Is this the unused receipt line?…

Posted on August 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Better bend than break.”

~~ Scottish Proverb ~~

Full Moon Rising, 8/29/2015 ~~ Northern California

Good morning…. I promised a blogging friend a photo of the Supermoon from last night; lo and behold, here ’tis! It’s not bad, but, convinces me I need to upgrade my camera a bit…. I guess an 8-10 year old, five mega-pixel version is getting a little out of date. My phone is rated with more pixels, but, since I only use it as a phone, it doesn’t help me at all. Ah well, I guess that’s what photo editing software is for….

Wasn’t that just riveting? What an opening! Drama, the hook, strong language, all ther….. well, okay, so, none of that is there. So what? YOU try coming up with something cool and interesting EVERY EFFING DAY! I’ll tell ya, it ain’t easy. But, I digress, as usual….

Hmm…. Y’know, this seems to have escaped from control rather quickly, hasn’t it? I’m having a tough time this morning, if you hadn’t noticed. Nothing in the head, but for this nonsense. Not that nonsense hasn’t worked for us in the past; no, no, it’s been a real trooper in that respect. No, it’s merely the sheer insanity of this particular nonsense which makes it unsuitable, even for this. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for what happens, should I allow it to show its scary little face….

Instead, I think we’ll head on out to the oyster beds, & see if we can’t find a pearl or two…. Since that’s our intended purpose, anyway, it should work out well. As long as we don’t try to think about it, we’ll be fine…. Hell, let’s just forget all the regs, and do this one nude! Okay, everybody strip!…. No? Oh, well, can’t blame a guy for trying…. Instead, let’s do this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“One of the sayings of Diogenes was that most men were within a finger’s breadth of being mad; for if a man walked with his middle finger pointing out, folks would think him mad, but not so if it were his forefinger.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Diogenes, vi

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

Y’all won’t be surprised, I’m sure, to find we’ve gone to our default music today…. However, today it will be a little different. I’ve mentioned radio station KDFC before, as being the best classical music station to ever exist (well, actually, I haven’t made that claim before, but, it’s likely very true, so, we’ll let it stand, and just call it mild hyperbole….). Below is a link to the station’s home page, where you can click the “Listen Live” button, to hear a fine selection of the world’s best music…. It’s all I’ve got today, but, it’s enough…. Abondanza!….

http://www.kdfc.com/

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Some of y’all might wonder what that picture is doing above the ranting section. Others won’t care at all. Me, I’ll just tell you this; this is no ordinary rant….

In fact, it’s not a rant at all; it’s merely a statement of insanity from yours truly, to furnish y’all with the latest information on the status of my inner serenity, or, lack thereof…. It’s an annual thing, required by the law that allows me to remain outside the facility…. No, you don’t want to know….

That said, I realize the measure of my coherency is a bit of a conundrum; all of the tools designed to measure human intelligence, and/or levels of sanity in said humans, are somewhat useless applied to me, as I haven’t been human for years…. but, that’s another story, for another time. For now, allow me to just say this, and we’ll go on to the poetry section, where you’ll find a surprise…. a brand new poem, which spurted out of me unexpectedly yesterday afternoon….

Here’s the thing; I’ve decided sanity isn’t such a big deal. I mean, I’ve tried it, and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Oh, sure, they’ll tell you it can’t be done, you can’t make it through your life without it. But, so far, I haven’t found it to be of any particular use; why should it, when the entire society in which we live penalizes everyone who displays it? Every time I try to display a rational, sane response to this insane world, it gets crazier. What can you do with a world like this, but, kick it down the stairs?….

I just realize I haven’t provided any context; you have no clue what I’m talking about do you? I thought not; there were too many frowns and confused faces. Well, too bad; life’s full of disappointments, isn’t it? Y’all will just have to make do without it, this time, at least. Why? Well, because there ISN’T any context. None of this means anything, and I’m not going to explain at all…

Instead, I’ll just quit. This section is already kaput, anyway; there’s no way in hell I can save it, and, why bother. It’s all a bunch of crap, and none of us have any real meaning. Bah! Humbug! Merde! Or, as we’re wont to say downtown, what the fuck?

Okay, that’s it. I’m calling a halt to this. It’s completely broken, and I don’t see any way to fix it….Let’s just consider this a complete loss, and leave it here, where it can die an unnatural death…. I don’t know just what the hell that was, but, it sure wasn’t a rant…. James Joyce nightmare I guess…

Oh well, it can’t all be Faulkner, can it?….

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As noted above, this one is new; I hope you like it….

Platitudes for Attitudes

Platitudes shake us, attitudes break us.
Life can be a real pain, y’know?
Still, if we don’t fight where it takes us,
it’s a pretty straight row to hoe..

A lot of what we see and hear
isn’t always in the best of taste.
Life at large can be a long frisson of fear.
Making an effort often seems a huge waste.

Pundits, dogma dogs, myrmidons, oligarchs & pimps;
assholes and predators every one.
Twisted, sick, anti-humans; anomalous, ignorant wimps.
Purest logic says, every time, lobotomize ’em, & be done.

Illusions, delusions, confusions, a dedicated data dump,
bilious, divisive, spicy with hatred and fears.
Inflation, immigration, promises from the clownish Trump
Even such base survival is left heavy with tears.

Ancient sages left signs on the path to peace,
for those with wit to see.
No need for undue effort, no quest for golden fleece.
All we ever really need to do, is be.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 8/29/2015.

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What to say of this pearl? As random as Entropy can make it; though loose, it does not wobble. Though random, it is not less real. I haven’t the foggiest notion what I was thinking, but, I have a suspicion it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. That said, you will understand why I issue a precautionary note, to help you to comprehend what has occurred. That note, which was originally translated from ancient Sumerian, says, “Show caution, and wisdom; tread carefully, lest your brain turn to crap.” Really, it said that….

JABBERWOCKY

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And thou hast slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

~~ Lewis Carroll, “Through the Looking-Glass” ~~

“The best way to make children good is to make them happy.” — Oscar Wilde

“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” — Mark Twain

“Life without the courage for death is slavery.” — Seneca

“Arguments derived from probabilities are idle.” — Plato

“If you are too busy to read, then you are too busy.” — Literary Bee

“Self-pity is the worst poverty.” — Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Finality is death. Perfection is finality. Nothing is perfect. There are lumps in it.” — James Stephens

“If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.” — Khalil Gibran

“Remember, ‘nowhere’ is also ‘now here’.” — Random Smart Bee

“Curiouser and curiouser!”

~~ Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” ~~

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Well, it’s done. I wasn’t sure I could do it; apparently I can…. Moreover, having done so, I’ll even show some rather good sense, & be done with it for today. I don’t think I could do any more damage than I’ve already accomplished, anyway. I’ll be back tomorrow, ffolkes, with some interesting news to relate…. See y’all then, unless you figure out a way to get out of it….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Such a waste of appealingly bitter waffles….

Posted on July 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“No human thing is of serious importance.”

~~ Plato ~~

Struggling Beauty

Good morning….

“Sleep is a weapon.”

~~ Philip D’Anjou, “The Bourne Identity” by Robert Ludlum ~~

I first read the above words in the 1970’s, I think, when the book was first published. Regardless of the book’s qualities, I’d have liked it, anyway, if only for that line…. It’s such a powerful idea, and is, to my own knowledge, a very important piece of data for anyone to know, at least, if they’re the kind of person who enjoys life. It has so many applications to every part of life, it touches on all we do, and all we accomplish….. Without a sharp, strong, flexible weapon, life can be very hard, and very dangerous…. The weapon, of course, is our own mind….

Why is this relative to our purpose here today? Well, that’s simple actually…. Sleep, or rather, finding the means within myself to sleep, has become one of the more pressing issues in my life, as I am currently unable to predict at all when I’ll be able to go down for some rest…. Some days, I feel like I’m back in boot camp…. Of course, I never went to boot camp, aside from having been raised by a Master Sergeant… I guess that would count…

I’m not going to go into all the reasons for my reluctant insomnia; it’s TMI, and, no doubt, pretty boring for anyone not going through it. I will say, it’s not the kind of thing designed to make one into a happy camper, an assertion of which I possess no doubt whatsoever as to it’s truth….. In short, FUCK ME! THIS IS A PAIN IN THE BLOODY ASS!

Okay, I’m done. We can go now, to see if there is anything else in my head that might have some little entertainment value…. It may be a long search, so grab some of the trail mix before we head out; it could be a long time to lunch….

Shall we Pearl?….

“A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that balances are correct.” — from “Manual of Maud’Dib” by the Princess Irulan

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Image from blu-ray.com via Google Images

Today’s video selection is a classic Science Fiction movie, long considered the definitive “First” in that genre. Shot on a minimal budget, with young stars, such as the then-unknown Leslie Nielsen, alongside fading Hollywood stars, such as Walter Pidgeon, the movie was shot as an entirely serious movie with a dramatic plot; it came out unintentionally hilarious, and campy, due to the special effects, for which the kindest word to describe would be “cheezy” ….. (Look at that robot!…. and, the alien landscape!…). I’ve included links and players for the official trailer, as well as some of the outtakes from the shooting process. To watch the entire movie, you can pay $2.99 to You Tube, or follow a link to many sites streaming old movies online…. Type “forbidden planet full movie” into the YT search bar, & it will furnish you with any number of links to the movie… Enjoy!…

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Forbidden Planet

Trailer & Outtakes

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https://youtu.be/AxQ9GG6hUDM

https://youtu.be/5dd-5qR5AD4

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Last posted on 11/20/2013:

Below you’ll find a short, but concise, religirant, another blast from the past, as I continue to mine my archives for material I can use today, to save me a bit of time, and mental energy, which I can always use to decide where I’m going for my next trip to…. ANYWHERE!…. Any who, all personal idiosyncrasies aside, this one is pretty good, I think, so pay attention, if you please, and take heed of what it says, for it is good advice, if naught else….

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Today’s effort is, to my chagrin, falling somewhat short of my expectations; not surprising, given the handicaps with which we began our journey today…. As I mentioned above, or, not, I’m going to cheat; this, of course means we go to the archives for our thoughts for today…. This one is pretty good, I think, but, regardless of its quality, it’s going to have to do…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s the best we’ve got today….

From April 27, 2012

“He that doubteth is damned.” — Romans 14:23

It took a while, but it was worth the time spent searching…. This is a perfect example of how, if we let them, all those folks who would have us believe that the Bible, (or any other sacred books inspired by alleged supernatural entities), is a direct line of information from God, will go to almost any lengths, trying to trick us into doing exactly what that book tells us to do. In this case, they apply both guilt and fear of retribution in the next life if we question any of what we are told by that book, or any of what we are taught by those who hold it as truth….

I have previously written here as to the value Doubt possesses, in the bag of tools people have to get by in this complex, confusing universe we inhabit. It is our only defense against information or events that can cause, or even intend, us harm, rather than good; such information invariably is given to us by other people, whose only intent in doing so is to achieve some sort of power or control over us. I don’t think this is a particularly hard concept to understand; its proof lies in almost every interaction we have when faced with organized religions. Anyone who has studied the psychology of humans can point out the techniques of behavioral modification used by the religious hierarchies to assert their will upon the public….

The above short little warning/threat, drawn directly from the Christian Bible, (Old Testament, if memory serves….), implies that anyone who does not bend over in submission to its decree will spend eternity in Hell. Hmm, a bit harsh, don’t you think? For merely entertaining a question regarding the accuracy of a concept presented, one with no evidence that proves its reliability? The Universe at large presents us with such false information regularly; anyone who doesn’t learn caution in such instances is liable for the consequences, which can be severe, such as in the case of being confronted by an apparently friendly, but in reality, rabid dog. Rabies is no picnic, from all reports, so, Doubt, used as a tool in such instances, is very appropriate, patently a valuable one.

However, in the minds of the folks who are selling faith-based products, Doubt is the last thing they want people to have in mind when considering what they say. It tends to cause their arguments to fall apart right in front of their eyes, and they cannot make the sale that way. If they can’t convince people to accept what they say without questioning it, their entire house of cards will come tumbling down around their ears, and they would have to give up all those nice little perks that go along with having everyone believe everything they say, like having poor people willingly give up 10% of their earnings in tithe, or getting to reside, with no rent, in a house built by the labor of others…. Did you think they would give that up easily?…. Well, then you’ve lost your strongest ally against such degradations to your sensibilities…. a healthy sense of Doubt….

“Fear not, for I have given you authority to do so.” — Smart Bee, via some random preacher’s King James version….

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As intimated would be the case today, here’s one from the archives….

After the odyssey….

Portraits of iconic symbols, crashing, singing, forgotten;
evolving into mature innovation, as yet pale, and rotten.
Still water justly breeds, impenetrable primal verses resound;
unholy moments tarry, emotion swirls in passion unbound

Spiritual ovulation precedes each pregnant pause;
gravid, time moves on, following destiny’s cause.
Cast adrift on waves of confusion, to a final, damp landing;
salvation beckons sweetly, fed well on understanding.

Dreams directly fall, in night’s grey bower, unbidden;
lingering flavors in simple taste, lovingly, cleverly hidden.
Childish laughter sounds, joyful, bright, and clear;
no need ever to hide, no more monsters to fear.

Temper most foul arrives under unregistered mail;
forgotten taunts live on, lashed by an ancient flail.
Plain dealing delivers such lasting specks of honest hate;
savage in retrospect, never hasty, always running late.

Forever, cries an ambient lover of the pending night;
his pale, weak issue forms its own failing light.
Still, fortune favors such as those who apprehend;
Sweet love of Gaia, let it never end.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 3/10/2013.

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I’m not sure about this one; it’s an odd, obscure little pearl…. I like it, so, it stays…. Follow the bouncing ideas, and you’ll get to a lovely surprise…. Trust me….

“Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.” — Mark Twain

“Bear, do not blame, what cannot be changed.” — Publilius Syrus

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” — Flannery O’Connor

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

“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” — G. K. Chesterton, Everlasting Man, 1925

“Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood. After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.” — Zen Proverb

“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.” — Akiro Kurosawa

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I suppose they can’t all be gems…. Whether this came out good, or bad, or indifferent has now become irrelevant, when weighed against the fact it is done. So be it. I don’t know why, but, I’m a grump…. I guess I’ll go out into the BBR and torment some mundanes…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; it’s the primary reason I’m not in jail yet, so….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Did somebody mention caramel sauce?….

Posted on July 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“There is no cure for birth and death other than to enjoy the interval.”

~~ George Santayana ~~

Colony of wild pine cones in the Big Blue Room…

Good morning…. Having slept reasonably well, thanks to the application of massive amounts of illegal and legal drugs at the appropriate time, I find myself in an unusual position…. I’m awake, not too tired, and still haven’t a single clue as to what to write about…. Hence. this little opening bit of fluff, discussing that very lack of inspiration. It may not be compelling, but, it takes up space, right?

Ah, the hell with it…. I’m thinking it might be best to accept things as they are, and just get on with it, letting Nature take its course…. Of course, last time we tried that, we had to buy a new plane…. But, hey, what’s a few thousand bucks between friends, right? In any case, it seems to promise much more maneuverability than any other method available in this state. Besides, it’s what laying on the top of the drawer.

Shall we Pearl?….

“I would rather suffer defeat than have cause to be ashamed of victory.” — Quintus Curtius

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Today’s video selection is a playlist of classical guitar music, picked out simply to match our standard logo…. Enjoy!….

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Classical Guitar

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https://youtu.be/1Tqh6_e_X5s?list=PL352CGbOeT0nNizlUz7K1gJ1o39__xP1G

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“Today, if you are not confused, you are just not thinking clearly.”

~~ U. Peter ~~

One of my blogging friends mentioned the lack of fresh rants of late, which led me to wonder if I’d lost my angst somewhere… It’s true I haven’t felt the urge quite so often, yet, it’s no less compelling when it strikes…. I’m thinking there’s some stuff in there percolating, which will break out when it’s ready…. For rant material, it’s important to let it ferment to the proper degree of volatility; any resulting explosions are much more satisfying when the time is taken….

That means, however. I don’t have anything worth ranting about today… Oh, the quote is quite sufficient, I’m sure; I could do any number of numbers on that vague statement. But, I think I’ll cheat again, and let the rest sit a while longer, until it REALLY stinks…. Here’s one from the archives…. Don’t worry, I picked one that isn’t too long…. Enjoy!….

From 12/2/2012:

“I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contributions to the human spirit.” — former US President John F. Kennedy

At last! A worthy pearl! JFK, like the current President, was a superb public speaker, “Ich bin ein Berliner” notwithstanding, and whether he wrote his own words, or relied on his speech writers, he delivered, arguably, some of the most memorable, and insightful, aphorisms in US political and social history. The above statement is a perfect example, as he expresses a sentiment that can only be applauded, if not verified. I say verified because there is not a lot of verification from the past that history remembers anything BUT the battles. But, one can hope….

Actually, I believe what Jack said very strongly, in the sense that there are different histories that are remembered, most of which become altered in some way over time, as does all memory. The great teachers and philosophers who have lived have left their mark on the world in more ways than always show, in spite of the records of their deeds not always surviving intact. But, throughout history, there have been men, and women, who have done much to advance the human condition, whose words and deeds were never seen, and never recorded, but, nonetheless. whose effects still ripple down the river of time.

Some of the great minds in history, such as Lao Tzu, Zoroaster, Genghis Khan, Gautama Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammed, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and many others, all made such advances in the human spirit, and their ideas keep proving their worth every day by their relativity to modern society. Men like Leonardo da Vinci, whose genius was so bright it shines even today, and modern philosopher/scientists such as Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, have advanced that human spirit as much as anyone.

I’m not being as eloquent as I’d wish for such a deep subject…. What I’m trying to get to here is that we all, each and every one of us, have the power and opportunity to do the same as these historical figures, to advance the human spirit, just by the way we live our lives. What the philosophers say, and write, and the wisdom they pass on, is all very good, and a lesson to the rest of us…. But, what the average person does every day in their lives is just as important to the future as any scientific breakthrough, because what they do will determine what their children learn, and THAT is where the advancement really takes place, in the moments of teaching that happens every moment for children, and their adult teachers.

Living a life of integrity, with honesty and duty as the watchwords for action, is the best teaching method there is; to provide a good example for a child holds no less promise for mankind than all the work of all the genius’ of all time. How each one of us approaches life will, in the end, determine what happens to our species as a whole. It isn’t easy, especially given all of the people in society who do NOT wish to have any part of advancing anything but their own interests…. and especially when so many of those kinds of people are in positions of authority. But, it can be done, and is done, every day, by millions of men and women of good spirit…. They are truly the future of mankind, and, if there is any hope for survival, it lies in their honest hands….

“So live that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell.” — Smart Bee

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It’s an Emily Day; no explanations offered, or needed….

The duties of the Wind are few,
To cast the ships, at Sea,
Establish March, the Floods escort,
And usher Liberty.

The pleasures of the Wind are broad,
To dwell Extent among,
Remain, or wander,
Speculate, or Forests entertain.

The kinsmen of the Wind are Peaks
Azof – the Equinox,
Also with Bird and Asteroid
A bowing intercourse.

The limitations of the Wind
Do he exist, or die,
Too wise he seems for Wakelessness,
However, know not i.

~~ Emily Dickenson ~~

Here’s a little bonus round, a blast from the past, created 7/2/2012:

Pearls are…

Long, deep thoughts always
bring truth to the eyes of man,
and light into dark.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Our final pearl today is a bit esoteric; don’t worry, though, it’s all stuff you’ve seen before, and should fit right into the proper slot in your mind…. Of course, you will need one to get the point. You’ve got one, right? A mind?…. Well, then, use it…. Sheesh! Do I have to do everything?….

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

~~ Irish proverb ~~

“There is only one blasphemy, and that is the refusal to experience joy.” — Paul Rudnick

“With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil – that takes religion.” — Steven Weinberg

“Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. The soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things; knows not the livid loneliness of fear.” — Amelia Earhart

“The character of human life, like the character of the human condition, like the character of all life, is “ambiguity”: the inseparable mixture of good and evil, the true and false, the creative and destructive forces — both individual and social.” — Paul Tillich

“I bid him look into the lives of men as though into a mirror, and from others to take an example for himself.” — Terence — Adelphoe, Act iii, Sc. 3, 61, (415.)

My life is light, waiting for the death wind,

Like a feather on the back of my hand.

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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To comment at all on today’s Pearl would, I think, be a mistake. Instead, I’m going to just post it, and be done with it for the day…. I’ll be back tomorrow, ffolkes; I don’t seem to be able to come up with any good reasons not to do so….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Pigeons, smidgeons…. we’re going in hatless!

Posted on June 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God but to create him.”

~~ Arthur C. Clarke ~~

Scenes from a train….

Good morning…. In the still, peaceful quiet of early morn, sleepy birds sing, suggesting the presence of intimate time, filled to bursting, formal and replete. No cats, no rats frighten the flock, yet, they stop, to listen as the spirit of the hunt passes by. No one cries out for safety, no one speaks to the night. Only as the last bird flies away does the last child drop back into the lap of sleep, quickly, before the mast, not after….

Hmm… A bit of fanciful meandering, as it were, through the back corridors of a dark mind, still sleepy after a half-cup of the blood of life, yet determined to complete a fresh Pearl, come what may…. even if I have to…. well, I won’t go there just now, to save us all losing our breakfasts…. Instead, I believe I see an opportunity to set out for the oyster beds right over there, so, we’ll snatch it up, and use it…. Some days, ya just gotta take what presents itself, ya know?….

Shall we Pearl?

“Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.” — Plato, The Republic. Book VII. 536

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Image from fansshare.com via Google Images

Everybody knows Betty, but, not everybody knows Betty got banned for being naughty…. Today’s video is a compilation of a number of the cartoons which led to her being put on the list of entertainment thought to be TOO immoral for the American people…. and, no, I don’t know who the hell they thought they were…. But, I enjoyed the cartoons, and so will you….

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Betty Boop

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https://youtu.be/VkG9c1yy2lg

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“Everything you know is wrong.”

~~ The Firesign Theater ~~

I’m fairly certain the above quote from the ffolkes at TFT is one of the most cogent, accurate summarizations of this section I’ve come across in my reading. It’s a perfect description of the mental status of almost everyone on this planet over the age of 4 years (right about the time we begin serious interactions with the world outside our immediate family….), based on the assumption the parents of any four year old were slaves to begin with, thus passing on many of their own misguided assumptions about Reality.

Now, I could spend a long time sharing the incontrovertible evidence I’ve accumulated to support such an assumption; in fact, I’ve done so. For the past 3.8 years I’ve posted here on a daily basis, with about 60% of those posts including some sort of rant against the machine, whether of a political, religious, or philosophical nature. I’ve done my best to share what I know to be true, to give those who come to read a chance to compare what I present against their own thoughts and experience…. In all that time, nobody, and that means nobody, has ever presented any arguments suggesting any of the evidence is wrong. None.

This could mean I’m right; it could also mean nobody who disagrees ever comes to read…. My own guess is the truth lies between those two points; mostly I preach to the choir, and those who aren’t convinced to sing aren’t brave enough to argue the point…. or, some combination of factors…. It remains true, however, that what I’ve said is all true, to the best of my knowledge, so, there’s something in that, for what it’s worth….

All that being said, I’m not going to rant today, merely to give us all a break from all the bad/evil shit with which we are surrounded every day on the news…. Instead, I’ll just throw together an old-school pearl, with some random thoughts about those members of the species upon whom I heap all of my disdain and vitriol, our Beloved Ruling Class and Friends…. those silly, yet dangerous humans who prey upon their own kind…. Yes, it’s the Asininnies, all of them…. The Bankers (aka Corporate Snakeheads), Pimps (aka Human Traffickers, aka Scumbags), Politicians (aka Congenital Liars…), Preachers (aka shamans, priests, imams, etc….), Faceless Myrmidons (Police, military, spies, and wannabes…), and, of course, Mrs. Grundy ( aka Everybody’s Nosy, Bigoted, Racist, Fat-headed neighbor….).

Enjoy…. I intend to enjoy putting it together, so, y’all may as well join in the fun….

Who love too much, hate in the like extreme,
And both the golden mean alike condemn.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ The Odyssey of Homer, Book xv, Line 79 ~~

“Not every soil can bear all things.” — Virgil (19 BC)

“Who is ever secure? Every one of us searches for security. We seek it from our family, from our friends, from our pets, from strangers and from “God.” Once in a while we experience it, only to discover that it was merely an illusion. And yet we never learn that security is an impossibility. For we are only human beings.” — Chen-It Ong

“It is better for a city to be governed by a good man than by good laws.” — Aristotle

“You have to realize that the government, any government, is insane. You have to treat it the way pagans treated their gods: As an irrational, capricious,
and powerful entity which will mete out total destruction if not sacrificed to or otherwise placated.” — Mike Long (future Libertarian revolutionary)

“Any priest or shaman must be presumed guilty until proved innocent.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“Of a rich man who was niggardly he said, “That man does not own his estate, but his estate owns him.” — Diogenes Laertius — Bion, iii

“Our own age is not likely to be distinguished in history for the large numbers of people who insisted on finding the time to think. Plainly, this is not the Age of Meditative Man… Substitutes for repose are a billion dollar business. Almost daily, new antidotes for contemplation spring into being and leap out from store counters. Silence, already the world’s most critical shortage, is in danger of becoming a nasty word. Modern man may or may not be obsolete, but he is certainly wired for sound and he twitches as naturally as he breathes.” — Norman Cousins

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under ‘t.

~~ William Shakespeare ~~

~~ Macbeth — Act i, Sc. 5 ~~

To conclude, let us turn to one of the masters of metaphor, The Kwisatz Haderach (aka, Frank Herbert, author of “Dune”):

“Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife – chopping off what’s incomplete and saying: “Now it’s complete because it’s ended here.” — Muad’dib

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

Future Shocked:

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

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

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

We all weep now…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 7/22/2013.

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Today’s final old-school pearl is…. well, I’m sorry, it just IS. Beyond that, deponent sayeth naught….

On a huge hill,
Cragged & steep, Truth stands, and hee that will Reach her, about must, and
about must goe;
And what the hill’s suddenness resists, winne so.

~~ John Donne ~~

Conventional wisdom, isn’t.” — Smart Bee

“No man can purchase his virtue too dear, for it is the only thing whose value must ever increase with the price it has cost us. Our integrity is never worth so much as when we have parted with our all to keep it.” — Colton (1780-1832)

“Death, the most dreaded of evils, is therefore of no concern to us; for while we exist death is not present, and when death is present we no longer exist.” — Epicurus

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” — H. G. Wells

“Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.” — W. Somerset Maugham

“Sigh… Every day I thank my statuette of Wilma Flintstone that I was born normal.” — Zippy the pinhead

See what I mean? No word, or words, I could come up with would suffice to explain such an event. But, I digress…. I hope nobody got seriously injured on that last turn; more than three would get my insurance canceled…. Oh well, it’s fresh, and it’s all in the “for sure & for certain” category, so….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken.

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

Done. All fresh, too. Not bad for an old phart with phlat pheet and phrequent phlatulence, eh? Oops…. By the looks of the last sentence, I think it’s time to get us the hell out of here…. Next, I’ll break out in an old show tune…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can continue to find the rhythm…. Could be tough; the rhythm method is a particularly unreliable resource, in many respects…. or, so I’m told….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

She won’t start for toffy…

Posted on May 22, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods.”

~~ Socrates ~~

Ursa Major ~~ The Big Dipper

Image from Space.com

Good morning. Today’s Pearl will be an extreme cheat…. There are reasons, but, to tell you would be narcissistic, and whiny, so, we’ll just say they’re compelling enough to keep me from creating anything particularly fresh, or cogent. Neither is within my grasp today, at least, not yet…. Whether I will be able to find ANYTHING within my grasp today is an unsettled question…. Let’s get on with it, while we can….

Shall we Pearl?

“Cicero called Aristotle a river of flowing gold, and said of Plato’s Dialogues, that if Jupiter were to speak, it would be in language like theirs.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Cicero

If that’s true, then, me and Cicero, we’re mates…. Probably why we see so many of his quotes around here….

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

Since I’ve got nothing in me worth sharing, we’ll go with classical music, which fills up the spirit….. Enjoy!

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

Classical Music for Reading

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

https://youtu.be/n_0Qix6qf5g

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Today, given my brain’s status as a no-show, I thought Kokopelli would make a more appropriate opening thought than our usual Don’t Keep Calm logo; the content today is a bit more unpredictable than usual, and unpredictable is what Kokopelli is all about…. Here’s a piece from the archives, to fill in the necessary space today…. Enjoy!….

From 2/24/2014:

It seems the BRC has captured one of the world’s most dangerous drug cartel leaders, El Chapo, the Dude, of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico…. I have included below a link to the article announcing the capture, and included below that some “interesting” phrases and words used by the anonymous spokescops (who are never authorized to talk to journalists….. but, they do anyway….)…. The words italicized in bold are the ones I’d like to point out to y’all, with a comment or two about them as an addendum…. Read the story, then, we’ll talk…..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Mexico-captures-Sinaloa-cartel-boss-Chapo-Guzman-5258301.php

“He was caught with an unidentified woman, said one U.S. official, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved” in the capture…… A federal law enforcement official said intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped lead U.S. and Mexican authorities to his whereabouts…… Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists. ….. Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind….. ”

“didn’t say how authorities traced him to Mazatlan……” “A U.S. law enforcement official said members of Guzman’s security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities find him after they were arrested earlier this month. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the case by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.”….. “His arrest followed the takedown of several top Sinaloa operatives in the last few months and at least 10 mid-level cartel members in the last week. The information leading to Guzman was gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.”

Allow me to point out a few little things in this article that give us a little clue as to how things are in the REAL world, where the government has the tools to find and capture ANYONE in the entire world, by the use of their “counter-terrorism” toys, and “executive orders” and the excuse of national security to employ any and all techniques to achieve their purpose, up to, and including torture, lying at will, and the legal clearance to perform their actions in complete darkness, without any public or judicial oversight…..

“an unidentified woman, said one U.S. official, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved”

To my suspicious mind, this tells me that the US DEA and Marshalls used an undercover female operative to lure Guzman into an isolated position, where they could take him without dealing with his security forces…. which they did, perfectly…. In several articles I’ve seen, in addition to this one, the same phrase, “an unidentified woman” was used…. Now, do you you REALLY believe she is ‘unidentified’?… I don’t….

“intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped”

Gee, ya think? Homeland Security is authorized to do whatever they want…. why shouldn’t they share their technology, and some of that unlimited data they are picking up from around the world with anyone who wants it…. As long as they’re giving it to another group of their insane compatriots, they’ll share it, with pride, even glee, in their own ingenuity, never caring at all about how unethical it is….

“Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind….. ” “didn’t say how authorities traced him to Mazatlan.”

“Got wind?” Got wind? What the hell does that mean? And, since when do the police go by information they “got wind” of….. Ffolkes, somebody is hiding something here, ya think? It’s obvious they don’t want to let the public know where they are getting their information, although in this case, they give us another clue about that….

” members of Guzman’s security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities”

Gosh! That was awfully nice of those fellows…. These hard-boiled, vicious drug cartel security individuals had a complete change of heart, and shared all they knew with Mexican and US authorities, out of the goodness of those hearts, I suppose…. I think it is probably more likely that the word, and technique, “waterboarding” was brought into play, as both a threat, and in actual use… I don’t believe for a minute these guys gave up their boss without a little bit of a struggle…. They come from a culture where “machismo” is paramount, and they would not consider it very macho to talk…. hence, they were “persuaded to help”, and I don’t think the persuasive techniques used were verbal, or anything other than torture….

How do I come to that conclusion from this article? Easy…. they told us, in so many words….

“gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.”

How does one “glean” information from drug cartel security forces? I don’t think it was the promise of some Kool-Aid, ffolkes, do you?…. And, since this mouthpiece was “briefed” on the “operation”, what do YOU think he meant by “gleaned”? I do try NOT to be too naive….

This whole “broken rant” was created for the single purpose of demonstrating how the BRC uses its new toys, provided by us, to wit: you, and me, the not-quite-charmingly naive public, when we allowed them to pass those silly ass Homeland Security bullshit Acts after the 9/11 attacks…. In truth, I don’t really care much that they used it to bring down such a predator…. He was, and is, no doubt, someone we can all do without in our midst, since he insists on preying on the weak and foolish….

But, it seems to me, it was all merely an exercise of domestic discipline, as one set of vicious, insane power-hungry individuals, in the official, authorized, guise of law enforcement myrmidons of the ruling elite, tracked down and captured one of their own type of people, who had the bad taste to try to force his will on others without having the mandate of the public voting apparatus…. When one doesn’t automatically accept the bilge water that is presented to us as the truth, it is easy to see how little difference there is between those who hunted him down, and he who was hunted….

Governments have the backing of the multi-national corporations that control society, whereas the big drug cartels, rich and powerful as they may grow, are merely small businesses compared to them… and, we all know what happens to small business when a mega-corp wants to step into their marketplace…. The pharmaceutical companies don’t like the competition from street drugs, so they keep society amped up in arms against them, so their bottom line profit is not reduced to any significant degree….

The whole War on Drugs, (Y,know? It’s funny how our society’s rulers always deal with a problem by declaring War on it….Then, they throw money at it, and tell people that will make it go away…. Hmm…. how’s that working for ya?….), that has been raging in this country since the mid-1930’s, when the drug companies noticed how popular marijuana was becoming in the mainstream, is merely another example of how the real rulers in society don’t want the people to make their own decision about ANYTHING, not if whatever it is can make money for them….

(It’s why they are making their play for control of the Internet…. It’s a very real, but, still only potential, money cow…. if they can wrest control away, and start charging for access, they’ll essentially control all the information flow…. which also give them the wherewithal to censor information, before it gets TO the information cloud…. If they keep control in their corporate hands, you can kiss 75% of the Internet’s effectiveness as a social communication tool, free of interference, goodbye….)

Instead, the governments, at the urging of their corporate masters, spread outright lies and mountains of false information through their own media outlets, attempting to convince people of the dangers of (whatever), followed by the passage of legislation making any who decide for themselves into criminals in the eyes of society….. Even though, as in the case with marijuana, what they are fighting against is actually better for people than anything they have in the list of drugs they manufacture, (at a 2000% profit-margin, don’t y’know….), they decided to enlist the government’s influence over the people to make it illegal, since they had no actual way to stop people from finding and using it…. It grows EVERYWHERE on this planet, without much effort…. That’s why they call it a weed, you know?….

Okay, I’ve rambled, and ranted enough for one morning…. Ffolkes, the governments, the BRC, the Asininnies, the shadowy corporate slave masters, or, whatever label you wish to place upon those who actually rule this planet, don’t give a shit about me, or you, and they’re going to continue to do whatever they choose, just as long as we let them…. They make my life, and yours, a hundred times more difficult than it needs to be, all for the sake of maintaining control over the power, and resources, with which they are obsessed. I, for one, am tired of playing their game…. What game?….

“If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.” — Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

As far as possible, for the remainder of my life, I will be taking every opportunity I find to expose their asininity, their chicanery, their just plain evil intentions, in as loud a voice as I can muster…. I’d appreciate any help I can get in spreading that exposition around to those who need to see it…. Maybe, just maybe, if I can get this idea into the heads of enough reasonably intelligent people, we all will figure out it is time to stop them…. Then, we can join forces, to create of a large enough repository of the power of human will to overcome the physical entrenchments that have already been put into place, for their protection against that very thing….

With enough people, of good loving heart and infinite compassion, all putting their force of will behind whatever we decide is necessary, I’m sure it would be more than enough to turn the tide, and, in the process, maybe, just maybe, we’ll save our own sorry asses from the depredations we have allowed them to perpetrate in our name…..

“For me, all I can do is spit in the eye of my fears by living each day with as much passion and commitment as possible to what truly counts, such as love and justice. To give the into the fear and hopelessness would be to declare defeat, something I am not ready to do while there is still the will to struggle.” — Lawrence Paradis

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I’ve read poetry all my life, more so at some times than others, but, it’s always been there, a part of the beauty I seek to include in my life…. When I find a poet I like, I am not shy about saying so; that’s why the ffolkes who frequent this blog, a hardy lot, to be sure, end up seeing a lot of Emily Dickinson, Keats, Pope. and other classic poets. I also, occasionally, include on from the poets I’ve discovered hidden here on WordPress. There are several excellent poets, and, “MaggieMaeijustsaythis” is one of the finest….

She recently began writing in a ‘sort of’ new style; it’s very similar to her previous work, but, it’s also different, with more scope, and more freedom, it seems… Here is another of her latest, posted just a day or two ago…. Y’all should go bookmark her site, and buy her book(s); someday, she will be known around the entire English-speaking world, should we humans survive the next fifty years or so…. Any who, forget that, just, enjoy…. Oh, be prepared for some reality, ffolkes….

Doctor, Tell Me

I am going to be. Here,
in a sticky womb,
a living room made for
madness; a sautéed fanciness.

The feast is being set,
just above the chandelier,
they call me by number,
my tattooed slumber calls.

White isn’t always padded
or strapped. Most likely
it only surrounds
the dark blue ring
around the sunburst I look at.

I think I am a painting.
Rembrandt is too gross, but
Picasso, he is enough mystery
to create me.
Half of me sprawls across the cold,
I wait for night-watch to
twist me back to form.

The other girl squats in the corner.
I smell feces and antifreeze.
Do I dream? Can I dissect the fumes of
the dead?
Her charred body crawls toward me,
she removes her teeth.
Everything glitters like a shadow.

Then, I am here. In the morning.
It isn’t the sun that tells me,
but the number, tattooed to
my skull.

Doctor, tell me, has Picasso gone home?

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/05/21/doctor-tell-me/

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One of the reasons for cheating today is Smart Bee…. Yesterday, it decided to take a dump, figuratively; no matter how many times I uninstalled & reinstalled the program, it wouldn’t act right… I gave up, and am hoping it will work this morning when I install it yet again… If it does, fine, we’ll get a fresh pearl out of it, if I have to use whips and chains…. If not, well, we’ll dip into the archives, which you’ll know because I’ll tell you the date it was first posted…. Go figure…. Enjoy, ffolkes, whatever we end up with….. The first pearls you’ll see are the last I got out of SB before it crapped out….

Aww, wasn’t that cute? SB gave me a joke quote to start today’s search, perfect as the opener for this batch, even though it has nothing to do with the other parameters of the search…. It just…. fits…

Run out of taglines: (A)bort (R)eread (S)teal

~~Smart Bee ~~

Okay, SB. go ahead & steal them; we don’t care, as long as we get a pearl out of it….

He not busy being born

Is busy dying.

~~ Bob Dylan ~~

“In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing.” — Antonio Porchia, Voces

“A candour affected is a dagger concealed.” — Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) — Meditations, book 9.

“The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is, and that’s all it needs to be.” — Smart Bee

“Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” — Robert Frost

“Life is not an exact science, it is an art.” — Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

“If we lose affection and kindness from our life, we’ve lost all that gives it charm.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Not bad…. Not bad at all…. Plus, you will note, please, as predicted in the intro section, we once again see Cicero at the ending….

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Well, that worked out fairly well. Since I’m NOT going to do it over, y’all get it just as it is…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, hopefully with a bit more pizazz to offer…. At least I got Smart Bee back on deck…. Ta, then, luvs….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

There arose a great tumult….

Posted on May 17, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge;

and one only evil, namely, ignorance.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, xiv ~~

Image by Manish Mamtani from Space.com

http://www.manishmamtani.com/

Good morning…. It’s a good thing I came up with the new method for these intros; on days such as this, when my mind is a vast, blank plain, without even the smallest of shiny objects, anywhere to be seen…. Instead of worrying over it, we’ll merely go on to the next section, knowing we’re covered…. See ya down the page, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.” — Mark Twain

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yakko__wakko__and_dot_by_slomoto-d5qotz9

Image from slowmoto at deviantart.com via Google Free Images

Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, the Warner Brothers (and Sister), are the only modern cartoon I like; they hearken back to a crazier age…. Just my cuppa tea, so to speak…. Here’s a playlist with a LOT of their cartoons…. Enjoy!….

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Yakko, Wakko, & Dot

The Animaniacs

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https://youtu.be/DVyo7FuU4pU?list=PLorl-IXETJHEfkP2oSc0tNvFtRlaXBmrL

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“Do you ever think about the end of the world as we know it?”

~~ Calvin ~~

I do…. It can be a rather daunting task to carry any such examinations to a final conclusion, for, most of the time, my calculations put us humans much closer to our own moment of truth, as a species, than anyone cares to either admit, or address, without panicking, laying blame, or, attempting to minimize the truth, to make it more palatable. From what I see happening in today’s world, both on the environmental, and the psychosocial/political/cultural fronts, it isn’t going to be long at all before we are faced with a number of severe crises, all of which will threaten our very survival as a species, or, as a civilized culture, should we be fortunate enough to survive at all….

In a general sense, I’m not certain we deserve to survive. Human history is little more than a long litany of sorrow, pain, death, and abuse of our fellow creatures, including the weakest members of our own species. Wars, political chicanery, more wars…. history is rife with Man’s inhumanity to Man, and to the other creatures with whom we share the planet. We have killed whenever we felt like it, for as little reason as the desire for power, a sickness afflicting a significant portion of the male half of the species. Nothing more than personal wants are considered sufficient reason for some to take and take and take, never considering the effects of their actions on any other living thing, nor caring….

Yet, there is good in life. A great many people are compassionate, and live to serve others, at least to the extent they love. There are a great many intelligent people, who have plumbed the secrets of the physical universe, bringing the advantages of the power of imagination to ease the lives of many others, as well as to help provide the species with the time to explore the limits of that imagination…. Art, Philosophy, Medicine, Music, all the finer characteristics of an advancing civilization have been created by the same creatures who kill for fun…. We are, for certain, a creature of great contrast; Our nature, quite naturally, mirrors the nature of reality, to wit: both good and evil coexist, as two sides of one coin, at the very core of both…

This leads, patently, to some confusion, especially in those members of our species whose power of imagination, and basic wit, are not sufficient to allow them to fully understand this concept. (Yes, I just called a lot of people “stupid”. I was trying to be nice….) This, of course, leads to a basic misunderstanding of their own nature; some people have a lot of trouble with the ambiguity that naturally exists in nature. It frightens them, as does anything they do not understand…. This fatal flaw allows them to be manipulated by any other person they have learned to trust, accepting the thoughts of others as their reality, rather than learning to face their fear, to learn what they do not know. Learning is hard; faith is easy…

“The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.” — H. L. Mencken

I admire H. L. Mencken; he wrote at the turn of the twentieth century, some time after the time called the Industrial Revolution had come to pass, solidifying technology as the primary focus of society in its advance, while simultaneously witnessing the usurpation of our democracy by the corruption of the Judicial Branch, which, bribed almost openly by corporate interests, passed laws cementing the control of the oligarchs, who now had the reins of government, industry, and the economy firmly grasped in their fat, avaricious fingers….. H. L. was fearless in pointing this out to the society of the time…. Did anyone listen? Apparently, not much….

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

Sound familiar? George Orwell’s novel, “1984”, detailing the horrors of the possible future of mankind, should the current cultural trends continue, was published in the mid-twentieth century, in 1949, many years after Mencken’s comments. Today, society does not look much different from the one proposed by Orwell; it’s been said that, of the more than one hundred predictions made in the book regarding society, ALL of them have come to pass…. I can believe it; anyone who doesn’t can just read the news headlines for a couple days to find graphic proof of how true it is….

“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” — Isaac Asimov

As far as I can tell, this is obvious. Yet, we continue to use the same old methods of problem solving so poorly used for millennia; sometimes I think the whole species is insane, for it doesn’t make any sense to keep using ideas and actions that don’t work…. SIGH…. It’s really frustrating to think of how stupid people act a lot of the time, especially when I know that stupidity is a choice….

Oh well…. such is life, they say. I’m tired of hearing it, but, what can ya do? Not much. In fact, for right now, I’m so damn depressed over the state of the world, I’m going to STOP ranting, and go do something more fun… You should do the same…

Go on… Find something constructive to do, ffolkes…. Go on, I mean it….. We’re done here…..

“He was a man, which, as Plato saith, is a very inconstant creature.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

~~ On the Tranquility of the Mind ~~

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As noted, I’ve had quite a bit of pain lately; s’okay. We’ve become old friends, me & my pain…. Here’s a poem I wrote another time I felt this way for a while….

Elemental, dear Watson….

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

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

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

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

Fuck.

It
hurts.

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

He isn’t?
Oh,
Well….

Ante up.
Deal.

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

I say,

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

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

because

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

I
will
take the complaints.

After all,
they
are
my bones.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/14/2014.

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

Today’s old-school pearl speaks very simply of life, and some of the rules, and/or ideas to remember, to help us to live it well….

“Do every act of your life as if it were your last.” — Marcus Aurelius

“Custom does often reason overrule and only serves for reason to the fool.” — John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

“Often when he was looking on at auctions he would say, “How many things there are which I do not need!” — Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, x

“Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness.” — Lao-Tzu

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.” — Clive James

“You live and learn. Or you don’t live long.” — Lazarus Long

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

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

What an ordeal!…. Actually, it went fairly smoothly, even if Smart Bee was in a snit…. None of it matters now, of course, as we’re done. Having done all the damage I can do for one day, I’ll take my leave, to gather my resources so I can try again tomorrow, to fulfill my never-ending quest to create the perfect Pearl of Virtual Wisdom…. As today’s episode indicates clearly, we have a ways to go…. 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….

Paradigms, pundits, and puffy plebes….

Posted on April 25, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All men are born naked.”

~~ Carlos Eduardo Novaes ~~

The International Space Station

After performing the morning ritual sacrifice, which involves no loss of life for any creature larger than a microbe, I sat to begin composing today’s Pearl. At that point, I realized the futility of my task, and wept….

Of course, then I awoke, got out of bed, having again dreamed away most of the angst needed to rant, & began the routine which would take me to this juncture with a bright, inquisitive mind, and a healthy body…. That, of course, also failed in its ultimate task, as it was bound to do, having been a complete lie to begin with…. To be honest, it’s been a long time since I worried about a healthy body (another little white lie, but, bear with me… this isn’t easy, you know….), or, for that matter, a healthy mind. I do what I can, with this blog, to maintain at least an outward aspect of sanity, but, in sooth, who gives a shit?….

That having been made crystal clear, at last, I could easily go on to bigger and better things. However, I believe I’ll finish this blog instead…. On that oddly comforting note, I will use my executive authority to get us where we need to be…. Luigi, fire up the engines; we’re going in…. Y’all should probably put on the body armor today; it’s a new area of the oyster beds, and it hasn’t been thoroughly cleaned of all threats yet. Don’t worry, it’s safe especially if compared to any major city streets…. Besides, the only predators allowed walk on two legs, so, they’re easy to spot….

Shall we Pearl?

“All the secrets we may be able to keep from any and every god and human being do not in the least absolve us from the obligation to refrain from whatever actions are greedy, unjust, sensual, or otherwise immoderate.” — Cicero, On Duties

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

I’ve always enjoyed a capella music; it always impresses me to hear the sounds the human voice can make…. It seems this artist, Peter Hollens, has made himself a nice little career out of producing excellent covers of good music, using his voice as the sole instrument to create ALL the sounds of the various instruments needed to produce the sound he wants, and achieves, very well…. Excellent artistry, to be sure, and well worth a listen… Enjoy!….

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

Lord of the Rings ~~ In Dreams

Peter Hollens

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

http://youtu.be/gyY3Op47Uto

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

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

Today’s rant(ish) section is another blast from the past, since my angst seems to have decided to hide. This one is an odd little pearl, but, pretty good, all in all…. Enjoy!….

From 9/0/2013:

“An Irishman is not drunk as long as he can hang onto a single blade of grass and not fall off the face of the earth.” — Smart Bee

Okay, so this really isn’t a pearl…. but, it IS about the funniest mental image I can imagine; I literally burst out with a guffaw when I first read this, and almost lived up to the text meme, ROFLMAO…. Since I am taking off in just a couple of hours, this has to be a relatively quick creative process, so, for this first section, I’ll go with an old school pearl, a harlequin random variety, which is the quickest to come together, even though it is also generally the most obscure type…. go figure, eh?…. Let’s see what SB has for us today…..

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” — Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844-1900)

“I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time the difference between idea and reality. It is by this kind of observation that we grow daily less liable to be disappointed.” — Samuel Johnson (Boswell: Life of Johnson)

“Regrets and complaints about relations are to be attributed to the same cause, which is not old age, but men’s characters and tempers; for he who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but for someone with the opposite deposition, youth and old age are equally a burden.” — Plato,_The Republic_, Book 1

“Just as there are laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.” — Spider Robinson

“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” — Albert Einstein

“If you want to know all about the sea, you go and ask a sailor, or a marine biologist, or an oceanographer, and they can tell you a lot about the sea. But if you go and ask the sea itself, what does it say? Grumble, grumble, swish swish. It is too busy being itself to know anything about itself.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

“Hello. Just walk along and try NOT to think about your INTESTINES being almost FORTY YARDS LONG!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Brilliant…. just brilliant….. I am humbled in the face of greatness…. Okay, I’ll explain this one, because it’s turned itself into an important pearl…. First, look at all of the first six, one after another, then consider them together. Try to imagine living your life according to the precepts implied in the statements….. Then, add in the last one, but, don’t allow it to color any of the others, merely append it as an example of what the first one is gives us, if we only let it….

Don’t fret if it doesn’t gel for you…. it’s all good, and tomorrow’s another day…..

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

There is a new poem circling around in my head; I can feel it percolating. Since I couldn’t persuade it to come out yet, here is one from the archives, to tickle your fancy…. or not…. I like it….

Penance, Made Simple

After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.

Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.

Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.

Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.

Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Socrates

This is rather a unique pearl…. It started out as a typical old-school pearl, with loose parameters, when I had a few free moments yesterday; within one minute, ALL of the following 13 pearls came up, with only a few in between them. When it was clear Smart Bee was done, I arranged them slightly differently than they came up, to fit the obvious conclusion…. All of these are me….

All are quotes I’ve tried to make part of my world-view, in one way, or one meaning, or another, at one time or another, for most of my life… I can’t say I’ve always been successful, except at the bozoid parts, but, I’ve worked hard at most of it…. Enjoy this little slice of gigoidness, ffolkes, if you wish…. Or, just, take ’em as they are, all good pieces of advice on how to get through life with more than the minimum required…. Naturally, 13 has always been my lucky number….

“He declared that he knew nothing, except the fact of his ignorance.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Socrates, xvi ~~

“Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus (Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon)” — Hogwarts School Motto — J. K. Rowling

“Good generally conquers evil. Unless, of course, good is stupid.” — Smart Bee, echoing gigoid’s experience closely

“Hear twice before you speak once.” — The Ancient Genius, aka, anonymous

“I didn’t yield to temptation. I came to a complete stop.” — Smart Bee, approved by gigoid as perfectly self-descriptive

“Success has ruined many a good man.” — Smart Bee, and many ancient and modern sages

“Success is women you don’t even know walking around your house.” — Saturday Night Live

“Learning is the best of all wealth; it is easy to carry, thieves cannot steal it, the tyrants cannot seize it; neither water nor fire can destroy it; and far from decreasing, it increases by giving.” — Naladiyar (c.5th-6th century) Tamil ethical literature

“The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adaptation, the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable, to harmonize with existing or changing conditions.” — Dave E. Smalley

“A tautologically redundant plethora of surplusage.” — Smart Bee, s/a

“When washing your face, can you see your true self? When walking, can you feel the rotation of heaven? When speaking are your words without guile?
When you shop are you aware of your needs? When you meet the suffering, do you help? When you meet conflict, do you work toward harmony?” — Deng Ming-Dao

“Life is silly but should be taken seriously.” — Smart Bee, approved by gigoid, again

Don’t ask me where I’m going,
Just listen when I’m gone
And far away you’ll hear me singing
softly to the dawn

~~ Pippin ~~

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

I can’t say this Pearl came together perfectly, but, it was close. Given the handicaps under which I’m operating, I’m content with it. Since that is the ONLY requirement necessary, we’re done here…. So be it; gigoid has spoken. 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….

Turnips & aquavit; breakfast of champions….

Posted on April 21, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Nothing in human affairs is worth any great anxiety.”

~~ Plato ~~

Afternoon sun shines

brightly through the pepper tree.

Beauty strikes at will.

~~ gigoid ~~

Oh, no! Just when I thought I had this figured out, I get up to find myself again confronted by a vast white space, with nothing worth writing to be found anywhere in my mind…. Scary, and frustrating, since I had achieved a bit of success at getting them done in a timely fashion…. Y’know what, ffolkes? I’m not even going to fuss with it at all. The damn screen up here can remain blank, for all I care. I’m going to be as ruthless as I’ve ever been, even counting the time I…. no, I probably shouldn’t share that. The statute of limitations hasn’t passed yet. Ah well… Any who, I think we’ll just end this right here, before we get fully started, and before this gets any stranger than it already is…. Luigi, get us out of here!….

Shall we Pearl?

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

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

Image from elvinbishipmusic.com via Google Free Images

One of this artist’s peers once said of him, “He’s ain’t good lookin’, but he sure can play.” Elvin Bishop’s primary source of fun in life was playing music on stage; one could tell that by the constant grin on his face as he played. No other artist I ever saw in a live performance consistently gives his all for his fans onstage like Elvin; I’ve been to see him in a lot of different venues, and it is ALWAYS a great time…. In fact, I’m thinking of making his song, Travelin’ Shoes, my theme song…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it doesn’t get any better than this for live music….

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

Elvin Bishop ~~ Travelin’ Shoes 1975 BBC

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

https://youtu.be/nn43E7GXHwY

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

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

Le Penseur ~~ August Rodin

A short, but, potent rant from the intro section of the Pearl posted on 10/5/2013:

Unbeknownst to the remainder of the world, I struggle, here in the dark of the morning, waging war with the always-present, never-sleeping, force of evil, that the world calls Bob, or sometimes, Steve-a-rino….. No matter what name we use, by any other token, they are very, very bad evils, whether in their initial, merely bloody, sharp-sword incarnation, or if they’ve gone into complete chainsaw mode. Either way, somebody is in for a world of hurt….

“What the hell is he babbling about now?”, is probably the foremost question in your mind(s) right now…. (I know, assuming that more than one mind currently reading this is being, perhaps, too hopeful…. My readership has taken a severe dip lately….)…. I’m babbling because, hey, it’s what I’m best at, and nothing else seemed as if it was going to get me down the road toward a real Pearl, so, I just went with it…. It’s not as if y’all had gotten accustomed to a more elegant format around here, now, is it? No, we’ve been stuck in bourgeois mode for quite some time now, with no real change of venue in sight…

Not that there’s anything wrong with being bourgeois; it’s only when we start trying to break into proletariat mode trouble begins, as it always does in such cases….. The human animal, though it always seems to fall into some form of hierarchical society, seems to function most efficiently when categories such as bourgeois, proletarian, or any others based on financial worth, are NOT used to determine one’s relative place in society…. The only truly honorable form would be a society where one’s social standing was based solely on how much one gave back to that society…. This, however, is mere speculation, since no human society has ever been structured in such a manner that it could be considered as “honorable”…..

Society has always been structured to favor those with the most resources under their control, which is why we are seeing the issues we now have to deal with, as the effects of entropy over time wear away at the foundations upon which it is built. Money is an artificial concept, not really a part of reality, other than as we humans perceive it to be, and therefore, only has the importance that we place on it. Making it the primary social factor that determines how high up in society one rises in the estimation of peers is destined to become a problem, as human nature tends not to share very well…. in short, people get greedy, and hoard all the resources (money) to themselves, ensuring their own place, and keeping others in a place lesser than their own….

Politicians, bless their black, lying, little hearts, would have us believe we live in a classless society, that everyone is equal, and has equal rights…. Well, ffolkes, guess what?…. That’s just another of their ubiquitous lies, and society isn’t like that at all…. At every level, built in prejudices and misconceptions, guided and kept true by unseen, but iron-clad cliches, color people’s viewpoint with the brush of discrimination, based on how much money a person makes, or what color their skin may be, or where they were born, or whether or not they stand up to pee…

People use a myriad ways to decide that other people aren’t as good as they are, all of which are lies; all of those thousands of prejudices are taught by, enforced by, and continuously enabled by the BRC, our Beloved Ruling Class, who believes their place at the top of society is inherently theirs. Given this long-held delusion, and the fact that it has held sway over the rest of society for over ten thousand years, it seems clear they have no intention of ever relinquishing that place to anyone else….

Oops, it happened again, didn’t it? I fell right into another opening rant, never realizing what I was up to until I was a thousand words down the pike… I guess it’s okay; I don’t see any casualties, other than my own readership’s numbers, so, apparently nobody was standing close enough to get hit by the flying shrapnel….. The fact that there ARE no casualties is not necessarily a good thing, you know….. a couple of bodies would at least indicate that there is SOMEONE reading this stuff, but, I guess my ego doesn’t really need THAT kind of proof…. It’s all a wash anyhow, as I ran out of lime and sulfuric acid, and I’d have a hard time disposing of the corpses… so, it’s just as well….

On that note, I think I’d best get on with it…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“By space the universe encompasses and swallows me up like a dot; by thought I encompass the Universe.” — Pascal, Pensees, n. 265

“To sit silently, and look wise, is not to be compared to drinking sake and making a riotous shouting.” — Ono No Tabitu

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

I found this poem from e.e. cummings hiding in Smart Bee, whereupon it was instantly chosen for today’s poetry section, because, hey, good stuff. The Kokopelli adornment above just seems appropriate; if the reason for that is unclear, I suggest googling the name for some background….

Most simply put, according to the Navajo/Hopi beliefs about Reality, Kokopelli is a spirit form, which they see as a very basic part of everything, a representation of one of the eternal principles they saw in the world; in this case, of Entropy, in flesh form…. Coyote, the Trickster is one of the manifestations of his spirit; sometimes seen as his companion, other times he is a shape-shifter who assumes coyote form… One can never tell what the Trickster might be up to in Reality, so, it’s well to plan for his presence….

jake hates
   all the girls(the
shy ones, the bold paul scorns all
ones; the meek           the girls(the
proud sloppy sleek) bright ones, the dim
all except the cold ones; the slim
     ones plump tiny tall)
    all except the
           dull ones
gus loves all the
   girls(the
warped ones, the lamed mike likes all the girls
ones; the mad      (the
moronic maimed)   fat ones, the lean
all except   ones; the mean
   the dead ones kind dirty clean)
    all
       except the green ones

~~ e e cummings ~~

Hmm…. I may have chosen better than I knew… It occurs to me, perhaps Mr. Cummings wasn’t talking about girls, at all…. ya think? Bears thinking about, I’d say….

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

Today’s final pearl, in my mind, is pretty obviously a recipe…. Any ideas as to the dish it describes? Feel free to comment below….

“Each of us bears his own Hell.” — Publius Maro

“We are all captives of the pictures in our heads.” — Walter Lippmann

“I’m the one who’s got to die when its time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.” — Jimi Hendrix

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.” — Hermann Hesse, _Demian_, 1919

“I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.” — G.K. Chesterton

“There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life: “Know thyself”, and “Nothing too much”; and upon these all other precepts depend.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Consolation to Apollonius

“If a man remembers what is right at the sign of profit, is ready to lay down his life in the face of danger, and does not forget sentiments he has repeated all his life when he has been in straitened circumstances for a long time, he may be said to be a complete man.” — Confucius — Analects, XIV.12

When I ‘m not thank’d at all, I ‘m thank’d enough;
I ‘ve done my duty, and I ‘ve done no more.

~~ Henry Fielding (1707-1754) ~~

~~ Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 3 ~~

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

Since I managed to begin with alacrity, I shall end the same way. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, with the usual caveat…. to wit: as long as I remain at liberty….

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….

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

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

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….

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

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

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

https://youtu.be/AIUKUghqK08

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

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

“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.

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

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 ~~

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

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

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

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….

Damn! The rabbit didn’t die, it ran away!…

Posted on April 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He bids fair to grow wise who has discovered that he is not so.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 598 ~~

Four-day old calf with Mama

Image by Fabrice Guerin – Barcroft Media

National Geographic Award Winner

It seems my new routine includes more sleep; this is certainly welcome, but, complicates the routine, to fit it into a schedule two hours later than previously used. Ah, well, so much for consistency; it isn’t good to maintain TOO much of it, lest one become hidebound, and lose the flexibility of mind which leads to a more successful approach to living, than confining oneself to a single frame of reference…

There, is that esoteric enough for y’all? I thought I’d try something a bit different, but, I’m not sure it’ll work more than once. Oh, well, such is life in the blogging world. Events in the BBR kept me busy yesterday, right up to this morning’s late starting time, so, I didn’t get much of this done ahead of time. That’s okay, I’m getting pretty good at cheating, sad to say. It certainly is handy, though. I wonder why I never thought of it before? Probably something to do with how my dad would fry my butt if I made a habit of it. He’d allow such abrogation of duty once, for good reason, but, twice, to him, indicated a burgeoning pattern, and he’d soon inform us of the error of our ways….

Nonetheless, it will get us to where we want to be, and leave me with clean hands, for the most part. You may want to tighten your shoelaces, and your safety belts. The new, ruthless methods I’ve decided to adopt here in the intro have been causing a bit of consternation amongst the guests, so I’m giving fair warning…. In fact, y’all should do it NOW, because we going in, NOW….

Shall we Pearl?

“The high-spirited man may indeed die, but he will not stoop to meanness. Fire, though it may be quenched, will not become cool.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)

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

For this morning, a little blues, I think…. Here is a joint studio session with two of the very best blues guitarists who ever lived. Stevie is gone, but, Albert remains…. Enjoy, ffolkes…..

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

Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan — In Session 2010 1983

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

https://youtu.be/gZB57b3lPQE

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

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

Image stolen from Talesfromtheconspiratum.com

He won’t mind…

“Nothing’s ever really changed. What difference does it make whether it’s the Corporate state or the Nation state? In our struggle for freedom we still find ourselves fighting the state.” — Jay Terpstra

I think this is a great pearl upon which to base a rant. Unfortunately, I have neither the time, nor, currently, the inclination to create a fresh one. So, here’s one that should fit from the archives…. Enjoy!….

From 3/12/2012, amended 3/28/2013:

“I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” — Will Rogers

I was going to use this as a springboard for another rant on our beloved ruling class….. But, the more I thought about it, the longer it percolated in my brain, the sadder I grew….

I used to feel a lot of love for my country, if for nothing else, because of the dream of liberty and human empowerment that our system of government was envisioned, and intended, to create, and maintain. The founding fathers had a vision, of a country where every man and woman had the same opportunities, to live their lives as they chose, as every other person, without censure, and without the fear of being persecuted for their beliefs, no matter how different they were from everyone else’s. A dream of a place where children could grow up without the fear of hunger, or abuse, or death from the skies. A place where a man, or a woman, was respected for just being human, without having to prove their worth to some ignorant asshole who is afraid of any color skin but their own.

Instead, we live in a society whose diverse segments have an extreme, and sadly justified, mistrust of each other, where the rich and powerful, instead of uplifting their fellow man, use their influence and wealth to divide and discriminate, always with the intention of keeping the less fortunate in a powerless state, too downtrodden to even hope for better.

We live in a society that ignores its elderly, and abuses its children; a society where people are starving amidst mountains of food. We have a produced a culture that glorifies war, and sees peaceful coexistence as weakness; a culture where it is a crime for a man to kill another for honor, but is praised for being part of an army of professional killers. This country has reached the sad point in its history where the twin concepts of honor and duty have been supplanted as the basis of our national character, replaced by the glaring presence of avarice, false entitlement, and expediency.

Yes, I am saddened by Will’s joke, because it cuts far too close to reality, and home…..

From today, 3/28/2014:

“They scream into my ears,
But what they say will only make me deaf.”

— Claus Larsen
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“It’s hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” — Calvin, Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes

Jimmy Swaggert, and the other 5 or 6 televangelists who regularly get caught literally with their pants down come immediately to mind for a list of potential recipients of divine extermination intervention…….

Newt Gingrich, along with a large number of his cohorts in Congress, obviously, for congenital lying, and excessive sliminess….

Rick Santorum, because I can’t imagine an entity as smart as God is reputed to be to let this ….. person…. (I believe using the word “person” is being kind, but, we’ll give the benefit of doubt for the time being, for expedience… See, even I fall prey to that failure of ethics…), well, I don’t think He will let him speak in his Name for long, not without exacting some price….. (I’ve heard that divine price-tag can be a bit heavy….)….

Twitt Romney, that elitist asshole…..

…. and, finally, as Yul Brynner stated so beautifully in his only attempt to sing on film: “Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…..” to which I would add, “and a cast of thousands, ad nauseam infinitum…..”

I suppose it also says something less than admirable about the media to note, much, even MOST of the crap to which we are exposed, by the members of the (supposed) fifth column, consists, in the main, of reports on the activities of the LEAST admirable examples of our species, who, unfortunately, are the ones who make for salable news…. These newsworthy individuals provide the material that will pay for the advertising costs, so the shadowy corporate masters are satisfied that we will hear about the latest, greatest new products, each of which fills some previously unknown manufactured need.

The most lucrative subject matter, the stories that sell the most papers, or comprises the material for the most successful TV shows, as it turns out, is an endless variety of dramatic fantasy, describing in intimate detail, all of the stupidest, most egregious examples of the insane antics of a seemingly limitless number of the WORST of humanity…. Loud, perverted, fanatic religious zealots (aka preachers….), unprosecuted criminals wearing power suits and ties, (aka politicians….), and a parade of sports and entertainment figures with an average IQ of 77 (actors, actresses, ball players, and police myrmidons)…. These are the current examples of “famous celebrities” we are supposed to fawn over, to use as our idols for emulation…. at least, if we are to believe what we see on the TV (total vacuum)….

I often feel a sense of despair after reading the news…. fortunately, I have WordPress to alleviate any dangerous build-up of bile….. but, all-too-often, it sure makes me wish for a few well-placed bolts of lightning to provide some comic relief, at least…..

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From today, 3/28/2014:

“Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

Well, that was certainly confusing, eh? Maybe, just maybe, evolution is a good thing…. ya think?….

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From today, 4/1/2015: Well, that was fun. I think. Let’s go on, shall we?….

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

I’ve taken the time, late as I am, to find a poem by someone else, appropriate to the day, just cuz I’m a nice guy….

A Caution To Everybody

Consider the auk;

Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.

Consider man, who may well become extinct

Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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

Lao Tzu

Today’s old-school pearl is one I like to call an advice pearl. It speaks in general ways about how we can live, if we wish to live in peace, in connection to the world, and others, and, how to look at the world with eyes that see clearly…. In short, how to live a life well-lived…. by anyone’s standards….

“It is by not always thinking of yourself, if you can manage it, that you might somehow be happy. Until you make room in your life for someone as important to you as yourself, you will always be searching and lost …” — Spoken by Leslie Parrish, The Bridge Across Forever, by Richard Bach

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” — Mark Twain

“If you can see a thing whole… it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives…But close up, a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. You need distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful the earth is, is to see it as the moon. The way to see how beautiful a life is, is to see it from the vantage point of death.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, Dispossessed

“Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward.” — William E. Davidsen

“And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.” — Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet”

“Nobody can have the soul of me. My mother has had if, and nobody can have it again. Nobody can come into my very self again, and breathe me like an atmosphere.” — D. H. Lawrence

“Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly world may make upon you, for their censures are not in your power, and consequently should not be any part of your concern.” — Epictetus

“Go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows.” — Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters to a Young Poet

“As for courage and will – we cannot measure how much of each lies within us, we can only trust there will be sufficient to carry through trials which may lie ahead.” — Andre Norton

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

You may see me tonight with an illegal smile.
It don’t cost very much, but it lasts a long while.
Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t hurt anyone.
No, I’m just trying to have me some fun.

~~ John Prine ~~

Well, there you have it. Another fine Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, brought to you today by the number 61, and the letter Q. Don’t ask. Now that I’ve fulfilled the regulations set upon us by the gods of blogging, such as they are, I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as nobody catches me…

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….

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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Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Plato

Is this the unused receipt line?…

Damn! The rabbit didn’t die, it ran away!…

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