No, thanks, it’s already limp…

Posted on August 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Nothing is more dangerous than an idea…. if it’s the only one you’ve got.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Whither bound, mariner?

West by west, against the tide…

Good morning…. Welcome to ECR, and, the creation of today’s Pearl…. Bolstered as we are by the boon of an appreciable period of time in the arms of Morpheus, big plans have been formulated, none of which, naturally, will ever see the light of day. We’re up, though, and reasonably well-rested, having had almost enough sleep to require TWO hands on which to count the hours…. Almost….

It will have to do, though, and, we are grateful for what we were blessed to receive…. Hell, it only took three hours of chewing, swallowing, pacing, and twitching, along with about $200 worth of marginally illegal drugs to get it, but, hey, who’s counting, right? Not us…. Just kidding, of course; we’d never consider using illegal drugs for anything….. Well, anything other than emergency backup, anyway. One can never be sure one is getting what is promised on the street…. Of course, the very same can be said of what we get from pharmaceutical companies, can’t it? I don’t think I trust their good intentions any more than I do my local street dealer…. At least I know where to find him if I have an issue….

Too snarky? No? Good. We wouldn’t want to get stuck in snarky-mode this early, though, it’s not a bad idea sometimes. A bit of erudite caricature, combined with some snide realism, can make for a funny segment…. But, since we’re already dealing with being stuck in the royal “we”, perhaps we’ll not go into any of that…. Obviously, we are already confused. We have no clue why we are stuck here, but, we’re doing as well as we can…. Perhaps if,…. No, better not. Never mind.

Clearly, the process of putting together a fresh Pearl is going to be a bit of a struggle, given the apparent handicaps under which we are obviously ~~struggling~~ operating…. A mind too clear, a perceptive-mode tilted about 20º off plumb, and, a daunting view of vast vistas of blank white space, may just be more than we are prepared to cope with; we can do no less than try our best, though, for it is our chosen duty…. SIGH….

That being the case, perhaps we’d best be on our way…. Luigi, if you please…. You know what to do….

Shall we Pearl?….

When the dream came, I held my breath with my eyes closed.
I went insane, like a smoke ring day when the wind blows.

~~ Neil Young ~~

~~ “On My Way Home”, Buffalo Springfield ~~

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One of the very first videos I chose to post here, once I figured out how to do it on WP, is/was this one. It is also one of the best concerts, ever, in my opinion, offering a joyous blend of music from East and West, with some of the finest musicians alive, playing their hearts out in memory of one of their friends…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do…..

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Concert for George

Royal Albert Hall ~ 2002

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https://youtu.be/LG5EdoxBVt0

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Before beginning this blog on WordPress, in August of 2011, I wrote for a site called GoodBlogs. The rant below is one I wrote for them; technically it’s theirs, but, I wrote it, so I figure I can use it when I want, law be damned. I’m an American, and, damn it, I can make decisions according to selfish expediency if I want; everyone else does it, because it’s been a valid excuse for humans since cave days…. Besides, I’m lazy, and didn’t feel like ranting today…. Enjoy, it’s a precursor of a lot of what I’ve written here on WP…. sort of an embryo rant, so to speak….

Written 7/17/2011:

How Seriously Twisted People Stole Your Votes

“It’s said that ‘power corrupts’, but, actually, it’s more true to say power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.” — David Brin, The Postman

Is it just me, or does anyone else out there feel this country is being hijacked toward a future we never contemplated, one in which we have increasingly fewer and fewer rights? Since the advent of the Patriot Act back in 2001, we, the American people, have had a significant percentage of our liberties curtailed by the backlash of fear that gripped the country at that time. Without a whimper or any sound of protest, we have allowed the government to abrogate several of the freedoms that the founding fathers attempted to secure for us, including rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution. Ironically, it is purportedly done all in the name of “homeland security”. I thought “homeland security” was guaranteed for us by the Bill of Rights, which gave us the right bear arms. A 12-gauge over-and-under Winchester is all the “homeland security” I need.

Now, I know some folks will ask, “well, but what about terrorists?” My answer would be, one can only be terrorized if they give control over their emotions to someone else. When I first heard about the attacks taking place on 9/11, I too felt a moment of fear, along with the anguish and sadness that came with the reports of casualties. But fear passes, always, whereupon, reflection allowed my reason to re-assert control. When we allow our fears to dictate our actions, we are acting out of weakness, not strength. Acting out of fear can only exacerbate what is already an unstable situation.

In my estimation, this loss of liberties can, unfortunately, be laid right in our own laps. The American public, over the last century, and into this one, has consistently voted for people (men and women) who lie to us without remorse. Every president we’ve had since 1950 has lied to the American public; this is a documented fact, not a supposition. Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson, Reagan, Clinton, Bush I, Bush II, Obama; all of them have been caught in lies, reported in the news (you’ll note Mr. Carter was not included; he may be the best man we’ve ever had in that position. It’s too bad that the rest of our government was made to look bad in comparison; his integrity was unforgivable to them, so, naturally, they sabotaged all his attempts at reform). Not one of them has ever admitted to these lies, though there is ample documented proof of them.

As long as the American public refuses to admit their own complicity in re-electing all these “tyrants” (see quote, above), then we will continue to have to combat further degradation of our rights, because the way the politicians see it, they can continue doing exactly as they wish, because nobody is ever going to take them to task for it.

We need to stop electing people who want the job. They want the job because they know it gives them free license to steal from the American public, which is not a bad gig, if you can get it. I can’t see how we can keep our freedom, when we keep electing people who want to take it away. Think about it! Is it sane to want such power over others? No, it is not. It is insane, and insane people should not be allowed to control our destiny.

“No man who needs a monument ever ought to have one.”

~~ Nathaniel Hawthorne ~~

End of rant…..thanks for listening…..

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In keeping with the theme as presented in the ranting section, here’s a poem I wrote in January of this year, in much the same/sane vein….

gigoid’s lament

Not a bit of all the pain I feel
is worse than all I see;
all worldly truth, solid and real,
has faded away, never to be free.

Honor stripped of all regard,
while compassion simply fails;
Ignorance , powerful, hard,
crows as reason wails.

Crushing resistance, mandating the vote,
selling illusion, smiling all the while.
Pundits, speaking purely by rote,
arrange all the lies in a tidy pile.

Stupidity ’tis said, is a risky choice;
the price is always the same.
Reality has no pity, no warning ever voiced,
only a gravestone, carved with, our name.
,
~~ gigoid ~~

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Today’s final pearl promises to be a bit strange… If you’ve been around here for long, you’ll know, that’s saying something….. When I sat down to begin searching for pearls, I left it open, allowing SB to set the pace…. The very first pearl shown was this:

“This mind intentionally left blank.”

Well!…. You can see I why I was initially taken aback…. But, then I decided to let SB have its head for once, so, what we get is what we get…. Let’s see how it goes, shall we?…

“Awright, which one of you hid my PENIS ENVY?” — Zippy the Pinhead

(Oops! I knew this was a mistake…. Oh, well, too late to turn back now….)

“I prefer to remain anomalous.” — Smart Bee

“Bow to no patron’s insolence. Rely on no frail hopes; in freedom live and die.” — Seneca

“It is ridiculous to lay the blame of our wrong actions upon external causes, rather than on the facility with which we ourselves are caught by such causes.” — Aristotle

“Time carves all. Let yourself be carved to attain your true nature.” — Master Po

“Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way.” — Native American Proverb (Blackfoot)

“What you see is from outside yourself, and may come, or not, but is beyond your control. But your fear is yours, and yours alone, like your voice, or your fingers, or your memory, and therefore yours to control. If you feel powerless over your fear, you have not yet admitted that it is yours, to do with as you will.” — Marion Zimmer Bradley, “Stormqueen”

“He sleeps well who knows not that he sleeps ill.” — Publius Syrus — Maxim 77

“All things considered, insanity may be the only reasonable alternative.” — Smart Bee

I’m not going to comment on how it turned out. I will say, we’ll think twice about doing this again….

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As suspected, it came out with a few wrinkles; I don’t believe any of them will detract from the overall view, though, so, we’ll let them be, in the interests of compassion for our still fragile condition…. Let me merely add, DAMN!…. I’m sure glad that’s done! I think I may have strained my brain….. Fortunately, I have a full 24 hours to recover, before starting this process all over again…. And people say I’m not consistent!….

See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. There doesn’t seem to be anything logical, rational, or compellingly threatening enough to stop me, so…. what the hell? Why not?….. Ta, then…. Oh, and, remember to be excellent to each other….

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….

Anecdotal scenes from the Ugly Bug Ball….

Posted on August 5, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for.”

~~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky ~~

Rorschach Rock

What do YOU see?

Some of y’all may note today’s opening looks slightly different than it has been lately. Good eye….. Not that it means much, there’s no prize or anything, but, hey, credit where credit’s due, I always say. What may not be as apparent is the reason for the change, but, I doubt you’re going to want to spend a long time trying to figure it out, as I’m not going to say, and, we have to go on almost immediately, so, no time for questions…. How ’bout that? Funny how that works, eh?….

S’okay, we’re all used to being ignored, or abused, & expected to just swallow it; our society finds a way to do that to each and every one of us each and every day…. But, I digress…. Ranting in the intro is no longer allowed, as we know, yet, somehow, the rage I’m feeling right now has grown past my ability to sublimate, or repress, or even understand…. I’m very close, emotionally, at least, to my limit. I’m a tough old coot, but, even I must have a limit to how long I can keep myself from firing back at the assholes who make our lives so difficult, in a way that gets their attention….

“I am grim… and harsh… and ripe with fury! I fight and kill and howl and get *all bloody*! I go bowling whenever I want!” — The Carrot’s statements on life…

I promised myself (during the FIRST time I was up last night…) I wouldn’t whine, no matter what. So, instead I’ll be aggressively vituperative, in a figurative sense, toward all things asinine, a word which, as we know, forms the basis of our name for our Beloved Ruling Class, and their Masters, those premier assholes of humanity, those servants of evil….. Yes, it’s the Asininnies, those small-spirited, egotistic, misogynistic, buttheads we know and love so little…. I suppose merely verbal, or, in this case, written vitriol won’t really kill the urge, (or, them, sadly…), but, it will help by not spilling it on anything or anyone undeserving of such honors, and help me keep my word to myself, thus abusing y’all less…. It can’t lose, as long as I can keep myself under control….

To assist myself in that task, it would be best to get on with the rest of today’s mess….

This introduction has been brought to you by the makers of tardive dyskinesia, medical science’s most annoying side effect, and, by Insomniacs International…. They’re ALWAYS up, for something or other…. All insults, accusations, indictments, assertions, founded, or unfounded, and, of course, all ridicule, is intentional, and, patently, well-deserved.

No spitting allowed without a permit; limit of three victims, all must be of different category…. snakehead, pundit, dogma dog, or myrmidon, which regulations require be clearly marked on the identification-toe-tags included in your kit. Please provide the caliber of your weapon to the stewardess, and ammunition will be provided….

Let’s do this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Laugh, and the world ignores you. Crying doesn’t help either.”

~~ Smart Bee, the Realist ~~

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At the risk of being accused of living in the past, I’m going there anyway, for a specific reason…. I’m in the mood, as mentioned, for some serious ass-kicking. This is the kind of music one should have playing, at full volume, (the level should threaten eardrums for a quarter-mile….), while laying about with one’s weapon of choice…. Mine is a katana, or, perhaps, a staff…. Hell, a bag of rocks will do in a pinch….

As the old mountain-man hard-ass, (Brian Keith, in a BRILLIANT cameo appearance), in “Young Guns”, who rode slowly, sleepily up to the group of gunslingers on his donkey, stepped down, grinned, and, said, as he opened fire with both guns,

“Let’s dance!”….

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Boston Live 7/29/2014

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https://youtu.be/G0UU4yyKmyI

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“If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

~~ Revelations 13:9 ~~

Today’s rant will be of a slightly different format, simply because it’s all I could handle at 0330, (the SECOND time I got up last night…). I’ve got a lot of angst (translation: RAGE) built up in me, thanks to insomnia, dramatically increased pain level, and the living hell of tardive dyskinesia q4h like fucking clockwork, all thanks to the kind ministrations and completely asshole nature of my doctors, thank you very much. Assholes.

That said, my need to blame is assuaged, but, the rage is not. I’m not sure I could produce a coherent rant in this state; too many conflicting images of a homicidal nature keep intruding whenever I think about any of the issues I normally choose as the outlet for my dreaded outbursts (dreaded by me, for the adrenalin rush…. I don’t mind the energy, or the anger so much; it’s the hours of coming down that is an ordeal…. almost as bad as the TD….). So, we’ll go with a method I developed a couple years ago, but, never used much. It will work today; the comments I make are shorter….

Here then is the result of my attempt to get all the dross and drivel out of my head, and onto the screen, where it doesn’t cause so much trouble for me….

“Whenever, therefore, the profession of arms becomes a distinct order in the state….the end of the social compact is defeated… No free government was ever founded, or ever preserved its liberty without uniting the characters of the citizen and soldier in those destined for the defense of the state…Such are a well regulated militia, composed of the freeholders, citizen and husbandman, who take up arms to preserve their property, as individuals, and their rights as freemen.” — Richard Henry Lee

Can there be any doubt, in any reasonable mind, our social contract has been dissolved?…. Not only have our armed forces become organizations of professionals, run by hereditary families of warriors, and career students of War, loyal only to their sworn superior officers, not to the people of this country…. Even the National Guard has become a tool of government against the people; remember Kent State, back in the 60’s?

In addition, this professional militarism has spread to the no-longer-civilian police forces in every state, county, and town in this country, even going so far as having the government armed forces share equipment of war with those police forces, spreading their older, unused weaponry and accessories around to those departments, which now view the public as their enemies, not their neighbors…. The people now fear the government, rather than the other way around, as our system was designed to work….

“Deceit in the conduct of war outweighs valor and is worthy of merit.” — Niccolo Machiavelli

Can you think of a better example of how the political mind works differently than that of the public? This, to me, demonstrates perfectly how little the needs of the common man concern those who seek power; it doesn’t even enter into their calculations at all. Why would it, when their ethical/moral model of reality is the exact opposite of that espoused by our most revered scholars and sages, who regard Truth as an inviolable habit for the honorable man….

“Unfortunately, the people of Louisiana are not racists.” — Vice President Dan Quayle, regarding David Duke’s candidacy, 10/12/90, (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

No need for much comment here; Dan speaks for himself. This is included primarily for a bit of comic relief, much needed, I assure you…. Gad! He was/is SO stupid! It makes me cringe, every time I think of how close he was at times to being the President of this country…. I mean, what if the Junior Shrub had choked on some broccoli, or something? Wouldn’t THAT have been perfect irony?…

“Those who voluntarily put power into the hands of a tyrant or an enemy, must not wonder if it be at last turned against themselves.” — Aesop

Another way of reminding ourselves we only have ourselves to blame for all of this…. Sad, hard to swallow, but, true….

“The truest wild beasts live in the most populous places.” — Baltasar Gracian, “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” 1647

I would suppose it’s becoming more than clear I’m feeling a bit snarky today…. All I can say is, so fucking what? Whenever I think of all of the SHIT that flows out of Washington D.C., the truer the above statement becomes to me. I regard all politicians at the national level to be psychopaths, clinically insane, as proven by the mere act of running for an office at that level. Only insane persons WANT that sort of power over others, so, I regard their ambition as concrete proof of their lack of morality, ethics, or standard levels or intelligence, for that matter, all of which goes along perfectly with their incredibly delusional view of Reality….

Damn! I got so hyped up typing that last paragraph, my left hand fell asleep, from typing too fast for too long, as all that vitriol poured out without pause. I’d hoped to carry on for a bit longer, to at least seven pearls, but, it looks like five will have to do….

I’m pissed, ffolkes, if it wasn’t made clear. Just thought you should know…. I guess I’m done for now. I know I didn’t accomplish much, but, I think I got enough crap cleared out to at least get something done today along more constructive lines…. If nothing else, having thus completed this ugly, but, necessary self-imposed duty, it gives me the wherewithal, and the authority, to finish this pearl in the approved manner, with a short statement in summary….

“I came, I saw, I went back into the house.”

~~ gigoid ~~

~~ Wednesday 2015 ~~

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Here is one of the first poems I wrote back in 2012, during the period of time my 35 year hiatus at writing in verse came to an end…. Even now, I still think it’s one of my best…. It’s certainly one of the most personal….

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 ~~

Written 10/17/2012.

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Relatively Consensual Reality

Image from 123rf.com via Google Images

This pearl came together in a rather odd fashion; in the end, it’s a pretty good range of concepts, all of which have to do with some of the more important parts of Life as we know it…. Well, I guess a qualifier is called for…. That would be Life as we dubioids know it; don’t worry, if you are one, you’d know (the big, round, honking nose is a dead giveaway). If you don’t, (know, that is…), that’s fine, too, because, hey, you’re a dubioid, and, thus, protected from the worst vicissitudes of Life by your very nature….

See how that works? No? Ah, well….

“If you shut up truth, and bury it underground, it will but grow.” — Emile Zola

“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom, in the pursuit of truth as in the endeavour after a worthy manner of life.” — Bertrand Russell, “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish”

“The laugh of a child will make the holiest day more sacred still.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” — Albert Einstein

“Courage conquers all things.” — Ovid

“To teach is to learn.” — Japanese Proverb

“The deed is everything, the glory is naught.” — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“Surely every human being ought to attain to the dignity of the unit. Surely it is worth while to be one, and to feel that the census of the universe would be incomplete without counting you. Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and all depths; that there are no walls or fences, or prohibited places, or sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought; that your intellect owes no allegiance to any being, human or divine; that you hold all in fee, and upon no condition, and by no tenure, whatsoever; that in the world of mind you are relieved from all personal dictation, and from the ignorant tyranny of majorities. Surely it is worth something to feel that there are no priests, no popes, no parties, no governments, no kings, no gods, to whom your intellect can be compelled to pay a reluctant homage. Surely it is a joy to know that all the cruel ingenuity of bigotry can devise no prison, no dungeon, no cell in which for one instant to confine a thought; that ideas cannot be dislocated by racks, nor crushed in iron boots, nor burned with fire. Surely it is sublime to think that the brain is a castle, and that within its curious bastions and winding halls the soul, in spite of all worlds and all beings, is the supreme sovereign of itself.” — Robert Green Ingersoll, “The Free Soul”

There you go…. I’m pretty sure I can’t make it any clearer than that, which is too bad, because that’s pretty obscure, isn’t it? Oh, well, c’est la vie, as they say in Paris…. That’s in France, which is why…. oh, never mind…..

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Difficult as it may be to believe, I’m done. For a bit there, it looked as if I might never get enough out to save my ass from another f’d up day in paradise; fortunately for all of us, I did. Y’know what? I’m gonna go buy some champagne, bring it home, pour it in a glass, and toss it down the sink… I HATE champagne! Hmm, maybe I won’t. Maybe, instead, I’ll just go on with the day, and see what happens…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; I don’t seem to be able to find a way to keep it from happening….

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….

Simply salivating would have been sufficient….

Posted on August 4, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“If you can’t think for yerself, you shouldn’t think at all.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Oh, really?

Image from the UK Telegraph Animal Pictures of the Week, June, 2015

Good morning…. While recognizing the complete lack of a pattern to the sleep I’ve managed to find of late, I’ve noted one characteristic that seems common; I’m up at least two hours, at least once per night, dealing with the drama of tardive dyskinesia, which is merely fancy terminology for the twitches, or, as we not fond of calling them, the true heebee jeebees…. If you haven’t had the dubious pleasure of experiencing this condition, allow me to congratulate you on having missed out on one of Life’s LEAST pleasurable events…. Quite frankly, it sucks….

If I’m able to sleep after the shakes have passed, all is fairly well; often, that doesn’t happen, as the process of finding ways to distract myself from the jitters, plus distractions from the pain that’s always nearby, will often wake me up so I can’t return to the arms of Morpheus…. who wouldn’t hold me, anyway, as I’m too shaky & grumpy….

Which is where y’all have the dubious distinction of finding me today…. I’m going to issue a warning, to have a care today. I’m in a really rotten mood, and I can’t seem to find any reason in me to be nice…. If I did, I’d toss it in somebody’s face. In fact, I’m going to have Luigi take y’all on to the oyster beds, while I go consume some marginally legal drugs, to see if I can find a bit of peace inside somewhere…. I’ll meet y’all down the road apiece, if I can shake this off…… If not, well, too fucking bad….. Get ’em outta here, Lou, while there’s still time….

Shall we Pearl?….

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

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

I don’t think I have to explain why I chose this music today; if you don’t get it, go back & read the intro again, you will….

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Classical Music for Sleep

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https://youtu.be/vAqLStH6E6s

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“Why doesn’t everybody leave everybody else the hell alone?” — Jimmy Durante

Oh, what a perfect opening line for a rant…. Too bad I’m in such a snarky mood; I’m even too pissed off at the world at large to rant well…. Oh, there’s plenty of emotion available…. So much, I can’t afford to let it out, lest it shoot the wounded, and attack the white flag; I’m afraid any ranting I do today would leave too many open wounds and dead bodies to make it practical. Here’s one from the archives that will have to do…..

From 4/13/2013:

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

This aphorism is one that I think most people would accept as true, at least part of the time. It also points up what I see as a basic flaw in human nature, a characteristic that everyone possesses, and few overmaster. It has to do with our core beliefs, and the attitude we assume as our method of perception, the orientation of our world-view, as it were. We all perceive what is out there in the universe, but we are not capable, at this time, of understanding, or even noting, all that is there to be perceived, as we are limited to what we can see, hear, feel, touch, taste, or deduce, in our immediate vicinity…. We don’t yet know how to include the input of anything not in our physical presence, other than vicariously (via TV, radio, books, etc…..).

We do, however perceive what we are near, and what we do with those perceptions is what determines how the events of our lives will proceed. What is more, each one of us perceives all of this IN A DIFFERENT WAY….. Two people can look at the same article, or event, and see two entirely different things; just ask them….. We use the same senses, the same KIND of brains to process the data, at the same time to observe the same event, yet the interpretation of those events will vary, by as many degrees as there are people perceiving them. This unique ability, to process data in a completely new and different way from anyone else’s method, is, as might be guessed, both a blessing, and a curse….. It is the latter that concerns me today…..

In order to coexist in the same place and time, people have learned to accept certain perceptions as being identical, for the purposes of communication, e.g., everyone knows what “fire” is, and knows not to touch it barehanded…. (Note: in a way, this blog is all about the process of such communications…. we explore the reality that is consensual, that we all agree to deal with as being the same for all of us…..) This is the blessing it gives, the opportunity to increase understanding, to allow people to work in tandem, making both much more capable, making two more than just one plus one….. This is a very useful tool in the real world, and has helped our species achieve the degree of civilization we now enjoy….

But, the other side of this characteristic has an equal part in our destiny, and may in fact be the more important of the two, in the ultimate sense….. You see, we are all herd animals, and desire the approval and company of our peers; without it, we suffer, much more than we even know. It is not “human” to remain alone too long…. Oh, there is nothing wrong with solitude, and much great thought is achieved when one is not distracted by others….. On the other hand, a human who is alone for too long becomes a pale imitation of his/her true self, without the presence of other minds to test his/her theories, to discuss and share their feelings and accomplishments, to vent their frustrations, to experience love….. Without these things, our spirits become small, and lose their moral compass, leaving us adrift in a reality that seems dark, and dangerous….

This dependence on custom (which I define as the total construct of human society, the set of rules and regulations, all unwritten, by which all of us shape our behavior in respect to each other…..) is so strong that, as the aphorism states, one becomes willing to set reason aside, in order to keep and maintain our feeling of having a place in society. We will assume whatever mask that society demands, at times, in order to not have to wear a mask of our own devising, one that we do not find comfortable…. This is the curse of which I spoke….

You see, there are a number of people who have no compunctions whatsoever in using this human characteristic to their own ends….. They don’t believe in any of the crap they spew, but will say or do anything to make sure that others do, because this is how they control the general populace… They spread their lies, fast and often, until they are believed…. these lies promulgate fear amongst the uneducated and timid, who then demand that “something be done!” by those in charge…. which is exactly what those people wanted, for they can now proceed to further fan the flames of fear, while surreptitiously looting the public treasury to make it seem as if they are doing something constructive…. “Hey, they’re stealing our oil! Let’s spend a few billion to bomb the crap out of them so we can keep driving SUV’s, with great cup holders!”

Oh well, I guess that’s all the rant I’ve got in me today…. It’s kind of mild I know, but I was trying to be scholarly, rather than controversial and accusatory…. I think I’ve succeeded in that, but, it doesn’t quite give the same thrill and/or release as a good, nasty rant, with some great name-calling… Well, I can always call them assholes, because, hey, it fits, and it’s easy to type…. Any who, I’ll stop now, right on the edge of illumination, and allow the Gentle Reader to follow the train of my thought to its obvious conclusion…. For those too busy, or too lazy to do so, I’ll summarize….

Don’t listen to what anyone else says, not about YOUR perceptions. And, for sure, kick the asses of anyone who tries to convince you of their integrity in an elected capacity, or any position of authority…. A lot of people, on every level of society, are just trying to control you for their own purposes, and deserve any ass-kicking that comes their way…. Be like a cat…. cats don’t give a SHIT what anybody thinks, they just are….. No apologies, no fuss, just leave me alone, because I’m busy being a cat….. This is good advice, so, listen up, I’m trying to do you a favor….. 😆

“We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne _Essays_, bk. III, ch. 11 [1595]

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Savory

Blown across steppes of imagination, a spore
finds a niche, takes root,
tries to live longer than now, before
chaos/peace descends, and desire is moot.

Feathered into fecundity, another possibility
builds a nest, hatches kin,
aims at immortality, sans responsibility,
chance manifests, as it does, again.

Leading toward peril, entropy saves creativity,
making tools, and lazy time;
solid signs imply such simple nativity,
as another snitch drops his dime.

Subtle compassion billows, passion to unfold,
covering hearts bloodied by time,
burning flesh made valid, unwaveringly bold,
turning love to brilliant rhyme.

Years weigh lightly, supported by youth,
gaining weight with each year,
only the old men know the actual truth,
peace comes only by losing our fear.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 4/9/2013.

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Again from the archives…. Enjoy!….

From 4/12/2013:

Time now for an old school pearl, harlequin style…. Don’t fret if that makes no sense to you, it’s just the way things go around here….. Today’s group of pearls all have something in common, but, it really doesn’t matter, because the point of it all is too weird to even vocalize. Just enjoy them for their relevance in a world gone mad….

“One is not idle because one is absorbed. There is both visible and invisible labor. To contemplate is to toil. To think is to do.” — Victor Hugo

“Forget the cake, go for the icing.” — from Observations on Life From Children

“.. bleakness…. desolation…. plastic forks…” — Zippy the Pinhead

Go, Soul, the body’s guest,
Upon a thankless arrant:
Fear not to touch the best,
The truth shall be thy warrant:
Go, since I needs must die,
And give the world the lie.

~~ Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) — The Lie ~~

“Don’t try this at home, kids. This should only be done by trained, professional idiots.” — Plucky Duck

“and what i want to know is how do you like your blueeyed boy Mister Death” — ee cummings, Buffalo Bill

“When I was five years old, my mother used to tell me that happiness was the key to Life. When I went to school, they asked me to write down what I would like to be when I grew up. I wrote down, “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand Life.” — John Lennon

Just so you know, the above is one of the finest seven star pearls I’ve ever created, I think….. Mark it down…. you were here when it was first made…. fresh from the wilds of inner space…..

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I did it. It’s done, and I don’t care at all what it looks like, feels like, or hell, I don’t care if it shimmies like my sister Kate. It’s done, so, it stays…. I’m outta here, too, before I say something I’ll later regret….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I’m still free of incarceration….

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….

In the absence of Time, use this Space….

Posted on August 3, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Friends are the flowers in the garden of life.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the Lagoon Nebula, an object with a deceptively tranquil name. The region is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust.

The Lagoon Nebula

Image by the ESA/NASA Hubble Deep Space Telescope

Good morning…. Thanks to the machinations I’m compelled to use in order to get any sleep at all, I was up for almost three hours last night, (in the middle of the damn thing, at that!), then fell out so hard I overslept my usual time for posting…. SIGH…. So much for the best laid plans, eh? Ah well, it’s a good thing I had some time yesterday, & got the rant done then…. That saves almost half the available time, right there….

So, I’ll use my newest grand technique to explain myself, thus,

[dignified silence]

There, we have now regained at least a modicum of our dignity, while simultaneously saving a bunch of time…. It also, to my intense relief, reestablished to some degree my aplomb, without which I feel naked in public…. Ah, that’s better…. Okay, Luigi, hit it!….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Education is the best provision for old age.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

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babies-photos-wallpapers-free-download-25

Image from melauspartners.com via Google Images

To find a different mix for y’all, I went back several pages in the You Tube search, and found a perfect batch…. It’s advertised as over 3 hours of classical music for babies…. Probably better for them than anything but mother’s milk…. If the expression on that babies face is any indication, it’s pretty damn good, for sure….That would be my guess, anyway…. Enjoy!…

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Classical Music for Babies

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https://youtu.be/I6Y33MaTGsk

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Morning Muse

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”

~~ Genesis 1:1 ~~

See, now, THERE! Right there! The very first time I heard that, as a child, I remember thinking to myself, “The beginning of what?” My second thought was, “Did anybody SEE that? Must’ve been cool.” Well, okay, the second one I just made up. But, the first one is still clear in my mind, and, still pretty thoroughly unanswered in any meaningful way, by anybody I know, or have heard about. Since then, of course, a number of other thoughts and comments have occurred to me at various moments, but, they’re mostly sarcastic, sardonic, or downright cruel, so, we’ll just go on…

The absolute uncertainty I perceived as inherent in the statement, clearly obvious to me even at that age, at that precise moment, was thus established in my mind as the prevailing tenor of all such proclamations, before those telling it to me could reinforce it as something I was supposed to accept as true…. I believe this revelation, which occurred at the age of about 4 or 5, if I recall correctly, is primarily responsible for having saved me from so much of the anguish and trouble I observe in so many of my peers…. In short, it set off my crap detector, and, I listened…

In the intervening 60 years, I’ve made a fairly wide, thorough study of religion(s), as much as possible for an overly literate layman. Whether my conclusions based on my studies are correct, or not, is for me to decide; y’all can make up your own, if you’ve a mind to (Little joke there….) I guess it’s obvious by now, I’m going to tell you some of those conclusions…. See how sharp y’all are?….

It seems to me, from all my studies, the only reasonable conclusion I can make, basing my reason on my extensive reading, is this: all the major religions were created…. They are all just fabulous stories, thought up by unscrupulous sociopaths, more interested in other people’s morals than their own (or, possessing an even greater measure of fear of Life than the average insane person…), who wished to manipulate the others of our species, who were also too afraid of life to face it directly.

All they saw around them, this large, terrifying, UNKNOWN universe, full of strange noises and powerful elements they did not comprehend, caused them to retreat in fear into their own minds, rather than screwing up their courage to go out into the world, to try to find out what it all meant, or how it worked, and, most importantly, to understand, and to see what else there was to see…. It’s easy to give in to fear like that; I know it, you know it. We’ve all felt fear at the unknown… But, one has to make a choice, to face it like a human, with curiosity, and courage, or, like a sub-human, running for his mama back in the cave….

Rather than THINK about what they heard, and about what they saw, these unfortunates, many of whom were brainwashed before they had a real chance to learn how to reason, accepted the first thing they heard to explain what they feared, the first one to offer surcease, most often hearing this from a person who had been brainwashed the same way at the same age, never questioning what they were told, thus removing from them any responsibility to ever make up their own minds about anything.

It’s a harsh reality about Reality; once one gives away their right, or willingness to make their own personal decisions about what to believe, one may as well fasten a slave’s collar around their own neck, willingly…. Better yet, through the nose, for that is how they’ll be led around for the rest of their lives. The saddest part of this is that such people will never break free, for, to do so, they would have to give up believing what they’ve always held to be true…. and, we already know how they feel about facing their fears. They’d have to first admit they were wrong, then decide to do what they’ve NEVER done…. which is to have the courage to take responsibility for their own actions….

It’s a tough world out there; I think it’s really too bad so many ffolkes have such a hard time with a) understanding what they perceive, and b) understanding themselves…. I find it sad, that so many people miss out on most of the real beauty in life, which comes from connecting with that understanding, and making it connect yet again to the real world…. Believe me, the rewards are much greater, and much more tangible than promises of immortality one cannot help but disdain; immortality is not just an Illusion, it is also Reality…. Two sides, one coin, ffolkes…. No God needed…. Actually, I just thought of a way you can see God, right now…. Go into the bathroom, turn on the light, and, look in the mirror…. There you go….

Hah! Gotcha! The funny thing is… you think it was a joke, when, in fact, it’s the absolute gospel truth…. Dig it.

Gosh, look, ffolkes! It’s a pearl, without any pearls…. I guess we’ll have to fix that before we get to today’s poetry section, which I think you’ll find says much the same as I just spouted off, but, in a slightly different scansion….

First, let’s see what SB has to say about this subject…. Usually, when I ask for this, I have to be picky…. we’ll see….

“Let’s leave religion to the televangelists. After all, they’re the professionals.” — Smart Bee

“John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he temporarily died to save it from himself. But none of that really matters because most people will be tortured for eternity anyways.” — Matt Miller

“If you follow the flock, you step in shit!” — Darkwisdom

“Anyone who can’t laugh at himself is taking life too seriously for my taste.” — Smart Bee

“Things don’t bug you if you don’t think about them.” — Calvin

(Think about it….)

“The common dogma [of fundamentalists] is fear of modern knowledge, inability to cope with the fast change in a scientific-technological society, and the real breakdown in apparent moral order in recent years That is why hate is the major fuel, fear is the cement of the movement, and superstitious ignorance is the best defence against the dangerous new knowledge. When you bring up arguments that cast serious doubts on their cherished beliefs you are not simply making a rhetorical point, you are threatening their whole Universe and their immortality. That provokes anger and quite frequently violence.” — G. Gaia

“It is amusing that a virtue is made of the vice of chastity; and it’s a pretty odd sort of chastity at that, which leads men straight into the sin of Onan, and girls to the waning of their color.” — Voltaire

“The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.” — Stanley Milgram

“Maybe Jesus was right when he said that the meek shall inherit the earth — but they inherit very small plots, about six feet by three.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

Okay, nine is probably enough…. However, I couldn’t resist two last thoughts provided by SB’s largess in this subject; one is a question I’m fond of asking priests/preachers, the other is my usual response to those twenty-two year old ‘elders’ the LDS bozos send around to my door…. I promise, then, I’m done with this…. for today.

For the priests, when they ask me if I believe in God….

“Is being an idiot like being high all the time?”

~~ Janeane Garofolo ~~

And, for the traveling side-show carnies, when they ask me, “Have you been saved?”….

“Bite off, dirtball.”

~~ Richard Sexton, richard@gryphon.COM ~~

Naturally, as soon as I considered this done, Smart Bee presents me with the absolutely perfect pearl to finish off this religirant….

Calvin: “Do you believe our destinies are determined by the stars?”
Hobbes: “Nah.”
Calvin: “Oh, I do.”
Hobbes: “Really? How come?”
Calvin: “Life’s a lot more fun when you’re not responsible for your actions.”

— “Calvin and Hobbes,” Bill Watterson

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Rejection

“Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so…”
I’d be crying a river, I thought
if ever such crap I bought.

Sorry if it hurts your sense of style,
but, hypocrisy always gives me bile.
Being lied to accidentally is okay,
but, deliberate lies make me angry, and fey.

Oh, God, hear what I pray!
Keep me from your followers today.
Having to listen to so much that is wrong
makes me puke, before it makes me strong.

I don’t know why it isn’t clear to other folks,
which is alright, you know, different strokes.
But, why should that mean that they must
force me to believe, or fail in trust?

Spare me the lies, and the make-believe,
fairy tales are easier to hear, and to weave.
They give us a lesson which we can feel
but don’t pretend at all to be real.

Reality can scare us, that’s a given fact,
still, met with care it will leave us mostly intact.
Met without fear, standing tall and alone
Life will allow us to make it our own.

Folly beckons, and so many follow
mass delusions seem to me most hollow.
I’ll have to stick to my own chosen way
while so many go so sadly astray.

It’s lonely at times, it may seem sad,
but really isn’t, and I’m quite glad,
that knowledge is always stronger than fear,
year after year, tear after tear…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 3/18/2013.

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Today’s final old-school pearl is a true nine-star gem, with some really good ideas of how to live Life, not just in a way that brings honor, and peace of mind, but, with also with Love, and respect for Life’s other side…. Death…. Enjoy!….

“When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.” — Chinese Proverb

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.” — Buddha

“After the verb “to love,” “to help” is the most beautiful verb in the world.” — Baroness Bertha von Suttner

“One kind word can warm three winter months.” — Japanese proverb

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” — Lao-Tzu

“Don’t SAY things. What you ARE stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
— Social Aims

“After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” — Albus Dumbledore, in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“There’s this to say for blood and breath,
They give a man a taste for death.”

~~ Housman ~~

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

Not too shabby for panic mode… I hate being late, as I’ve related previously, so, I’m happy to have (apparently) saved this Pearl from the shit pile… Oh, sorry, too gross for this early…. Ah well, chalk it up to a bit of left-over curmudgeonry, from arising late…. Hey, nobody’s bleeding, or missing any major body parts, right? All is well, then. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as I continue to elude the authorities….

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….

Typewriters, elevators, and beer; heaven on Earth….

Posted on August 2, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

This is my simple religion.
There is no need for temples;
no need for complicated philosophy.
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple;
the philosophy is kindness.

~~ H.H. the Dalai Lama ~~

The road goes ever on….

Good morning….

As I put my eye to the scope, it occurred to me I had neglected to blacken the barrel of the long sniper’s rifle before leaving base; hoping no random glare would give me away, I centered the cross-hairs on the head of the Minister of Defense, now striding out of the restaurant across the street. As he paused to wait for his car at the curb, I gently tightened my finger around the trigger, until a quiet “whoosh” sent the tiny needle, soaked in a mixture of atropine and cyanide, speeding through the air, embedding itself in the exposed neck just below the ear. Instantly, as he dropped to the sidewalk, dead, I was moving out of the room, down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door, easing through the shadows of the dark alleyway, to the next assignment, far away in a distant city….

We’ll let that die a natural death right there, I think…. It ain’t Ian Fleming, but, it’ll do for a Sunday blog, I guess. It got us this far, where we’re now, again, stuck for anything worthwhile to talk about. I was going to discuss a bit of philosophy, but, decided to go with the random fictional opening instead…. Now, I’m not sure that was the correct thing to do; I DO have a delete button, but I hate to throw away a good ten minutes of relatively sweaty writing, just because it’s bad…. I mean, that’s never stopped me before, has it? No, indeed…. But, I think, maybe, it would be best to fall back on what I probably should have done in the first place, which is best demonstrated by a moment of….

[dignified silence]

There…. That should keep the intro-nazis out of my hair…. and, yours, too. Perhaps, in the interest of sanity, and the preservation thereof in our customer base, we should go…. Luigi, do your thing…. The rest of you, look busy….

Shall we Pearl?….

“And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

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The Divine Miss M

Image from bmi.com via Google Images

It took a while, but, I finally found a good video selection for today. The Divine Miss M has been one of my favorites since she burst onto the music scene back in the 70’s. Brash, funny, with a voice like a laser, and a heart as big as the Moon, she is indeed, one of the divas of my generation…. Enjoy, ffolkes; this is a live show, so, it’ll be hard NOT to do so….

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Bette Midler Live

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https://youtu.be/aF_1qH4B_W0

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“I believe the moral losses of expediency always far outweigh the temporary gains.” — Wendell L. Willkie

I am repeatedly reminded of the usefulness of aphorisms, particularly to demonstrate a point much larger than what the words actually say…. This statement by Mr. Wilkie is an excellent, honorable, ethical statement, and, if true, explains in one short sentence why he was never able to get elected to the Presidency. With those sort of ethical standards, he was completely and obviously over-qualified. It also implies, once again, if true, he doesn’t lie, for such is the natural way of the who choose such a self-indulgent path, and he who only speaks truth is no match in a political contest with one who has no such compunctions. This much has been proven, 47 of 49 times in the past 240 years…. (The two exceptions? J. Carter, by direct observation, and George Washington, by tradition….)

As all of us are aware, our world has a great many problems facing us, many of which are a result of our own inability to get along with each other. We live in an increasingly dangerous world, where men of no honor, and no compassion, follow their agendas of avarice for power, in a mad rush to enslave the rest of humanity…. This group is historically ensconced in the halls of government, and in the halls of finance, where those shadowy corporate predators plot to control every drop of resources and currency in the world to sate their insane need for absolute power, while, at the opposite end of the ethical scale we find the small group of people who understand what is going on, and works to mitigate the pain and misery caused amongst the mass of ignorant, malleable slaves comprising 98% of the world’s population, people who have very little say over how their lives will proceed….

A bit over 200 years ago, a small group of such intellectuals banded together to form a nation, dedicated to principles which were actively in opposition to historical forces, placing the bulk of political power in the hands of the populace, rather than in the hands of the landed aristocracy, or professional political pundits and bureaucrats…. They had a dream, one they KNEW would be actively opposed by those who would prey on their fellow man…. They all left us warnings, to try to make us all aware of what might happen, should we fall victim to their subtle manipulations….

Each of our founding fathers, in writings they made to each other, and to the public in essays, and other publications, such as the Almanac, gave warning against big business and those who would usurp the halls of government for their own purposes. Rather than preach to the choir for what could easily turn out to be several thousand words, I’ve collected some of those statements of warning, to help us to remember the liberties we have been given, and, hopefully, provide the impetus to stand up, to speak up, to defend those rights…. for, as it has been said, with perfect clarity and truth, we only have those rights we can defend…..

Here are some of what our founding fathers said to sound the warning, as best they could…..

“Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but ave different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness *positively*, by uniting our affections, the latter *negatively*, by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last is a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one….” — Thomas Paine, opening lines of _Common Sense_ 1776 — *asterisks denote Paine’s use of italics*

“A monied aristocracy in our country … has already set the government at defiance.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

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

“To disarm the people – that was the best and most effective way to enslave them ….” — George Mason

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have …a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the character and conduct of their rulers.” — John Adams

“A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” — Thomas Paine

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

Using Winston Churchill’s method of making a point, we will now proceed to whack it good, a third time….

Every one of the above warnings made by one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence has been shown to be a valid danger, for every single issue mentioned has come to pass in our society today. The wealth gap between the richest and poorest has grown to a point never before reached in history. Banks and corporations have bought and paid for the courts of this country, with the resultant laws protecting business and the pillaging of the poor. A constant barrage of news articles, from a media fully controlled by those in power, detail shootings and incidents of violence to frighten the ignorant, legislating more and more regulations preventing private citizens from adequately arming themselves for protection.

The police have become an arm of the corporations, and feel a sense of separation from the very public they are supposed to serve, treating them as criminals and “potential terrorists”. Our students can’t even find their own state on a map of their own country, and cannot state more than two of the 10 entries in the US Bill of Rights….

And they wonder why life is so hard….. Well, ffolkes, apparently, not enough of us listened to our forefathers, and y’all know what they say about history, right? Those who do not study it are doomed to repeat it…. As far as I can see, the history of our race is little more than a constant fight against our own nature, with the predators among us winning out far more often than the rest…. I guess we like it that way….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken.

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One poem that was percolating got deleted; fortunately, I can feel another one in there, swirling and circling, waiting to coalesce into rhyme…. For the nonce, we’ll retreat once again to the archives….. I hope you enjoy it…

Unheralded Sagacity….

To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.

Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.

Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.

No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.

Illumination…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 4/17/2013

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

Our final entry today is another random pearl speaking about Life at Large…. Life can be a formidable proposition, and it behooves all of us to gather to our bosoms as much wisdom regarding the living of it as we can find…. Not that the answers aren’t all right there inside us, but, we humans have a tendency to look outside ourselves for those things we forget we already possess, such as peace, courage, compassion, and, well, everything we need…

He took his vorpal sword in hand
Long time the manxom foe he sought
Till rested he by the tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought

~~ Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) ~~

“You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.” — Malcolm Forbes

“A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times.” — Anonymous, most ancient human sage

“Life without music would be an intolerable insult.” — Edward Abbey

“He conquers who endures.” — Perseus

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench.
Care about p eople’s approval and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

~~ Tao Te Ching ~~

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

Well, if nothing else, insomnia sure does make it easy to get stuff done…. Now it IS done, I’m unsure of what to do until the rest of the world wakes up…. I think I’ll go find some shit to disturb today…. In the meantime, I suppose it’s time to close this down for another day. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the implacable forces of history don’t reach a crisis point, and, the unavoidable, imminent revolution toward which our society is rushing, headlong, holds off a little while longer….

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….

No discounts for Pug Dogs…. Huskies, maybe….

Posted on August 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Ward, I’m worried about the Beaver.”

~~ June Cleaver ~~

Foxy Stump

Good morning…. Wait! Scratch that…. Reverse it….

Morning. Good…. I guess. Perhaps, if it hadn’t begun at 0133, my greeting wouldn’t sound as grumpy; since it did, we’ll all have to deal with it. Not that such an event is out of the ordinary….. No, sir, around here, the hour we get up is what we call a Mystery of Life, not susceptible to prediction, or, for that matter, to any sort of consistency, beyond the simple fact we hope it will happen at all….

Now, for some, that might be considered just a little snarky; for us, it’s high hopes. I have decided to give up sleeping altogether, I think. It doesn’t seem to be working out well, so, I may as well be constructive, & try to get something done…

I know. I’ll make a Pearl!. Yeah, that’s the ticket…. Okay, let’s do this thing, before I get any more radical ideas…. Or, would that be, ideas more radical? Ah, hell, who cares? Get us outta here, Luigi….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the falsehood. One word of truth outweighs the world.” — Alexander Solzhenitsyn

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

Although Raul Julia was also more than perfect in the role, in my mind, John Austin, WAS Gomez Addams…. He had the proper crazy look in his eyes, whenever he talked of anything gruesome or horrifying, just as Gomez should look…. Although, it must be admitted, Raul’s delivery of certain lines is destined to be legendary…. Who can deny the sheer genius of his expression, and tone, in his line, “Two, ten, eleven. Eyes, fingers, toes.”?….. Not I…. But. for all around goofiness, this cast was the best, in my estimation…. For your pleasure today, I’ve included a movie, a reunion of the cast from 1977, called Halloween with the Addams Family…. or something like that…. Enjoy!…..

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

The Addams Family

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

https://youtu.be/jlw2CFiSCgc

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

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

I’ve got nothin’…. Nada damn thing worth writing about is to be found anywhere in my head; nor is there anything particularly compelling NOT in my head pulling me to comment upon, oddly enough. The news in any one day is liable to set me off with little problem, but, today, I’m just not in the mood…. Therefore, we’ll start this section over, now….

My first blog was posted on WordPress sometime in the first week of June in 2011; the following entry is the fifth, or sixth, post I put up, in the format style then prevalent for Pearls, which evolved as an email document first…. I’ve updated, & cleaned up, the formatting a little, to bring it into line with what has evolved over time…. It’s not a rant, but, it will do….. I hope you enjoy this little peek into the early days here at ECR….

From 6/8/2011:

Ffolkes,

The morning light pours over the far hills, warming air gone still in the night’s cold, with amber drops of dew glistening along the branches of awakening trees, gilding the edges of the day. Birdsong trills, insects hum, as a meandering brook winds through the forest, rushing along in its desperate race to the sea. The water babbles as it moves, all the voices blending together into a continuous stream of just-unheard secrets, gravid with meaning. The air begins to move, heated by the burgeoning warmth swirling up through the leaves, adding it’own thoughts, dreams to the chorus thus formed. Thus does the world turn, unheralded, implacable, real. Thus is another Pearl born; ask me not how, or why, for I no longer know. Knowing I must, is all I know, or need to know….

“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

Leave the past behind;
leave the future behind;
leave the present behind.
Thou are then ready to go to the other shore.
Never more shalt thou return to a life that ends in death.

~~ The Dhamapada ~~

It is the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It is the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.
It is the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.

~~ Bette Midler, “The Rose” ~~

“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be “happy.” I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.” — Leo C. Rosten

It may not be Art, but it is Frank, and Earnest….. y’all take care out there…..

Note from the future: I note there are only four pearls in this entry; it must have been before I decided odd numbers worked better…. Here is one final pearl to balance the whole deal…. Hopefully, it will fit in with the above….

“One of your most ancient writers, a historian named Herodotus, tells of a thief who was to be executed. As he was taken away he made a bargain with the king: in one year he would teach the king’s favorite horse to sing hymns. The other prisoners watched the thief singing to the horse and laughed. “You will not succeed,” they told him. “No one can.” To which the thief replied, “I have a year, and who knows what might happen in that time. The king might die. The horse might die. I might die. And perhaps the horse will learn to sing.” — The Mote in God’s Eye, by Jerry Pournelle & Larry Niven

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

Picture 158

Canal Image- Poem’s Inspiration

from the National Gallery of Ireland – see link below

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=70523

Seamus Heaney was considered the poet laureate of Ireland for much of the latter part of his life, a period of time covering most the twentieth century. I discovered his work a couple years ago, soon after he died, and have loved it ever since. The poem included today, his last published work, was sent to me by a friend, to whom I’m very thankful, and not just because it gave me an entry for this section…. It’s a beautiful poem, too….

Banks of a Canal

Say canal and there’s that final vowel

Towing silence with it, slowing time

To a walking pace, a path, a whitewashed gleam

Of dwellings at the skyline. World stands still.

The stunted concrete mocks the classical.

Water says, ‘My place here is in dream,

In quiet good standing. Like a sleeping stream,

Come rain or sullen shine I’m peaceable’.

Stretched to the horizon, placid ploughland,

The sky not truly bright or overcast:

I know that clay, the damp and dirt of it,

The coolth along the bank, the grassy zest

Of verges, the path not narrow but still straight

Where soul could mind itself or stray beyond.

~~ Seamus Heaney ~~

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

This pearl, while a bit loose in association, nonetheless provides us with some pretty good ideas about how to live a life with which one might be content. I’d say that’s a pretty worthwhile goal, myself, but what do I know?…. You could do worse….

For life, with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear (believe the aged friend),
Is just our chance o’ the prize of learning love,–
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.

~~ Robert Browning ~~
~~ A Death in the Desert ~~

“The only abnormality is the incapacity to love.” — Anais Nin

“True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.” — Halifax (1633-1695)

“In those whom I like, I can find no common denominator; in those whom I love I can: they all make me laugh.” — W. H. Auden

“I grow old ever learning many things.” — Solon

“The true perfection of man lies, not in what man has, but in what man is …. Nothing should be able to harm a man but himself. Nothing should be able to rob a man at all. What a man really has is what is in him. What is outside of him should be a matter of no importance.” — Oscar Wilde

“Insist on yourself; never imitate.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

All things that pass
Are wisdom’s looking-glass.

~~ Christina Rossetti ~~

+ ————————————————- +
+ ———- Sic transit gloria mundi. ———— +
+ — “Thus passes away the glory of the world.” — +
+ ————————————————- +

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

I suppose there is something to be said for serendipity in disguise, when it slaps us in the face…. Of course, it’s a little hard to think of that when your face is tingling like a big dog, but, hey, can’t have everything, right? Besides, it’s done, so, we, meaning I, officially, (it’s documented) don’t give a shit any more. In fact, I’m taking my shit on the road. Not permanently; in fact, unless someone faster, bigger, or meaner than me shows up, I’ll be back tomorrow morning, no doubt bright and early, (Why is it BRIGHT and early? It’s dark as hell outside….), since sleep seems to be a thing of the past…. As many of us who have spent time on the street would say, WAKE UP, YOU BOZOS! Or, maybe we’d say, see ya….

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….

Seeking a confirmed state of random vacillation….

Posted on July 31, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Man has made his bedlam; let him lie in it.”

~~ Fred Allen ~~

Variations on a Theme: Blue Marble – Earth from 1 Million Miles

NASA Image from nasa.gov

Good morning…. Today’s effort turned out pretty strange, due in part to the manner of its construction. I shan’t bore y’all with the details, but, suffice it to say the process was a bit choppy. In fact, I had considered using my newest opening, which I dearly love…. It merely consists of a,

[dignified silence]

However, that seemed a bit egocentric, since much of today’s post is by others; my only contributions were an old school pearl of dubious condition, and an epic archived rant. The rest just sort of evolved…. Ah, well, such is Life in the Big City, whatever THAT means…. I think, today, I’ll get in some target practice, on live targets…. Yeah, that’s the ticket…. Meanwhile….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.” — Lao-Tzu

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

I am not sure why, but, my mind refuses to do this part…. I can’t seem to make a decision. My user name is gigoid, thus, the only possible solution is to resort to our default position…. It’s okay, I’ve got over 500 years of music to choose from, so, it’s easy to vary the content…. Today’s selection advertises itself as the Best Classical Music to be found; it was one of 38 such claims, so, you will have to decide for yourself…. Enjoy!

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

Classical Music, Again

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

https://youtu.be/gMbPVEsaH90

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

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

Today’s contribution to the daily mess is a test…. However, it’s not your usual, sit down, think hard, sweat, & stress; no, no, not here. It’s merely a test. What it’s measuring is really none of your concern, but, since you have to take it, I’ll tell you…. This may be the longest single rant I ever did…. I didn’t actually check, but, after reading it through, it’s close enough to say so without more than a 3% measure of guilt if I’m wrong. It’s also still relevant; each of the articles I used as a springboard for discussion could easily have been pulled from the same stories I saw just today, earlier, when I perused the RSS news feeder I use…. seriously.

The only difference is, all, or most of these articles came from the same mainstream news source; any others were also mainstream. My feeder pulls headlines & links to articles across the internet, from hundreds of sources… So, I’m confident none of the issues spoken of below has come to any final resolution; in fact, they’re all pretty much worse now…. SIGH…. Ah well, so much for ranting to the choir, eh?…. Hey, listen up, ffolkes, it IS all true stuff, so, anyone who needs to hear or read it would be a good one to share it with….

I didn’t know it when posting it, but, the title of the Pearl on the date this was first shown was a perfect title for the rant, should it ever get published…. I’d call it:

From 8/13/2014:

Look,Honey! It’s the official White House Pornographer!

Ffolkes, you will probably need to gird your grid for a big one….. The pearl below has been evolving for a full day, growing beyond my ability to restrict its size, due to the relatively verdant field of subject matter with which I chose to work, the scope of the discussion, and the critical nature of the issue on which I am trying to focus, to wit: all of the available evidence at hand indicates that the human race has entered a stage of civilization that, in every historical case, has led directly to its demise, and disappearance. Moreover. because of the technological advances we have made, as a species, this time, that demise will be world-wide, and will preclude any possibility of ever rising again…

Now, I know that sounds rather pessimistic, as well as cynical; I can’t help that. The evidence is too ubiquitous, and too convincing to me, to ignore, or to minimize. Below, I am going to provide links to articles from only ONE source of news. The breadth of the problems described in those articles are connected to the worst characteristics of human nature, and are symptomatic of the culture’s deterioration we are facing. Each one shows humanity at its worst, and the worst part of it is, all of the protagonists in the stories, on both sides of whatever issue is being discussed, all demonstrate those qualities that continue to cause the problems to be insoluble by any known means…

I’ve got a lot to say about this, so, we’ll start with some art…. It’s just a picture of me, and one of the guys I’ve talked all this over with…. though in the case of this gentleman, our conversation was completely non-verbal…. Now that I stop to think about it, it made it all much less susceptible to misunderstanding…. Below the picture, we’ll begin our assault on the Asininnies latest shenanigans, and our discussion of how it all connects to create another link…. showing the path to extinction we are all following so blindly….

“At once it struck me what quality went to form a man of achievement, especially in literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously — I mean negative capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” — John Keats (1795-1821)

Trust a poet to come up with exquisitely crafted, delicately balanced, subtly nuanced, completely negative statement (otherwise known as an insult….), about someone mostly everyone in the world admires, and make it almost sound as if he is administering praise, when, in fact, he just poked Willie S. with a very sharp stick in the reputation…. Of course, it is also obscure enough that you may question exactly how it applies to blogging here in section one, which is generally reserved for rants, or rant-like facsimiles…. and, it would be a good question, as the connection IS rather tenuous, at best…. However, I’ll try to make it clear….

I speak often about how the world is screwed up, an assessment of existence for which I lay much of the blame on several aspects of human nature, and the way those characteristics affect our society and culture…. I think it can all be boiled down to one particular area of examination, which is the way we, as human beings, deal with the matter of Truth…. There is, of course, more than just this issue involved, but, how we handle clear, correct expressions of Reality, in our dealings with the world, and each other, is one that has far reaching side effects on every area of human discourse, which is a long winded way of saying, on our history….

“Honor isn’t about making the right choices. It’s about dealing with the consequences.” — Midori Koto

In today’s complex world of the Future, it can easily be shown how Truth is considered to be something that is susceptible to human alteration, according to whatever whim or reason they may have for doing so, whether honorable, or otherwise, whether selfish, or otherwise…. I’ve shown many, many instances of how the government of this country, and many of its other official entities, such as the courts, the police, the churches, and ALL of the bankers, continuously, and purposefully lie to the public…. Not only that, but, they spy on us, and keep their own secrets about doing so….

Then, when confronted, they create a huge hullabaloo, all starting with denial, fading into reluctant admission, then justification, then distraction, then…. time passes, and the public is given some other catastrophic event to put fear into them, such as a mass shooting, or an alleged terrorist threat….. It always follows the same basic pattern, with the intent, and result, of nothing changing at all….

Below you’ll find a number of links, to articles that show how the White House, the Congress, the Federal Courts, the police, and, even the public attitudes toward Truth, are shown in the light in which they use them, to wit: they all regard Truth as more of a myth than a reality…. The article on how resumes for work contain falsifications is particularly disturbing, for it shows just how far the corruption has spread to the general public…. Well over HALF the public saw fit to include lies on their resumes… The companies doing the hiring reinforced the corruption by, to some extent, rewarding almost half of the resumes with lies, by considering other factors other than the lies in the hiring process…. In other words, about half of the lies were accepted as OKAY….

SIGH…. The last article is different from the rest, though it touches on the general issue quite nicely…. Mr. Carroll offers another viewpoint than mine, with some similarities, and some differences…. As always, his thoughts on the matter are quite insightful, making an excellent addendum, and ending note, for what would otherwise be completely depressing material….

I’ll let you get to the articles now, with this bit of housekeeping… I tried to help a bit, to indicate the point being made by the inclusion of each article, by including the excerpts I pulled out below each link…. They show the most disturbing points in each article, to my way of seeing them…. Good luck, I know it’s a lot, but, this is turning out to be something of a manifesto of my world-view, & I think it will be worth the effort to cover all of it…..

http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Judge-won-t-force-U-S-to-release-spying-program-5681970.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea

“Michael Rumold, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the lawsuit has been successful but the ruling was disappointing….”It’s troubling to see courts sign off on government secrecy arguments when the general public knows the truth,” he said.” — excerpted closing lines from the article, summing it up nicely….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Vandalism-looting-after-vigil-for-Missouri-man-5680580.php

“Witnesses have said that Brown had his hands raised when the unnamed officer approached with his weapon drawn and fired repeatedly. ” — excerpted from the article

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Chief-Police-killed-California-robbery-hostage-5681892.php

“….. results of a preliminary ballistics report show that police in the city of Stockton fired the 10 bullets that struck Misty Holt-Singh, 41, and all her wounds likely came during a final burst of gunfire,….”

“33 officers fired at the vehicle, most of them during the final shootout. Officers were under constant fire and were concerned the suspects would kidnap other hostages, take over businesses or even a school.”….

“We believe July 16, 2014, brought dynamics never before seen in law enforcement,” he said, adding that the suspects attempted to kill officers, fired more than 100 bullets and had about 200 rounds remaining when the gunfire ended.” — excerpted from the article

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/State-Supreme-Court-yanks-Citizens-United-measure-5682420.php

“If approved by the voters, it would have asked Congress to submit a constitutional amendment to the states that would authorize federal lawmakers to limit campaign spending and would specify that only people, not corporations, have the right of political free speech.”

“In the 2010 Citizens United ruling, a 5-4 majority of the nation’s high court said federal laws that limit spending by corporations or labor unions on political causes violated freedom of speech….. ” — excerpted from the article

http://blog.sfgate.com/gettowork/2014/08/12/most-memorable-resume-lies/#25719101=0

“58 percent of hiring managers in a recent CareerBuilder survey saying they have caught a resume lie.”….. “Fifty-one percent of respondents said they would automatically throw out a resume containing a lie, 41 percent would base their decision on the type of lie, and 7 percent would overlook a lie if they liked the job candidate.” — excerpted from the article

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/08/06/what-would-the-founders-say-cagop-barring-media-from-qa-with-party-chair/

“…. a response from GOP state vice chairwoman Harmeet Dhillon…. “There are open press and closed press events at every convention (Brulte) has run. There will be open press events and press conferences at this convention. Closed press is to allow delegates to ask him sensitive questions about strategy and finances that the public and our opponents are not entitled to know. … And neither does John Burton (the Democratic state chairman) invite the Chronicle to every meeting of delegates to his party.”

“We asked Tenoch Flores, spokesman for the California Democratic Party, about its rules regarding press coverage of convention events. His response: “It is our policy that any delegation meeting taking place at convention is open to press.”– excerpted from the article

and, finally, a voice of reason….

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/Notice-your-urges-when-I-say-you-can-5682102.php

“I favor considered opinion over uninformed opinion. It’s a liberal bias…..”

“Experts are not always right. Scientists are not always right. But most of the time they are. We built a very fine country on the basis of Enlightenment rationality. Thomas Jefferson and those folks very much favored knowledge over ignorance, reason over superstition.”– excerpted from the article

Truth. Lies. Human nature….. What a mess, eh? I can only hope that, somehow, the strength and beauty of human nature, the incredible creativity and passionate imagination our spirits have the potential to express, just as much as it does our flaws, will gain ascendancy in the coming years, becoming the rule of human behavior, rather than the exception, and that we can overcome the reckless, selfish, violent spirits among us to reach for that potential…. Being a curmudgeon, and somewhat of a cynic, at least in regard to human nature, I find myself reluctant to hope…. but, it’s like Emily always said….

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

Image used with original poem at:

http://souldiergirl.com/2015/07/29/twilight-of-intrigue/

A couple months ago, I was introduced to a new blog site. I don’t remember how I found it, but, I’m sure glad I did, for. on this site writes an incredible poetess….. Her work is powerfully personal, revealing, painful. and joyous, all at once. Simple, clean lines come together to place the reader right inside her soul…. She’s fought a hard battle in Life, to get to the point she now observes it from, and I, for one, am very glad she uses her poetry to help herself find the Light inside her soul…. She is indeed, a souldier girl…. You’ll be seeing more of her here, but, the link above will take you to her site, where you can sign up to be notified when she posts…. Enjoy!….

Twilight of Intrigue

Do you see

The amigos of three

Brushing upon the twilight of intrigue

The starry night

Gazing in our eyes

Comprised of moments

Later whispered as memories

Carried on the tail end of time

“Remember when it was you and I

In the silence of life”

Love, solace and a hopeful gleam

Brushing upon

The twilight of intrigue

~~ Souldiergirl ~~

Posted at above link on 7/29/2015..

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

Kokopelli graces the top of this section today, simply because his nature comes closest to the nature of this pearl…. This means, naturally, it would behoove y’all to WATCH OUT. You see, it’s a trick pearl, beginning and ending with a variation on a theme from Life, with a group of clear instructions on how to go about calculating that particular algorithm…. You’ll enjoy it, if you can find the key….

“What I ought to do, I can; if I can, why don’t I?” — Smart Bee

“Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, utters another.” — Homer (c. 700 B.C.)

“If you understand, things are as they are. If you do not understand, things are as they are.” — Gensha, Zen Master

“Count your age by friends not years, and count your life by smiles, not tears.” — John Lennon

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.” — Kahlil Gibran

“To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice.” — Confucius

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

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.” — Aristotle

“What I can do, I ought to; if I ought to, why don’t I? — Smart Bee

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

It was close, there, Ma, but, I whipped ’em! There was some doubt there, for a time, this would make it through to the end…. I am currently unable, not mention unwilling, to go into the reasons, but, since we’re done anyway, it doesn’t matter at all, does it? Nope. Hence, my exit, stage virtual…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as the Space/Time Continuum holds together….

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….

Except for the mold, it looks new….

Posted on July 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, –that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

~~ John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” ~~

Delightful Yard Art

Good morning…. Ffolkes, I believe one of yesterday’s pearls has gifted me with my newest attempt to find a consistent standard opening section…. Get a load of this one; it’s solid…. I like it. A lot….

[dignified silence]

Shall we Pearl?….

“It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.” — Aeschylus

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

Due to the complete breakdown of any sort of routine for sleeping, I’m up a little late; due to circumstances completely within my control, we’re going with our default musical selection, simply because I’m lazy, and still tired…. So, sue me…. It’s still a pretty nice way to start the day….

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

Classical Music

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

https://youtu.be/jgpJVI3tDbY

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

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

“I hate thinking about it, teaching about it, and writing about it. But the plain truth is that hell is real and real people go there for eternity.” — Bill Hybels

While searching for a pearl for a previous pearl, part of the final section of a previous Pearl, (if you didn’t follow that, just ask, & I will respond in the comments section of today’s post…), I came across this quote from some idiot named Hybels, which astounded me so much, I had to stop what I was doing, to save the pearl, (though I hesitate to use the term for this; it isn’t up to ‘gem’ standards…. ), Google some information on this Hybels creature, then, begin this rant….

Why am I so astounded by this? Well, I’ll tell ya; it’s like this: Upon first reading the statement, (which is, patently, absurd, if only for asserting such a broad distinction, labeling it as absolute truth, while offering NO sort of evidential support for it…. SIGH….), I was struck first by the arrogance. Then, several responses, some in the form of questions of clarification, occurred to me one after another, like automatic rifle fire…. I’ll see if I can remember all of them, though they probably won’t be in any order…. Ahem….

Thought #1) If it’s ‘plain truth’, what makes it plain? I.e., what evidence of that do you have to make it so?

#2) Reality always presents itself with evidence which can be touched in some manner by one of our five basic senses; touch, taste, smell, hearing, vision. What is the sense, or senses, with which we may perceive the reality of a) hell, and, b) eternal damnation for thousands of petty reasons, such as not believing such an assertion?

#3) If you are using previous statements of other humans, who are they, and what is THEIR evidence?

#4) If you are proposing the existence of a supernatural entity who has somehow decreed the rules of our Reality, can I talk to him/her/it? See him/her/it? Or…. well, can I?….

#5) Who the fuck told you all this crap?

#6) Why did you believe any of this fantastic nonsense in the first place?

Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to go all sardonic/sarcastic on y’all…. Actually, I did, as my thoughts turned to that mode almost immediately upon reading this ridiculous self-justification for delusional behavior…. What occurred to me after all that, which, as you probably know, I’ve dragged out unmercifully, simply because it’s so much fun to play with, is this: Not only does this man believe all this, there are, no doubt in my mind whatsoever, millions upon millions of people in this country alone, who will, without a single qualm or quiver of their crap detectors, in the vast emptiness which passes for their minds, take him at his word, quite literally, dutifully spreading it far and wide, just as if it were their own idea…. I am continually, and maddeningly, amazed by the degree of stupidity our species can exhibit, without a single thought in their heads of what MIGHT be untrue in this, and many other, well, massive loads of horse shit…

Whew! Okay, break time. I ripped that out in about ten minutes, so my hands and arms are now screaming at me…. I’ll be back in a while….

“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” — Charles Bukowski

I am back, but, have lost the urge; I think it went down with the rest of the stuff that flushed. Oh well, we’ll finish of with an short old-school pearl, with a few shots at the category of Asininnies we like to call the Dogma Dogs…. Enjoy, ffolkes; someday we won’t have to contend with an entire populace of delusional cretins in order to survive…. Well, we can hope, can’t we?….

“[…] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner […] on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. […] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.” — Carl Sagan

“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.” — Robert Cody

“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.” — Aristotle

“If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it’s another nonconformist who doesn’t conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity.” — Bill Vaughan

“Reality, however utopian, is something from which people feel the need of taking pretty frequent holidays.” — Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

“Orthodoxy is not thinking – not having to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” — George Orwell (1903-1950), “1984”

I count religion but a childish toy … there is no sin but ignorance.” — Thomas Jefferson

Okay! That should do it…. A little abstruse, but, serviceable…. It got a bit esoteric, but, the ending quote brings it right back to Reality, doesn’t it?

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My life of late has returned, for a time, to repeating old songs of pain; it’s a bit disturbing to have to relearn all those methods of distraction and coping I had hoped never to have to employ again…. SIGH…. Oh well, such is Life, I suppose…. Onward….

Gauges of Pain

Consciousness devolves in pools of gripping fears
holding hostage any hope of serenity,
sharp stabbing motions and greedy tears
nary a moment passes without common calamity.

Always a surprise, nothing soothing ever found,
leaving only breathless clinging pain,
salvation seemingly absent, it muffles all sound,
bringing ever more sadness and rain.

Solitude is ever present to claim my time,
lonely hours and relentlessly long days,
no radio plays such music in secular rhyme
happy, vibrant voices belong to elder ways.

Life can be justified it seems to say,
by hopeful favored moments of pleasure,
seemingly friendly, pointing out the only way,
to bring back happiness in minimal measure.

Days of horror and embarrassing tears
serve ever to drive wretched hours to withhold
promising naught but sorrow in coming years,
black, bitter memories that never grow old.

Cold, cold the days fly by,
can it really be our only token?
Never to say, or know just why
the pain never stops, even when spoken…

~~ gigoid ~~

(Yes, yesterday was NOT a good day…. why do you ask?…..)

Griefe brought to numbers cannot be so fierce,
For, he tames it, that fetters it in verse.

— John Donne ~~

Written 9/6/2012.

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Yes, it is upside down.

Sometimes, so is life.

Today’s final old-school pearl is a miracle of perseverance; all told, it took five episodes with SB, spread over about 16 hours, to come up with enough suitable candidates to create something worthwhile…. And, still, you should probably be the judge of whether or not we succeeded in that intent, as I’m too close to it to decide. Hell, considering the state of my brain right now, I’m a bit surprised it’s capable of supporting enough neuronic activity to even call what’s going on in their head the operation of a mind, at all…. More like a third of a mind, I’d say, putting me on even ground with a good 40% of the American public…. the ones who vote, is my guess…

The pearl, I think reflects this somewhat unstable frame of mind I’m currently coping with; that’s why YOU will have to figure it out…. Enjoy, & sorry, but, some of them probably will find their way onto the Quiz….

“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)

“He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own.” — Confucius.

“Ignorance is the key to everything in life. An ignorant person is constantly surprised.” — Mama Gump, according to most sources

“The sound of laughter has always seemed to me the most civilized music in the universe.” — Peter Ustinov

“Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean.” — David Searls

“If a man hasn’t discovered something he would die for, he isn’t fit to live.” — Martin Luther King, Speech, Detroit, 23.6.1963

“Don’t bother pressing that key. There is NO Escape.” — Mordred

(WAIT! NO! You didn’t see that…. This can’t be! Mordred is Arthur’s evil half-brother! If he’s slipped in here, we’re all in trouble…. I better go check this out; y’all just finish the pearl here, & I’ll let you know what’s up in the closing section…. Back to normalcy…)

(Hah! You din’t buy that, did you?…. Good. Go finish…)

(Who’s Arthur? Oh, sorry…. Arthur is my computer’s name… When he went AI, he split off an evil twin into the Internet; every once in a while he, Mordred, named for Arthur’s historical nemesis, tries to get back in at…. Satisfied?….)

(Go on now…)

“All I know of love is that Love is all there is.” — Emily Dickinson

“Do you imagine that the universe is agitated? Go out into the desert at night and look up at the sky. This practice should answer the question” — Lao Tzu

some people get pissed
when you play with your mind
in a different way
than they play with theirs
these people are called ASSHOLES

~~ the jambi’s ~~

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Okay, we’ll have to report on the status of Mordred tomorrow; there wasn’t time to track it down just yet…. If it WAS him, he’s figured out a way to slip in and out without leaving any tracks, and, that is NOT good…. I’ll be tightening up my defenses tonight, that’s for sure…. He never waits too long to try again, so, we’ll see what happens…. It might have been Arthur fucking with ME…. He’s got a weird sense of humor; wonder where he picked that up?

I’m done, whether the Pearl is, or not. Rather than take the chance of a major screwup at this point, we’re outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as Reality continues to resist the imprecations of Entropy and Chaos….

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….

Kindly inform the sublime Pasha his hot dog is done….

Posted on July 29, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“How could the drops of water know themselves to be a river?

Yet the river flows on.”

~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~~

Europa’s Ice Wolf watching Pluto from Charon

https://europasicewolf.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/smashing-the-final-planetary-frontier/

Good morning…. The odds on that have improved a bit, thankfully…. Mind and body yearn for more sleep; five hours, though welcome, doesn’t quite make up for the weeks of 2-3/day I’ve just gone through. I have to admit, though, more, in this case, is better. Not that I’m a bundle of energy, by any means, but, it is nice to not have to summon my courage just to stand up….

Today’s Pearl promises to be something of an anomaly, though why that should be is still unclear…. It’s a sort of background hum with which we are familiar, from the identical phenomenon in my nervous system; when it’s there, tension reigns, though the underlying reason seems hidden…. It is only when it stops we note we’ve been so tense; the relief is immense. Sadly, there isn’t much that relieves it for my nervous system; for Pearls, I have yet to even identify the root cause, much less figure out how to get it to stop…. So, we end up with weird, which may not seem all that odd, but, trust me, it will be…

Since I can’t seem to find much of anything to say here, and don’t want to completely bore anyone in the intro section, we’ll take this slow on the road…. Luigi! Fire that sucker up, & let’s hit it! Time’s a wastin’…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Learning isn’t a means to an end; it is an end in itself.”

~~ Robert A. Heinlein ~~

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A few days ago, a friend sent me a link to a You Tube video, which I enjoyed so much I’m including it here today. It’s a verbal performance of a W.B. Yeats poem, The Stolen Child, one of the most famous poems in all of English literature. The accompanying original video and music are the perfect enhancement to the poem’s beauty, and though short, one of the most intense doses of beauty I’ve ever been fortunate to experience…. I hope you enjoy it….

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The Stolen Child – W.B. Yeats

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https://youtu.be/g9hnUYV06t4

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“Justice is incidental to law and order.” — J. Edgar Hoover

For someone of my ilk, such a statement, with its inherent arrogance and sense of entitlement, is an obvious invitation to rant; one might say, metaphorically, it’s a red flag to my bullish intellect…. But, that would leave me open to too many bad puns on referring to myself as a bull, or with bovine qualities to my thought processes… I certainly hope NOT…. Nonetheless, whichever metaphor we end up with, if any, I’m going to rant…. J. Edgar is just too much of an asshole to pass up the chance to chew on him. He was SUCH an asshole, I am prompted to pearl….

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” — Oscar Wilde

I’m sure Oscar must have been thinking of J. Ed; I think he met him as a child…. I mean, J. Edgar was a child…. Oscar was already nearly dead at the time…. In fact, it’s a little known historical fact the sight of J. Edgar’s face at the age of three, was the event which actually kicked Oscar over the edge…. (Little known = I made it up…. But, imagine it. Remember J. Edgar’s face when he was at the FBI? At three he must have been a truly scary sight; probably never had to buy a Halloween mask in his life….)

Okay, I’ll stop picking on the dead FBI guy. We’ll get back to what he said above, which, as far as I can tell, is just about as far removed, philosophically, ethically, and morally, from the ideas and concepts involved in the US Constitution, as it can possibly get. I don’t believe the framers of the Constitution had that sort of brutal single-mindedness in mind when they drafted the document; it’s completely foreign to the same view of, well, everything…. The intent of Mason, Franklin, Jefferson, Paine, and the rest was to secure Justice for the people, not place it in the hands of the faceless myrmidons who have taken over the police forces, not to mention the courts, of this country.

“All I kin say is when you finds yo’self wanderin’ in a peach orchard, ya don’t go lookin’ for rutabagas.” — Kingfish

Yesterday, when I began this rant, I had the firm intention of dissecting Hoover, and the ridiculous, self-centered attitudes he espoused, which have, sadly, become the modus operandi of almost every police force in this country…. The more I think on it, however, the greater is my feeling of futility, as I so often feel as if I’m preaching to the choir when I rant; the people who NEED to see, and think about this material, almost never do see it, as they’re not interested in changing their minds. Hell, most of them aren’t even aware they HAVE a mind….

So, I’m gonna sublimate, to please myself. We’ll find some statements, about politicians, dogma dogs, snakeheads, myrmidons, pimps, and all the other assholes who are dragging us all down to Hell with them…. Let’s see what SB can come up with today to poke a few holes in their misguided sense of adequacy…. Ah, what the hell; we’ll poke a LOT of holes today…. How about, say, oh, 13 holes?…. Hope they bleed a lot…

Was there a time when dancers with their fiddles
In children’s circuses could stay their troubles?
There was a time they could cry over books,
But time has set its maggot on their track.
Under the arc of the sky they are unsafe.
What’s never known is safest in this life.
Under the skysigns they who have no arms
Have cleanest hands, and, as the heartless ghost
Alone’s unhurt, so the blind man sees best.

~~ Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), “Was There A Time” ~~

“I like the way ONLY their mouths move…. They look like DYING OYSTERS” — Zippy the Pinhead

“The public demands certainties; it must be told definitely and a bit raucously that this is true and that is false. But there are no certainties.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956), “Prejudice”

“Our “neoconservatives” are neither new nor conservative, but old as Babylon and evil as Hell.” — Edward Abbey

“If men will not be governed by the Ten Commandments, they shall be governed by the ten thousand commandments.” — G.K. Chesterton

“Be entirely tolerant or not at all; follow the good path or the evil one. To stand at the crossroads requires more strength than you possess.” — Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)

“With rank goeth privileges- so it ever shall be. But also with it go responsibility and obligations, always more onerous than the privileges are pleasant.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue” — Bertrand Russell

“Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.” — Confucius

“I’m going to have you wrapped in a U.S. flag and burned personally by the President, in high octane American gasoline!” — The Firesign Theatre movie, J-Men Forever

“Ignorance is Strength.” — George Orwell’s 1984

“Remember: there’s a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.” — Frank Zappa, “He’s got 20 million dollars in his heavenly bank account.”

Ye shall know the” truth, and the truth shall make you mad.”

~~ Aldous Huxley ~~

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Here is a poem I haven’t re-posted since first written… Don’t know why, as it may be one of my best, such as they are…. I hope you enjoy it…

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/18/2013.

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Our final pearl is, apparently, a small, if significant part of what makes today’s effort such an anomaly…. Created in only two sessions at the computer, it came together quite easily, which is the first sign of possible oddity. After a bit of rearrangement, I realized it’s actually a pretty good pearl, for a certain type of mind…. The others who read it may find it a bit hard to penetrate, but, s’okay, not everyone likes peanut butter, even the chunky kind…. Enjoy, ffolkes; I think you can figure it out from here….

“It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.” — Immanuel Kant

“Remember what the dormouse said… FEED YOUR HEAD…” — Grace Slick

“A good reputation is more valuable than money.’ — Publius Syrus — Maxim 108

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

“The worst deluded are the self-deluded.” — Christian Nevell Bovee

“Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.” — Baltasar Gracian

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

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

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

At this point in the process, you may ask, what the hell was that all about? I have only one response….

[dignified silence]

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

Y’know? Maybe I’ll make that last line my standard response to ALL queries…. Yeah! That’s the ticket!….

Then, again, that might tend to stifle any potential dialogue…. Okay, we’ll continue to use it only when appropriate…. Now we have that settled, I’m outta here, with energy, a bit of the ready in me pocket, and time on me hands. It’s a big world out there in the Big Blue Room outside the place where my computer lives…. I think I’m going to go see what kind of trouble I can create today…. Not get INTO, mind you, just create…. I’ll try not to involve any innocents, but, they would probably be better off staying off the streets, anyway…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I don’t run into anyone faster than 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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

After all, it’s only a goose….

Posted on July 28, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life wouldn’t you say?”

~~ Kirk, “The Wrath of Khan,” stardate 8130.3. ~~

This artist’s concept released April 17,…This artist’s concept released April 17, 2014 by NASA/JPL-CALTECH depicts Kepler-186f, the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone. The hunt for potential life in outer space has taken a step forward — an international team of researchers has confirmed the existence of the first Earth-sized planet within the “habitable” zone of a star. The exoplanet dubbed Kepler-186f was first spotted by scientists using NASA’s Kepler telescope, according to research published Thursday in the US journal Science. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: “AFP PHOTO HANDOUT-NASA/JPL-CALTECH/ T. PYLE “/ NO MARKETING – NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS NO A LA CARTE SALES / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==T. Pyle/AFP/Getty Images

Earth-like exoplanet, artist’s rendition

Image created from data taken by the NASA Kepler Deep Space Telescope- @ nasa.gov

Good morning…. In the outer reaches of the galactic spiral, circling a small yellow star, on a small, blue/green planet, an old man sat, gazing in blank confusion at the screen of a computer, wondering how in the universe it had come to this…. Then, of course, I woke up, to find myself again pounding the keyboard with abandon…. One of these days, when I begin this process, I’ll actually be awake, and coherent…. I don’t suppose it will make much difference; It’s been almost four years, and I still don’t have a consistent method for opening the damn thing…

Oh well…. As they’re fond of saying out on the streets, fuck it. Let’s just pretend it isn’t 0216 AM, and we’re actually happy to be up and doing…. Maybe we can fool Murphy into thinking we got the jump on him today…. Luigi! Fire it up, and get us out of here!….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Life is like quotations. Sometimes, it makes you laugh. Sometimes, it makes you cry. Most of the time, you don’t get it.” — Smart Bee

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The Who’s Latest Tour Logo

http://thewho.com/tour/

Pictures of The Who are apparently very well protected; trying to find one that did not require some sort of major attribution took forever, and, was ultimately unsuccessful. The logo above is from the home site for the band, advertising their 50th year anniversary tour, joining The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, and a number of old rock bands in celebrating a half-century of making music…. Here for your enjoyment is an older concert, from 1970….. Enjoy!….

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The Who

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

https://youtu.be/61foW5x2cmo

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Most days, in this section, if I’m not going to rant, I’ll use an older piece. Guess what?

Yep. It’s another selection from the archives, but, relax…. No ranting today. It is now 0352, & I’ve been up for over two hours, having been driven from my very comfy bed by the ache in my joints, enough to keep me from staying asleep, or, getting back to sleep after awakening…. If I attempted to rant, there is no telling what might happen; my brain is so fatigued, the defensive restraints on my deepest feelings of anger and frustration at the world are not merely weakened, they’ve been deleted. Whatever I chose to rant about probably would never be the same….

Fantasies about having any real effect on Reality aside, I really don’t trust myself today to even pick out something appropriate…. So, here is an entire Pearl from the early days here on WP, before I’d developed/evolved the current format… It will do…. Enjoy the break, ffolkes…

From 10/15/2011:

Ffolkes,

The Sun, life-giving orb of light and warmth, which dies each night, is born again each morning, gloriously aflame with potential. As the world turns in slow majesty, a scene of aching beauty is revealed; small plants and trees stretching their leaves toward the source of warmth, creatures great and small moving over the land, greeting the day with energy and purpose, colorful birds arcing and swooping through the warming air.

Casting a jubilant look at each other, the two young boys grinned; with a cry of pure joy, they took off running toward a nearby stand of trees. Legs pounding as hard and fast as their hearts, evenly matched, they ran with abandon, startling birds and small creatures, laughing in sheer exuberance. When they came to the edge of the trees, they stopped by mutual accord. Breathing hard, they gazed into the shadows, thinking about why they had come, why they were here, filling their souls with beauty at the beginning of the day……

I’m told that constant practice makes for constant improvement, and if this is so, then I should be getting damn close to competence, if not perfection. The paragraphs above are the start of yet another story, which will most likely never be told. I write them principally to keep dross from building up in my psyche, and as a sort of contrast to the reality of the rest of the piece. An introductory bridge, as it were, carrying the reader into the realms of thought, where I can then provide you with an upgrade to the DABSDS (Defense Against B___S___ Delivery System) that comes installed in your brain. It gives me a chance to limber up my typing finger, and loosen the mental muscle, which, as we all know, is an essential precursor to the use of these peripherals without sustaining injury.

Today’s group of Pearls is an eclectic one, with a diverse, compelling batch of authors. Cultural values from all over the world, and from many (well, two or three, anyway) different ages of history are represented here; I think the variety is part of its strength. It shows, metaphorically, of course, wisdom is not limited to one book. Indeed, I believe the admixture that came together today is greatly enhanced by the contrast of ideas, creating a more powerful effect upon the reasoning mind….. Hope you enjoy!….

“If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.” — James Thurber

“The only real failure in life is the failure to try.” — Smart Bee

“It is a misconception that spirituality brings everlasting happiness. There is no such thing. Sadness still comes to the wise, but, unlike most people, their clarity of mind allows them to see beyond the temporal emotionalism of the moment. They are farseeing, and so happiness and sorrow become the same to them.” — Deng Ming-Dao

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know.
But I do not approve.
And I am not resigned.

~~ Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music” ~~

“Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of–but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.” — Lazarus Long

“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” — Emily Dickinson

Trust yourselves, my friends, so that ye may trust one another….. Y’all take care out there…..

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

When I was in my teens and twenties, I wrote some poetry. When I look back on it, I wonder why, because it was pretty bad. I gave up trying to write any at all, aside from an occasional haiku, which I’ve always found to be rather simple to create…. When I retired, & began writing more, I still had no urge to try my hand at it again, until I started writing this blog, and reading a lot more poetry myself… In late 2012, around August, a poem burst out, and I’ve been writing more ever since…. This wasn’t the first to come out after my long hiatus, but, one of the first few, for sure…. Enjoy, please….

Piraeus calls me, silently.

Sizzle, sizzle, crash, bang, boom.
Intellect burning with subsequent doom.
Lingering long over decisive style,
Whistling up chaos all the while.

Such frozen thoughts may shatter,
Should we infer, but, no matter.
Firing blanks is children at play
Blooded sages all gasp in dismay.

Nonsense is good sense at times
Mundane objectives trip lightly in rhymes.
Fallen angels dance on a pin
Until each sinner enters within.

Fast moments with natural rain
Bring ashes, yet still must remain.
Final thoughts clamor for more
Find them only on a far distant shore.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/6/2012.

Well, it’s a start….

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

If this pearl, and Pearl, had struggled any harder to NOT get done, I’m not sure what I would have had to do. Now that I look at that statement, I’m even more impressed with the strength of the resistance, as it has completely discombobulated me…. and, isn’t THAT a great word? Discombobulated. Say it out loud to yourself…. Isn’t that cool?

Anyway, this pearl tried very hard to not get posted; don’t ask me why, because I don’t even WANT to know…. In addition, it came out a little funny…. not ha, ha funny, either. In fact, I think it would be best, at this point, to just let it speak for itself, for whatever good it will do…. Enjoy, ffolkes; if nothing else, it’s a nice little trip into fantasy land…. Well, except for the fact it’s mostly talking about Life and Reality…

“I like life. It’s something to do.” — Ronnie Shakes

“A good place to start is where you are.” — Charles Wolf, Jr.

“Our own heart, and not other men’s opinions form our true honor.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“Don’t teach your children what to think; just teach them to think.” — Tannenbaum

“Not all who wander are lost.” — J. R. R. Tolkien

“Except for our thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.” — Descartes

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.” — Albert Einstein

“Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing is gonna be alright.” — Bob Marley

“So as this only point among the rest remaineth sure and certain, namely, that nothing is certain. . .” — Pliny The Elder

Actually, that’s not bad… not bad at all….

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

We are unsure of just what happened here today, but, remain confident in our heart all will be well, if we only stay the course. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by your expectations of quality you would find here; it’s not our fault Reality does not respond to even our royal ministrations. You may, if you wish, apply for a refund, but, good luck. (I’m using the royal/3rd person ‘we’ to avoid full personal responsibility for the above; it’s intended to distract y’all from blaming me for this…. Did it work?….)

All that said, in place of the standard disclaimer, I think I should let this one go to it’s fate. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, when we find out the latest in the ongoing war of nerves called Life at Large…. It’s the only game in town, so we may as well learn to play.

To honor that intention, I leave you today with a final thought, which may happen now and then around here. It’s a good one to start the day….

“Despite its suffix, skepticism is not an “ism” in the sense of a belief or dogma. It is simply an approach to the problem of telling what is counterfeit and what is genuine. And a recognition of how costly it may be to fail to do so. To be a skeptic is to cultivate “street smarts” in the battle for control of one’s own mind, one’s own money, one’w own allegiances. To be a skeptic, in short, is to refuse to be a victim.” — Robert S. DeBear, “An Agenda for Reason, Realism, and Responsibility,” — New York Skeptic — (newsletter of the New York Area Skeptics, Inc.), Spring 1988

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….

gigoid

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

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Poetry

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After all, it’s only a goose….

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