force-feeding-videos-released

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/11140156/World-on-the-brink-of-oil-war-as-Opec-bickers-over-price.html

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/03/ferguson-control-protests-st-louis-county-michael-brown

[A photo is displayed of Senator Dan Quayle holding a pumpkin to the left of his head.] “Here’s an Update Quiz: what’s the difference between these two spherical objects? The answer is: eventually, the one on the left will have a light in it.”– Dennis Miller, SNL Weekend Update

“Faith: not wanting to know what is true.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Senate, n.: A body of elderly gentlemen charged with high duties and misdemeanors. — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

“People who have what they want are very fond of telling people who haven’t what they want that they really don’t want it.” — Ogden Nash (1902-1971)

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

~~ Thomas Gray ~~

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

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

Today’s video selection is a blast from the past; some of these are even before MY time…. though, it’s true, my older sister and brother listened to all of these on the radio, back in the 50’s…. Easy listening, to be sure…. Enjoy!….

20 Hits from The Everly Brothers: Platinum Collection

http://youtu.be/U5o7DP8jQiM

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

When I am this grumped, only one poet will do….

Another Day

having the low down blues and going
into a restaurant to eat.
you sit at a table.
the waitress smiles at you.
she’s dumpy. her ass is too big.
she radiates kindness and sympathy.
live with her 3 months and a man would know real agony.
o.k., you’ll tip her 15 percent.
you order a turkey sandwich and a
beer.
the man at the table across from you
has watery blue eyes and
a head like an elephant.
at a table further down are 3 men
with very tiny heads
and long necks
like ostriches.
they talk loudly of land development.
why, you think, did I ever come
in here when I have the low-down
blues?
then the the waitress comes back with the sandwich
and she asks you if there will be anything
else?
and you tell her, no no, this will be
fine.
then somebody behind you laughs.
it’s a cork laugh filled with sand and
broken glass.

you begin eating the sandwich.

it’s something.
it’s a minor, difficult,
sensible action
like composing a popular song
to make a 14-year old
weep.
you order another beer.
jesus, look at that guy
his hands hang down almost to his knees and he’s
whistling.
well, time to get out.
pick up the bill.
tip.
go to the register.
pay.
pick up a toothpick.
go out the door.
your car is still there.
and there are 3 men with heads
and necks
like ostriches all getting into one
car.
they each have a toothpick and now
they are talking about women.
they drive away first
they drive away fast.
they’re best i guess.
it’s an unbearably hot day.
there’s a first-stage smog alert.
all the birds and plants are dead
or dying.

you start the engine.

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

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

This pearl was pre-packaged for your, and, more specifically, my convenience today…. Not that there is any real need to use the provided convenience; but, what the hell? It’s here, and it’s done, so, hey, why not? It isn’t bad, for a throw-together-in-a-few-minutes kind of deal; It takes some pretty hefty shots at the beloved ruling class, if no one else… It’s also a bit depressing, beginning and end, but, hey, life is tough…. Buck up…. Do you see, or hear, Wolverine complaining? Nope, so, whatever YOU are worried about, get real…. and toughen up…. You can’t win if you don’t fight…

“Cogito, ergo doleo. I think, therefore I am depressed.” — Smart Bee

“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” — Marcus Aurelius

“Let honor be as strong to us an obligation as necessity is to others.” — Pliny the Elder

“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.” — Voltaire

“Taxation is theft; Conscription is slavery; War is murder.” — Smart Bee

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” — Plato

“Life must go on; I forget just why.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay, ‘Lament’, Second April (1921)

See? Get a grip, ffolkes, ’cause it’s probably not going to get much better, without some sort of diaspora to the outer solar system…. Soon, too, or it won’t matter any longer….

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

I am completely baffled as to how this came out as well as it did; the entire time I felt as if I were pushing my way through a field of brambles… and, now I’m done, it feels just as if I were bloodied and scarred from traversing the gauntlet of thorns…. Ah well, in all the words you see in that sentence, only one matters…. “done.” See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Stick with the potted meats, Bosley….

Posted on October 3, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

(1688-1744)

— Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 15 —

Pretty little house & garden, eh? I thought so, which is why I took the picture; the colors, shapes, and overall effect have a balance that gives it a homey, lived in, comfortable appearance that appeals to me…. I guess, at heart, I’m just a traditional, romantic bozo, with a belief in home, and family. In my life, perhaps the only regret I have is not finding someone who felt strongly enough the same way to join me in making that happen….. I was able to give my children a home for the greater portion of their formative years, but, was not able to make it last, not having any control over my former partner’s wish to be elsewhere….

Such subjects are a bit too maudlin, though, to pursue very far in the intro, or, for that matter, at all; there is far more depressing material to pick from, on a less personal level, that will serve to provide plenty of reason to bemoan our fates, so, I’ll leave this one right here, and just say, “nice house”, & let is go at that…. It’s not as if we don’t have other stuff to talk about, right? Right….

Of course, we aren’t supposed to start on that here in the intro; I always have a hard time with that one, as my need/wish to rant can take control of the keyboard at any moment…. I’m working quite assiduously, in truth, to see that doesn’t happen today, but, most of those efforts are behind the scenes, in my head, where I am frantically blocking certain ideas from coming up into the forefront of my consciousness, or distracting myself from noticing other ideas that could turn on us, thus delaying even further the process of getting this event rolling down the road it needs to travel…

Of course, all of this is mere bullshit anyway, all designed to work our way just a little further down the page, until it looks like enough to fool the monitors, should they look our way. And, if I am not mistaken (I rarely am….trust me on this….), I see a point coming up in just a couple of lines where we can jump off this bandwagon, and get back on the track we need to take, by jumping on that other wagon, fast approaching from the south…. If y’all would just hold on to the edge of your seats for a moment, while I pull this lever….. There…..

Okay, that went well…. So, here we are, at the end of another fine, if a bit idiotic, introductory section, just chock full of nonsense, bullshit, and sheer blather, all for my gentle readers…. Of course, you may want to wash up, before we try to go on…. feel free to use the extra-strength Borax on the lower shelf, if you have any particularly grimy spots…. The rest of us will wait right over there until y’all are done….

Okay, I think we’re good to go, so….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xii

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

“Become what you are.” — Buddha

Yesterday, while perusing the news, (for almost an entire three-quarters-of-an-hour, as it turned out; so much distracting stuff happening in the world, I completely ignored my increasing misery to do this…), I came to the UK Guardian site, to read the US version of their daily publication… My horror, my fear, and my depression mounted, story by story, as I read what has taken place out there in the world at large, just in the last few days….

I can’t honestly say any of it surprised me, nor did it catch me unaware, or bring any amazement; only a deep sadness, to see just how far the degradation of our society, and the world, including the environment we live in, has progressed. The evidence is all right there…. or, here, as I’ve collected a number of links to that evidence, to show y’all exactly whereof I speak, when I say, quite simply, ffolkes, we are all in deep shit….

With no further comment, until after you’ve seen the collected links, I give you, proof positive of imminent Armageddon, or a facsimile thereof that will accomplish the identical result… If you are hesitant to try to read so much, just look at the headlines, containing the key words, at the end of each link; those will give you at least an idea of what we are dealing with…. And, I promise, no more than one comment, under each one, just so I don’t explode….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/nobel-peace-summit-south-africa-dalai-lama-visa

Not much seems to have changed in South Africa, does it?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/01/argentina-president-claims-us-plot

Whether this poor president has gone bonkers, or not, what would you bet me, (I’m willing to wager SERIOUS money….), if I suggested there IS a document, somewhere at Langley, Virginia’s CIA HQ, in a drawer, a folder, holding a file that has just such a scenario, as described in this story?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/20/argentina-debt-default-lawyers-court-pay-clause

No comment required; yesterday’s rant, here, on lawyers? Q.E.D.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/02/nypd-inadvertently-killed-unarmed-man-brooklyn-shooting

Oops!

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/01/drones-police-force-crime-uavs-north-dakota

Does anyone need any further proof of police militarization in this, or any other, country?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/30/police-officer-shot-john-crawford-walmart-lied-victims-mother-says

Gee, there’s a video, showing the officer lied, but, the grand jury doesn’t indict. I wonder if anyone bothered to show it to them, and if so, whether or not it was edited at all….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/pope-francis-angels-believe-guardian-help

Francis makes a nice change from the previous several popes; at least he’s harmlessly balmy, nor avaricious, or ambitious beyond his need to share his misconceptions (I like him, so, I’m trying to be nice…), or walking around with a stick up his ass… I just wish he wouldn’t encourage the more involved elements of his delusional thinking to so many gullible idiots, who unquestioningly take him at is word….

http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2014/oct/01/coca-cola-rivals-promise-changes-health

Gee….. what do YOU think motivates the folks at Coca Cola? Profit, ya think?…. That’d be my guess, and, I’d be willing to lay all I won above on it….

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/01/walrus-alaska-beach-trampled-death

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/01/satellite-images-show-aral-sea-basin-completely-dried

I can only comment on both of these two at once, because they both show how late it is, and how little anyone cares, really…. fucking assholes. Not you, but, you know to whom I refer; the corporate snakes who refuse to give up a penny of profit, even to save their own lives….

On October 2, 2014, despite the relative importance to us all of the subject matter contained in the articles above, the following five stories were the most widely read articles for the day, at least, at the time I copied the list…. None of them, you will note, appear above…. Obviously, the general reading public doesn’t care to think about such depressing matters as the end of the world, or even rogue police forces…. SIGH….

1. Your baby looks like your ex? This research is scarier than Alien

2. Confessions to murder of two British backpackers in Thailand reported

3. Banksy wanted Clacton-on-Sea to confront racism – instead it confronted him

4. Council removes Banksy artwork after complaints of racism

5. Wonga writes off debts for 330,000 customers

You will also please note that I have not ranted, to speak of, (thank you…. no, no, I don’t mind….), and, we are ending today’s discussion with the same thought with which we opened….. In this case, ranting would be superfluous; if you’re not angry, or disturbed, at the very least, by what you read above, then, well, sorry, but, I can’t help you any further, so to speak…. and, I don’t mean that in a condescending fashion, at all…. As for the quote from the Buddha, it fits, & I’ll tell y’all why….

I’ve done my best to make ffolkes, and folks, aware of what is to come, but, like most people, myself included, everyone is so busy trying to just live their lives, with all the handicaps, traps, and obstacles to happiness, peace, or even quiet that the world places in our paths, they cannot spare the energy to even think about most of it, much less have the time, or wherewithal, to do anything more than merely hold their ground, maintaining a slim, tentative hold on sanity, and/or reality, whichever works for them….

All of which is perfectly okay….. I mean, nothing that HAS been done has helped anyway; at this point, I see no possible way to stop the shit-storm to come…. So, we may as well try to make ourselves as comfortable as we can, and fulfill as much of our own destiny as we can, in the time we are allowed…. All you can do is all you can do…

I’ve done about all I can, so, for now, at least, I’ll let it be, with just this reminder, of who is responsible for everything that happens in our lives….. because, as the Buddha implies, but does not say, people ALWAYS do exactly this…. ALL of them/us, the good, the bad, the ugly, they all are what they are, by deliberate choice….

“Become what you are.” — Buddha

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

It may often seem as if I don’t like people much; that would be a false impression, mostly my own fault, due to the way my love for them is expressed…. But, I do love them, (in small numbers, mostly…. more than two or three at once tends to cause me to wish for my solitude again, if it goes on very long…. except with those whom I love the most, i.e. family, and extended family/friends/water brothers….), mostly because of the potential within all of us for creating beauty, arising out of our reaction to the world we perceive around us, which, in turn, is filled with beauty enough to fill all of our senses…

Here, then, is one of those expressions, from a musical genius, Antonio Vivaldi, with his interpretation, in music, of the passage of time on our world….. THIS, and other such expressions, musical, literary, visual, or otherwise, are why I get so damn angry when I think of how it may all disappear from existence, and for what?…. Only those who are causing it may know; the rest of us can only guess, and watch…. with only music such as this to help us balance the scales, and, at least for a time, feel better for having lived….

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

http://youtu.be/GRxofEmo3HA

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

I’m lazy today, so you end up with one of mine…. deal with it, you’ll feel better once you do….

Random Exposure

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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

As often happens with pearls, this one changed, not in the middle, but, at the first ending. That happened to be the quote about Hitler, and, somehow, it just made all of it seem unfinished; consequently, I realized it was supposed to be a nine-star pearl, so, I went back to SB, & found the final two entries to properly finish it off, the way SB apparently thinks it should be…. I thought I had it under control, but, it goes to show this process to be as much a sub-conscious process as it is a conscious one…. Works for me….

“If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he next comes to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination.” — Thomas De Quincey (1785 – 1859)

“It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing.” — real standing law in Texas, United States of America

“Men freely believe that what they wish to desire.” — Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.)

“The public weal requires that men should betray and lie and massacre.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book iii, Chap. i, Of Profit and Honesty

“If you view your problem closely enough you will recognize yourself as part of the problem.” — Ducharm’s Axiom

“…common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large…” — H. P. Lovecraft

“The fact that Hitler was a political genius unmasks the nature of politics in general as no other can.” — Wilhelm Reich

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings.” — Smart Bee

“The most virtuous of all men is he that contents himself with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.” — Plato (B.C. 427?-347?)

Hear, hear!…. On that final, positive note, we shall leave this exposition of human nature, and folly, to go finish this Pearl…. Ta, then….

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

Regardless of how it got done, it’s done. I’m still sleepy, somehow, so, I think maybe I’ll go back to bed…. Or, not, as I have some important stuff to get done today…. SIGH…. Life goes on, and on, and on, until it doesn’t, I suppose…. and, then, as the Scots say…”ye might as well live, for ye’ll be a long time dead.”…. or, something like that…. See y’all tomorrow, if I’m lucky….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

We’d prefer a Mallard, but, the Muscovy will do…

Posted on October 2, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Here pigs will fly,

lightning will strike twice,

hell will freeze over,

and eventually,

things will get really interesting…

~~ gigoid’s promise to his readers ~~

Great picture, ain’t it? Amazing what can happen with patience, and timing. The pic itself is from the London Daily Yell (the Telegraph), from one of their Day in Pictures features a few days ago…. It also lives up to the promise just above it, or, makes a determined effort, at the very least…. Me, I’m up late again, thanks to lorazepam’s sedative effects, but, have fortunately prepared much of today’s Pearl before getting up this morning…. It’s weird, feeling this rested; I haven’t had such regular, deep sleep since before I was married & had kids…. It’s almost scary, to think of what I’ve been missing, and how my life may have been made better for having slept more….

But, that’s whining, and wishing for things that cannot be changed, a foolish effort, at best…. So, we’ll forget about the past, and get on with finding out what the future may bring. Of course, given the state of the environment, thinking about our future may not be the best way to find ourselves in a good mood. All the evidence points to the opposite, in fact, and little can be said of a positive nature about that particular subject…. If’n we want to feel good, we’ll have to come up with something completely new and different….

It seems to me I’ve again written myself into a corner…. Can’t go on without an idea or two, yet, none are forthcoming…. Damn! I suppose I’m going to have to use the new technique again; it’s sure getting a workout since arriving here; I don’t think we’ve missed a day since that auspicious day…. which goes to show, I suppose, it is needed, and is being put to use per its nature. Oh, look, there ’tis now…. Doesn’t it look all grand & pretty in its new holiday outfit? Careful, though, don’t let that naive, innocent look fool you; it’s quite ruthless… In fact, it’s here, and as of now, there’s no way to keep it from performing its function, which means….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong.” — Mencken’s Metalaw — H. L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy

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

“How many lawyer jokes are there? 3, the rest are true stories.” — Smart Bee

I had intended to find some more true stories to share with y’all about lawyers, but, instead, let’s examine the creature as it exists in reality…. Now, I, personally, know a lawyer, and, since he no longer works as one, having recovered, in my mind, both his sanity, and his honor in the process (don’t tell him though, I get the impression he’s still a bit ambivalent/unsettled at how it came about, so, we don’t discuss it…), I feel absolutely no qualms whatsoever claiming him as a friend…. He’s gotten to the point he laughs at some of the jokes now….

He is an intelligent person, of course; no other kind would be my friend for so long (Over 30 years now…), or be able to put up with my own level of insanity…. In my case, of course, that was used to AVOID ever studying law, beyond what I felt necessary to know for my own protection…. I’ve always maintained there are only two kinds of lawyers who come out of law school, no matter which it may be.

The first kind intends to help people find their way through the maze of laws, allegedly designed to to allow them to live safely and with dignity; these lawyers, those with actual morals and ethics, serve justice, and the intent of the law…. Like my friend, they often end up leaving the field, or, sadly, at times, doing the Darth Vader, by turning to the dark side….

The other type is different sort of creature; their purpose for studying law is to find an angle to work, in order to further their own personal goals, which center around money, and power….. These lawyers may end up helping some people, but, at a cost those people can rarely afford comfortably. Mostly, this sort pad their bills with absurd charges, that puff up legal fees until the courts step in, to set regulations as to how much they can charge… whereupon, they merely find another method to get around the definition of “services rendered”….

Of this second type, a certain percentage actually, over time, become so enamored of the process of acquiring money and power, they figure out the only logical course to take, if they wish to continue their upward progress (in their eyes….). So, they mutate, and become politicians (an old Greek word, from “poly”, meaning “many”, and “tics”, meaning “small, dirty, bloodsucking parasites”….), because as legislators, they are allowed to vote themselves the keys to the treasury, calling their motivation “public spirit” and/or “the call to leadership”…. Often the mutation actually begins during school, as all the nutrient factors are present there, and a certain type of sociopathic personality takes to such things naturally, as it serves their purpose so well….

Excuse me a moment, I need to curse….

Okay, I’m back…. see, I can be nice, & not subject y’all to my forays into French colloquialisms…. However, in point of fact, they’re all (all the elected officials at the national level, to be specific….), fucking crazy, loony as a mass of mixed leopards, wolves, vipers, cobras, hyenas, rhinos, hippos, and, oh, a tiger or two, all slithering, strutting, blundering, screaming, locked in a confined space, each displaying the worst characteristics of their perverted, all-too-predatory natures…. And, all of whom are convinced of their own right to tell everyone else how things should be…. I mean, they should know, cuz Jesus told them so….

Yep…. Think about it, ffolkes, and, you, too, folks…. Of the 455 people at the top of the American political heap… (That’s 1 President, 1 VP, 12 Supremes, 100 Senators, 340 Reps at the House, & 1 Armed Forces COS….I think…. He isn’t elected, but, otherwise, I’m missing somebody….), (unless I lost track of how many Reps there are…. that changes at times…)…. Regardless… it’s a small number of persons, considering they make the decisions for so many…

So, ask yourself these questions…. How many of those are lawyers? How many are male? How many are white (Caucasian, or close)? How many are of a faith OTHER than Christian?…. I think you can see the point here…. no matter what the actual numbers may be, when counting the token women and persons of color they’ve allowed to join them, for the show of apparent diversity, it isn’t enough to make any difference in the real agenda that will be forged by those people…. It WILL be according to the white, male, Christian, legally trained (i.e., avariciously self-serving) point of view….

As another point of difference between them and the rest of the population: All of them, every single one, is a millionaire, or more (except perhaps for a few Reps, newbies not yet adept at playing the lobbyist’s for their treats and financial breaks….) Yet each and every one of the named politicians, less-than-500-people, with an average income over a million dollars a year, has better health care, better retirement arrangements, and better wages than anyone else in the country, all voted in by, who else, but, themselves….

Plus, just for good measure, for the great and glorious service they have done for the country, and all the sacrifices they must make to come to Washington, live like movie stars, and decide which lobbyist they should let take them to dinner tonight, why shouldn’t they get those benefits, not just while in office, but, for the rest of their lives?! Whether they are ever elected again or not…. Pretty good deal, eh?…. Wish I’d a thought of it….

And people wonder why I often talk about buying a gun….. I only have four things left to say about lawyers, and their mutated state, politicians….As usual, other people have said it better, so, as is my wont, I turn to them, with these final words upon which to meditate….

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

(technically, it’s not a joke; it’s merely an observation….)

“It’s possible to fight intolerance, stupidity, and fanaticism when they come separately. When you get all three together it’s probably wiser to get out, if only to preserve one’s sanity.” — Adam Dalgliesh, in Devices and Desires, by P.D. James.

“The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.” — John Locke (1632-1704)

“The measure of a man’s life is the well spending of it, and not the length.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Consolation to Apollonius

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

After that, I need some soothing music, and this will do quite nicely…. Enjoy! It’s only the best….

Best of Mozart : Overtures , Sonatas , Eine Kleine Nachtmusik , Concertos

http://youtu.be/eCB7c7RDmyU

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

Today’s poem, appropriately enough, is from John Keats… The title of it is “Essay on Man”, an epic poem, containi perhaps the largest repository of excellent insight into Man’s true nature ever created, especially one that rhymes…. It’s a very long piece, with ten very long sections, or stanzas, each as brilliant as the one before, ending with what is called the “Argument of the Second Epistle. I have included that ending below, to give a taste of the entire piece…. but, I’d really recommend following the link, and taking the time to read the entire poem; it’s brilliance is so bright it will infuse your entire spirit, as well as, perhaps, giving you a deeper understanding of people, and why they are the way they are…. that’s the power of poetry….

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/essay-on-man/

Argument of the Second Epistle:

Of the Nature and State of Man, with respect to Himself, as an Individual. The business of Man not to pry into God, but to study himself.

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Plac’d on this isthmus of a middle state,(28)
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic’s pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest,
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;
In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer,
Born but to die, and reas’ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much:
Chaos of Thought and Passion, all confus’d;
Still by himself abus’d, or disabus’d;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of Truth, in endless Error hurl’d:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

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

Pearls, pearls, who’s got pearls?….. Hmph! Such impertinence!…. But, who really cares, ultimately? SB is gonna give me what it will, no matter how I piss, moan, threaten, or complain… So, here, take this…. it’s what I’ve got….

“Here comes a pair of very strange beasts, which in all tongues are called fools.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act v, Sc. 4

“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.” — Giordano Bruno (1548- burned at the stake, 1600)

“We achieve “active” mastery over illness and death by delegating all responsibility for their management to physicians, and by exiling the sick and the dying to hospitals. But hospitals serve the convenience of staff not patients: we cannot be properly ill in a hospital, nor die in one decently; we can do so only among those who love and value us. The result is the institutionalized dehumanization of the ill, characteristic of our age.” — Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin, “Personal Conduct” (1973).

“Liberty is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility of saying No to any authority–literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social and even political.” — Ignazio Silone, The God That Failed (1950)

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

“Everyone knows that dragons don’t exist. But while this simplistic formulation may satisfy the layman, it does not suffice for the scientific mind. The School of Higher Neantical Nillity is in fact wholly unconcerned with what does exist. Indeed, the banality of existence has been so amply demonstrated, there is no need for us to discuss it any further here. The brilliant Cerebron, attacking the problem analytically, discovered three distinct kinds of dragon: the mythical, the chimerical, and the purely hypothetical. They were all, one might say, nonexistent, but each nonexisted in an entirely different way …” — Stanislaw Lem, Cyberiad

“How often we recall, with regret, that Napoleon once shot at a magazine editor and missed him and killed a publisher. But we remember with charity, that his intentions were good.” — Mark Twain

Don’t even ask…. SB did this one all by itself…. It’s cute, but, is it good? Only you can be the judge in this case; I must recuse myself….

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

Like it or not, it’s done, so, I’m going to have to take it, as it is almost 8 AM, & I’m still just finishing the initial draft…. But, that’s done, so, all that remains is the process of posting… to free myself to go do so, I bid the a fond farewell, with the usual ending wishes…. see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, maybe even on time….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”

À bientôt, mon cherí.

Living Life Large….

Posted on September 28, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Belief is the death of intelligence.” — Robert Anton Wilson

The picture you see above, an excellent study showing the area of space containing the Horsehead Nebula, the obvious design you see above the very bright globular cluster surrounded by blue gas in the lower left corner. This nebula, because of its obvious shape, has been known for many years to astronomers; this photo, however, was taken by a 10 year-old amateur astronomer, and was chosen as this year’s Youth category winner, in Space.com’s yearly contest of astrophotography…. Excellent, excellent work for any age….

That said, the picture also serves, if not as proof, at least as evidence in favor, of the truth stated just above the photo, by Robert Anton Wilson…. Although I didn’t really become aware of the depth of his writing, or the direction of philosophy he pursued during his life, what I’ve learned of him tells me our paths traveled on many on the same roads, or, at least, ended up at the same places…. especially when I see he is responsible for the above statement, which closely mirrors my own words, to wit: doubt is the beginning of wisdom….

Another, less elegant, but, perhaps more cogent way to get the same point across, it seems to me, would be, “better out than in”…. which is, in my world, one of those things that is true for all time, except in those rare occasions when reality ripples, and it can be temporarily suspended, for the good of all….. otherwise, reality has determined that that statement shall apply without exception, to all things human…. especially those issues and events that are typically determined by their mind set…. in ALL such cases, ’tis better out than in…. and any arguments to the contrary simply provide their own proof of the assertion…. by coming out.

There, how was that for a bit of logical Twister…. good thing we weren’t using the fast music, or we may have ended up with some severe strains, possibly a fracture or two…. and the insurance geeks would have killed me. Dodged a bullet there, boy howdy….. Since there is little alternative at this point, I’m going to pretend none of the above ever happened, other than to acknowledge that, somehow or another, we got this far down the page, and are now legally allowed to get on with today’s post, regardless of how well if flies, or, indeed, if it makes any sense at all…. I’ve finally received my master’s license for reality stretching, so, we’ll just reach around this corner, grab this little lever, and yank it good and hard….. This is what happens…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“You know what it’s like to be dead. It’s just like it was before you were born. Remember what it was like before you were born?” — Evan

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

Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs,
Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

(1688-1744)

— The Iliad of Homer, Book xiv, Line 251 —

Today’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom (see disclaimer…. I know I put it someplace… oh, hell, we’ll worry about that later….y’all know how I think, by now….sort of…. If you’ve had a clue at all, you know, if you just pay attention, you’ll get there….), will contain a new type of pearl, consisting of pearls, but, of a different nature, pearls from new waters, shall we say? Rather than our usual diet, culled from the waters known to Smart Bee, Ambrose Bierce, Daniel Bowen, and others, we will try to find something that is of a slightly different spin than our usual fare, which can tend to lead into sober, depressing, if altogether accurate discussions of what the news says….

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, “A Wizard of Earthsea”, 1975

We all know, also, the news companies tend to concentrate on stories with drama, which will sell papers, or ideas, or whatever else it is they may wish to sell; people have always been drawn to drama, the gorier the better, and be damned with whomever has to suffer to provide the reports of their troubles….. Whether it be bloody bank robberies, starving African children, dying animals in receding wetlands and rain forests, creatures dying in the oceans, or, oceans dying, people being shot, and dying, or bombed, and dying, or strangled, stabbed, beaten, or otherwise killed, so their deaths may be served up with all the other random deaths each day, reported on the news as if it is the way it is supposed to be, and that life is just a series of catastrophes punctuated by random, periodic deaths….

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, “A Wizard of Earthsea”, 1975

I do not even touch upon the other derivative incidents and reportable events, all of which vary only in the degree of drama implied by the events described, or the number of casualties, listed in deaths vs. survivors….. Derivatives include sporting events of every nature, where the drama, though vicarious to the actual viewer, and reporter, still offers the drama of conflict, between good and bad (home and away), and for the joy of each winner, there is the misery and failure of the loser to report, just as heavily as the victors. Financial news, to those who have money, or want money, presents the same sort of derivative violence, where those who make the ruthless choices tend to win out over those who choose to try to be honest in business, and that conflict, also inherent in the process, makes for great drama….

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, “A Wizard of Earthsea”, 1975

The drama of course, is there to distract the reading public from any of what is actually going on behind the scenes, politically, financially, religiously…. all those institutions are operating with most of their inner workings invisible to public sight, in spite of laws that SEEM to say otherwise…. But, they always seem to find a legal rationale to cover their clandestine activities….. all of which makes for a wonderful addendum to the way the rest of the world is lying to everyone who tries to live a normal life, without any of the weird shit these pundits, corporate snakes, priests, police chiefs, military officers, and of course, the other side of society, the tongs, the mafia, the criminals who prey on those that the governments mostly leave for them, meaning all of them…. making them not necessarily worse, but, slimier, even more so than the corporate snakes, the absolute worst sort of person alive….. in my less than humble opinion.

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, “A Wizard of Earthsea”, 1975

Now, you will see the newest format for pearls…. Rather than go any further on the road toward making targets of those responsible for the state of the world, I will merely provide, through the auspices of those doing the ridiculous dance themselves, links to articles that tend to exhibit some sort of indication of something not quite right going on in the world, whether from a sarcastic point of few, an approving squint with a bit of a wink, a nudge-nudge to the ribs, or as in the second one today, an “it’s an about damn time” sort of way. You may possibly even come across something you’d label as ‘good news’….. Oh, and I guess there’s one more category, that of the first article below, which can best be stated as “DOH!”…..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11121843/Decorated-soldier-quits-army-saying-hes-sick-of-being-treated-like-an-idiot.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11125717/Bishop-of-Arundel-resigns-after-admitting-breach-of-vows.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/celebritynews/11121922/George-Clooney-and-Amal-Alamuddins-wedding-in-pictures.html

The last one there must be real important stuff…. I didn’t look at even two of them, but there were reportedly more than 50 photos, just to show the celebrities arriving for the wedding, and pre-wedding “Bond Style” Bash…. I’m happy to say, Blooney, er, Cloony, was the ONLY one I recognized without having to read the caption to see who it was…. and he’s getting so old & salt & peppery, sometimes he blends in…. with the text…

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/27/chelsea-clinton-announces-daughters-birth-on-twitter-and-facebook

Oh. My. Gosh….. this is news? Oh, right…. never mind…. must have been a slow news day….

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/26/north-korea-kim-jong-un-ill-health

Okay, if you aren’t weirded out after reading those, you’re a better man than I, Gunga Din…. The world is a very strange place ffolkes, which is probably why Epictetus said what the did, about being able to accept those things we cannot control…. besides, it makes it easier to laugh at all of them, and the whole picture… Once you can let go, learn to appreciate the irony, or sardonicism, or, at the very least, the futility of fighting against it…. well, there will be the bemusement, and serenity, you seek….

“When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.” — La Rochefoucauld

“Credulity is the man’s weakness, but the child’s strength.” — Charles Lamb

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

Eureka! I have found a treasure trove of old Sherlock Holmes movies and TV episodes, mostly on BBC, or from late night cable packages, all found on You Tube, our world’s newest repository of contemporary cultural knowledge, all in digital video format…. I now have enough new finds to defeat ANY bout of insomnia I may get…. The player will show you the titled story; the link will take you to the page where I found it, which has links to many more Sherlock videos, all based on the stories by A. C. Doyle…. Timeless human drama set in fascinating times in our past….

Sherlock Holmes — The Six Napoleons:

http://youtu.be/QR1X5pMTbg4

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

We haven’t seen anything from this Americam poet for some time; here is one I think of as one of his best….

A child said, What is the grass?

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full
hands;
How could I answer the child?. . . .I do not know what it
is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful
green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners, that we
may see and remark, and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child. . . .the produced babe
of the vegetation.

Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow
zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the
same, I receive them the same.

And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them;
It may be you are from old people and from women, and
from offspring taken soon out of their mother’s laps,
And here you are the mother’s laps.

This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old
mothers,
Darker than the colorless beards of old men,
Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.

O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!
And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths
for nothing.

I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men
and women,
And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring
taken soon out of their laps.

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
What do you think has become of the women and
children?

They are alive and well somewhere;
The smallest sprouts show there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait
at the end to arrest it,
And ceased the moment life appeared.

All goes onward and outward. . . .and nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and
luckier.

~~ Walt Whitman ~~

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

I wasn’t sure this pearl would come out okay… As it grew, it seemed to wobble all over the place, though with some indications of directing the fall, when it came…. Somehow, out of left field, it seems, it managed to bring itself to a close, on a note with which no argument is possible, which manages to, congruently, give one the appropriate key for both understanding, and for coping with, ignorance…. Don’t worry, don’t force it….. it will come to you. Or, it won’t, in which case, just go with the last line, and you’ll do fine….

Remember, ffolkes, they’re just pearls, merely euphemisms and metaphors, taken from virtual oysters…. so, there’s nothing to be afraid of… besides, once I’ve removed the pearls, with some garlic, wine, butter, and a bit of fish sauce, we can turn the oysters into a slice of heaven, and still have the pearls, all shiny and precious…. so, enjoy, either way you need to think about it…. as elucidation leading to epiphany, or lunch…. I’ve had good reason to choose both at one time or another, so no worries, mates, it’ll all come out in the wash…. Now that I’m mixing so many metaphors at once, on to the pearls….

“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)

“One of the most devastating enemies of the family is radical sex education in the public school. It is more explicit than necessary for the good of the child. Too much sex education too soon causes undue curiosity and obsession with sex.” — Beverly LaHaye, President, Concerned Women for America, in her newsletter, 4/81, as quoted in The Far Right, Speaking For Themselves, a Planned Parenthood pamphlet

“What UNIVERSE is this, please??” — Zippy the Pinhead

“On one occasion Aristotle was asked how much educated men were superior to those uneducated: “As much,” said he, “as the living are to the dead.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi

“Any religion…is forever in danger of petrifaction into mere ritual and habit, though ritual and habit be essential to religion.” — T.S. Eliot, Selected Essays, 1927.

“Old places and old persons in their turn, when spirit dwells in them, have an intrinsic vitality of which youth is incapable, precisely, the balance and wisdom that come from long perspectives and broad foundations.” — George Santayana

“An it harms none, do what thou will.” — Wiccan Credo

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

Having avoided any efforts from Murphy’s band of rogues, by finishing much of this yesterday, it’s only right I get it up and out before he can affect it at all… so, with no further fufera (alternate spelling for fooferaw….), we’re outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”

À bientôt, mon cherí.

Oh, that’s just ducky, Penelope…..

Posted on September 25, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

~~ A wonderful poem by Audrey Hepburn ~~

Written when asked to share her “beauty tips.”
It was read at her funeral years later.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

I’m hoping no one ever asks me where I got this, because I just don’t remember. I know when I found it, I made sure I had it saved in a way allowing me to eventually print it, but, that’s all. Just as well; I’m hard pressed at times to accept the ragging I get for being such a romantic. Being a romantic sort, though, doesn’t prevent me from recognizing truth, and beauty of spirit, and Ms. Hepburn, with this statement, proves she possessed both, in ample measure…. It’s also a good way to start today, with the subject matter in section one being somewhat appropriate to the sentiments expressed here, i.e. compassion, kindness, and love…..

On a personal note, I am in the throes of relieved joy; my vertigo has finally passed away, with no lingering background noise in the nerves, and no lingering dizziness. It has been said, “True relief is the release from pain.”, and I am here to testify, it also works on what may be called malaise, that pervasive sense of WRONGNESS that slithers along the nerves, like static on a phone line, keeping us a bit edgy & jumpy, without even knowing why we feel that way, a miserable condition most know from having a cold, or the flu, when that misery feels as if it has settled into our very bones…. That sort of nervous edge is exhausting, as we fight against it, muscles tensing & releasing in sympathetic fervor, until we are completely drained, without having exerted ourselves at all….

When it goes away, the relief is immense, seemingly leaving us joyful and elated, again with little obvious reason…. I have to say, it is quite a relief, which doesn’t make itself felt until the condition is no longer bothering us…. It also allowed me to get some actual, restful sleep, so, that’s something, right? Right…. I might even figure out a way to make this pearl better because of it…. NAH! Never happen, but, it’s nice to consider now and again…

Actually, I’m going to be a bit on the ruthless side this morning, as this will be the last of the intro paragraphs… not that I’m really concerned with making things better; I feel like I’ve hit my peak, at least writing-wise…. but, that doesn’t alter my mood, which is determined and resolute in its determination to make serious changes around here. I find myself, these last few days while my movements have been curtailed again by my physical condition, thinking a lot of what is going on with my body, with all the new and annoyingly repetitive breakdowns of my various bodily functions…. Pain, chronic fatigue, joint stiffness, vertigo complicated by old concussions (as I finally found out….), all are becoming far too familiar, and, essentially, are keeping me from doing what I WANT to be doing…. and, I say….. BASTA!

Enough! I’m done being a cripple, and an invalid. I’m tired of allowing my body to prevent me from doing what I want to do, and I’m not going to put up with it any longer…. I’ll be going into healing meditative trances, dieting (correctly), performing katas and forms, and otherwise establishing a routine of physical maintenance the like of which I’ve avoided for about twenty years now, since learning of the first of the physical conditions that are plaguing me…. including, less time here at the computer, as sitting so much certainly is NOT helpful…. In the interests of encouraging the will power it will take to see myself through to the other side, I’ll end this intro now, so we can get on with the day…. as I mentioned, I believe, rather ruthlessly….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“A priest asked: What is Fate, Master?
And he answered: It is that which gives a beast of burden its reason for existence. It is that which men in former times had to bear upon their backs. It is that which has caused nations to build byways from City to City upon which carts and coaches pass, and alongside which inns have come to be built to stave off Hunger, Thirst and Weariness.
And that is Fate? said the priest.
Fate … I thought you said Freight, responded the Master.
That’s all right, said the priest. I wanted to know what Freight was too.”

— Kehlog Albran, The Profit

No, it means nothing…. or, possibly, even less than that….. I just thought it was funny…. which it is…. If y’all don’t think so, well…. Okay….. I do….

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

“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

Our culture is sick. It has been so for millennia, though many would argue that point, being, as I’ve said before, asininnies at the core, and not able to admit they don’t know…. thus, they are perpetually unable to learn…. We live in a sick society, ffolkes, one that, in great part, is suicidally determined that we shall NOT survive as a species…. Only a species determined to die would allow one half of its members to continuously, and irrationally, abuse and oppress the other half of the two genders, as if the wildness of our nature holds complete sway over any ability to reason we may show…..

This pervasive abuse, of women, by men, is far too ubiquitous to ignore, or deny, yet, the largest portion of people alive today don’t even know they are fully trained and indoctrinated, minds controlled absolutely, by their acceptance, and belief in a set of delusions, that keep us from ever reaching the potential we may have as a species, as they forever keep the two sexes from understanding one another…. In the past, I’ve written a number of posts on this subject, which tends to get my juices flowing rather well…. Whenever I think of how some men treat women, it only strengthens my feelings of anger, and my desire to go buy a gun, to start eradicating at least a few of the problems…. or, rather, the physical manifestations of the problems, otherwise known as pimps, or snakeheads….

A couple of days ago, Emma Watson, the young woman who grew up playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, gave a speech at the UN, addressing the delegates to announce the formation of a new organization, called HeforShe, at http://HeforShe.org/, dedicated to stopping the historical pattern of misogyny and abuse by men, calling on all men, (in my mind, all REAL men….) to join the fight to save their sisters, mothers, and lovers from the habitual sexism and unconscious patterns of abusive behavior and attitudes that have held us ALL back for so long…. Only when men are as aware of the issue as are women, can there be any hope of making the needed changes in society….

Below, I’ve placed four items to note…. the first is a copy of the text of the speech made by Ms. Watson at the UN, the official UN released copy…. also included is a link to the YouTube video of the speech, as well as a YouTube player, so you can watch the speech yourself, right here, if you wish…. All I ask is that you either read it, or watch it; it isn’t long, but, it is VERY IMPORTANT that everyone alive be aware of this issue….

So, please share this link with others, and help spread the word to the snakeheads and pimps…. their day is done, and the good people of society are coming to get them gone, or get them dead, whichever they prefer….. Listen up ffolkes, and pay heed….. This one is for real…. The fourth item, of course, is a pearl to finish the points to be made…..

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too

http://youtu.be/Q0Dg226G2Z8

“It is easy for men to talk one thing and think another.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 322

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“A man who carries a cat by the tail is getting experience that will always be helpful. He isn’t likely to grow dim or doubtful. Chances are, he isn’t likely to carry the cat that way again, either. But if he wants to, I say let him!” — Mark Twain

“So many jerks, so little ammunition.” — Smart Bee

Well may your hearts believe the truths I tell:
‘T is virtue makes the bliss, where’er we dwell.

~~ William Collins ~~

— (1720-1756) — Oriental Eclogues, 1, Line 5 —

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

Today’s video is not musically oriented; instead, for your entertainment, a movie, in five parts, a BBC production of Dorothy L. Sayers’ novel, Clouds of Witness, with actor Ian Carmichael playing Lord Peter Wimsey, the Edwardian Age’s modernized version of Sherlock Holmes, the aristocrat detective, in a delightfully complex, dreadfully British, well-acted, authentic, drawing room comedy/murder mystery, worthy of its reputation as one of the detective novel genre’s most influential works, considered on a par with any of Agatha Christie’s stories….

In this case, we find Lord Peter and his man, Bunter, running about, feverishly, in the search to find evidence to clear his brother, the Duke of Denver, who has been charged with murdering their sister’s fiancé, gathering the necessary facts from Paris, to New York, to Yorkshire, to London, all with a veneer of polished inanity covering a brilliant story…. Enjoy….

Oh, right, almost forgot…. you can find the next four installments by using the link, which takes you to the You Tube page of the first episode, where all of them are listed….

Lord Peter Wimsey, Clouds of witness, part 1 of 5:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Xw-uEY5kI

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

In certain instances, my mood goes into some strange places…. when it does, I find one poet most often seems to have a poem that fits the mood I feel…. Emily Dickinson, of course…. Plus, this seems like one to go well with today’s message/theme, as it is one of Emily’s sadder pieces…. Well, it makes me sad, anyway…. but, it also makes me feel as her work always does….. human….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

Do not attempt to find any deeper meaning in this pearl than you may see on the surface; it is deliberately shallow, intended only as an example of mankind’s obvious tendency to engage in activities that range from the sublime to the ridiculous, not as a journey of one direction, either way, but, more like a bloody yo-yo, up and down, up and down, over and over again, just as if we had no memory at all…. Enjoy!….

“There is nothing that is meritorious but virtue and friendship; and indeed friendship itself is only a part of virtue.” — Pope (1688-1744)

“The purpose and function of government is not to preside over change but to prevent change. By political methods when unavoidable, by violence when
convenient.” — Edward Abbey

“I know the road, I know where it goes; that’s why I’m going so slow…” — Smart Bee

“Cogito, ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am)” — Rene Descartes

“Cogito sum. Circa de basta. (I think I am. That’s close enough.) — gigoid, Peruaosophy, axiom 1, 1986

“Now I’m concentrating on a specific tank battle toward the end of World War II!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Hmph! Seriousness. Hmph! Sobriety. A Jedi craves them not.” — Yoda, Jedi master, a long, long, time ago, in a galaxy far away….

See? Even in the state I’m in, I can do this with my eyes closed…. and, probably should do so more often…..

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

In spite of myself, I seem to have finished this Pearl…. huh. When I began, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do so….. I suppose I’m in a bit of a flutter, as it is raining (a complete, though welcome, surprise….), and I feel (relatively) good, both of which aren’t usual around here of late… I’m going to do the sensible thing, and go enjoy that, so, I’d best bring this to a close…. With no further ado, I declare this Pearl of Virtual Wisdom to be complete, and give y’all leave, to, well, leave…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. for now….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”

À bientôt, mon cherí.

Passages from the Book of Righteousness….

Posted on September 24, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“After I’m dead I’d rather have people ask why I have no monument than why I have one.”

— Cato the Elder ~~

(234-149 B.C.)

Some days, one feels a sense of imminent changes; it’s as if the winds of Time are blowing softly, whispering soft promises of new and different, leaving us shivering in anticipatory delight, with unreasoning hope…. Then, of course, there are days like today, when one is unsure if time is even in force, a not unfamiliar sensation for such as us, resigned to Fate, filled with sorrow and painful realization of the impending catastrophic events faced by a world unaware of its own danger…..

SIGH…. ‘Twould be easy indeed to give in, to just crawl back under the covers, & pretend it will all go away if we can only ignore it long enough…. But, this time, things ARE different, more so than we know, more than most may guess…. It is times such as these when I lament my perceptions, and my ability to see the larger picture; it would be nice, indeed, to be able to ignore what I see, to be able to say with some degree of confidence that I believe there is a bright future for our species…. It would be nice, and, it would be totally false…

So, I won’t say any such thing…. nor, at this point will I belabor this point any further…. I’ve stated my views on the coming environmental crisis, (or crises, I should say; I doubt it will be as simple as having only ONE crisis to deal with….); as well, I’ve shown where the all-too-obvious evidence is located, should you wish to read it…. and, as I can attest, it’s ugly news…. None of it is calculated to make for a nice, peaceful breakfast, whether one is going continental, with coffee & pastries, or going for the full Irish…. the coffee will grow cold as you contemplate the future, with fear and loathing, and, the croissants, or the eggs, very likely won’t be quite so appealing….

One of the changes you’ll see will be on this blog…. On the first of October, I’ll be making an announcement regarding my plans, which will have an effect on this blog, a significant effect, to be sure. I’ll save the rest for then; it’s but a few days now, and once the plans are complete, I’ll let y’all know what they are…. For now, suffice it to say, on a personal level, changes are not merely desired, but, required, if I am to be able to live my life the way I intend to live it…. On that note, we will bring this to an almost unprecedentedly smooth opening, with actual introduction-like features, to a dignified, and timely close…. imagine that!

I believe the following two-fer, (SIGH… if you insist upon accurate use of the traditional metaphor, imagine a pair of earrings, set with perfectly matched pearls….), will give you the clearest idea, as far as the desired mood/attitude I wish to encourage/demand today…. I will also point out, it would be helpful if you are up to date on your insurance….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“I brought my BOWLING BALL – and some DRUGS!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“And furthermore, my bowling average is unimpeachable!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

“There are no other colours without the blues.” — Doctor Who

For close to three years now, I’ve been venting all the feelings of anger and betrayal I feel at what I’ve seen transpire in this country, and in the world at large…. I suppose you could say I have been a historian, in the sense I’ve observed the events of human interaction in my own time, along with learning of other times, through the simple expedient of reading a book, every day, for almost 60 years now, having learned to read at age four. I’ve also watched the smaller interactions, between people, including myself, for all that time, comparing every thing I learned to what came before, to help me to be able to have some idea of what COULD happen next…. a very valuable skill, insight….

My insight tells me there are hard times coming, ffolkes. I don’t know how much more clearly I can deliver the message to the world…. Of course, it would help if more than just a tiny, tiny, insignificant portion of that world is HEARING my message, but, I doubt I am the only one spouting off on this, so, that can’t be the entire problem…. I do read others who say the same as I do, with much more viewing power than I possess…. but, nobody really wants to hear it, because it’s too hard, and too scary to think about…. So, most folks do what people generally do when receiving bad news; they ignore it, or deny it….

This time, though, there will be no denial, and ignoring the rise of the oceans will NOT be possible, not when the water is lapping at your shoes…. which, as can be seen already in Florida, it is…. I would imaging it won’t be much more than a few short years before Miami is completely under water, along with about half of the entire state…. The oceans are rising ffolkes, as the ice melts at the poles…. We just had the warmest year on record, and from what scientists can tell from the record of history in nature’s library, last year was the warmest year, average, EVER…. We can no longer ignore the warming trend ffolkes; it is now established as very real….

Of course, the general population, which is starting to get concerned (witness the Walk for Climate Change last Sunday….), it is already too late for that to work; that march might have helped, had it taken place in 1925…. Now, it is far too late to stop the processes we have begun…. In fact, now that the permafrost, which exists all over the world, underground, and undersea, is also melting, releasing chlorine, and other toxic, CATALYTIC substances into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate…. These chemicals are biological and chemical catalysts, which once reaching a certain level in the air, will produce other changes, that will act incredibly rapidly, to make changes we cannot even predict, thus making them impossible to prepare for….

Ah well, as I said, there is plenty of evidence to show us how we have screwed up, and how badly…. but, nobody seems to want to look at it…. Everyone would rather moan and complain, and march in the streets, instead of doing the ONLY thing that would help…. to wit: Take every elected official, every despot, and every other leading political, religious, and financial leader in the world, and shoot them, right in the head, one bullet for each…. Then the rest of us can start to either get to work moving us all to the asteroids, or the moons of Saturn, or finding SOME way to stop the processes in the environment that are going to kill us, and repair the damage to our world…..

Sadly, ffolkes, the odds are not good for any of that to happen…. Nobody is going to wake up enough people to make a difference…. so, for today at least, I’m done talking about it…. It’s depressing, and it’s at the point where there is no more I can do about it, until I go buy that gun, and some ammo, and set out to make myself feel a bit better…..

So be it….. gigoid has spoken…. quite enough for one day…. However, because he can never shut himself up, here is a five-star pearl to give the proper finish such a somber discussion….

GRAVE, n. A place in which the dead are laid to await the coming of the medical student.

    Beside a lonely grave I stood —
        With brambles ’twas encumbered;
    The winds were moaning in the wood,
        Unheard by him who slumbered,

    A rustic standing near, I said:
        “He cannot hear it blowing!”
    “‘Course not,” said he: “the feller’s dead —
        He can’t hear nowt [sic] that’s going.”

    “Too true,” I said; “alas, too true —
        No sound his sense can quicken!”
    “Well, mister, wot is that to you? —
        The deadster ain’t a-kickin’.”

    I knelt and prayed: “O Father, smile
        On him, and mercy show him!”
    That countryman looked on the while,
        And said: “Ye didn’t know him.”

Pobeter Dunko

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.” — Vladimir Nabokov

“Panic now – avoid the rush!” — Smart Bee

“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.” — Smart Bee

I live not in myself, but I become
Portion of that around me;
High mountains are a feeling, but the hum
Of human cities torture.

— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto iii, Stanza 72

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

Steve Winwood, Rick Grech, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker. One album, one mega-talented band. The first time they played together in public was at the concert you will see… For a lot of us old fogies, this brings back some pretty great memories…. As well, it gives those who came after a good visual picture, of the musical concert scene of the late 60’s….

Blind Faith, Live at Hyde Park, London, 1969

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

Somehow, when I’m in a mood, Charles fits better than most anyone else….. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do….

Bluebird

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody’s asleep.
I say, I know that you’re there,
so don’t be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he’s singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

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

I think you will find this pearl to fit perfectly within the parameters set for us by the two-fer in the intro section…. It even ends with another fine sentiment from our old friend, the Z-man…. Y’ll need to enjoy this one ffolkes; it was fun to put together, so I know it will be fun to read, if you let it…..

“I take an instant dislike to lawyers. It saves time.” — To avoid litigation, the author wishes to remain anonymous

“Why don’t cannibals eat clowns? Because they taste funny.” — Smart Bee

“Man possesses limited intelligence, but alas, unlimited stupidity.” —

“It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.” — Arthur C. Clarke

“I find your faith in reality rather amusing.” — gigoid, to himself, frequently

“At first I was uncertain, but now I’m not so sure.” — Heisenberg

“If I felt any more SOPHISTICATED I would DIE of EMBARRASSMENT!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Exactly….. See? I told you, it’s all in the wrist….

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

So I don’t forget again…. the picture at the top of today’s post is an artist’s rendition of one design for a space elevator, a tethered line to Earth, extending all the way up to geosynchronous orbit, hauling cargo and people, slowly and majestically, up the connecting line, and back down, all with a minimal expenditure of energy…. It is one of the more ingenious ideas Man has devised to get into nearby space, one which may serve us well, if we can manage to survive long enough to build one, or more of them….

Once built, working elevators into orbital space would provide the means to build whole cities, as satellites around the Earth, in space, using solar power as energy, and the advantages to be found by living at the top of a very long, powerful well of gravity…. The engineering possibilities are practically endless, due to the availability of unlimited power from the sun, and nearly unlimited power from using the gravitational difference between the two points, one in space, one anchored to the Earth…. If we live long enough to build it, it also provides a means of launching ships to other planets, from orbit, with much less effort than lifting them up from the surface of the planet….

The closing section, though, isn’t the place for such a discussion, unfortunately; it’s a fascinating concept, though, and should be explored thoroughly, once our species’ priorities have been put into proper order…. I think saving our sorry asses needs to come first…. but, we’ll talk about that tomorrow, or, soon, I’m sure…. In the meantime, I’m outta here, or there, or somewhere… I will, however be back tomorrow, all things being equal….

“DON’T go!! I’m not HOWARD COSELL!! I know POLISH JOKES… WAIT!! Don’t go!! I AM Howard Cosell!… And I DON’T know Polish jokes!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

“The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.”

À bientôt, mon cherí.

gigoid

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

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: overpopulation

Poignant palindromes prevent perverted pixels….

Worshiping at the altar of self-mockery….

Reverting to paleolithic mode….

Aiming at center mass…..

Buttery smooth and savory…..

Stick with the potted meats, Bosley….

We’d prefer a Mallard, but, the Muscovy will do…

Living Life Large….

Passages from the Book of Righteousness….

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