Alternate versions are in production….

Posted on April 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The field cannot well be seen from within the field”

~~ Emerson ~~

Stubborn Beauty

I’ve lost it, ffolkes…. Nor do I have any clue as to why, or where…. Well, ‘why’ probably isn’t hard to figure out; I’m burnt. I’ve blogged almost every day now for close to four years, or more, and I think my motivation is becoming a bit murky. Without it, it’s hard to get going on any of this…. Where it went isn’t as important as the fact it is gone; it’s not as if I’m going to go hunt it down to kill. But, it might help to know where to find it when I DO want it, if I ever do so again…

For today, I’ll have to use any leftovers I have sitting around, or cheat, which is becoming all-too-familiar for my taste. But, I’ve assumed the duty, so, I don’t have any choice in the matter, not now. I suppose I’ll even refrain from complaining about it, as it would remove any available dignity from our neighborhood, a lack we already suffer far too often…. Of course, dignity isn’t our primary goal; in fact, since motivation has absented itself, I’m not sure what goals we have…. I guess I should do something about that…. For today, we’ll just assign the completion of today’s Pearl as the Daily Duty, and be done with it until tomorrow….

That said, it looks like we’ll need to resort to one of the old emergency exits to get us going; this seems to be growing beyond all usefulness. I suppose #4 is the most efficacious, so, we’ll go with that…. Y’all know you need to hang on, right? Right…. Let’s go Luigi, time’s a wastin’…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Faith in immortality, like belief in Satan, leaves unanswered the ancient question: is God unable to prevent suffering and thus not omnipotent? or is he able but not willing to prevent it and thus not merciful? And is he just?” — Smart Bee

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Here is music from Frank Zappa; many of his fans never knew what a fine instrumentalist he was; he showed them just what he could do, on this, and a couple of subsequent releases of albums in the same vein as this one…. Enjoy, ffolkes. the world will never see his like again….

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Frank Zappa – Shut Up’n Play Yer Guitar (full album)

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https://youtu.be/AIUKUghqK08

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“Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history, mankind has been bullied by scum. Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and would boss the grass in the meadow about which way to bend in the wind are the most depraved kind of prostitutes. They will submit to any indignity, perform any vile act, do anything to achieve power. The worst off-sloughings of the planet are the ingredients of sovereignty. Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us.” — P.J. O’Rourke, _Parliament of Whores_

I find myself again in the position of NOT having the wherewithal to rant, in spite of the most excellent opening quote, which, obviously, would lend itself to a grand display of angst and passionate curmudgeonry. Instead, I’ll use an older piece again, one published elsewhere on the net, in the dark ages before WordPress came into my literary world…. Here is one published on Socyberty, I believe, sometime in 2012….

Choosing Ignorance

It has finally happened. My sense of outrage has been stimulated over the last few weeks by one news item after another, until I feel I can no longer hold my silence. Most of the time I can put it all aside, having long held the belief best summarized by the immortal Fred, the long-suffering bird in the comic strip Odds Bodkins, who said, “Politics is poopadoodle!” Armed with this profound truth, I’ve been able to mostly ignore even the most controversial topics common to those who DO talk about the events of the day. But even Fred would be outraged at the absolutely incomprehensible nonsense in the news of the last few weeks, and phlegmatic though I may be, I am not a stone, I am a man.

The tenor of the articles I read in my corner of the world generally runs to the more positive stories that are often hard to find. But there have been too many examples of late that demonstrate very clearly that it’s probably too late for the human race; the changes that are needed from our species as a whole are legion, and none of them, none, are even under discussion. The policy of those who are in power in society is to deflect any mention of the problems facing us, to cast doubt on the veracity on those who would deliver bad news, to kill the messenger, as it were. They have succeeded beyond all belief; the general public is now thoroughly indoctrinated to believe whatever tripe is reported to them, regardless of the source. It just has to sound good, and people will believe it.

I recently read an article about Ron Perry, the Texas governor who has entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination. In the article on SFGATE (link below), Mr. erry is quoted regarding man made global warming. He is quoted as saying, “I think we’re seeing almost weekly, or even daily, scientists that are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man made global warming is what is causing the climate to change,” He also stated his belief that scientists have “manipulated the data,” to support their theory. The scientists to whom he refers, both those who subscribe to the validity of man made global warming, and those who question the theory, are addressed in another article, this one by Al Gore as reported in Rolling Stone magazine.

In this article, Mr. Gore responds to those who doubt the effects of man made pollution on global climate changes, by pointing out simply, that EVERY national science council of EVERY country in the world have all publicly, and officially, expressed their confidence in the integrity of every study completed and published, all of which give convincing evidence to support the fact that man made pollution is for sure and for certain having a deleterious effect on climate all over the world. It is clear that it is happening NOW, not someday.

Mr. Gore also points out that the “scientists” who purport to disbelieve the theory are very few in comparison to the thousands and thousands in the world’s national science foundations, and many of those who have discounted the science involved in the studies have previously publicly expressed that their beliefs are faith-based rather than based on the facts presented. Reportedly some of them have even been recruited by faith-based organizations to lend their weight to the argument, criticizing the study techniques and pointing out “mistakes” in the studies that purportedly augment their position.

Those in power in society don’t want this information to be widely disseminated, much less widely believed, as it will, in the best-case scenario, cause them a loss of profit; in the worst-case they could conceivably be tried and convicted as traitors to the species. If the general public ever realizes just how much of what they hear and see is made up of lies and innuendo, designed to inflame their fears of the unknown, and take their attention away from what is truly taking place, then there would an upheaval such as the world has never seen. But instead, the general public just goes along with whatever they are told, trained well to accept whatever they see on TV, or hear on the radio as truth. Or worse, as gospel truth, just as if gospel is the sole repository of the truth.

The truth is NOT limited to gospel; evidence exists that clearly shows that even in the days when those particular religious treatises were written, those who were in power dictated what was true, and what was not true, and only the concepts and ideas they espoused were included in the “divinely inspired” treatises commissioned by them in support of their power. Even the pure messages of Jesus of Nazareth have been adjusted over the centuries to reflect whatever those in charge of the Church wished. Politicians have always been with us…

Another article I read recently speaks about yet another example of how our beloved leaders have lied to us over the years. The article relates the problems encountered by the indigent population of the Marshall Islands ever since the US government decided to use their home as a testing ground for nuclear technology, sometime back in the 1940’s. The article (link below) gives a clear and compassionate plea for help and understanding for the people indigenous to the Islands, whose ranks have been decimated by the effects of nuclear toxins in their environment. The government, in its’ infinite wisdom, denies any problem exists, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. Read the article, it is very illuminating, and is one more example of what the public has forced down its’ collective throat by those who believe, and rightly so, that they can get away with anything they want.

Those in power, and those who conspire to be in power, will say and do anything to make the public believe that it is acting in the best interests of everyone. In one respect they may be correct; as long as humanity at large continues to accept whatever is told to them by people on TV as truth, or as long as what they read in a newspaper is believed, as long as people choose to be ignorant, they will be sealing their own fate, and will deserve exactly what they get.

What they, and we all, will get won’t be a stairway to heaven; it most will be certainly a planet-sized grave for us all. When the planet decides it has had enough of our little species, it will certainly direct us onto the path of the dodo, and the dinosaur. All that is needed is for us to choose ignorance; the ozone layer will continue to disappear, the world-wide temperature will rise a couple of degrees (that’s all it takes) and the polar ice caps will melt. This will cause both world-wide flooding of the land masses, and a disturbance in the shape of the planet’s orbit, which will result in world-wide earthquakes. Armageddon, indeed, and brought on by our own resistance to change, by deliberate ignorance. So, how will you choose?

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/climate-of-denial-20110622

http://brookmeakins.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/what-if/

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/08/17/politics/p073158D98.DTL

The image of the Dodo is from MS Office Clip Art.

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Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.

The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Today’s final old-school pearl picked itself. You can’t blame me for this one, cogent as it may be….. Don’t hurt yourselves trying to figure out the conclusion; I have a feeling it might not be exactly what you expect…..

“Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man’s superiority to all that befalls him.” — Romain Gary

“The ultimate test of whether you posses a sense of humor is your reaction when someone tells you you don’t.” — Frank Tyger

“Good humor is the health of the soul, sadness its poison.”– Stanislaus

“Give us, O give us, the man who is cheerful in his work! Be his occupation what it may, he is equal to any of those who follow the same pursuit in silent sullenness. He will do more in the same time — he will do it better — he will persevere longer.”– Carlyle

“Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Really, Crito, why should we care so much about what ‘most people’ believe?” — The character Socrates, in Plato’s _Crito_, 44d

“Although a wise man might urge that one should suffer fools gladly, this should not be construed as license for any fool to demand that one do so.” — Frederic William Kantor

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Well, it’s done. I haven’t the foggiest as to how that happened, but, since I’m not one to examine horse’s teeth, for any reason, that will have to do. In fact, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I survive the day….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Slinky dresses under bright neon lights….

Posted on March 3, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“No evil can happen to a good man.”

~~ Plato (428-348? B.C.) ~~

Cat

Insidiously terrifying ghosts, silently screaming in eternal agony of fear, flit past my vision, breaking my hold on Reality…. As the familiar slips away, fast-moving water under a fallen bridge, hope is drowned, slipping under a third time, never known. More painful still, is knowing this will never be finished, thanks to the sheer impossibility of typing with one hand numb….

Ah well, so much for fantasy today; I’d hoped to find a bit of it floating in my head as I began, but, no such luck. I was struggling mightily to get it done anyway, when True Reality stepped in to put a stop to it, numbing up my left arm and hand to the point where it became impractical to continue…. Ah well, such is life with arthritis, I suppose…. I guess I’ll have to talk about the Cat….

I don’t know whose cat it was; he/she was sunning prettily in a yard near where I was waiting for a bus. When I took a few pictures, it assumed a very cat-like expression of annoyance, got up, & stalked away, obviously less than gruntled at having its peaceful nap disturbed by another rude human with a camera. It reminded me of one of my favorite cat quotes, to wit: “Cats were worshiped as gods in ancient Egypt. They have never forgotten this.” This one apparently has nothing wrong with its memory, as it wore a mantle of royal disdain with perfect grace….

As is now painfully clear, this intro section is kaput. It’s not going anywhere, nor can it go back anywhere useful; one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, as we all know. Nor can I continue to type with only one hand functioning normally. This means, once again, we have to break out #4 to gt us where we need to go…. Damn, I’d so hoped for something better today!…. Oh well, fuck it. Hang on, ffolkes, we’re going in, & it looks a bit rough out there…..

Shall we Pearl?

“A man does not look behind the door unless he has stood there himself.” — Du Bois

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I’ve used this video a couple of times, simply because it is one of the best indictments of the BRC in existence. Combine that with the brilliance of George’s humor, and we’ve got a show worth watching as often as it takes…. Enjoy, ffolkes; he’s gone, but, never forgotten….

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The Best of George Carlin: Exposing our government and fall of humanity one joke at a time

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http://youtu.be/6_zwB6GLpo4

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“To be black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage.”

~~ James Baldwin ~~

James Baldwin wrote during the twentieth century, in America, a nation, at the time, embroiled in deep conflict with its own inner nature, and, the cumulative effects of more than a hundred and fifty years of hypocrisy. In truth, hypocrisy has been a greater influence on human culture than anyone who is a part of it would care to admit. In a culture in which lying is considered an art form, hypocrisy is a precursor. In fact, it is such an integral part of our culture, I would amend the above statement to read, “To be alive and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage.”…..

One must, after all, decide to whom one will lie, thus, placing them in a certain order; those considered friends receive the courtesy of lying behind their back, those considered enemies are lied to as a matter of course, to their faces. Only those with whom there is no common interest are not important enough to lie to…. thus being the only ones who receive the truth, only by silence, which, if necessary, may be used to lie by omission.

If there is anyone who doubts this series of inner motivational processes, so apparent in virtually all humans, as common stimuli to our cultural behaviors, I would have to suggest it to be entirely possible, we have very likely been watching two entirely different species of human beings…. Those I’ve observed, mostly, use the given method of reasoning to decide how they will act, toward most everyone they encounter, with a certain amount filtered through whatever laws they’ve learned to obey, in order to avoid difficulties. Some cover up these impulses with religious dogma as their code, which either gives them leave to treat non-believers with the usual disdain, or forgives them when they do “out of bad impulses”….

Gee, ffolkes, do you think I’m getting a bit grumpy about most people? You’d be right, of course, and too damn bad. I’m done NOT speaking up about what I see in the world; maybe if more ffolkes spoke up, to point out what others do that is not right, when it happens, creating discussion and/or learning, maybe the world would be a little easier for everybody; there sure would be fewer racists, bigots, and/or other sub-humans running around bothering all the nice ffolkes there are…. which, sadly, in self-defense, are becoming fewer and fewer, at least in public….

Of course, that’s because the people in ostensible charge of society are the worst examples of liars, cheats, thieves, and bullies…. But, then, perhaps that’s just MY opinion. Just because I see it every day in the news doesn’t make it real, right? Right. In fact, it’s getting so I doubt seriously if there is more than 5 minutes per hour of news that is something that is NOT intended just to manipulate those watching it in some way; those five minutes are shrinking as well, getting harder to spot. Real information, usable for making life better, or just more pleasant somehow, is pretty much gone from human ken…..

Bah! You know, I’m so disgusted with the human race, so damn much of the time, I’m sick of it…. Enough so I’m even losing my taste for ranting, especially when I know very few people who need to hear this message will ever hear it…. The hell with it, I’m going to sublimate the rest of this diatribe into an old-school pearl, aimed at those who would be kings….. You know who they are, and so do they…. Here, then, is a plethora, of eleven dandy pointed sticks, all jabbing at the eyes of the Beloved Ruling Class…. Somehow, Smart Bee never seems to show any lack of this type of pearl….

“The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.” — P. J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores

“To steal from one person is theft.To steal from many is taxation.” — Daiell’s Law (a take-off on Felson’s Law)

“It had all the earmarks of a CIA operation; the bomb killed everybody in the room except the intended target.” — William F. Buckley

“Is there a Lemon Law for Presidents too?” — Smart Bee

“Buy when there’s blood in the streets.” — Baron Guy de Rothschild

“A lot of what I say comes off as political satire. In that, I have a lot in common with Congress.” — Solomon Short

“When I see a congressman giving his opinion on something, I always wonder if it represents his *real* opinion or if it represents an opinion that he’s designed in order to be elected. It seems to be a central problem for politicians. So I often wonder: what is the relation of integrity to working in the government?” — Richard Phillips Feynman (1918-1988), “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”

“Eternal boyhood is the dream of a depressing percentage of American males, and the locker room is the temple where they worship arrested development.” — Russell Baker

“In our society, the Republicans set out to prove that the Democrats can not be trusted to run the government. And the Democrats set out to prove that the Republicans can not be trusted to run our government. The real problem here is that both the Democrats and the Republicans have come up with something which is absolutely true and perfectly correct. This means that the people get to pull some sort of horrible trick on themselves and live with their choice for four years.” — Smart Bee

“This is no time for consensus government. It’s a time for leadership. The average citizen doesn’t know what the stakes are in Vietnam.” — Richard Milhouse Nixon, February 11, 1965

Gee, but I’d like to be a G-Man
And go Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just like Dick Tracy, what a he-man
And go Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I’d do as I please, act high-handed and regal
‘Cause when you’re a G-Man there’s nothing illegal.

~~ Harold Rome, from The G-Man Song, 1937 ~~

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Only one poem will do today….

Geezer to Congress, with Love

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

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

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

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid ~~

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I let Smart Bee have its head, while my subconscious mind monitored, from wherever it watches from, with instructions to find some carefully chosen random quotes to use for upcoming pearls…. Put most simply, SB went a bit crazy on me, coming up with more than enough pearls for three separate pearls, each grouped into a series pointed at one concept or idea…. This one is one of them; it seems to be comments on the human experience, from a number of viewpoints leading to a rather amorphous, but somehow, both realistically dubious, yet strangely comforting end point….. Go figure….

“It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.”– Moliere

“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” — Albert Einstein

“Great minds always meet at infinity.” — Smart Bee

“Look for a tough wedge for a tough log.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 723

“There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.’ — Pilpay (or Bidpai) — The Two Travellers, Chap. ii, Fable vi

“Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than minority of them – never become conscious of them all. How much of total reality can such an apparatus let through?” — C. S. Lewis

“The Soul is born old, but it grows young; that is the comedy of life. The Body is born young and grows old; that is life’s tragedy.” — Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)

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It’s done; at this point, NOTHING matters more. I won’t detail the struggle it took to complete today’s Pearl, having already whined to our prescribed limit for the day, other than to say, Whew!…. Moreover, I’ll show some tact, by letting this die a natural death, now it has accepted its fate. Well, we like to think so, anyway…. On that note, such as it may be, I shall take my leave, stage left…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

We boil the spread sheets, but, all clip art gets baked….

Posted on December 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Nothing can be done at once hastily and prudently.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 557 ~~

I’ve been using a lot of space photos lately; this one is an artist’s rendering of the newest NASA manned spaceflight capsule, the Orion, as it docks at the ISS. Having always been a space flight enthusiast, an amateur astronomer, and a reader of science fiction, it all fascinates me. I had originally intended to study astronomy or astrophysics in college, and always wanted to be an astronaut, every since the very first manned flights, back in the early 60’s….. I even made a personal vow, at age 11, that I would not die on Earth, but, would be buried on another planet, even if only the Moon…. A bit fanciful, but, I still mean to try to survive long enough to get off Earth at least once….

Chances are getting slim that will ever happen, but, hey, a man has to have a dream, right? My dreams these days involve survival of the species, mostly, as that seems to me to be our most pressing circumstance, as humans…. We don’t have much time left, if any, to make an effort to establish ourselves on another planet, or planetoid, by which, I refer to moons, asteroids, comets, etc…. There are lots of places in our solar system containing abundant natural resources, easy enough for us to find and utilize, though not all of them are other planets…. In fact, there are fewer obstacles to overcome in order to colonize the asteroids than we may encounter trying to live on Mars…. It is amazing how much EASIER it is to live without gravity getting in the way, technologically speaking…..

Whether we try to establish colonies on Mars, the asteroids, our own Moon, Luna, or the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus, (of which there are more than a hundred….), it is becoming more imperative each day that we make some sort of decision, and get started on doing so, without any further delay….. We don’t have a lot of time before living on this planet will become an even greater technological challenge than living in space, with no gravity, and abundant solar and nuclear power, an existence made much easier to maintain than here on Earth. where we will see the necessity to find or manufacture our own air, food, and water…. None of these are impossible tasks, but, they won’t happen unless we first admit the danger, and the necessity to establish more bases for humanity to survive, in various points around the solar system…. If we continue to confine ourselves to one planet, we won’t survive at all….

Okay, I’ve now ranted, though it may not seem as if I have…. It sort of crept up on all of us I think…. After looking over what I’ve written above, I can’t say there is anything missing, or flawed, so, it will do, both as an intro, and as a mini-rant…. I didn’t mean to start out so strongly, but, the picture got me going; a view of the infinity of space will always stimulate my mind’s eye, pointing it toward the possible futures we may experience…. The planetary environmental crisis here on Earth is worsening each day, with new weather patterns being noted all over the world…. The coming year is predicted to be the warmest our planet has EVER experienced, according to all the historical and environmental evidence there is to be found, and we still don’t know how that will affect us, or the rest of our planet’s ecological balance…

Before I hare off in another direction, with a new rant on a new, related issue, I think I’ll take this opportunity to get us out of the intro, and down the line to the video section…. Today’s Pearl is going to be a fairly fresh one, even if the rant section may have to go with an archived piece; I don’t like to rant twice, and this is already enough to make ffolkes uneasy, I’m sure…. We’ll see how it goes when I get there…. for now, I see our turn coming up, so, put your liquid refreshments in their holders, tighten your belts, and hang on, because we’re going in…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.” — Oscar Wilde

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Okay, so, what did you expect? More cats? No way; I don’t like to repeat myself…. Today, you get PUPPIES!….

The Cutest Puppies Compilation

http://youtu.be/amtuB-2wGeQ

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I went through the news yesterday, where I found the BRC, and the Asininnies, to be in full control. The news is mostly concentrating on the race issues brought to the surface of the nation’s attention, stimulated by the recent court failures to prosecute police officers who kill citizens. While this is, of course, an issue that must be addressed, it does focus attention elsewhere than on the actions of our leaders, thus giving them the time and space to hide their true agendas from public view, by acting clandestinely to secure their aims…. The lack of any other news of significance is a sure sign that things are worse than they seem….

So much so, I am unable to find a reason to rant…. Oh, it’s not as if there isn’t any subject to rant about; the problem is that there are too MANY subjects to choose from, each of which represents yet another way the predators who prey on society are displaying their lack of compassion for any of the other members of their species, using them simply as a means of consolidating their own powers. To anyone with more than two neurons working together, it is quite obvious; to those who base their lives on accepting what they are told, nothing is amiss, at all…. After all, it’s Christmas, right?

Rather than spend eight or ten paragraphs trying, once again, to bring their chicanery to the attention of anyone happening by to read, I’m putting together an old-school indictment, to indicate to those who come by, exactly where they can see for themselves just how badly we are all being screwed, by those who would have us believe in their altruism…. which, in fact, does not exist at all…. So, here are some observations about those assholes who would be king…. Pay close attention, ffolkes, and any of you folks who might see this; it’s all true as the day….. Let’s see how vicious we can be this early in the day, shall we?….

One murder made a villain,
Millions a hero. Princes were privileged
To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime.

~~ Beilby Porteus (1731-1808) — Death, Line 154 ~~

“The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder, with the truth.” — Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

“The question is, why are politicians so eager to be president? What is it about the job that makes it worth revealing, on national television, that you have the ethical standards of a slime-coated piece of industrial waste?” — Dave Barry, On Presidential Politics

“The American Republic and American business are Siamese twins; they came out of the same womb at the same time; they are born in the same principles, and when American business dies, the American republic will die, and when the American Republic dies, American business will die.” — Josiah W. Bailey

“In many if not most elections, the consequences come to about the same result as two bald men fighting over a comb. Whichever one gets elected is going to commission the design of a new comb, and it is going to be expensive. Of course, most government expenditures are not as significant as the purchase of a new comb, but the point is made.” — Smart Bee

JUSTICE, n. A commodity which is a more or less adulterated condition the State sells to the citizen as a reward for his allegiance, taxes and personal service. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perennially rejuvenated illusions.” — Albert Einstein

And remember, let’s do it to them before they do it to us. — Final line, US Senate Oath of Office

“Man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits… For my part I would as soon be descended from [a] baboon … as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies … treats his wives like slaves … and is haunted by the grossest suspicions.” — Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

“Giving power and money to the government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” — P.J. O’Rourke, former Gulf War correspondent, summing up what he learned during two years of research on how our government functions

“It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Cleveland Press, 3/1/21

Well, it took eleven pearls, but, I think we finally achieved the proper degree of disdain and vituperation…. If not, we can always try again tomorrow….

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

Just to keep this all in my court, here is another old one of my own….

Random Visions/Coloring Between the Lines of Grief

Everywhere is dark, and shining,
with points in dissonant pain.
Sharp, senses dull past divining,
tears burn, a torrential rain.

Escape! Flee within to cower,
find an unconscious cave.
Call on Morpheus’ power
deny reality’s beckoning wave.

Light breaks, drawing the inner eye,
leading to the slippery slope.
Risk is critical, we may only sigh,
yet welcome, for bringing hope.

Sanity seems far out of reach
Insanity’s a stronger friend.
Decisions made will merely teach
our way toward Death to wend.

Lost, while still on familiar ground,
the future yet undesigned.
Making way on paths unfound,
to Now, as yet undefined.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Okay, not bad…. All that is left now is to put together an old school pearl…. I’m getting a bit dazed and confused; it happens sometimes when the news is making me nervous with its lack of stuff to write about; I’m always concerned the Asininnies are busy behind the scenes, preparing more nasty surprises for us, usually springing their crap on Monday mornings, when everyone is busy worrying about getting back to work…. I think I’ll let Smart Bee pick out the rest…. I’ve chosen the the first two pearls, and SB will choose the other five; for fun, you can try to pick out the two I put in, to see if it is as obvious to you as it is to me…. or, you may just enjoy them, taking the meaning as you may….

“If I do not do it now, when shall I do it?” — Dogen Zenji

“Anacharsis said a man’s felicity consists not in the outward and visible favours and blessings of Fortune, but in the inward and unseen perfections and riches of the mind.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, 11

“Here is the beginning of philosophy: a recognition of the conflicts between men, a search for their cause, a condemnation of mere opinion, and the discovery of a standard of judgment.” — Epictetus

“If a man take no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.” — Confucius

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

Well…. There you go. A nearly perfect five-star pearl, to balance the eleven-star version above…. of which I will say this; I could have made that one even longer. There seems to be no end of quotes vilifying the Asininnies; they’ve been a pain in society’s collective ass for a long time… But. these five sparkling gems almost balance out the dirt they tend to toss around….

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

Okay, so much for another morning…. Given the amount of pain in my hands and shoulder, I’m astounded I got this done at all…. I have yet to proof it, but, it felt as if it actually had something worthwhile to say, even if it didn’t say it as well as I might like… Nonetheless, it got said, so, that will have to do for another day…. Living up to that initial quote, from our old friend, Publius Syrus, was harder than it seemed; still, perseverance, as is its habit, managed to win the day…. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. Well, that’s my intention, anyway….

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….

Officer, that rhinoceros is winking at me!….

Posted on October 23, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Earth has it’s boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless.”

~~ Flaubert ~~

I’m thinking Mssr. Flaubert was in a bit of a stinky mood when he wrote the above aphorism…. It does have the advantage of being fairly well true, if a bit lacking in scientific approach…. Yes, human stupidity is unlimited in scope; however the Earth is a finite object; as such it has actual limits. But, given the incredible beauty our world can display, there is no limit to how much it can stimulate our imagination, which IS infinite in scope as well… We are creatures of duality; our nature, our perception, and our emotional makeup all reflect that duality, which, by the fact of it’s nature, provides the universe with balance, and permanence….

It’s amazing, isn’t it? To look at a picture such as this one, of a plant thriving in the midst of urban blight, providing a source of beauty even the depressive nature of its surroundings cannot dim, and know how beautiful the world is, if it only gets a chance…. In the midst of sorrow, and pain, and the depression of poverty, one may always find beauty, which, by its mere existence, gives people hope, and the strength to live on, to keep struggling toward the light, using what is at hand…. just as this plant has done….

Enough early morning philosophy for one day; when I started I didn’t plan on going into that; it evolved as I began to type, pretty much writing itself…. Given the history of introductory sections on this blog, I find that to be a good thing. It’s given us a decent set of opening lines, and thoughts, with the bonus of not falling into a rant, right out of the box. I’m sure y’all can appreciate such restraint; I know this blog can get to be a heavy read, but, I really do try to think ahead in that respect…..

My tendency toward bozoid behavior, though, often causes me to forget my good intentions, and ranting becomes the order of the day. Today, however, you’ll note we are almost far enough down the page to make our escape…. In fact, we’re going to bail out by the end of this particular paragraph, as I see the opening coming up ahead, there at the side of the worm hole…. Again, I have to ask y’all to fasten your seat belts securely, as the cabin may experience some turbulence while the pilot is unconscious; no worries, it’s only a temporal effect, passing in seconds, and we’ll come out the other side without a problem…. Trust me….

Shall we Pearl?….

“We are more sensible of what is done against custom than against Nature.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Eating of Flesh, Tract 1

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

I’m in the mood for some soothing, cerebral music today…. In this particular group of musical pieces, I suggest you skip past the first one that plays; it’s a bit slow for a morning piece…. but, it gets better, believe me…. Enjoy, ffolkes!

The Best in Classical Music: Part 1:

http://youtu.be/wLkjMLdLf3s

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

“When you are sure you’re right, you have a moral duty to impose your will upon anyone who disagrees with you.” — Robert W. Mayer

Think about that for a moment….

When I think about this, beyond my initial gut reaction, which involves severe disdain, not to mention disgust, for such unwarranted arrogance, I am struck with two thoughts, each more depressing the the other….. First, I want to say that it is my firm belief that any time someone, anyone, uses the words, “it is your moral duty”, you can be sure they are speaking about THEIR morals, not anyone else’s….

This kind of discriminatory bigotry is damn near invisible to anyone who suffers from it, as it arises out of what can only be faith-based assumptions, thus ensuring that NO argument will be entertained…. In other words, no matter HOW ignorant, or bigoted, or INSANE their beliefs, if they think they are right (and, they will never entertain any other thought), it guarantees their fanaticism, and rejection of ANY evidence to the contrary….

That being said, it depresses me that, most of the people in this country, ESPECIALLY those who end up in politics, would, if asked, express their belief in this sentiment, right down to the bone, no matter how insane it truly is…. It is also a de rigeur position for anyone who buys into ANY of the religions out there, for they all operate with this sort of illogic as their primary method of exposition and thought…. You see, it doesn’t actually require any thought to believe this stuff; it’s all laid out for them, so all that is needed is to say, “ditto”, position the blinders comfortably, and resume their clueless existence….

“As one reads history… one is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted.” — Oscar Wilde

This attitude is the reason the government, and all the assholes who do their clandestine bidding, are able to continue to do whatever they wish to do, no matter how the public feels about it…..

Secondly, when I see that statement, (above, by R. Mayer) claiming moral infallibility by right of belief, I get depressed because, not only do most people believe it in the case of this issue, they also tend to carry the self-same attitude over into every area of their life, until every original thought is quashed before it ever formulates in their minds…. They become the nightmare of any honestly ethical man, as an entitled hedonist, believing they have the right to anything they desire, whether filling that desire affects, or even harms, anyone else, or not. With the mandate of faith, they are invulnerable to reason, and to criticism of any sort…

This attitude, of entitlement, becomes the societal norm after a while, until our culture resembles nothing so much as a jungle, where everyone believes in the theory of ‘dog eat dog’, with the eventual result we see now, where no one is able to trust anyone else…. All because lying, cheating, and stealing have become the norm, the primary way everyone turns to in order to get what they want…. and, nobody cares, because that kind of behavior is mirrored at all levels of society, right up to the very top….. This all-too human trait has been recognized for a long time, but, has resisted all attempts to root it out of human interaction; hence, we see war, after war, after war, since the beginning of historical memory….

Below, you will find the evidence I found, straight from the horse’s mouth, that shows exactly how we humans REALLY view life…. Real life, that is, not the ideal life everyone talks about…. These nine statements/aphorisms/quotes tell it like it is…. and how humans, especially our Beloved Ruling Class, looks at reality…. Please note, this is all RECORDED evidence, with attribution, so, it’s not like I made any of this part up on my own…. It’s all down in black and white, on paper, somewhere…. so, this is all stuff people really do, and believe….. or, want us all to believe….

“Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless.” — B.F. Skinner

“Necessity has no law.” — Francis Rabelais (1495-1553) — Works, Book v, Chap. xv

“The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.” — Exodus 15:3

“The only very marked difference between the average civilized man and the average savage is that the one is gilded and the other is painted.” — Mark Twain

“A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.” — Saul Bellow

“Democracy is the name we give the people whenever we need them.” — Arman de Caillavet

“Even though Federal health officials are promoting less tobacco use, the tobacco industry should continue to expand in foreign markets.” — Vice President Dan Quayle

“People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.” — Otto von Bismarck

“If you can’t drink a lobbyist’s whiskey, take his money, sleep with his women and still vote against him in the morning, you don’t belong in politics.” — Speaker of the California Assembly Jesse Unruh

In a manner of speaking, I rest my case; they are hoist on their own petard, condemned by their own words…. I’ll leave you with one final thought on the matter, to wit:

“A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.” — P.J. O’Rourke

So be it…..

gigoid has spoken.

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

I’m in the mood for Yeats….

When You Are Old

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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

Today’s old school pearl is relatively fresh; it does, however, seem to lack a certain degree of intensity…. Oh, it’s all true, and good stuff, but, there just isn’t a lot of OOMPH to it…. Oh well, I guess they can ALL be compelling…. It’s a good pearl, anyway, so, just allow it to lead your mind to where it’s headed, and you’ll be fine…. maybe a small bit wiser, too…. maybe…

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

“If there be any truer measure of a man than by what he does, it must be by what he gives.” — Robert South

“Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body.” — Cicero

“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.), [quoting Plato]

“Of all the strange “crimes” that human beings have legislated out of nothing, “blasphemy” is the most amazing–with “obscenity” and “indecent exposure” fighting it out for second and third place.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“Kindness gives birth to kindness.” — Sophocles

“Gentleman: A man who knows how to play bagpipes — and refrains.” — Fred Tart

A bit general, but, tidy enough…. I’ll take it….

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

I have done my duty, and that’s all I can say…. Since, however, duty remains my core belief, that’s good enough…. Today is a day with a lot of possibilities…. as Gilda Radner once said of life, “delicious ambiguity!”….. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

Bust it up, boys! It’s all gotta go!….

Posted on September 13, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hopes for the human condition is a fool.”

— Albert Camus

It’s really too bad I’m so late today; getting the little bit of extra sleep always does me good, but, then, upon arising, I must deal with the White Rabbit syndrome, which always afflicts me on these mornings…. My sense of duty is so strong, even letting myself get some extra Z’s will cause my inner critic to sound off, trying to flip me over into guilt, just because I had a tough day yesterday, and paid the price in sleep….. Oh well, nothing much I can do about either end of that, so, we’ll just pretend it isn’t happening at all, and go on to bigger & better things….. provided, of course, we can find anything like that around here….

It is now the usual time I post, and I’m just getting started; haven’t even been in to complete the day’s routines that come prior to starting. I hate to break routine like this, but, my skeleton insisted, so, what is done is done…. However, since I am late, I’ll try to keep this intro out of the usual ranting mode I fall into…. It shouldn’t be too hard, my mind is relatively blank this morning, anyway…. In fact, it’s so empty, maybe I’ll just forgo any sort of intro at all, and…. no, wait, too late, we’re already this far in…. Everything else would fall over in a heap, if I leave this right now…. gotta remember those weight-bearing walls stuff; the intro does more than just decorate the top of the page, y’know….

I realized, while completing some of this routine, I feel as if my life is on a cusp, that the decisions and directions I choose now will lead to a new, and important time in my life, and have been feeling so for some time now…. I’m not sure exactly what the feeling means, in terms of how to react, but, I know that caution is called for; I’m old enough to be a little leery of how snap decisions can affect us later in our lives…. But, I’ve always been one who tries to live like a tiger, who explores the world without fear, rather than a turtle, who remains whole, and alive, by pulling in their head, and ignoring the world, when danger threatens….

That said, I’m looking forward to the future, which, given my age, my understanding of reality, and my absolute agreement with what Camus said in today’s opening lines, is somewhat of a surprise…. There isn’t a lot of good news out there regarding our future; I suppose that goes to show, with us humans, our own little slice of reality is what concerns us the most, and, in the final analysis, the world’s events are less important to us, than those that affect us directly…..

That, my friends, is human nature, which, though we cannot change it to any real extent, we can learn to live with it, and adjust the way we allow that to control our decisions…. Right action doesn’t always, in fact, seldom, run parallel to what is true in reality; often, we must act in ways that go against the grain, if only to maintain our own dignity, and self-respect…

All of that being said, to little purpose beyond organizing my own thoughts, I see we’ve again come far enough to call this an intro, and get on with the rest of the daily mess…. I’m going to show some unusual flexibility in this regard, and go along with that assessment, thus freeing us to get on with it, such as we may…. Since we are in the exact position needed for this extraction, I’ll just throw this switch right here, and we’ll be gone, onward….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Wherever I go, there I am, Pooh mused.” — Found in Smart Bee, unattributed; possibly from “The Tao of Pooh”, in which we see Pooh as a metaphorical manifestation of the concept of the Uncarved Block, an elemental source of truth through simplicity.

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

“If you’re a circus clown, and you have a dog that you use in your act, I don’t think it’s a good idea to also dress the dog up like a clown, because people
see that and they think, “Forgive me, but that’s just too much.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/michael-stipe-talks-freedom-towers-dark-nationalism-on-9-11-anniversary-20140911?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=091214_1601&utm_medium=email&email=alphagigoid@gmail.com

“The Freedom Tower was meant to inspire patriotism and instead embodies the darker sides of nationalism,” Stipe wrote. “The 9/11 attacks and the Bush administration’s response, buoyed by the media, and our shock at having finally been direct victims of terrorism, paved the way for a whole new take on ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ There was no longer any need to explain or publicly debate militaristic power, or the police state mindset. To do so was to be the opposite of a patriot.” — Michael Stipe, REM frontman, and NYC resident, who, on 9/11, lived just a few blocks from Ground Zero….

My first impression, upon reading the first few paragraphs of this article in Rolling Stone, was one of dejá vu, for every single thing Mr. Stipe is quoted as saying were thoughts that went through my head, at the time of which he is speaking, ie. the after-effects, and after-events of that day’s infamy….. He, too, as I do, holds the media at fault for egregiously fanning the flames of ignorance and fear, labeling all those who attempted to formulate a reasoned response to any, or all of it as being unpatriotic, even, treasonous….

The whole “French” thing that happened soon after the attacks, when France showed a moment of rationality before committing to war, is a perfect example of how both the media and the government were complicit in making things worse than they already were, deliberately using this to modify pubic opinion, harping on the public’s fear and anger, thus manipulating them into adopting the attitudes they needed, in order to accomplish their goals…. which is, as is patently obvious, the tens of BILLIONS of dollars that have, since that time, poured into the coffers of the arms dealers, all over the world…..

If anyone out there believes that isn’t true, well, ffolkes, come on down & say so; make sure you bring some evidence ffolkes can see, and feel, and touch…. In short, REAL evidence, not opinions… These are opinions, backed by such evidence, which can be found in any news distribution site…. I predict nobody will do so, because, as they know, there is no evidence to support their position….

In the 13 years since that day, the only people in the world who have benefited, in any way, from any of the subsequent events in the world, have been those who make munitions, arms, and the other equipment/tools necessary to the waging of a modern war…. Everybody else is in worse shape, and we are ALL that much closer to the END GAME, coming in a much nearer future than anyone will admit, the day when Mama Gaia comes to collect the bill for our foolishness, having previously ignored all her warnings of our impending EVICTION from Earth….

Every act taken by this government, along with every other government around the world, along with the media, and any other of those who ostensibly are the leaders, the movers and shakers of society, since 9/11/01, has moved the date of our eviction closer, until now, it is so close, people are having to actively adopt positions of complete denial, in order to maintain their focus on the living their lives, so they too, can be one of the rich elite, who, in spite of what they believe, are also going to die, right along with the rest of us….

Okay, now that I’ve depressed myself, and anyone who read that…. let’s have a few pearls, to try to shake off the blues…. or, to at least, learn how to sing them with feeling…. Okay, I know what should do the trick…. All it will take is to set a specific parameter, and we’ll see some gems, that may even be pretty enough to take our minds off the coming horrors, as people begin to realize just what we’ve done to ourselves…. The “mash up” as I believe the Brits call it, that is coming to ALL of us here on Earth, is going to be ugly, and harsh, and no fun, at all…. Sorry, ffolkes, but, the evidence is all there, and, it doesn’t lie…

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” — Mark Twain

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for good people to remain silent.” — Thomas Jefferson

“No public man can be just a little crooked.” — Herbert Hoover

“I judge people by what is in their hearts–not by the color of their scales.” — overheard in a bar on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

“In our country are evangelists and zealots of many different political, economic and religious persuasions whose fanatical conviction is that all thought is divinely classified into two kinds – that which is their own and that which is false and dangerous.” — Justice Robert H. Jackson

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man except one thing: the last of the human freedoms— to choose one`s own attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” — Victor Frankl

“It was a JOKE!! Get it?? I was receiving messages from DAVID LETTERMAN!! YOW!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Note: the second quote in the above pearl, from Tom Jefferson, is one I’ve used before; this time it was found as part of an excellent blog post by another blogger, whom I consider a friend, also a published author, thanks to the help of HER (and my) friend, and blogger extraordinaire, Red Dwyer, whom you can find at her own site, below…. Thanks, Lizzie, for the reminder…

You can find that post, a good one, by Lizzie C, here: http://runningnakedwithscissors.com/2014/09/12/slo-patriotism-respect/#comment-11461

Red’s site, where you’ll always find a good post, can be found here: http://mommasmoneymatters.com/heart-vs-mind-4/comment-page-1/#comment-32626

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

In keeping with my new policy to seek brevity for these Pearls, and pearls, here is a short, very powerful poem, from a gritty realist from the 20th century, who, as a street poet, is, in my mind, one of the most powerful of social critics we have….

Cause And Effect

the best often die by their own hand
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

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

While sitting at the computer yesterday, (or. it may have been that Tuesday, back in ’98…. Ah well, no matter….), I brought up Smart Bee, to look for a quote to go with the picture for the day…. SB was in a mood, for sure; if I didn’t know better, I would have thought he’d been watching the public channel of the legislature again, and saw something that upset its sensibilities somehow…. but, the TV is not working, so, it had to be something else….

Regardless of the cause, in a very short burst, the following pearls came sliding out, requiring only organization into the most effective order, which is my job…. That’s done now, so, here they are, for your delectation…. Oh, yeah, I think the target, one of the usual suspects, as well as the parameters used to pick the oysters, will be obvious before too long…. Especially since it’s the same target we aimed for in section one, above….

“Lust of power is the most flagrant of all the passions.” — Tacitus (55?-120?)

An Elementary-School student’s comment on politics: Some of our presidents never did much else and are famous only because they became president. — Smart Bee

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H.L. Mencken, “Little Book in C major”, 1916

BATTLE, n. A method of untying with the teeth of a political knot that would not yield to the tongue. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“America may be unique in being a country which has leapt from barbarism to decadence without touching civilization.” — John O’Hara

“Old men are dangerous; it does not matter to them what is going to happen to the world.” — George Bernard Shaw

On that final note, allow me to remind you the average age of a Senator in the US is…. well, it’s OLD; at least 70, if not higher, I’d wager…. Not only are those in charge of this nation dangerous men, as noted by Shaw, but, as millionaires (every one of them but, I think, two….), they are completely disconnected from the people whose interests they ostensibly serve….

In plain and simple truth, they are old, rich, white men, for the most part, whose only investment is in service to their OWN interests, first, and foremost…. Seriously, ffolkes, anyone who believes differently is clinically delusional, and would do well to think seriously about taking medication to help with that…. They have some now that work fairly well….

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

‘Tis fortunate, indeed, most of this was completed prior to getting up today; otherwise I’d have still been here at lunch time…. It’s done, though, and that’s the key point, so, I’m outta here, on a mission to get this posted…. See y’all tomorrow ffolkes, and keep your ears open for possible changes around here, if only in my personal location…. I’m getting itchy feet….

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

No, no, not the taffeta!….

Posted on September 1, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go;

it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow”

— Alice M. Swaim

Today’s picture, which goes well with the opening pearl, is one of my own. The flower is one I found while out walking, picking this one to put on my hat for the day, as is my habit whenever I go out. When I got home, the gorgeous thing was still fresh and beautiful, so I laid it on the black surface of the couch, and took some shots of it, in addition to a couple others, including one of how it looked on the hat….. I am very pleased with this shot; the colors are both vivid and delicate at once, and the background black makes it almost glow… Not bad for an old curmudgeon, eh?

Now that my shoulder is back in the socket, after getting thrown out by patting myself so hard on the back, I think I can continue to type… not that it seems to make any difference in anything. It’s a good thing I don’t do this for money, or for self-promotion; I’d be starving, big time. I’m pretty sure the sobriety and deeply controversial nature of most of my ranting, along with the length of what I write, has been striking many of my usual readers with its repetitive qualities, such that not many are stopping in very often of late to read…. Oh, I’m getting readers, and have had some great dialogue in the comment section; just not a lot of traffic overall….

S’okay by me… I write to stay sane. I also figured out something the other day, as I sat one early evening, thinking about, well, stuff…. I do that a lot…. just sit, and think. Always have; it seems to provide me with the time alone in my head that I need to feel as if I’m keeping up with things in there; you know, sweeping out old bullshit, programming new stuff, planning for future events, examining new ideas and stuff learned for validity, truth, and/or flaws in reasoning, stuff like that…. If it were a computer (my head) you could call it file maintenance, or defragmentation, or maybe running a registry cleaning software program…

Any who, while sitting and thinking, I realized that the routine I’ve developed over the last three years has been my mind’s adaptation to retirement, which it accomplished in order to keep me young…. All my life, I had routines that I built to deal with the demands of life, all of which involved getting up early in the morning, to get a jump on the necessary thinking, organizing, and just plain waking up that can make the difference between a good day, and a bad one, no matter what kind of work I, or anyone, is involved in; good planning makes for good outcomes…. Now that I have no real reason to get up in the morning, my mind decided to give me one, and made it necessary for me to write….. otherwise, I would certainly have gone mad…. stark raving mad, rather than my current level of mild anxiety mixed with unpredictable, intermittent emotional fragility, easily handled…

So, my job now is to write each day, in order to keep the demons from staying too long, joining up with their mates, and giving me REAL problems to deal with… If in the process, I can write something that makes someone smile, or think, or burn with outrage, or fall on the floor laughing, then I’ll be content…. Money isn’t necessary to make me feel satisfaction; I get mine from a well-turned phrase, or an apt insult to someone who deserves more than I can hit them with…. it’s enough for me….

Why look! I’ve meandered and blathered again, mostly about stuff that means little to nothing, and have again arrived at a suitable jumping-off point just at the right moment, when I’d finished my egotistic drivel…. This means we don’t even need to use one of the emergency methods, though, we did go a bit long again…. S’fine…. it’ll all come out in the wash, right?

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be!” — Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

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

Since the intro went so long, even without ranting, I’ll go old-school in this section, to try to keep from scaring anyone away this early…. Here is a pearl with parameters set to poke at our Beloved ruling class, and the public morality that allows them to keep on keepin’ on with their unruly shenanigans…. Hopefully, today, we’ll see some blood….

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

“A man that expects to train lobsters to fly in a year is called a lunatic and is locked up. But a man that thinks people can be turned into angels by legislation is called a reformer and allowed to walk free.” — Mr. Dooly

“A pig ate his fill of acorns under an oak tree and then started to root around the tree. A crow remarked, `You should not do this. If you lay bare the roots, the tree will wither and die.’ `Let it die,’ said the pig. `Who cares so long as there are acorns?'” — Smart Bee

“Nothing links man to man like the frequent passage from hand to hand of cash.” — Walter Sickert (1860-1942)

“And the Clinton administration launched an attack on people in Texas because those people were religious nuts with guns. Hell, this country was FOUNDED by religious nuts with guns!” — P. J. O’Rourke

“Sure we’ll have Fascism, but it will come disguised as Americanism.” — Huey P. Long

“Instead of giving money to found colleges to promote learning, why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as good as the Prohibition one did, why, in five years we would have the smartest race of people on earth.” — Will Rogers

Not too shabby at all; there’s some sharp sticks in there, ffolkes…. hope they caught one of the bastards right in the eye….. I love starting the day with some good red, American politician blood flowing…. It keeps all of us on our toes to see that shocking red color, and to know it’s our own fault if we let it continue this way…. Besides, they breed like flies, and there’s always another one ready to step into the old one’s shoes, bloody or not…. Sometimes, I swear, shooting politicians is like trying to stem the tide…..

Oops…. sorry, all you folks over there at the NSA…. I used the words “shoot” and “politician” in the same sentence; it’s a figure of speech. We’re only shooting insults, not bullets…. Bloody idiots…..

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

Here is another new poem, just bled out yesterday, that speaks for itself….

Retrospective, defined in folly….

Yesterday
I wrote a poem.

It bled out of my head,
like I’d been struck with
an axe,
right through the artery,
in the neck,
spraying blood around
everywhere,
like a pulsing garden hose….

It hurt, at first,
then came the feeling,

of quick relief,
of timeless beauty,

of pain avenged,
of lust aroused,

of outrage aflame,
of deep compassion,

of endless empathy,
of truest love….

Now it’s gone, cast away
like pearls before twine.

(Grin…)

You thought
I was going to call you
a pig,
didn’t you?

Hah!

Well, you’re not.
You’re a person.

I know, because
you’re reading this poem…
if that’s what it is.
I think it is,
so,
maybe it is.

Or, maybe,
it will be,
someday, when it
grows up,
and learns to rhyme.
Whew…
Just in time…..

That’s all.
Reality often sucks wind,
y’know?

S’okay, though….
It keeps us busy,
and out of some of the
mischief,
so much part
of our
nature.

We all can do
only what we
do.

Or, don’t.

Two sides, one coin.

~~ gigoid ~~

Hmm…. well, that was…. is…. something different, for sure, and for certain….

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

“I was brought up in the other service; but I knew from the first that the Devil was my natural master and captain and friend. I saw that he was in the right, and that the world cringed to his conqueror only from fear.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), “The Devil’s Disciple”

It is possible, if one reads with intelligent absorption, and open perception, to hear the echoes of sardonicism in Shaw’s words; for my own part, I can almost SEE his tongue, firmly lodged in cheek, while he wrote this, struggling with all his might not to burst out into maniacal laughter….. This may have been the single most satisfying phrase anyone has ever had the fortune to write; it pokes the entire Western culture, with its overbearing elitism, its incredible arrogance, its pompous, stuffy demeanor, and its sheer insane insistence on basing an entire society based on a set of delusions fostered upon them by insane fanatics with no other morality than the dictates of their own perverted fears of the unknown, right in the proverbial eye….

It’s wonderfully antagonistic, too… I like that. Shaw had a lot of fun with this one, for, by it’s nature, his contention sets itself up in direct opposition to every point of morality favored by those in Christian society; since his own philosophical structure is NOT based on delusions, it is simple for him to see, and point to all the nonsense in the dogma that is supposed to act as the guide for his behavior…. which only enrages them, as they have no hold on him, or any way to shut him up, without showing themselves as the lying, or at least, misguided fools they are….

Now, I could discuss (rant about) this for a long time, and would enjoy every moment. It’s great fun to think up ways to annoy those hidebound dinosaurs; it IS a bit dishonorable, as it is not very nice to engage in battles of wit with unarmed opponents, but, then, I’ve never been very nice… not about this. But, in hopes of luring perhaps a few of my readers back, I’ll use this opportunity to reproduce an old-old-old school pearl, first posted here on 10/31/2011, when the entire Pearl of Virtual Wisdom was an old-school format…. So, what you will now see is the whole Pearl from that date….. Enjoy, it’s a good one…..

Ffolkes,

Due to circumstances that are completely within my control, I have lot to do today, so I will be using the old format for this morning’s offering, with just a short intro, and then some mighty fine virtual food for thought. Between fighting off depression, scratching for change, and juggling creditors, I have neglected my homework, which only hurts me, so there ya go. I sleep a lot, probably because when I’m asleep, I feel more in control of my life.

Pitiful, isn’t it? Ah well, life is Change, and this situation too shall pass in time. I’ve procrastinated almost as far as I can with the homework, though I’m sure I’ll come up with at least one or two ways to put it off before I actually get to it. I’m creative in that respect, if in no other…….any who, here are today’s Pearls, all of which can be found in Category “Finest Kind Stuff”………

“To be “matter of fact” about the world is to blunder into fantasy…. and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“All the knowledge in the world is not wisdom”. — Albert Einstein

“Invisible Pink Unicorns are beings of great spiritual power. We know this because they are capable of being invisible and pink at the same time. Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can’t see them.” — Steve Ely

(Sound familiar? Has a certain Tea Party ring to it, no?…..)

You ‘d scarce expect one of my age
To speak in public on the stage;
And if I chance to fall below
Demosthenes or Cicero,
Don’t view me with a critic’s eye,
But pass my imperfections by.
Large streams from little fountains flow,
Tall oaks from little acorns grow.

~~ David Everett ~~
(1769-1813)
— Lines written for a School Declamation —

The wages of sin are high but you get your money’s worth. — Smart Bee

“Please come home with me… I have Tylenol!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, there you go, Ollie, another fine mess…..and in Technicolor too! Y’all take care out there…..

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

With this Pearl, I declare this blog officially back to relative normalcy; up at the usual time, finished at an appropriate hour, and posted before 7 AM…. I’ll take it. In fact, I’ll take it as it is, and be done with it for today…. I’ll see you mañana, amigos…..

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.

From this perspective, it’s clear the vicar was nude….

Posted on July 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
This picture was taken somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean, during a trip around the British Isles…. It may just be my favorite picture, of all I took on that trip…. The color, the composition, it just speaks to me, in a lot of ways, bringing with it memories of that time, along with appreciation, for the picture’s potentiality for cogitative stimulation…. The first thought that always occurs to me is how it is impossible to tell, just from the picture, whether this was taken at sunrise, or sunset; it could easily be either one….. Not bad, for an old fart with his first camera, eh?….

Today’s Pearl will be odd, as if, A) you hadn’t heard THAT before, and, B) just as if it could be anything else, when one considers the source, to wit: me, in all my strange glory…. What do you mean, that isn’t glory, it’s dirt? I’m not going to even bother to think about THAT statement; no way that could be true…. I mean, if that were true, what was all that….. well, never mind. I think, upon reflection, we should just skip right on by this little episode, and chalk it up to the early hour, even if it’s a late early hour, for me…. It’s getting harder to drag myself up each day, but, that, too, is nothing new, is it?….

Age, pain, bozoid tendencies…. I’ll tell ya, ffolkes, it makes for an “interesting” life, one you would think would offer plenty of material for a writer….. and maybe it does, for a writer whose mind is normal… My own idiosyncracies tend to color my perceptions, as they do for all of us…. mine just have a greater effect on me than most ffolkes suffer; maybe it has to do with all the spikes, thorns, and broken glass covering the material my head produces. It does get a bit iffy trying to handle it without injury, especially given my known habit of beating myself over the head with certain types of information, so it is more easily assimilated…..

I’m wandering again, aren’t I? This is what happens when I sleep late; I wake up foggy, (normal for me…), but, start writing anyway, as I’ve found the process of creating these introductory sections eventually wakes me up enough to get through to the end of a Pearl…. Well, so far, anyway….. Apparently, once I’m relatively awake, I can do this in my sleep…. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether it helps, or hinders to write while somnolent; I DO keep getting them done, so, I suppose that’s something….

Well, now, there’s a pretty mess, eh? It seems I turned the picture, which is somewhat undefined by itself, into yet another reason to ramble and blather my way through the first section, all without ever coming to any conclusions, but, without haring off into uncharted regions of my mind, or anyone else’s, for that matter…. What did I just say? Let me go back a second, & analyze that last sentence…. Okay, yep, it’s as I thought…. I’m reaching the point of incoherency, so we have to stop now, or someone will get hurt…. and it’s most common for me to be that someone…. So, instead….

Shall we Pearl?….

“If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you’re a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Okay, well…. that explains THAT….. Onward, ffolkes….

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

I may have mentioned I’m up pretty late, (or not…. I am now, though, right?…. Mentioning it, that is…. I’m up late… there, now you know….), which precludes a FRESH rant, especially given the news of late, which has way too many subjects that would be suitable…. In today’s state of mind, picking one could be as hazardous as writing one…. So, here is a reasonably priced discussion of some esoteric minutiae for your reading pleasure…. Oh, and keep your neurons fired up and ready with this one, ffolkes, it’s a bit deeper than usual, even if it doesn’t touch on anything particularly volatile…..

From 10/21/2012:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

— Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) — Just So Stories (1902) “The Elephant’s Child”

I first read the phrase “feeding the Elephant’s Child” in a Robert Heinlein novel, many years ago, and enjoyed it as a metaphor for reading/learning, before I knew from whence it originally came. Once I did know (a moment of illumination whose exact placement in time is hazy….), I liked it even more, from an aesthetic standpoint. The above little ditty is brilliant doggerel, astute observation, and deep insight, all presented in a simple, straightforward style, with a powerful, basic lesson for any would-be philosopher, or any one who wishes to encompass reason as their modus operandi, so to speak. Besides which, I find that another piece of Bob’s advice fits well with this one, to wit: “Life tastes better in big bites….”

“Never wear anything that panics the cat.” — P. J. O’Rourke

I like this, a lot. It summarizes perhaps one of the most elemental rules of getting along in the Universe, in essence saying, “You can learn a lot by watching what happens around you…” It is the perfect companion to the concept of learning as presented above, as it contrives to speak to both sides of Reality, i.e., how you approach reality (the clothing you choose to show to the cat….) and how reality will change to react to your approach (the cat’s opinion of your clothing….) It also gives one a subtle warning about how the wrong clothing can produce unwanted consequences, and we all know how an offended cat is likely to respond…. as Mark Twain once remarked…. “A man who carries a cat by the tail is learning valuable things. He will never again be dim or doubtful. Chances are he’ll not carry the cat that way again, but, I say, if he wants to, let him!” You can’t say fairer than that….

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” — Buddha

One can always trust the Buddha to state the most profound thoughts in the simplest way…. I often wonder how he came to such a complete understanding of Murphy, whose presence is acknowledged in all of what the Buddha stated, but whose ministrations seem to have passed by the Buddha’s existence…. either that, or Murphy shows him a lot more respect than he does anyone else alive. At times, it seems that what the Buddha states, such as in this statement, is, in at least one respect, an answer to a question that is raised when Murphy intervenes in our lives…. in simpler words, he explains why Murphy is able to affect us as he does, by cutting through the bullshite we perceive to the truth of what is real….. SIGH…. one of these days, enlightenment will slap me upside the head, and I’ll be able to see Murphy coming…. I hope…

There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

Often I feel as if not only is life a joke, but it is our duty and purpose on this plane of existence to codify that joke, to put it down on paper, or on screen/disc, to free ourselves from the prison of sobriety, achieving an understanding that everything in this silly universe is here for our amusement, and we have been taking it, and ourselves, seriously for entirely too long….. So seriously, we have begun to offend those parts of the universe that just want us to relax and enjoy ourselves, and the time is growing nearer when we will have to admit that the joke is on us, for not being able to change our inner selves enough to be able to handle the humor of our situation…. See, the universe thinks death is funny…. not because it is cruel, but because death is just another part of life, and it doesn’t care about one more than the other…. See, now, isn’t it funny how you never noticed that?…..

I once read a science fiction novel, whose title and author escape me completely; in all it was very poorly written, with prose that did not live up to the good ideas contained in the plot line. However, it was a great plot line, in all….Specifically, there was one chapter I liked, which had a super-genius taking on the task of finding the solution to a mathematical treatise, an equation so complex and advanced that no civilization in the galaxy had ever been able to completely solve it.

The genius/hero of the book shut himself up in his room for three weeks, working on the problem. At the end, he was thinking so hard he entered a trance-like state, computing while nearly dead…. after a week of this, he suddenly opened his eyes, gave a look of astonishment, and burst into uncontrollable laughter for approximately 25 minutes. When he could finally control himself, he simply said, “It’s a joke….” and would never discuss it again….

In a pearl such as this one has grown to be, there comes a time when I have to decide whether to continue on, to try to reach the conclusion that was nebulously hovering somewhere in my mind as I began, or to admit that I have once again wandered into uncharted territory, and might find it a bit tricky to find my way back to clarity. This is that time…. and I’m leaving it up to Smart Bee, as always…. If I don’t find a proper pearl to carry on the tenuous chain of thought I’ve created, then we’ll take the first one that will appropriately wrap it up as a lost cause….. all within a specified number of attempts…. so, here we go… You’ll know in a moment what will happen….

“In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap xi

There, see?…. That didn’t take long at all…. and I managed to find the perfect pearl to cover both bases…. In this case, we will use it as an ending quote, since it sort of summarizes a lot of the discussion, after a fashion. It could conceivably also be used as a springboard for further discussion, but this has gone on long enough, and I wouldn’t want to lose anybody due to an injudicious application of excess verbiage, culminating in tedium…. Of course, we may have reached that point some time ago, but, hey, who’s counting?…. Any who, I hope you enjoyed this little foray into not very much….

🙂

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

Being late means not having the time to go search for anything from other authors to fill up the empty spaces between lines; this can be a good thing, or not, depending on a lot of factors, which we won’t go into now…. Suffice it to say, it’s usually easier to find one of my own to go with whatever is taking place, and today is no exception to that observation/rule…. I wrote this in October of 2012, during the period of time after my retirement when I was in my deepest depression, and living under the most trying circumstances I’d experienced in many years…. I guess it goes to prove that poetry comes out of human experience in a more compelling fashion when that experience is a test of their endurance, or stamina, or however one describes the effort of standing up to the crap life sends our way, every day…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is one of my best….

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.

Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.

The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.

Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.

Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Even though I’ve managed to get caught up to schedule fairly well, by dipping into the archives instead of going fresh, I’m still feeling rushed from being behind all morning…. An old-school pearl should fix that, and takes no time at all…. as long as Smart Bee is cooperating today…. Let’s go see what it’s got for us, shall we?…. No parameters, we’re going with pure impulse for this one…. Good luck! Buena suerte! We might need it….

“Actually officer, if you factor in the earth’s rotation, we were all speeding.” — Smart Bee

“And don’t tell me God works in mysterious ways, Yossarian continued There’s nothing mysterious about it, He’s not working at all. He’s playing. Or else He’s forgotten all about us. That’s the kind of God you people talk about, a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling, brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed. Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of Creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatalogical mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements? Why in the world did He ever create pain?” — Joseph Heller, Catch22

“The universe is as it is because if it were any different, we wouldn’t be here to observe it.” — Stephen Hawking

“I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.” — Pogo, character in “Pogo,” comic strip by Walt Kelly

“I am not a wimp.” — George Bush

(Sorry, George, but, yes, you are a wimp, and I have to say, I don’t mind telling you….. If you have to say it, it’s proven…. Q.E.D.)

“… as sight is in the body, so is reason in the soul…” — Aristotle — Nicomachean Ethics, Bl. I, Ch. 6, 10966, lines 29-30

“Facts are not truths; they are not conclusions; they are not even premises. The truth depends on, and is only arrived at by a legitimate deduction from all the facts which are truly material.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Well, there you go…. That went well, and quickly, just as planned…. Damn it! Now I have to keep a watch out for Murphy; things have been going WAY too well thus far….. Watch my back, would you?…. I’ll go try to finish up….

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

Well, ffolkes, as I stated in the intro, it turned out quite interesting…. Better behaved, all in all, than I’d expected, so, since I’ve already thus been rewarded by the Universe for my perseverance, I’ll take my leave without further ado, or fuss…. See y’all tomorrow….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

These weren’t buffed OR polished!…..

Posted on June 20, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

It was a beautiful morning…. The bright, friendly sun was shining brightly out of a deep blue sky, dotted here and there with a few puffy cotton ball clouds. From where I lay in the hills above the town’s main thoroughfare, I could see the entire valley where it lay spread out before me, looking just like one of those advertisements in a travel magazine, offering 3 nights & 2 days in a beautiful country setting…. To look, one might think nothing could disturb the bucolic serenity that lay over the whole scene, covering all that lay before one’s eyes, like a haze of smoke from distant fires….

Little did the peaceful residents know of the horror that would soon be unleashed; the dark shadow of fate fell upon them without notice, or heraldry, allowing this little time of peace before all hell broke loose…. With a small sigh of regret for the peace about to be shattered, I reached down, gave the all-clear signal, and began preparations to move…. In a few short hours, the scene below would change drastically, and the beauty and grace that once lived here would be gone forever, blasted into the depths of memory by the march of time…. and a few well-placed artillery shells….. It was a shame, really, but, nobody can stop time…

Okay, enough…. I’m tired of that one already, which is unsurprising, to say the least…. I have to admit, it ISN’T one of my best….. It’s funny how my mind turns almost automatically to this sort of fictional opening…. A lot of them that I’ve done all seem to focus on the same sort of scenario, which is the beginning of some sort of military action, or spy mission, or assassination, or some other sort of situation in which guns, bombs, or other war-like implements play a major role, or act as a silent, unseen threat…. I suppose that is just an unconscious expression of human nature, falling into the habit of violence, and/or war…. Our species has a long history of involvement with such issues, he said with an ironic smirk….

Once again, though, the creation of such common tales from human experience, even though completely fabricated, has brought us this far down the page, where we (I) have a better chance of moving this along toward the day’s offering, such as it is…. I can only say this; it seems to work for me, and, although I really don’t feel like I have this process under control, it does get me somewhere close to where I need to be to get this done…. The usual obstructions are have been set aside, for the moment at least, and I’m thinking we might just as well take what we’ve got, and make a break for the border…. Hey, it can’t possibly get any more absurd, can it? No, I didn’t think so….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind
down the foggy ruins of time
far past the frozen leaves
the haunted frightened trees
out to the windy beach
far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Ah, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
silhouetted by the sea
circled by the circus sands
with all memory and fate
driven deep beneath the waves
let me forget about today until tomorrow.

— Bob Dylan —

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

I’m afraid today is going to be one of those days around here…. A lot of reasons come to mind, none of which make for a good story, so, y’all will just have to suffer, and wonder…. However, to ease the pain, here is a rant, from early in 2013…. It’s been used before, and may be familiar to some of my more regular readers, at least, those who have been coming by for a while…. It’s also one of my best, all in all, which is why I use it so much…. Enjoy, please, and more importantly, pay attention, & pass the word, right after you pass the salt, please…. These hard-boiled eggs are just too bland without it….

Originally posted in January, 2013:

“Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.” — Oscar Wilde

One may always trust Oscar Wilde to be both elegantly witty and intelligently insightful, though, to be sure, many of his most closely held views were somewhat divergent with what was commonly held to be true, philosophically. This divergence was, I believe, mostly deliberate on his part, as he tended to mock that which he did not respect, and he never had much respect for…. well, anything to do with human nature vs. reason and rationality. He mistrusted most people to act morally, and was unafraid of saying so; this, of course, made him both famous, and infamous….. His infamy, I’m sure, ultimately was his undoing, much to society’s loss; as is said so often about our brightest minds, “only the good die young….”

I often wonder, (well, maybe not so often, as much as I’m wondering now…) what the world today would be like, if somehow, some of those bright stars in history had lived to an age where their accomplishments, in relation to the advancement of human thought, and the betterment of the human condition, had a broader, and more lasting effect than their absence has left us. What if Keats had written poetry until he was 85? How many more inventions would have come to us from Nicolas Tesla, had he lived long enough for the rest of the scientific world to catch up to him, instead of hounding him to an early grave? How much more good music, and art, and literature would be available to all of us, if not for this tendency for the best of us to live as a burning meteor, flaming brightly through the sky, until burned out and lifeless?

It is a sad commentary for society to know that it is often the very brilliance of these people that brings about their downfall, at the hands of the ignorant, and the avaricious…. What is even sadder, to me, is that this demonstrates another part of human nature that is responsible for almost every issue in human history, and current society, that causes people to suffer pain, oppression, perpetual struggle, and will most certainly ultimately lead to the extinction of our species, on this planet, at minimum, if not completely…..

That piece of our nature is the unfortunate characteristic, in a number of humans, to be able to put aside all conscience, and act solely in their own self interest. All of us, of course, possess this to some degree; it is an outgrowth of having a will to survive. To these few others, it is their primary modus operandi; they simply do not take other people, or their concerns, into account when deciding what they are going to do, and are not hampered by the consideration of any suffering they may cause other people, animals, or things.

As is patently obvious, to my mind, every elected official, every high level preacher, every corporate magnate, and a great many lawyers, are all of this ilk, and have, for nearly 230 years now, been quietly and efficiently plundering the pockets and rights of the American people (and those of every other country in the world, for that matter…. it is a HUMAN condition, not just American…. Ours are just some of the most obvious about it….), while simultaneously lying, cheating, and otherwise acting to secure their stranglehold on society.

Anyone who disagrees with this assessment, quite simply, isn’t paying enough attention to the world around them….. Sorry to be so blunt, but the facts are all laid out, right there, almost every day in the news media, if one knows how to look at the larger picture it presents, rather than the individual facets of that picture. Focusing on the little shit is just what those in power wish for people to do…. it keeps them busy not noticing other, more incriminating stuff they are carrying out, in the darkness where they mostly live….

“… change depends on individual acts of courage and commitment. Most such acts are private, invisible, and uncelebrated. But some find a place in the public spotlight; and their influence goes far beyond mere example.” — Arthur C. Clarke & Michael Kube-McDowell, The Trigger, 1999

Each and every one of us, in the face of what we know about reality, is responsible in some way, and to some degree, for both the way things are, and the way they will be in the future. If you don’t believe that, well, discussion is, for you, probably useless, and little hope remains. For anyone with moderate insight, however, this is plain, clear truth, and we all need to accept it before any significant progress can be expected against those who are sociopathic, which I define, and hereby name, as homo suicidus, those who would kill us all…. But, it is imperative that we act soon, for the damage we have done, and continue to do to our world, is at a point where the effects are nearly irreversible, and even if we manage to wrest control from the beloved ruling class,it may be too late to save our lives….

“In regard to disagreeable and formidable things, prudence does not consist in evasion, or in flight, but in courage. He who wishes to walk in the most peaceful parts of life with any serenity must screw himself up to resolution. Let him front the object of his worst apprehension, and his stoutness will commonly make his fear groundless.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, _Essays_, Prudence

It is my hope, small and pale though it be, that we WILL speak up, that the rational among us will rise up, and take back the control of our destiny from the hands of those who would see us all die, rather than give up their own control. It will only happen when men of courage, as defined by Mr. Emerson, stand up to those who would render us all impotent, for their own benefit. The only hope that exists for the rest of us lies in enough of us showing this kind of courage, and overcoming the fear that keeps us in thrall…..

“I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.” — John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica

Myself, I don’t want to die ignominiously, gasping for breath, because I didn’t have the courage to speak up, and to fight back against the immoral, avaricious assholes who dominate society….. Instead, let’s create a whole new world, without a beloved ruling class, at all….. Who knows? We might just find out that anarchy works!….. Worth a try, I think….. And, if it doesn’t work, well, we can always try a technocracy, which we have yet to do in history….. With a bit of foresight and planning, it might just be what we need to survive our own foolishness… Maybe, Richard Brautigan had the truest prophetic vision, when he wrote “All watched over, by machines of loving grace….”

“Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” — Pablo Picasso

History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

— Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning”

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

Once again, to save the reputation of anyone else who might be associated with any of this, here is one of my older poems….

Dreaming of Calliope

La belle dame sans merci speaks aloud through endless night,
torturing dreams, with powerful words and stentorian phrases.
Manifest visions bathed in unbearable grace and light,
destroying all direction, standing lost, in unfathomable mazes.

Fate plays a part, one that will never face denial,
as fear and courage eternally vie for ascendancy.
Conflict becomes valid, gifting strength in open trial,
but honest emotion wears no costume so fancy.

Blood, sweat, and tears stroll on avenues of gold,
unlikely heroines heralding as in ancient lore;
Sharp, competent knives cut through tales untold,
eternally shifting reality past the naked shore.

Drifting toward origin, bereft of mandate or cause,
finished, nay, abandoned, tied with a figurative bow.
No simple gift from muses to give comfort or pause,
save that all we need to know, we already know…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

I was up a little late today, which probably shows in the intro section; it gets that way when I feel rushed….. Also, I tend to go to the archives more often, though, in today’s case, that’s not a bad thing, given the state of creative juices this morning…. To prevent feeling like I completely abandoned all routine, I’ll put together a fresh random, harlequin pearl, just so I can say some of today’s piece is fresh….. Boy, the things we put ourselves through to maintain our own good graces…. Try to enjoy it anyway, ffolkes…..

“The earth hath skin, and the skin hath diseases. One of these…is called man.” — Nietzsche

“There is, nevertheless, a certain respect and a general duty of humanity that ties us, not only to beasts that have life and sense, but even to trees and plants.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xi, Of Cruelty

“Every public action which is not customary, either is wrong, or, if it is right, is a dangerous precedent. It follows that nothing should ever be done for the first time.” — Francis Cornford (1908)

“The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 16

“Even very young children need to be informed about dying. Explain the concept of death very carefully to your child. This will make threatening him with it much more effective.” — P. J. O’Rourke

“Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How’s that again? I missed something.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“Reality is what bumps into you when you stand still with your eyes open.” — Solomon Short

Hmm…. a bit esoteric, but, nice….. I like it, so, it stays…..

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

Some of y’all were probably hoping for a new episode of the Life and Times of Wise Old Pine Cone…. We actually DID get some pix taken, but, I didn’t have time to get them organized, so, it will have to wait until tomorrow…. Deal with it, you’re all adults…. I’m smiling, to take off some of the curmudgeonly crossness of that statement…. can you see it? It’s a big, happy smile….. Honest, trust me…. Well, if you’re going to be like that, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

“Patently absurd,” said Blackie, from the grave….

Posted on April 26, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Back in the 1970’s, George Carlin used to have a routine in his stand-up shows, in which he discussed the “forbidden words”, to wit: shitfuckpisscuntcockcrapvagina, conveniently listed for you here without spaces, making them one vast, effective expletive, rather than seven small verbal bombs…. In this format, the seven unacceptable words are, in a small, illegal way, legitimized, formed into a word that is not only less offensive to write, and to hear, but, makes a quite efficient swear word, one that, as I can testify, releases a lot of tension, if stated rapidly, in a loud, assertive voice…. Well, maybe not…. but, it DOES make you feel better, even if it’s a bit too vulgar for regular usage among crowds of people….

Those seven words, when viewed as a list, comprise the majority of the words that TV and media censors, aka the FCC, using the standards provided by the Mrs. Mabel Grundy Foundation for Fundamentally Overbearing Morality, (rated at 8 on the 10-point Crackpot Scale….) decided should never be uttered on ANY media venues in this country, lest the morals of our children be forever compromised….. Of course, this does not take into account that nobody, not even the FCC, mostly, listens to them at all, but, hey, it keeps them busy and out of our hair, so, let them issue their little lists, and we can get on with the day….

Those words, in the order in which I wrote them, without spaces, as one very dirty word, are from another old literary cult classic, a book called “Candy”, an egregiously sexist, pornographic, thankfully short novel by a contemporary author, which I, being the adolescent dog I was back then (in the 60’s….), read avidly, behind locked doors, having been surreptitiously been provided the book by a friend who had stolen it from an older sibling (the most common method for sharing books among adolescent boys at that time….), passing it to me with much clandestine mummery after class one day, with the admonition, “Man, you GOTTA read this shit!”….. As may be guessed, at 13 or 14 years of age, boys are rather fixated on the subject of sex….

Hmm…. I suppose, if I had a clue as to what this is all about, I’d have to share it with you, so you would understand why we are laboring through this patently useless, and, sadly, mainly charmless discussion of stuff that means little, and has no apparent relation to anything remotely intelligent, or even interesting…. unless, of course, the antics of sexually frustrated adolescent males has some appeal for you…. It doesn’t have much for me, having lived through it once; it’s really no fun going back there, so I don’t…. and, I won’t…. at least, not now….

No, this has all been just another attempt to find something worthwhile with which to begin one of these Pearls…. Obviously, it’s another relative failure, except for the actual fact that it has gotten me where I need to go…. As you can see, my blathering has again pushed us far enough down the page that we can legally get on with business, suffering no financial or ethical penalties, for having subjected the public to unwarranted floods of wordy bullshit so early in the day….. Not that it bothers ME, but, the Feds get shitty, so I try to follow SOME of their rules, just to keep from having to wrestle with them every day….

All of that having been said, as it often is, we can now begin today’s dive for some suitable pearls…. That is, we can, if y’all have your masks, and your spear-gun, already in place, ready for today’s adventure, as we bravely set out to explore the wilds of consensual reality, naked and unafraid….

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

This is very true, so, it would behoove all of us to remember to be nice….. especially to those who inadvertently cause us mild discomfort, by making us read such useless crap….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From 12/4/12:

“Free enterprise ended in the United States a good many years ago. Big oil, big steel, big agriculture avoid the open marketplace. Big corporations fix prices among themselves and drive out the small entrepreneur. In their conglomerate forms, the huge corporations have begun to challenge the legitimacy of the state.” — Gore Vidal

In his book, “Friday”, Robert Heinlein details a society of humanity’s possible future, one in which corporations have continued to grow beyond the boundaries of mere countries, until their interests become paramount even over that of the state, as observed by Mr. Vidal. We, of the society here on Earth in the early 21st century are witnessing that growth, as I write, and as you read…..

The small enterprise markets still exist, but only on the fringes of the economy, the major portion of which is busy manipulating the population into serving the economic trends that the corporations control, in the essential markets that cover everyone… In other words, the corporations monopolize most of the economy, allowing the fringe markets to exist to provide exotic, alternative toys and entertainments for the working classes.

Mr. Heinlein’s character, a young woman with designer genes, genius IQ, and Heinlein’s innate sardonicism, as part of an assignment, is required to perform a research and analysis of how the large multinational corporations affected the political and economic scenes of their society, obliquely referring, of course, to the one we have now. It is a very interesting part of a very good book, and well worth a read, not only for its perspicacity in explaining the piracy we are seeing today, but because Heinlein was a master storyteller, who created fascinating characters in fantastic situations, making it all seem perfectly normal and real.

“The phenomenality of organic, conscious existence should, could have made impossible the sadism, the unending hurt of our ways. The impotent fury, the guilt that master and surpass my identity carry with them the working hypothesis, the ‘working metaphor’, if you will, of ‘original sin’. To this expression, I am unable to attach any reasoned, let alone historical substance. On the pragmatic-narratological plane, stories of some initial crime and inherited culpability are universal fables — uncannily profound and lasting. Nothing more. Yet in the presence of the beaten, raped child, of the horse or mule flogged across its eyes, I am possessed, as by a midnight clarity, by the intuition of the Fall.” — Rudolf Steiner, Errata: An examined life, Phoenix — (a division of Orion Books), London, 1998), p. 169

At first, this quote may not seem to be related to the first. However, it is this “original sin” of which he speaks that is the root cause of the problems with corporations in society. Those humans who reject commonality with the rest of humanity are the villains, in this play that passes for modern culture, for they do not accept their debt to the rest of the species, and have determined that they will use whatever means they need to become ascendant over the rest of us. Greed is only the most obvious of the ills that this group has subjected our culture to, with cruelty, dishonesty, and lack of compassion as side attractions. Through the actions of their corporate entities, they work to maintain their power and control of others, all for the sake of their own aggrandizement….

These are the men who run the trade in human trafficking, abducting and abusing children and women, for sex and slavery. These are the men who run the brothels, and the underground casinos, and the money-lending, and the protection rackets, and the drug dealing rings. What many folks don’t realize is that they are also the men who run for political office, or become preachers/priests, and the bankers, and the CEO’s, and other corporate officers, who make their decisions based on self-interest, never on altruism. They seem, and act like, they are the leaders of society, when, in fact, they are the very reason our society is headed for extinction….

Unfortunately, these men (and they are almost ALL men….) will not give up their power and control without a fight. They will not respond to reason, giving up all their wealth and perceived power, to benefit the rest of mankind. They will not suddenly see the light, and give it all back. They will have to be rooted out like weeds, tough, hardy weeds, and destroyed, if we are to have any chance of survival…. It is unfortunate, but no other method will work, and it brings with it the danger of falling into the same kind of behavior by which they operate. But, I can see no other way to solve the issue, since they will not cooperate with the rest of us for the benefit of all….

1. If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting.

2. What you settle for is what you end up with.

3. If you think that worrying about a problem is the same thing as solving it, then you must live in some other universe where different laws pertain.

–Smart Bee

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

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

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

I’m going with another of my own poems today, mostly to keep from allowing any of what takes place here to ever be blamed on anyone else…. This one is a long comment on my constant companion in life…. No, not Patricia, but, that old friend (one learns to live with it, or go crazy, you see…. better to have a friend, than a constant enemy….)…. Pain…..

Denial of Comfort

Baleful chairs become the enemy, heralded in red
seemingly welcome softness beckons with a smile,
waiting, content with slaughter, they are finally led
screaming in agony, deluged in venom all the while.

Desperate distraction becomes such a friendless fire
for all the patterns of autumn’s pale dismay,
leaving sincerely latent trails in spirals of twisted wire,
while memory insists, again, upon failure, palpably evil, and fey.

Fat, jaded tears would have fallen in good time,
if only the suitable suitor had scaled the garden’s wall.
Credence for discounted prices luckily in their prime
bring only fascinated eyes into such a hallowed hall.

Searching for answers is ever a clever portrayal
with studious accouterments to fulfill each common rule.
Arguably patient pictures of science and honest betrayal
shall evermore languish, in light of passion so elegantly cruel.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

So…. today’s Pearl has been created on a fairly typical morning, of those that have come of late…. That is to say, I’ve gotten a goodly amount of sleep, more than I have been used to for many years…. (How much more? Well, let’s see… I fell out at 6:15 PM, and got out of bed at 3 AM…. That makes about 8+, almost nine hours, in my book, which is four or five more than my average for the past three years…) What does this mean?….

Not much, in truth…. It does mean, however, you get a freshly composed old-school pearl today, instead of more from the archives…. I found these two aphorisms from Cicero, which make a nice pair of bookends for what I think will be a fine, upstanding example of a very serendipitous pearl…. Enjoy!….

“No man can be brave who thinks pain the greatest evil; nor temperate who considers pleasure the highest good” — Cicero

“He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.” — Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” — Yogi Berra

“If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it if you have love, compassion, and tolerance. The clear truth of a person’s love of God is if that person genuinely shows love to fellow human beings.” — Dalai Lama

“Making fun of born-again christians is like hunting dairy cows with a high powered rifle and scope.” — P. J. O’Rourke

“There’s no easy quick way out, we’re gonna have to live through our whole lives, win, lose, or draw.” — Walt Kelly

Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century:

Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

— Cicero

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

He was pretty big, Ma, but, I beat him….. Well, I got this far, even if I didn’t win…. Hey, maybe I did! I forgot, I’m the one who makes the rules by which I play the game; hard not to win in that case….

Okay, I’m done playing around with the power of metaphor for one morning…. and if you don’t catch that reference, well, I have to ask…. Are you listening at all?….. Metaphor is what we do here, very nearly ALL we do, so, pay attention, ffolkes, or you’ll miss the most important ones, which can come at you from any direction, at any point in this narrative…. Speed, and staying alert are your best weapons in this dangerous world, and nobody will ever be able to say we didn’t try to prepare y’all to deal with that, to the best of our ability….

Tongue firmly in cheek, of course…. See ya…..

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

We’ve got two words for you, mister…. Puff Paste….

Posted on April 23, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I find myself immediately in White Rabbit mode this morning, having slept over eight hours again, not arising until AFTER the coffee machine had gone off at its pre-set time, a time I generally beat by a good hour each day. This morning, I find myself just beginning this process after 5 AM, which is VERY late, for me….

Ah well, such is life, at least, as we know it…. consistency is only present in Nature in predictable ways. The sun comes up pretty consistently, and there are a few other universal factors of existence, (Death, taxes, etc.), we can count on to happen on a regular basis like that. Otherwise, it’s a crap shoot, ffolkes, so most of us get used to not finding things exactly as we left them the last time we dealt with them….

We humans even have a word for that, to wit: entropy, which, loosely defined tells us, “Things fall apart”…. which phrase, by the way, is the title of a very good little book, by a young African author, named Chinua Achebe…. It is considered one of the best English language books about Africa, used in many colleges to exemplify the genre…

The story, about an Igbo tribesman in central Africa, is one that gives us a very good understanding of this principle, (entropy), and how it affects our lives, and our relationships with others in society, as we all try to cope with this basic flaw in the design of our universe…

Of course, it is only a flaw to our way of thinking…. None of the other inhabitants of this plane of existence seem to have a lot of trouble dealing with this particular aspect of reality; they just shrug their equivalent of shoulders, and soldier on, going on to whatever the next thing the universe presents to them for their perception, and their experience….

Not that the universe cares or anything, but, it does make it pretty well impossible to avoid dealing with the iconic forces of chaos, with glaring examples at every turn to remind us of how fragile is our perceptive model, and how often it must be amended with codicils or changes to our attitudes.

All of which, of course, has nothing at all to do with this Pearl…. it’s simply another attempt to draw your attention away from what we are doing here behind the curtain, and to give y’all good reason to come on in, settle down in one of our comfortable seats, order up an adult beverage, and say goodbye to irrationality, as we take off on another exploration of this planet and all its wonders…. I don’t think it would be wise to tell you how the plane runs, or where, exactly, it will take us…. all of that is subject to change at an instant’s notice, anyway…. This is CONSENSUAL REALITY, you know, not some cheap imitation…

That having been said, for what is is worth, (and no snickering from the back rows….), we’ll get on with this, to settle down the nerves of our White Rabbit, so he, too, may enjoy the ride….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Assess the advantages of taking advice, then structure your forces accordingly, to supplement extraordinary tactics. Forces are to be structured strategically, based on what is advantageous.” — Sun Tzu

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

Following this instructive, ethically stimulating quote by Lazarus, which immediately follows this paragraph, you will find a discussion of ethics and/or morality, with a short little foray into religious philosophy, from the standpoint of my own personal philosophy, much of which is based on the concept(s) involved in understanding, and, equally importantly, accepting the principle whereof Lazarus speaks, to wit: “duty”.

Making one’s chosen “duty” a part of one’s life demands a certain degree of honesty, as well as the courage to apply that honesty to one’s own actions, thereby accepting responsibility for them; this attitude is not one I have found to be common to the philosophies of any the religions I have studied….. When the discussion was first posted, no pearls were associated, until the end, but, this one is the perfect lead to what follows….

“Do not confuse ‘duty’ with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.” — Lazarus Long

From 2/12/13:

I am an asshole. A jerk. A prick. A foul-mouthed, misbegotten excuse for a human being…. I, as is true of virtually all seven billion of my peers on this planet, am nothing more than a hypocrite, deserving of eternal residence in the lowest pits of hell for my perfidy….. What, you might ask, prompted this viciously personal outburst of self-denigration? Well, let me tell you….

Most of us, at some point or another, sit down from time to time to think about our actions, those we are considering, and those we have acted out in the past, to get some perspective on how those actions have conformed to our ethical and moral beliefs. In other words, we sit in self-judgment; whether we do so to praise or to chastise doesn’t matter, ultimately, as long as it is an honest appraisal, and we do not flinch from owning up to our baseness where it is found…..

This is why I am forced to curse myself…. Because I’m not a Catholic, or any other faith that espouses such mummery, (I don’t mean to pick on Catholics…. some of my best friends, etc….. 😆 ….. They’re just an example everyone recognizes, and can relate to as similar to their own….)…. Any who, because I’m not of that Tribe, I don’t have the luxury of confessing to a priest, who would then reassure me that I am still one of the Chosen Ones, and send me on my way having learned nothing but a false sense of entitlement.

I can’t just pass off what I may have done in my life to some faceless butthead in a dress, who, no doubt, has a great laugh at the expense of the penitent, when he and the other priests get together in the rectory for a few drinks, passing around all the latest tall tales and outtakes from the confessional booth…..

I consider myself to be a morally upright person, and hope that my actions reflect that. But, I know for certain that, like every other human being who ever lived, I don’t always live up to those moral beliefs, and fall from grace on occasion…. If I were a less honest man, I’d say that there were mitigating, or at least explanatory reasons for my failures to hold to my own standards, but, if I tried that, my Dad would kick my ass from now until Thursday the next time I see him, so I’m not going to take that chance…. I take full responsibility for my actions, base and cruel as they were, and no one can hold me in lower regard than I do….

I had considered using this venue as a confessional, to air out my transgressions on the stage of reality, but, I don’t think that would be any more ethical than confessing to a priest…. Confession may make a difference to the penitent, by absolving him/her from any lingering guilt that could adversely affect them (i.e., they feel better about themselves after receiving absolution…), but, in truth, it doesn’t mean a damn thing, as nothing is done to balance the scale, in a karmic sense, especially for whatever creature or person that was the victim of the cruelty. The only act that would mean anything would be for the perpetrator to use the experience to motivate them to two things….

One, to try to repair whatever hurt or pain they have caused another creature…. man, animal, doesn’t matter…. They don’t deserve to be victimized, no matter their form, and ALL one can do, to fix any harm they have caused, is the least they should do….

Second, use the experience as motivation to make a change in themselves, to act with greater understanding, greater compassion, and greater control over themselves and their feelings…. which is what guilt is all about, right?….

The difference is that, when one confesses to a priest, and receives absolution, there is no motivation to make any changes in their actions…. They know none is necessary, since they can relieve themselves of any guilt they may feel by confessing…. so, why bother?

On the other hand, when one assumes the responsibility for their own actions, the guilt doesn’t go away…. I will never forgive myself for some of the things that I’ve done in my life (nor will I share them in any attempt to gain forgiveness from anyone else…. it’s none of their fucking business….)

(Besides, that whole confessional thing just sounds too much like a blackmail scheme…. the people who confess are sure putting their fate trustingly into the hands of those priests, aren’t they?). That simple fact is what keeps me from falling into the same ethical trap I did when I lost my cool, and acted without thinking, or took my feelings out on innocent bystanders….. Not going to happen again, a sentiment which, I’m sure, is NOT what you can expect from any religicos after confession….

You will note that there are no pearls associated with this discussion…. That’s because I am such an asshole, none were needed to stimulate me into spilling my guts, so to speak…. Besides, I couldn’t find a proper pearl for the beginning of such a somber subject by the time I was ready to write about it…. But, Murphy must have liked the way I dissed myself, because, hunting for an appropriate closer, afterward, I found these two, which, together, make a grand finishing touch for this subject…. Think of them as bookends….

“Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s wrong is to get caught.” — J. C. Watts

Boy, that hits the nail on the head, doesn’t it?….. I’ve got these two quotes reversed in the order in which they make the most sense, but, given the state of things here, that isn’t surprising, is it?…. This is the one that probably should go at the front of this piece, so, just put it there in your mind, okay? Thanks….. (Note from 2014: Actually, you may, or even should, ignore all of these final comments on the care and placement of pearls, as they are currently out of context, all because the pearl that now graces the front of this discussion is so perfectly suitable….)

“We tell lies when we are afraid, . . . afraid of what we don’t know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger.” — Tad Williams, Spoken by Dr. Morgenes, To Green Angel Tower (part of — Memory, Sorrow and Thorn)

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

Again, to save others from embarrassment or guilt by association, here is another of my old poems, which, sort of, fits in with today’s elusive theme….

Fine and Good, Good and Fine

A pig in a poke’s got nothing on me,
cuz I’m as confused as a man can be.
This ol’ world’s got me spinnin’ around
cussin’ and spittin’, a penny for a pound.

Forty ‘leven times since I was a kid, well,
I’ve fallen in love, ‘least too close to tell.
Every damn time, it all went to crap,
Forty ‘leven times I’ve felt like a sap.

‘Course, each time it happens, I forget the last;
why not? I’m havin’ such a blast….
Livin’ in each moment, filled with joie de vivre,
’til it’s all gone away again, nothin’ left up my sleeve.

Don’t want y’all to think I’m sad or blue,
life’s full of sorrow, lots for me, and/or you..
T’other side of that coin, we can be glad,
is joyful love, and that ain’t at all bad.

My road’s been littered with parts o’my heart,
each one colored with trust, which ain’t always smart.
Yet, long as I don’t lose my connection to joy,
I’ll find my own true love, and be a happy boy.

It’s been some kinda fun, even when I’d take a fall,
and doin’ it over makes no sense at all, at all
Day after day, I keep on keepin’ on, as it’s said;
Guess I’ll keep on doin’ that ’til I’m dead.

‘Nuff said….

~~ gigoid ~~

….with tongue lodged firmly in cheek….

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

Most days, even if running this late, I would put an old-school pearl here, just to maintain the structure for these Pearls that I think works the best…. Today, though, I just happen to have an archived pearl, somewhat old school, lifted from a Pearl posted back in ‘Aught Twelve’…. I think it’s pretty good, and so do you….

From 10/21/12:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

— Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) — Just So Stories (1902) “The Elephant’s Child”

The above little ditty, from our old friend Rudyard, is brilliant doggerel, astute observation, and deep insight, all presented in a simple, straightforward style, with a powerful, basic lesson for any would-be philosopher, or any one who wishes to encompass reason as their modus operandi, so to speak. Besides which, I find that another piece of Bob’s advice fits well with this one, to wit: “Life tastes better in big bites….”

“Never wear anything that panics the cat.” — P. J. O’Rourke

It also gives one a subtle warning about how the wrong clothing can produce unwanted consequences, and we all know how an offended cat is likely to respond…. as Mark Twain once remarked…. “A man who carries a cat by the tail is learning valuable things. He will never again be dim or doubtful. Chances are he’ll not carry the cat that way again, but, I say, if he wants to, let him!” You can’t say fairer than that….

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” — Buddha

At times, it seems that what the Buddha states, such as in this statement, is, in at least one respect, an answer to a question that is raised when Murphy intervenes in our lives…. in simpler words, he explains why Murphy is able to affect us as he does, by cutting through the bullshite we perceive, to the truth of what is real….. SIGH…. one of these days, enlightenment will slap me upside the head, and I’ll be able to see Murphy coming…. I hope…

There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

So seriously, we have begun to offend those parts of the universe that just want us to relax and enjoy ourselves, and the time is growing nearer when we will have to admit that the joke is on us, for not being able to change our inner selves enough to be able to handle the humor of our situation…. See, the universe thinks death is funny…. not because it is cruel, but because death is just another part of life, and it doesn’t care about one more than the other…. See, now, isn’t it funny how you never noticed that?…..

This is that time…. and I’m leaving it up to Smart Bee, as always…. If I don’t find a proper pearl to carry on the tenuous chain of thought I’ve created, then we’ll take the first one that will appropriately wrap it up as a lost cause….. all within a specified number of attempts…. so, here we go… You’ll know in a moment what will happen….

🙂

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

I have no excuses, nor apologies, at all…. I have succumbed to the dictates of chosen duty, and done the best I can do to make this an acceptable member of a long line of decently written outbursts of personal angst.

Personally, I think it’s not bad, but, I’m probably not the most appropriate judge of that…. and since nobody has suggested I cease and desist, I’ll keep on keepin’ on, for as long as the impulse to write remains strong and fresh….

Y’all can take that any way you like, as either a promise, or a threat…. either way, it’s true, and I’m outta here for another day…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

gigoid

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

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: P.J. O’Rourke

Officer, that rhinoceros is winking at me!….

Bust it up, boys! It’s all gotta go!….

No, no, not the taffeta!….

From this perspective, it’s clear the vicar was nude….

These weren’t buffed OR polished!…..

We’ve got two words for you, mister…. Puff Paste….

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