All the Djinn joints in all the world….

Posted on January 1, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children.
One is roots.
The other is wings.”

~~ Hodding Carter, Jr. ~~

Pointing the Way

Hajime…. I’m up rather late, though I went to bed early. C’est la vie! It’s a new year, again, so, all can be forgiven, claimed merely as building new habits…. Sure, that’s it…. It’s my story, and I’m sticking to it….

Today’s mess is, for a Pearl, a bit choppy, from this end; it may look smooth and simple, but, believe me, it was not. That said, and, to begin new methods for a new year, I’ll curtail any urges to go silly, or weird, or anything other than efficient…. In truth, this is a ploy, to lull your sense of security into believing me; tomorrow will probably see a return to the general run of idiotic literary tricks and illusions we use to fill up space…. None of that today…. Nope, we’re going straight from here to the oyster beds, and be done with it…. How’s that for efficient? It works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“There’s nothing on my mind that couldn’t be expressed by a long insane outburst of hysterical rage.” — Ashleigh Brilliant

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Image from beatchronic.com via Google Images

For the last couple of months, since hearing the first of many songs published by this organization, I have been trying to promote the ideas they espouse, as the only way, for the moment, I can show my support. The video I’ve included is a compilation of a large number of their songs, put up on You Tube since 2013, by one of their other admirers…. It gives a good feel for what they do, and the joy it creates wherever they do it….. Enjoy, and then, consider helping out by joining the organization…. It combines our two best weapons against the machine, to wit: Love, and Music….

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Playing for Change
A Better Place

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https://youtu.be/Ob_AScYiAzk

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“It is the mark of an educated mind
to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

The sense of touch, of which our skin is the primary perceptive organ is, when one stops to consider, the ONLY sense we actually possess as humans….. Hearing, taste, smell, sight, all are merely extensions of that one sense; more advanced, more complex ways of perceiving different types of energy/matter, of which the universe is composed, but, still, only a variation of what the skin does at its most basic level of nerve function.

Each of the organs we possess to collect those perceptions are based on increasingly small particles to be perceived, yet, all MUST be touched by those particles, little pieces of the universe, in order to function, at all. The tongue must have particles of food touch it before tasting; the ears are more finely tuned, to the touch of sound waves, molecules of air in motion. The nose is even more delicately tuned, to detect specific molecules in the air which signify what is perceived there; very delicate particles, indeed, as it can detect tiny, invisible molecules, such as pheromones from our glands, below the level of consciousness…

The eyes are the last, most complex organ, evolved to detect almost the tiniest of particles in the universe, light waves from an energy source in specific frequencies and amplitudes, below even the molecular level, also unconsciously…. (I say, ‘almost’, because, without aid, we cannot perceive at the atomic level, nor sub-atomic particles….) In point of fact, all the direction of our entire perceptive system is generally an unconscious process…. The brain we possess as humans has evolved, clearly, as a means of processing all that complex, fascinating data, all compiled by five varieties of ONE sense…..

This simplicity, combined with the dual nature of the complexity it mimics in Reality, is why we are constantly being fooled by the universe, because Reality isn’t limited to just one type of matter/energy to be perceived. If one can accept the inevitability of this proposition/assertion, it is only the simplest of logic to discover there are, most likely, many OTHER types of energy/matter for which we do not possess any sort of perceptive organ, capable of even detecting its existence, at all…. We are surrounded by a mystery whose limits, and/or existence, we cannot perceive, or possibly comprehend….

But, we humans, with this nearly unlimited imagination, caught in a small, insulated shell, with hardly more perceptive ability than the rocks upon which we so often founder, think we can dream up a God, and, read His mind, too…. Pathetic little monkeys is all we are, naked, hairless, and afraid, with a nature too fucking vicious and stubborn to even admit how small and unimportant we are in the scheme of things. For us to even believe we can see ever HALF of what REALITY really exists as, is the height of arrogance, and stupidity…. But, then, looking at history, what else is new?

“Science has made gods of us
before we were even worthy of being men.”

~~ Jean Rostand ~~

We humans seem to think our minds, and imagination, are proof against whatever Reality may come up with; how else to explain such arrogant foolishness in the face of an entire universe, which, clearly, barely registers OUR existence, at all. It certainly has no pity for us, or any other such emotional response; for fuck’s sake, ffolkes, the universe doesn’t care about humans any more than a star, & it blows them up on a regular basis. If there were living creatures on planets around such a star, do you believe the star wouldn’t blow because they were there?…. Pretty unlikely, from all the evidence available, I would say.

Yesterday, on the last day of the year, I took a walk, as I needed to get outside, and, off my ass for a while…. I set a nearby store as my goal; the round trip is about mile, and the weather was cold, but, clear…. Before I reached the half-way point, the store, I had witnessed three objects/events/indications of the failure of the American Dream, as epitomized in two statements, one from Thomas Jefferson, echoing wisdom he had read by our opening sage, Aristotle, to wit:

“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

“If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.” — Aristotle

Both of these statements imply the necessity for each person in a democracy to take ‘personal’ responsibility very seriously, to educate themselves, and to monitor the activities of those they’ve chosen to govern…. Anything less will, and, sadly, has led us to the exact place we have come in America…. There is NO common feeling among the population which promotes or facilitates such responsibility; the signs are everywhere….

A block from my door, I came upon an open field, next to a building housing a printing company. The open area, next to the sidewalk, is now covered with trash, not merely bags or thrown down wrapping papers, but, broken couches, tables, torn clothing, and, literally, spoiling trash & food all over, covering a good half-acre of ground, all thrown there, obviously, from passing, or pausing vehicles….

At the next corner was further proof of people’s lack of ‘commhair’, (Gaelic for ‘community’), where I found, lying right next to the sidewalk on the corner, the body of a dog, obviously run over by a motorist, who had then pulled it off the street, & left it, covered partially with cardboard, (from the trash lying nearby), to rot, right on the street, where children, old folks, and animals walk daily…. By the time I got there today, it had been there about five days, without anyone reporting it, (I had tried several times, but, could never reach anything but recordings, at the police and city bureaucracies I called), or, burying it, at the very least….

On my way back, I stopped at the newspaper office, at the corner opposite the open field where the trash and corpse lay… I asked the receptionist if the paper had a number for the police or city where what I’d found could be reported for disposal…. She sent me back to the news room, where I explained the issue to a couple of reporters there, working on the next issue, I suppose….

They listened politely, with some slight empathy at what I described, but, didn’t seem to grasp the simple fact they were looking at a blockbuster story, if they chose to address the issues involved, i.e, the lack of community spirit prevalent in society, as well as the inability forced upon the public to seek help from those we elect to TAKE the responsibility for such things from us…. I had to smile, shake my head, and leave, having done all I could do to resolve my own sense of responsibility….

I went outside, & sat on a bus bench outside the paper’s office, & thought of what I had just experienced on my walk…. whereupon, I began to weep…. I felt such a strong sense of sadness, at the death of the American Dream, fought for so bravely by those founding fathers, and protected, sincerely, by thousands and thousands of true Americans since then, including my own father, against the depredations of those who would deny us our freedoms as secured by the Constitution…. I sat there, silently, with tears running down my face, for about five minutes before I could get up, cross the street to avoid the now-ripely-odoriferous canine corpse, to finish my walk….

It’s all dead, and nobody even realizes it, but for a few true Americans, who have educated themselves, and have watched, in pain and anguish, as our government has steadily been BOUGHT by corporate influence; in the courts, since the mid-nineteenth century, and for the entire twentieth century, as those inroads into one branch have spread, like the only true form of life Man has created, the computer virus, carrying its load of evil and selfishness into Congress, and, the White House, until none of those three branches have any interest in pursuing anything but their own agendas, none of which are concerned with securing anything for the people who live here…..

The general run of American has no courage, no education, and no actual freedom to do anything other than follow custom, which they do not even realize is a slave’s collar. The evil inherent in the philosophy of “me first” has killed the hopes of those who founded this country, as well as removing it from the reach of the average man, which, in essence, was the primary intent of the Bill of Rights, all of which are now merely a Bill of Suggestions…. as long as they don’t get in the way of the bottom line profits of the oligarchs who now run most of the world….

The courage to speak out against the madness, the courage of a child, to say, “Look! The Emperor is naked!”, is now gone from the American spirit, as well as from much of the world…. and, we all have heard what happens when evil goes unnoticed, allowed to remain in the dark, where it would have us all exist….

“Oppression can only survive through silence.”

~~ Carmen de Monteflores ~~

In a way, I hate starting the New Year with such a depressing rant…. yet, I have a feeling it is needed just now…. All of us, those who can see, as well as those who do not, need to begin anew, to face Life with more courage, and honest effort to show ourselves to be truly human… that is to say, Kind, Compassionate, Brave, and, with Honor as our standard of existence. Anything less than that just isn’t going to overcome the damage already done to society, and, the entire planet’s ecosystem….

“Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat,
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe
That all was lost.”

~~ John Milton — Paradise Lost, Book ix, Line 782 ~~

You may believe that, or not; the Universe doesn’t really care….

I do; I can’t seem to help myself, even though I know human nature all-too-well…. I love the silly critters; I am one. So, I’ll keep on spouting off, or, ranting, or, whatever I need to do to spread the Love I feel…. It is, in the final analysis, the only damn thing we have to fight back with….

gigoid has spoken, quite enough for one day….

So be it.

Dont keep calm

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New Year Haiku

The old year is gone.
Who knows what the next will bring?
Glad to say, not me.

~~ gigoid ~~

12/31/2015, 8:05 PM

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Our final old-school pearl today is, as is often the case, a bit obscure. It’s a classic seven-star bracelet of gems, with a message; my problem is I don’t know exactly how to express it….. I guess it’s kind of like a New Year; ya never know what’s gonna be up ahead, waiting for you to learn…. Enjoy!….

“All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.” — Kahlil Gibran (Sand and Foam)

“Every one is bound to bear patiently the results of his own example.” — Phaedrus (c. 8 A.D.) — Book i, Fable 26, 12

“Charity sees the need not the cause.” — German Proverb

“How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved.” — Sigmund Freud

“The wishbone will never replace the backbone.” — Brave Bee

“Honesty is the best policy – there’s less competition.” — Van Roy’s Law

“Do not the spirits who dwell in the ether envy man his pain?” — Kahlil Gibran

Aha! Got it! I think I have figured it out; hint…. it’s advice on how to approach new challenges…. 2nd hint: K.I.S.S…..

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I am done, thankfully. The new year seems to have brought a bit of attention from our old pal Murphy, who has a new trick; he’s fussing with the software, causing it to freeze every couple minutes, to wait for it to catch up to my commands…. SIGH…. Ah well, it’s done, so, we’ll press our luck a bit, & try to post it…. Wish me luck…. For the nonce, I shall bid thee adieu until tomorrow, when, hopefully, I’ll have fixed this, or, found a workaround…. Until then, ffolkes, y’all enjoy the day off, and all the festivities you can tolerate without getting homicidal…. Ta, then, until they figure out a way to stop me from doing this again….

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 adding penalties, it’s free…

Posted on December 31, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“How many northern Californians does it take to screw in a light bulb?”

“None of your f***ing business and have a nice day.”

~~ Curmudgeon Bee ~~

Fish for Dinner

Hajime…. Now, THAT’S the proper pearl to begin the final post for 2015. It took me nearly three days to find it, but, every minute was worth every second…. The critical factor for understanding such an assertion is, simply, I AM a northern Californian. Though born about 230 miles south of where I now reside in the Golden State, I’ve lived north of the Bay for most of it….

Almost needless to say, it also provides me, and, any other potential/practicing curmudgeons, a perfect line for using on Mundanes, in one variation or another, when suddenly confronted with the numerous acts of random, yet grindingly consistent, gross stupidity, in the form of a question, which, by any person with functioning neurons, would be considered rhetorical….

There…. Was that cynical & insulting enough? I hope so, I worked hard to make it so. If nobody is offended, all I can say is, damn! Where did I go wrong?….. If THAT’S not enough, well, all I can say is, y’all had best find your spare brain; this one ain’t workin’….

Hah! Let’s throw in a “Whew!”, as well. I’m done now. Sorry, just had to get that out. I’ll try not to let it break out so vehemently again….. today. I shan’t make any promises for tomorrow; you know how I hate to make promises I’m not likely to keep. No worries, though. I think I probably have enough strange left in me to get through a Pearl, especially one with the natural advantage of landing on a holiday, to either celebrate, sell, ignore, or, explore the meaning thereof, the last of which probably isn’t a good idea today….. I’m liable to, literally, and, literature-ally, go off…. Then, of course, there’s the figurative…. No, let’s not even go there….

I think, perhaps, we should get on with it. What do y’all think? Oh, right. No ‘perhaps’ about that…. Well, I think so, and I’m the one typing here, so, I guess that puts me in the driver’s seat, doesn’t it? Duh…. Okay, then, we’ll have it YOUR way.

Maestro, on with the slow….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The notion that faith in Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, observation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance called “faith”.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

(Just a teaser for what is coming; if you are uncomfortable with ambiguity, or, uncertainty, maybe you should think about skipping from the video to the poetry section…. Fair warning….)

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Townes Van Zandt

Image from amoeba.com via Google Images

Today’s video selection is the result of a comment yesterday from a friend, who sent me a link to one of his tunes (Thanks!) …. I realized I had not used his music yet; since he is one of my most favored artists, there was no hesitation at all in deciding to include him today. Hell, his song, Pancho and Lefty, is one I’ve been playing & singing myself, damn near every time I play, for about 40 years, or more…. I’ve played it with my BFF, Tommy Tumbleweed, in a smoky, loud, crowded bar, more times than I can remember…. Enjoy, ffolkes… Townes is one of the best poets to ever pick up a guitar…..

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Townes Van Zandt

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https://youtu.be/K6O9eRvNs5k

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Taking another day off here, ffolkes; fresh rants coming soon…. For now, let’s go back to, oh, a bit more than three years ago, to see what was going on in this silly, yet, earnest mind of mine…..

From 12/2/2012:

“There is one God, but which one is He?”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Now, this is the proper use of reason and inquiry! Such a small question, made gargantuan by the depth of its insight. Which one, indeed, is the real God? There are as many answers to this question as there are what I like to call “preachers”, for want of a better word (I should maybe try to pick a better one, I suppose….); “preachers” are men, or women, who have decided upon one particular system of beliefs on the subject of divinity as being the correct one, to the exclusion of all the others. In spite of the lack of hard evidence on hand for any of the different belief systems, these folks choose one, and stick to it like a barnacle…. which, come to think of it, is probably what it feels like, after a while….

Depending on to whom the question is put, the answer may vary from Odin the All Father of Norse mythology, to the God of Zoroaster, whose specific appellation escapes me just now. In between you will find God, also known as Yahweh/Jehovah to the those of the Tribe, Allah to the Muslims, and just plain, old God, to most of the Christian sects. There is the voodoo god, Jobu, in the Caribbean; Set, or Bal, or Mammon, or any of the other ancient earth gods; Ra of the Egyptians; Krishna, and all his incarnations, i.e., Kali, Yama, Ganesha, Maya, and the others in the Hindu pantheon. The American Indians seemed to favor the Great Spirit. Ancient Druids, from the dawn of Man’s history, and, modern Wiccans, follow the Goddess, with gods and goddesses from the Greeks and Romans thrown into the mix, just for fun. The list seems as endless as human imagination…. which it is, since all of them spring from that source.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

~~ Smart Bee (and, most likely, the Dalai Lama….) ~~

As far as I know, Buddha never claimed to be a god, and, was, to my mind, not particularly clear on the subject of divinity, as directly related to humanity. The same seems true of Taoism, though certain of its sages seem to hold some of the old Chinese mythology beliefs on Heaven, and the creatures who inhabit that domain, another concept for which there is only imaginary evidence to support its veracity, and its reality. In this way, I see these philosophies as superior to the religious doctrines that purport to worship a deity, as they rely on reason, personal responsibility, and compassion to direct action, rather than fear of reprisal, or hope for reward, as is the wont of religious dogma and doctrine.

This perception of mine may be because I have always thought that the entire concept of a deity is not capable of being described, or understood, if one is to assume that a god is what it claims to be. How can a mortal understand an immortal? There is no common ground, other than the assumption of existence, for which there can be any reason for one to be connected to the other, as we could not comprehend their existence. We, limited to our human perceptions, have no direct evidence of a deity that can be experienced by those perceptions.

Anyone who tells you they do is lying, even if they believe it to be true, unless they can share that experience with another human, directly, with evidence for the senses we possess, not merely for what we wish to be true. Feelings don’t count, nor visions only seen by them, or voices in the head; neither do personal revelations, or religious fevers, or speaking in tongues…. See, hear, touch, smell, taste…. that’s what we have, along with the ability to reason, and our imagination. That is our tool kit; unless one of the tools fits, it isn’t real, to our perceptive ability. Items purported to be evidence that come from imagination are just that; imaginary, and cannot be considered proof of anything other than the naivete of the speaker, and, of any who choose to believe them.

“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.”

~~ George Santayana ~~

SIGH…. People are people, though, and they will choose what to believe according to what they feel, most of the time, rather than according to what is the truth, which requires effort to find. It has even been said that humans have a tendency, more often than not, to make choices that are bad for them, just for that reason, that it is too much effort to think their way through to the truth that would ultimately help them. As long as this is true, our species is in danger, from itself, and its own delusions…. Sad, in a species of such promise….

And on the 8th day, God woke up and said “Whew! It was just a dream!”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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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 ~~

8/8/2013

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Naked Pearls

Life

Within the oyster’s shell uncouth
The purest pearl may hide,
Trust me you’ll find a heart of truth
Within that rough inside.

~~ Mrs. Osgood ~~

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“A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak.”

~~ Michael Garrett Marino ~~

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“There is not enough love and kindness in the world
to permit us to give any of it to imaginary beings.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~

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“There is no time like the pleasant.”

~~ George Bergman ~~

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45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

~~ Instructions for life ~~

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“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

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“There’s too much beauty upon this earth for lonely men to bear.”

~~ Richard Le Gallienne ~~

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“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

~~ Plato ~~

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陶德清

Always we hope
Someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better
Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
You have the answer;
You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
For better seeing.
Rather abide at the center of your being
For the more you leave it
The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
the way to do is to be.

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

老子

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It’s done. For this we are grateful. We are also, as you can see, stuck in the royal ‘we’ again. We shall leave you now, with no further ado, as this condition can last for days…. We are sorry, but, as royals, we are never tired, never cross, and like hospitals. It’s in the manual, right before the section on how to act smarmy and superior without any real clue…. See y’all tomorrow, we are sure….

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….

Tidy bonuses on a tiny table….

Posted on December 28, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Metternich ~~

Avenue of the American Dream

Note the two signs….

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?….

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

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Image from guitarplayer.com via Google Images

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

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Stevie Ray Vaughan
Live at Montreux ~ 1985

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https://youtu.be/dIhVJnYaRX4

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

Plague of Evil

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So be it…..

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

A Seasonal Approach

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

10/2/2012

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Naked Pearls

Observations on Life at Large

***********

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

~~ William Redfield ~~

***********

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

~~ Unknown Bee ~~

***********

“YES… LOVE IS A CONTACT SPORT…”

~~ il NOEGO ~~

***********

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

~~ Plutarch — Of Bashfulness ~~

***********

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

~~ Mark Twain ~~

***********

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

~~ Frank Zappa ~~

***********

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

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

***********

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

~~ Richard Bach ~~

***********

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

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

***********

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

~~ Aristotle ~~

***********

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

~~ Douglas Coupland ~~

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

All you can do is all you can do….

Posted on December 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

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

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~

~~ “Archaic Torso of Apollo” ~~

A Small Congress

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

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

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

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

From 7/26/2013:

Ffolkes,

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“… democracy is not something you believe in, or a place you hang your hat, but it’s something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles and falls apart.” — Abby Hoffman
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Today’s poem was not originally used in this Pearl; that one, “A Dubiously Soft Morning”, was used just a few days ago…. I’ve replaced it with a poem from the same year, but, of a different tone altogether…. I hope you enjoy it; it’s actually one of my favorites of those I’ve written, because it speaks of my father…. Abondanza!

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

4/6/2013

Last posted on WP 9/6/2014
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“The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the deepest root of all evil that is in the world.” — Max Born, physicist

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

~~ gigoid, the dubious ~~

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Dos Regalos Preciosos….

Posted on December 25, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very Naughty Boy”

~~ Brian’s Mum ~~

Christmas in California….

Hajime…. Do you like my Christmas Tree? It’s the only one I have, so, ’twill have to do…. Now we have the niceties observed, let’s allow them to pass into memory, for the nonce, if only to find a proper beginning to what is, if I do say myself, a damn fine example of a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, such as they are…. We’ve foregone a rant for the day, in favor of kindness. There’s a fresh poem, written yesterday, just for today’s Gentle Readers, and all those who are crazy enough to follow this outlet for all my insanity…. There’s a slick final pearl, and music to get you through it all serenely…. Not bad for an amateur, eh?….

If I talk any further on what is below, it will spoil any surprises, so, I’ll just get on with this intro, so nobody misses anything…. That said, I see I’ve done it to myself again…. Where to from here? Considering our eventual destination(s), I’m not at all certain we can get there from here. However, let no one ever say I retreated from a challenge to my ability to fill up a page…. If I must retreat into nonsense, or gibberish, in order to get us the required distance from the opening quote, why, then, that’s what I’ll fucking do… I will try not to say fuck again…. Oops…. Oh well, let’s move on shall we? (In short, oh, fuck….)

There, how’s that for the obligatory silliness we all know and love so well… Okay, so, some of us don’t…. Too bad; today, this is what I’ve got, and, if we want to get to the meat of the matter, y’all had best just shut the pie holes, and hang on the best you can, because, now, I’m on a roll, and, it’s entirely possible I’ll never even find the end of this sentence, which has already gone at least a line and a half too far for comfort, or even joy…. Whew, made it! What a PITA!

Thank whomever you care to, we made it. Now I’ve gotten the worst of the idiocy out of the way, I thing we can go enjoy the rest of today’s mess… I’ll use one of our infamous Tardis toys…. Ooh, this one is fun! Hold on; this won’t hurt, and it’s wicked fast; we’ll be there before you can blink twice….

Shall we Pearl?….

“To be sensual is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the breaking of bread” — James Baldwin

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

Since today much of the Western world is celebrating their particular beliefs in the divinity of a dead social reformist, in whose divinity I place no credence, I’ll not torture anyone with a bunch of music we’ve all heard since birth, that now is getting rather crusty and disagreeable, for me anyway…. Since I also do not believe any of the other religious philosophies to contain anything close to what exists in the real world I live in, we won’t go with any other type, except one…

You see, as far as I know, Gautama Buddha never claimed any sort of divinity for himself; his philosophy had more to do with our inner beings than how we perceive the outer world, which is, admittedly a scary place, thus setting the stage for the general run of religions to offer their own set of beliefs in a divine creator as a way to answer humanity’s questions as to what happens after death…. Buddha didn’t worry much about that; like everything else in this Reality, he figured we each make our choices, which lead us wherever they take us; no supernatural intervention was deemed necessary to fulfill the requirements needed to achieve this sort of enlightened state….

All that said, as carefully as possible to avoid offense to anyone’s beliefs, we’ll have a bit of Zen meditation music today, to honor what I believe to be the closest philosophy to Reality, Buddhism, as practiced, and modeled perfectly, by the XIVth Dalai Lama of Tibet, whose only religion, by his own words, is Kindness…

Or, as John, and the rest of the lads sung, “All you need is Love….” Enjoy the peace, ffolkes; meditation not required….

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

Zen for Christmas

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

https://youtu.be/TwLV3_I8ey8

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

As a gift for the season, today, there will be no ranting…. Instead, I’ll go all the way back in the archives, for one of the earliest Pearls I posted on WordPress. I’ve cleaned up the formatting, to reflect what I now know, of how to make the posts LOOK the way I want them. Other than that, it’s just the same little weird story line I came up with to begin that day’s post…. It’s an odd one, I know, but, once you get to the punch line, you’ll laugh, no matter how disgusted with the rest of it you may be…. Any bets?

The short, short-story is followed by a most excellent group of pearls, a necklace of gems, for sure…. Enjoy your gift, ffolkes; it, and my love, and best wishes for a happy, peaceful winter go out to each and every one of my Gentle Readers…. May these words of the Dalai Lama guide your steps, and hearts….

“My only religion is kindness.”

From 9/7/2011:

Technicolor ferrets, and red, red wine….

Ffolkes,

The morning fog was lifting as she stepped outside; the day promised to be bright and hot. Another perfect late summer day in northern paradise; day after gorgeous day had paraded by, seemingly oblivious to the oncoming autumn, lulling the world into a drowsy complacency. Moving briskly, the young woman walked up the street toward the old part of town, past lovely old Victorian homes pressed between newer apartment buildings, and on into the busier streets leading to her morning’s destination.

As she passed others on the street, she looked away, toward the shop windows already sporting fall colors, avoiding any eye contact that might prompt a response, or slow her progress. Just ahead she could see the sign proclaiming “Eats!”, and the crowd of people outside, waiting and hoping for an opening inside. As she drew abreast of the door, she could see the people inside, talking, laughing, eating; she could see the staff rushing from table to table, pouring coffee, delivering food, frantically trying to keep abreast of the horde of orders and demands. She thought to herself, “they won’t have to do that much longer!”.

With that thought, she drew the homemade, baseball shaped bomb from her pocket, twisted the knob at the top, and calmly bent over to roll it across the floor toward the kitchen in the rear of the room. She turned away from the door and walked quickly away, twenty steps, then thirty…. Then, BOOM!, the device exploded, sending large pieces of building and people flying into the street, along with most of the crowd in front. As she strolled away she thought to herself, “That’ll teach ’em to burn my bacon!”…….Justice had prevailed…..

Okay, so they can’t all be classic literature. You try to come up with something new every day, and see how easy it is….NOT! Days such as this one it all comes down to whatever pours out onto the screen; I don’t consciously direct the process, but just let it flow. Sometimes it works, and others, well….not so much. You can decide for yourself, I’m sure…..and I’m sure you will. In the meantime, I like this little group, especially the little poem from Emily; it’s a perfect example of why her level of excellence is difficult to reach. Simple words, strung together in a seemingly random fashion, and POW, the idea smacks you right upside the head. Good stuff…..

The good man is the teacher of the bad,
And the bad is the material from which the good may learn.
He who does not value the teacher,
Or greatly care for the material,
Is greatly deluded although he may be learned.
Such is the essential mystery.

~~ Lao-Tzu (fl. BC 600) ~~

**********

“What seems to be no test, no struggle, is the most deceiving test of all.”

~~ Ezra Taft Benson ~~

**********

“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

~~ The Beatles, The last lyric of their last song ~~

**********

A word is dead
When it is said
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

**********

“I cannot achieve complete humility — although complete humiliation is always within reach.”

~~ Dan Goodman ~~

(I resemble that remark!…)

**********

Doing it the hard way is always easier. — Murphy’s Paradox

**********

Easier, perhaps, in the long run; it is always so hard to know which way is the hardest. It’s why Murphy is so successful at what he does; reality seems to cater to him, and lets him have his way all too often…..SIGH….. Y’all take care out there…..

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

A Seasonal Gift

Affordable, these moments in time,
all quite free, not costly, nor for sale at all.
Merely more misspent periods making rhyme.
seeking a peaceful heart, as my words fall.

A price, many will tell you, or me,
is due for every transaction.
In truth, everything you see is free;
Illusion seldom offers any real satisfaction.

Some also tell us we need some sort of god,
we’re told ’tis the only path to immortality.
On the path I’ve followed, that seems rather odd;
I’m quite happy with honorable mortality.

Some days it gets a bit lonely, for a bit,
out here in the cold light of reason.
Solitude is, however, well worth it;
Love, felt and treasured, gives warmth all season.

I suppose one could easily say,
this poem is the only gift I’ll give.
If I can teach love and kindness with the words I say,
such will be fine; it’s enough to live.

Happy Winter to All…

~~ gigoid ~~

12/24/2015

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

Naked Pearls

Lessons of Life/Death

One coin, two sides.

**********

“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.”

~~ Edward Abbey~~

**********

“I am pleased to see that we have differences.
May we together become greater than the sum of both of us.”

~~ Surak of Vulcan, “The Savage Curtain,” stardate 5906.4. ~~

**********

“Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.”

~~ J. Robert Oppenheimer, speaking of Albert Einstein ~~

**********

“It’s possible to use karate against a swarm of plankton–but it won’t help.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

**********

“Je me presse de rire de tout, de peur d’etre oblige de’en pleurer.”
(I make myself laugh at everything, in case I should have to weep.)

~~ Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais ~~

**********

“… don’t you know that there are things, in the best of us,
which no outside should dare to touch?
Things sacred because, and only because,
one can say: ‘This is mine’?
Don’t you know that we live only for ourselves,
the best of us do, those who are worthy of it?
Don’t you know that there is something in us which must not be touched
by any state, by any collective, by any number of millions?”

~~ Kira Argounova ~~

**********

“A heart in love with beauty never grows old.”

~~ Turkish Proverb ~~

**********

“Let us overthrow the totems, break the taboos.
Or better, let us consider them canceled.
Coldly, let us be intelligent.”

~~ Pierre Trudeau ~~

**********
“Death the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening.”

~~ Sir Walter Scott ~~

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

I do love it when a plan comes together, to steal from the Colonel…. We’re done here, so, I will go now. Promise. In keepong with the spirit of the season, and, since there haven’t been any injuries reported, I’ll play nice, ending this here. I will, however, try to do this again tomorrow….

We now return to our regularly scheduled cat-pampering…. See y’all in the mornin’, ffolkes; that’s the only warning shot I’ll fire…..

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….

Baffling instants of dawning comprehension….

Posted on December 24, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It’s not denial. I’m just very selective about what I accept as reality.”

~~ Calvin (“Calvin and Hobbes”) ~~

The Globe Theater, London

Hajime…. ‘Tis morning again. Some would say, at this age, each day upright is a victory. I can almost agree, but for the simple fact it isn’t my preference to always think of Life as a battle, though, because of our nature, battling comes easily to mind; we’re pretty vicious animals, in the final analysis. I don’t even feel any need to try to justify such a statement; just watch any group of two-year olds play together without adults to moderate their actions; then, I’d agree with the idea of battling life as an appropriate description. Alternately, watch the fucking news, or, read the Bible for a while in the Old Testament…. either is filled with war and violence toward each other….

Thus, having ranted in one paragraph, there won’t be any real need to do so below; just as well. I’m suffering an ethical issue myself. This morning I found Leelu playing with a wolf spider, I think. It was a black color, but, though it didn’t LOOK like a BW, rather than chance Leelu getting stung/bitten, even by a wolf spider (not enough poison to hurt, but, their mandibles aren’t very clean & wounds from them can infect easily) I killed the spider, as I couldn’t get at it with a glass to capture it.

Now, I am really feeling bad, guilty & miserable, for having killed a totally innocent creature, when I COULD have found a way to capture and release it outside, which is how I generally deal with spiders…. Hell, I’ve admired spiders since I was a kid, reading Spiderman, and wishing I could jump 20 times my height, or lift a car with one hand…. not ever counting the silk they make….

I’m sure I’ll get over it, but, as I get older, apparently, my heart is opening further to the world’s suffering, adding to it brings no balance…. Ah, well, another ounce to my karmic burden added; no complaints, I earned it….

All that said, I’ll wipe my tears away, and get on with today’s mess…. Not all of it may be fresh today, but, we’ll see how it goes…. No ups, no extras, no tricks today…. We’re off to the oyster beds, now….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Be honest with yourself until the end of your life. Then listen to the slow movement of the Schubert Quintet and kick the bucket.” — Nathan Milstein

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

Bo Diddley

Image from 8tracks.com via Google Images

Since we’ve been exploring/playing the blues lately, a friend suggested this most excellent bridge musician…. I say bridge because he was one of the first musicians to blend the style of blues to the new ‘rock and roll’ being played in the early 1950’s, influenced heavily by the blues, especially as played in New Orleans (ref: think Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, etc…. both followed Bo’s example into the newer style….. Actually, I’m not positive who came first, but, does it really matter? All of them were pioneers, so who cares who scaled the mountain first, except the one who did?….. I just enjoy the results…..) Unless you hate music, you WILL enjoy this one….

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

Bo Diddley
Live with Ron Wood 1987

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

https://youtu.be/QgsAbwFAMb8

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

Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations
than in their particular observations.

~~ Niccolo Machiavelli ~~

“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 (1833-1899), “The Free Soul”

You know, I was going to rant, using these two statements as a jumping off point; now, upon looking at them, together they form a perfect coin with two sides of the same issue, from a certain point of view. The first old insight from The Prince gives a logical reason for the human inability to form a society without falling into war or conquest…. The second offers a 180º view of humankind, offering, in a sense, a way out of the ancient fallibility we embrace so easily, due to our animal nature, which we have never learned to integrate with our intelligence without allowing it to pervert our moral/ethical behavior….

We allow feelings, generated by the fearful monkey unconscious mind, to dictate the immense power of imagination, turning it to the mechanics of war and violence to achieve our ends, without ever applying our intelligence rationally on a societal level….

And, that’s all there is to say about that… The first tells us how we got here; the second gives/offers us a way out of this suffering, miserable existence, into a more peaceful, rational, ethical society. It’s our choice, but, then, it always has been….

‘Nuff said….

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

Dont keep calm

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

A dream, weeping….

“Never a dull moment to spare”, he said
with a crooked grin, and a broad wink.
“Can’t keep Reality hanging by a thread….
what would Chaos, or Entropy think?”

So, we plucked up our dreams of old,
to carry us on, in dutiful, strong arms,
stuffed a candle in the remaining fold,
for luck, and perfect proof against charms.

Storms follow the sun, but, never stay;
lessons round every corner, all free.
Past fleeting doubts, in a sad disarray,
the journey becomes the reason to be.

Simple kindness manifests untold riches,
in defiance of common cause’s demise.
Bold courage, hanging in stitches,
mends wounds that come as no surprise.

Still, waters run deep, ’tis said by many.
Too much pain cannot apprehend
the salient, sharp points of epiphany,
nor, plainly, to wisdom aspire to pretend.

Folly dogs even the simplest truth,
fumes of toxic ignorance and bile,
alienated as a loose rotten tooth;
it often hides itself, for a long while.

Sought after eons ago, we cried out,
to believe, to suffer no more doubt.
But found instead good reason,
for love, and truth, from season, to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

— 8/30/2014 —

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

A true psycho kitty

Image from zulgobang.blogspot.com via Google Images

Today’s final pearl is possibly the strangest I’ve ever created. The process of selecting the included thoughts was much the same as when I write poetry, to wit: mostly unconscious, and, completely without my input, to any real degree. The pearls you see were presented in exactly the order in which I found them; I don’t see any reason to alter the order, as I don’t understand, yet, exactly what it says, in the larger sense, usually obvious with most pearls….

The picture is one that showed up on Google when I searched for “free images of randomness”, so, I can’t explain that choice either. It just seems to fit…. I don’t know, why don’t y’all peruse the group, and let me know if you come up with any thoughts….

“Any ordinary man can surround himself with two thousand books and thenceforth have at least one place in the world in which it is possible to be happy.” — Augustine Birrell

“Become who you are.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“The majority of mankind is lazy-minded, incurious, absorbed in vanities and tepid in emotion, and is therefore incapable of either much doubt or much faith.” — TS Eliot

“My mind is not for rent to any god or gov’t.” — Smart Bee, channeling gigoid again

“You know the day destroys the nights. Night divides the day.” — The Doors

“Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine.” — Goethe

“As a general rule, if you want to get at the truth –hear both sides and believe neither.” — Josh Billings

“Breaks balance out. The sun don’t shine on the same ol’ dog’s ass every day.” — Darrell Royal

“Reach high, for the stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” — Pamela Vaull Starr

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

It’s done, and a damn good thing, too. Without going into any details, let us merely say, my remarks above were more relevant than I knew, re: victory over the day. On that cryptic, yet insightful note, I shall bid thee adieu, until I can throw another such piece o’crap together…. That, of course, will be posted tomorrow, hopefully around the same time, but, at least 24 hours from now…. See y’all then, fate be willing….

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….

A mess for all seasons….

Posted on December 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”

~~ Samuel Clemens, (Mark Twain) ~~

Galway Bay Sea Wall, looking South East

Hajime…. Having daily examples as to the veracity and ubiquitous nature of Murphy’s Laws, it should’nt have surprised me this morning when he decided to make my title all-too-appropriate. As some of y’all know (because I haven’t explained in a while) the titles of these Pearls are NOT connected, in any way other than subconsciously to what takes place below them, in the blog itself. I create them before actually finishing the blog, when I’m preparting the email version to be sent out.

When creating a title, the primary characteristics I shoot for are two-fold. First, it must make little or no actual sense in reality; second, it should have nothing at all to connect it to the contents of the day’s post. That’s it. If it turns out to be a compelling phrase that actually brings new people in to read, simply because of its weirdness, so much the better. Once it is done, and typed into the subject line, THEN I go finish writing whatever parts of the Pearl aren’t done…. Simple, yes?

Today, however, about 30 seconds after writing it in the email, Murphy himself stepped in; I saw it. An invisible hand pushed a jar of magic cream over the edge of the table where my computer sits (I tend to keep it close by….), knocking it to the floor, where the lid flew off, and the cream flew out, spreading itself in a nicely formed splash pattern, all over the couch and floor, BETWEEN two parts of a shelf, where it was nearly impossible to reach….
Perfect place for me to ruin my back completely to clean it up….. SIGH…. He is SUCH an asshole!

However, I managed to get it cleaned up, in spite of the massive pain in my back, the curious cat, who had to investigate both the spill, and the cleanup process, closely enough to be in the way the whole time, and, the immensely painful, dangerous act of trying to get up from the awkward position on the floor needed to get AT the fucking mess…. Now, it has furnished me with WAY more than enough BS to fill up this intro, so, I suppose that would be the iconic silver lining all those assholes talk of all the time….

Fuck this. Let’s get to the oyster beds before somebody comes to the door, and I end up in jail for killing an innocent person, Not a great start to the day, I’d imagine…. Instead, I’ll employ one of our newest toys, which I found in an old cabinet, in a dark corner of the Tardis….. Looks old, but, serviceable…. I’m going to push this button, right here, marked, “Anywhere at all”…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale.” — G. K. Chesterton, Heretics, CW, I, p.143

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

Ludwig van Beethoven

Image from dectrendsk.esy.es via Google Images

Even though most of the time I choose to ignore my training as a consumer, like every other American child, I was taught how to make decisions based solely on expediency….. I’m making one such today, simply because Leelu is trying to make it impossible to finish this post before taking an hour to play with her; she just wasn’t satisfied with the half-hour I already gave her…. She’s sitting, now, about four inches from the computer, staring at the screen, trying hard to be in the way….

SIGH…. That’s why you get this choice, because it was simple, and, you can take over the finding of any further selections for yourself, by following the link to the page on You Tube where this version of the Fifth lives…. Enjoy! I gotta go figure out how to get the next section done before she starts biting for attention….

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

Beethoven’s Fifth

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

https://youtu.be/fOk8Tm815lE

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

All seems infected that th’ infected spy,
As all looks yellow to the jaundic’d eye.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 358 ~~

buddah-out-to-lunch_s

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

This particular icon, which I stole from another blogging friend, isn’t often seen atop this section. But, this particular example of mindfulness and insight from Gautama Buddha, made its use mandatory. So be it…..

Let’s examine this assertion for its relevance in today’s world, shall we? Why not? We have little better to do than try to discover some of the reasons our world is in the throes of a desperate need for accepting change, for, if we do not, I suspect there is little hope for our entire species, as well as many others, to survive the coming century. Hopefully, we can find a consensus amongst the people of the world which will afford at least an opportunity to live through it, rather than merely more proof there isn’t any chance at all….

How, you may ask, do the words of the Buddha apply today? Well, let’s see….. Hmm…. Perhaps, the quote above the Buddha’s laughing face, by Pope, says, in essence, much the same as does the Buddha; the difference is only one of POV, and, perhaps, a matter of syntax, and, who the fuck cares about that?

We all SHOULD, of course, but, hey, nobody much even likes to say “syntax”, much less learn what it means, or how important it is to communication…. Humans are funny that way; if they don’t wish to learn something ( which is, in essence, denying their very nature, as the creature most able TO learn….)( Maybe….. Hard to say exactly what the dolphins have figured out already that we don’t…. They are the only ones on this planet with a bigger brain, comparatively….), they just WON’T. Perverse, as well as lazy, it seems….

Since we humans ARE lazy, and, I’m human, I’m going to change directions here. The concept under discussion is the human mind, and, how it works for us, essentially. The accuracy of Buddha’s observation, and understanding of that nature shows us, in an unequivocal fashion, how the world’s status today, in a state of inordinate chaos, in society, in government, in personal relations between people, has, at its root, this part of our nature, for it leads us to depend on the illusions and delusions we are taught from the cradle, to use expedience as a reason for acting, to using Ego to drive ALL of our social interactions, until the confusion reaches the point at which we see it, where nobody on the planet has any sort of peace….. not to mention the simple fact we are going to kill our entire species, taking thousands of other life-forms down with us, if we don’t change rapidly the way we are approaching life.

That said, it seems Smart Bee wants to place much of the blame on our theory, a badly mistaken one, that we NEED to be governed, for our own good…. Such bullshit! Let’s see what he/she/it found for us, rather than listen to my ranting any further, shall we? We shall….

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” — H. L. Mencken

“The sense of justice springs from self-respect; both are coeval with our birth. Children are born with an innate sense of justice; it usually takes twelve years of public schooling and four more years of college to beat it out of them.” — Edward Abbey

“On a throne at the center of a sense of humor sits a capacity for irony. All wit rests on a cheerful awareness of life’s incongruities. It is a gentling a awareness, and no politician without it should be allowed near power.” — George Will

“A hand grenade exploded in a school of fish will supply food for days.” — U.S. Armed Forces Survival Manual

“Lawyers: the best argument against gun control..” — Fuckin’ A Bee

“Money confers the power to command the labor of others. Love of money is love of power. And love of power is the root of evil.” — Edward Abbey

“The “beast” is a myth we have created, a scapegoat, upon which we project the image of ourselves we are unwilling to acknowledge. When anyone behaves in a peculiarly unpleasant manner we tend to answer that he behaved “like a beast,” when the fact is, of course, that no beast every behaves so iniquitously as men frequently does… The myth of the beast is perpetuated from generation to generation. The result is a perversely distorted view of the nature of other animals, and a profoundly impoverishing failure to understand our true kinship with the rest of animated nature. So-called primitive peoples have never lost this kinship with other animals… Without the benefit of a Darwinian theory of evolution our technologically less advanced peoples in their creation myths and in their conduct toward the animal world exhibit a far deeper understanding of the interrelatedness of all living things than does so-called civilized man.” — Ashley Montagu,_The Humanization of Man_, 1962

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

Poetry-wise, today, I got nothin’. Here’s a poet damn near everyone has heard of, but, few have read, or appreciated, though she is responsible for the very nature of ALL the poetry we see today…. From a VERY LONG fucking TIME AGO, here is the poetess who began much of it all…..

He Is More Than a Hero

He is more than a hero
he is a god in my eyes–
the man who is allowed
to sit beside you — he

who listens intimately
to the sweet murmur of
your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own
heart beat fast. If I meet
you suddenly, I can’t

speak — my tongue is broken;
a thin flame runs under
my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears
drumming, I drip with sweat;
trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than
dry grass. At such times
death isn’t far from me

~~ Sappho ~~

circa 600 BC

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

I couldn’t help myself. The picture is too perfect for today’s final pearl. You’ll need to read all of them before you will know why…. Tricky, I know, but, hey, works for me, eh? Enjoy, ffolkes. Oh, some of them may appear weird, or out of place. They’re not; just go with it, you’ll see…. Well, I hope….

**********

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 1 ~~

**********

“Most people prefer certainty to truth.”

— Observant Bee

**********

“Then again, e=mc^2 may only be a local phenomenon.”

— Einstein

**********

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro…”

~~ Dr. Hunter S. Thompson ~~

**********

“Healthy mindedness is inadequate as a philosophical doctrine,
because the evil facts which it refuses positively to account for
are a genuine portion of reality;
and they may after all
be the best key to life’s significance.”

~~ William James ~~

**********

“The things you can’t laugh at control you.”

~~ Buddha Bee ~~

**********

“Take a dog for a companion and a stick in your hand.”

~~ English Proverb ~~

**********

“Love is a dog from hell.”

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

**********

“‘T is but a part we see, and not a whole.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 60 ~~

I like balance. Don’t you? Balance is good….

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

Having thus completed THIS duty, I can now go perform the next. That’s how it works; the completion of one duty provides the privilege of acting upon the next. Otherwise, it becomes hard to look one’s self in the eye each morning in the mirror…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as the sun comes up again…. As I’ve said in the past, the odds on that are pretty good….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Don’t touch that conclusion; it’s foregone!….

Posted on December 17, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Hate, the price you pay
For thinking you got the only way…”

~~ Blues Traveler ~~

Is that a spider?….

Hajime…. Thirty-six years ago, I was blessed by the birth of a son. It’s been a long road, far from over yet, but, I wouldn’t trade a single second of it for anything anyone could possibly offer. He’s turned into a very good person; devoted to, and, patient with his own children, and fair in his dealings with others. What more could a father ask? Moreover, he still talks with me, and, even listens to my advice. I’m as proud of him as I can be of anything in the world, and, can only wish my own father could have known him longer….

That said, with tears flowing, it might be best to just get on with this. I completed much of yesterday, and filled in the rest this morning, so, it is probably a bit choppy in its structure, and may not flow like usual. But, I really like the video selection today; I feel strongly about how music may be our one remaining chance to bring the masses of humanity together to fight the oligarchy, so as to sustain humanity as a whole species, one with any chance to survive the next century. The ranting section is from the archives, and isn’t too hard on the reader, and the poem is one of my favorites….. The final section, naturally, takes care of itself….

I guess that covers all that an intro section requires; it did get us three paragraphs in without much struggle. To carry on in the same efficient fashion, I’ll forgo any further literary tricks or, well, fillers, and just get on with it. We’ll use the Tardis, and a couple of the toys it comes with, and won’t need any of the usual crap to get us going…. See, that works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

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

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

Ripple Artists

Image from https://youtu.be/MHo1fNnXFVU?list=PLrCBidCxSguizwFUeT-mXWSyaItjlwEo3

As I’ve related in previous posts, I’m a softie, in some ways; it’s a reaction, in a strange way, to my understanding of human nature…. We humans are a vicious, brutish lot, mostly; a bundle of contradictory sensory organs supplying an overwhelming amount of sensory data to an overly imaginative brain, with more intelligence than is needed to survive, all of which leaves us a confused, mostly mindless, as opposef to mindful, milling mass of hairless apes, who cannot comprehend most of their own perceptions, much less make any sense of a complex, wonderful universe that doesn’t give a crap about us in any way…. It kinda left us in a grumpy mood, I think….

I’ve seen, and dealt with a lot of violence in my life, on a personal level, as a specialist in managing assaultive behavior in humans, during their loss of control during active psychosis, or other mental disorder. In short, I’ve had my fill, and plenty more, of hand-to-hand combat. I didn’t go to war; having been raised in the Army, by a Master Sergeant, I was already quite familiar with the whole idea, as well as the knowledge and skills taught to the child of any soldier. I understood the principles of politics in deciding where the Army was sent; having moved every couple years until the age of 10, it was clear personal choices were not an issue…..

So, I decided to avoid the whole Vietnam issue; I registered as a C.O, & eventually beat the draft. This meant I went to work in mental hospitals, where I spent 11.5 years, approximately, engaging in over 750 serious incidents of interpersonal violence (i.e., fighting hand-to-hand),in order to keep someone from hurting another person, or, destroying property, or, often enough, making a serious attempt to rip my head off….

In all those incidents, I was efficient enough to only get hurt once, & accidentally hurt only one person (a teenager who rushed me…. I was holding the one who attacked him on the floor when he attacked me; I had to take him down quickly, & couldn’t be as careful as usual…. He hit the floor a bit hard….)…. but, mostly, just got sicker and sicker of seeing people lose control, without ever learning why it happened to them….

Kinda like the average person in society…. and, in a larger sense, exactly like what the entities called ‘governments’ have always used as their primary method of interacting, to wit; they fight, and squabble, and act like little children having their toys taken away….

When the war in Vietnam began, I, like the American I was raised to be, informed myself as to the reasons for engaging our troops in S. E. Asia. It was clear to me at 17, the ONLY reason we were there was to protect the business interests of the heroin trade. (As an aside, Safeway, and a small number of companies made a literal fortune in Vietnam, supplying all the food & supplies for the armed forces there….) The BS being fed to the public at the time, about the Red Menace, and how it would be on our shores in California if we didn’t stop it first, was, to my mind, the purest sort of shit imaginable…. Japan had already tried that, and look how well that went for them….

All that said, I’ve watched our country, and the arms dealers who run it, for the most part, engage our young, impressionable teens and young adult males in seemingly endless, viciously destructive, illegal wars, all completely without any Constitutional consent, nor any rational, or even true reason stated, for 65 years now. ALL of our engagements since WWII have been solely to protect business…. period. Anyone who believes differently just hasn’t been paying attention, and, seemingly would believe a politician if they told them their own asshole was a threat was to society….

Hmph….. and, these fucking idiots think they’re Americans…. What they are is a huge group of ignorant slaves to illusion….

So, here’s this organization, Playing for Change, (https://playingforchange.com/), made up of musicians, both professional and amateur, as well as regular, average people, from around the entire world, who make songs, and send them out as a message to the world’s people, of the need to stand up and fight back, to take our planet, and our lives, back from the hands of the oligarchs, who have forsaken all their humanity for the sake of Ego driven desire…. I wept all the way through the first one I heard (also the first one here), a Grateful Dead tune called Ripple, from the late 1960’s. Some absolutely fantastic singers, musicians, and regular folks from all over the world sing together, in their own words at times, to spread the message needed to unite the people in a spirit of humanity, rather than in fear, so desired by those would be kings…

Listen, and join in the songs, ffolkes…. It’s time for revolution, which, after all, just means change…. and, nobody can stop change…..

“If you’re going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance.”

~~ Fatalist Bee ~~

********

“If you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing.””

~~ a saying from Zimbabwe ~~

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

Ripple
Playing for Change

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

https://youtu.be/MHo1fNnXFVU?list=PLrCBidCxSguizwFUeT-mXWSyaItjlwEo3

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

The video section today was quite enough of a rant for me; to save y’all from any further bludgeoning of your sensitivities, I’ll bring in an archived pearl, of a type I used fairly often in that year, a pearl with comments on each entry…. It will do for our purpose here today, which is to merely get out of this while still sane…

From 9/12/2012:

This is an old school pearl for your reading pleasure, or nearest approximation of same…. a bit different, with some internal comments from yours truly (in parentheses for your convenience….), to give directional hints that may or may not lead you to the point being developed…. but, funny, at least, as much as I can make them….

“… But when he [the people’s champion] has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.), “The Republic”

(When I read this, or sentiments like it, I always get a picture in my head of the two Bushes…. GW and GHW, otherwise known as the Senior Shrub and the Junior Shrub, or vice versa…. The national mourning that took place yesterday is the best example of their work in this arena….)

“My first American ancestor, gentlemen, was an Indian-an early Indian. Your ancestors skinned him alive, and I am an orphan. All those Salem witches were ancestors of mine. Your people made it tropical for them…. The first slave brought into New England out of Africa was an ancestor of mine-for I am a mixed breed, an infinitely shaded and exquisite Mongrel.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

(Me too! I loved this when I first saw it, back in High School, a VERY LONG time ago… so long ago, it was hot off the press…… The best part is, every one of those folks who believe themselves to be blue-blooded Americans are exactly the same make-up… There are very few real pure-bloods left anywhere in the world, and certainly not in a country with the diverse population we have….. we’re all, technically speaking, close to being “mutts”, every one of us…..)

“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” — Galbraith’s Law

(I am reminded of those folks who are busy trying to convince everyone that they aren’t against Obama because he’s black, and then turn around and support R&R, who have all but guaranteed to return racism and bigotry to government….. Hell, just look at one of their primary talking point slogans, the key part of which is, and I quote, “…we’ll take America back….” Take it back? From whom? From other Americans? Does this mean the current government aren’t real Americans? That sounds suspiciously of both racism, AND treason, to me…..)

“The clinching proof of my reasoning is that I will cut anyone who argues further into dog meat.” — Sir Geoffery de Tourneville (ca. 1350)

(Ah, the good old days…. sometimes, I wish we would see someone in the House, or the Senate, say this at the end of a speech, just to see if anyone is paying attention…)

“Somewhere in suburban Honolulu, an unemployed bellhop is whipping up a batch of illegal psilocybin chop suey!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

(Okay, I admit it… this one isn’t part of the message inherent in the other quotes…. I just like it….. Though, now that I think about it, the fact that it is entirely possible this is true, does say something about the subject at hand, to wit: society and government thereof…. What it says could be paraphrased as “If God is in charge here, I am angry; if He is not, I am frightened….” — Smart Bee)

No one ever made laws keeping people from making fools of themselves. — Smart Bee

(This is a wonderful end point for this discussion, or at least, it is such an ending for the discussion going on in my head….. I think this is very, very true, sadly…. Moreover, I believe that the laws we do pass actually are the proof of the pudding, in terms of people making fools of themselves…. especially when we try to legislate morality…..)

That’s enough mental torture for one day….. I hope the conclusion these quotes led to is clear…. if not, well, that’s okay, because I never hold quizzes…. and hopefully, you got a chuckle or two from reading it…. and if not, well, console yourself with the fact that it is done…..

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

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/6/2012

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

By any other name, ‘t would smell as sweet….

Today’s final pearl is, I think, not too shabby. It’s a simple pearl, speaking only of “things we learn in life….” Enjoy!

********

“They hear a voice in every wind,
And snatch a fearful joy.”

~~ Thomas Gray — On a Distant Prospect of Eton College, Stanza 4 ~~

********

“But evil is wrought by want of thought,
As well as want of heart.”

~~ Thomas Hood — The Lady’s Dream ~~

********

“A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven
brag about it to persons who will never get there.”

— H. L. Mencken

********

“Too rashly charged the troops of error,
and remain as trophies unto the enemies of truth.”

~~ Sir Thomas Browne — Religio Medici, Part i, Sect. vi ~~

********

“Doubt is the key to knowledge.”

~~ Persian Proverb ~~

********

“No method nor discipline can supersede the necessity of being forever on the alert.”

~~ Henry Thoreau ~~

********

“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it’s best, night
and day to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle
which any human can fight and never stop fighting.”

~~ e.e. cummings, “A Miscellany” ~~

********

“Everything hurts!”

~~ Michaelangelo Antonioni ~~

********

“Alone, I look down the road.
Each must walk one’s own path.

~~ 365 Tao ~~

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

Well, it’s done. Leelu isn’t happy with me, as I had to ignore her for a time; ignoring doesn’t sit well with any cat; they consider it their sole provenance. But, in spite of the new bite and scratch marks, I’m reasonably content this won’t hurt anyone. Offend, perhaps, but, that is fine; that’s part of what I’m shooting for, anyway. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can stop this bleeding in time…. Leelu isn’t happy right now…. No worries. A bit of tuna, and some crumpled up paper, and we’ll be fine….

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….

Laughing at faces in the dark….

Posted on December 15, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Soran, Star Trek: Generations ~~

Leelu, casting protective enchantments….

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?….

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

~~ Corita Kent ~~

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

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Image from guitarworld.com via Google Images

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

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

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
VOODOO CHILE

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

https://youtu.be/OEJh2FFUUoU

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

**********

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

~~ Euripides ~~

**********

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

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

**********

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

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

**********

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

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

**********

“Human beings don’t live like this.”

~~ Humanist Bee ~~

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

Measures of Intent

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

12/14/2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy ~~

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Apocalyptic party favors, on toast….

Posted on December 14, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A religious conservative is a fanatic about a dead radical.”

~~ Observant Bee ~~

I DON’T want to know….

Leelu in Denial

Hajime…. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in my life, as it must be in every life, is to be willing to be patient, when a desired goal, or the completion of a chosen duty, requires us to wait for more than a little while to achieve our desire…. A fancy psychiatrist would label such a task as “delayed gratification”, and would charge you outrageous prices to listen to you while you explore your own psyche to find the key to making it one of your skills. Or, one may, as I found to be useful, learn to watch, and observe the world without judging what I saw, until there was some sort of clear result I could identify, and use for myself, if warranted.

In short, by the age of, oh, four, or five, I had figured out it’s a better thing to be patient, say, to get somewhere where a wall is in the way, rather than get angry at the wall. By waiting, and watching I could learn how others dealt with the wall…. I found, every time, one of them would know a good way around, or over, or through the wall without any difficulty…. The waiting part was filled up watching most people bang their heads against the wall, thinking, by doing so, it would move out of their way…. The wall won that argument every time…. No brainer, even for a four-year-old hairless ape….

Over the years, the patience begun to learn then was often reinforced by other life-lessons, always with the same results, as well as the same average number of people who never learned the lesson…. Not all do, by any means…. Many who do, don’t use the skill for good reasons; it is nonetheless effective for them than it is for those who do use it honorably….. But, sadly, many people, whom I would consider to be more cunning than intelligent, become patient, and crafty, and thus are successful in taking advantage of the less so…. Far too many of them become lawyers, or preachers, or politicians, or ‘cops’, or/and other categories of human activity which attract those who have more ego than integrity…..

Now, at this point, you may predictably and appropriately ask, what the devil does all this have to do with Pearls of Virtual Wisdom?…. Good grief, ffolkes! Y’all have been here enough to know better; it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with any of that. It was just me, wandering around on the keyboard, following a train of thought, to take up this space so I don’t really have to think up anything new….. How’m I doin’?…

Good. Speechless is exactly what I was shooting for…. Now that’s done, we can get this slow on the toad, and, leave, too, for the oyster beds, where, hopefully, I will/have/wouldn’t dare find some damn fine pearls for our morning, or whenever, consumption, digestion, and, well, the rest of that alimentary shit….

Hah! Guido! Fire it up and get me/us out of here; I don’t think we should wait for anyone who isn’t on board already. We won’t have time to frisk them….

Shall we Pearl?….

“You mean now I can SHOOT YOU in the back and further BLUR th’ distinction between FANTASY and REALITY?” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

Jerry & David

Image from YouTube.com via Google Images

Back in the day, after CSN&Y stopped playing as a band exclusively, David Crosby started a project, recording sessions with a number of rock musicians/songwriters/performers of the era…. The band/project was named PERRO, an acronym for the Planet Earth Rock & Roll Orchestra…. This is one of the sessions, with at least one, and, no doubt, more than one, of the best of the best playing along…. I listened to the beginning, which is an instrumental piece showing off some pretty hot licks and outbursts of joyous noise…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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

Jerry Garcia & David Crosby The Perro Sessions – circa 1971

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

https://youtu.be/WELRag-wuwo

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

“Humanity has in the course of time had to endure from the hands of science two great outrages upon its naive self-love. The first was when it realized that our earth was not the center of the universe, but only a speck in a world-system of a magnitude hardly conceivable… The second was when biological research robbed man of his particular privilege of having been specially created, and relegated him to a descent from the animal world.” — Sigmund Freud

Dr. Siggy makes a good point in this; like much of what he said, it was, and is, ignored by most people. Some of his thoughts, on human nature, and, psychiatry, were dead wrong, but, mostly, he was a minutely accurate observer of people’s behaviors, and, an astute analyst of the flaws in the nature expressed by those acts. The blow to the human ego that all men felt when the knowledge of which he speaks became public, was so deep, our society is still reeling from the impact. The human ego is so powerfully motivated by belief, it finds it extremely difficult to NOT protect the ego’s delusions, of which it has many, by using the imagination, or, simple denial, to keep the truth of reality from ever entering the consciousness….

This, naturally, has, for a long time, caused numerous problems for people, which continue to the present; problems in their relations with each other on both a personal level, and, on a societal level…. It is clear, obviously so, to me, this flaw in our nature, the inability to put aside ego in favor of reality’s demands, is at the root of practically every issue we face today…. However, I am not in the mood to explore that flaw, or its implications, at this time. So, we’ll go back about a year and a half to a discussion of the effects of this on society, as it exists today, written fresh (mostly) on that date…. It’s a pretty good one, so, bear with the length, if you will….

From 4/17/2014:

“A government that fears its people is a government that should be feared.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10769041/The-US-is-an-oligarchy-study-concludes.html

“The US government does not represent the interests of the majority of the country’s citizens, but is instead ruled by those of the rich and powerful, a new study from Princeton and Northwestern Universities has concluded.”

My initial reaction to this opening line from the article to which the link leads was, “Oh. Really? How droll….” In case it’s unclear, that is sarcasm….
My second thought was, “Duh…”, because, well, hey, no-brainer, right? It’s only obvious, and has been since the 1850’s, when the “military-industrial complex” became a real person, at least in the courts….. The third thought that went through my mind was, “Why did I have to read this on the front page of a BRITISH news paper, while never having seen a single article on the report from an American news outlet?”

But, then, hey, oligarchy, right? That means the elite, the rich, the BRC, or, as I’m fond of calling them, the Asininnies, don’t want to hear about it, so, none of the news outlets THEY control will ever show that report, or, if they do, it certainly won’t be on the front page…. Any more than they wish to have ANY of their shenanigans paraded in front of the public eye; they’re well aware of how badly the rest of the country would react to that, if the notion that they were oppressing the rest of us, and worse, shamelessly lying about it all, ever became a common perception….

I could spend a few paragraphs here, detailing to you just how they lie, or relating just how often, and how completely these assholes are fucking over the rest of society…. but, it isn’t necessary, when such a plain and obvious indictment is right there in front of me, a report that does nothing if not confirm what I’ve been trying to get across to the people out there who need to know, for a long time now….

“Elections amount to little more than choosing between the scum that floats to the top of the barrel and the dregs that settle to the bottom.” — L. Neil Smith

The perverted masters of society, consisting of that 1% who control the money and resources of our planet, usurped our system of government within DAYS of the signing of the Constitution, and have continued to solidify their control for the last 240 years since that event…. Their biggest victories have come from their purchases, which gave them exclusive possession of the souls and loyalty of the judges in the federal court system, first in the early 1800’s, then, later, to the huge win in the middle of that century, when corporations were first declared to have the same rights as real people, a decision which ensures the establishment in society of the legal precedents that ensure their complete control….

What normal, real person, with merely their own skills and efforts as resources, can compete, monetarily, or time-wise, with a corporation, to buy the loyalty of congress and the courts? Only its owners, or the owners of other governments, er, corporations, who have the resources to contest what they wish, can hope to supply any restraint upon what they desire…. No average person has the time or resources to spend on any issue that a corporation can bring to bear, thus guaranteeing the common man’s views will NEVER take precedence in the courts….

It ain’t a particularly pretty picture, ffolkes, but, it IS an accurate description of modern reality…. more than we could hope, and certainly more than we could ever need, or want…. but, accurate, nonetheless….

Enough so to thoroughly disgust me, to the point I’m not going to rant any more…. I’m getting too worked up…. I can feel my blood pressure going up as I type, never a good thing….. So, we’ll switch modes, and go find some pearls with which to round out this discussion, hopefully with some humor, or at the very least, some bloodthirsty accusations of perversion against those assholes who think we are not on to them….. Enjoy!….

“Hope is very dangerous….” — Servalan

(In our society, it is not merely dangerous, it is toxic….)

“After 2% of the vote is in, the networks tell us who won. It makes the other 99% of us feel a bit unnecessary… How come the networks are so good at picking the presidential winner, and so bad at picking hit shows?” — Smart Bee

(You don’t think they have information they’re not sharing with us, do you? Nah…. of course not…. Why would they do that?….)

(If you believe that, I have a wonderful opportunity for you, a chance to own the biggest bridge in New York, for a very nominal price…. Cash only, no checks….)

“When neither their poverty nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content.” — Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)

(This is required learning in the schools that produce the fleets of lawyers who inhabit the halls of government…. Check it out sometime, how ALL the actions our leaders take are designed to keep from arousing the public’s ire, by avoiding the stimulation implied in this rule codified by The Prince….)

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

“All military type firearms are to be handed in immediately… The SS, SA and Stahlhelm give every respectable German man the opportunity of campaigning with them. Therefore anyone who does not belong to one of the above named organisations and who unjustifiably nevertheless keeps his weapon… must be regarded as an enemy of the national government.” — SA Oberfuhrer of Bad Tolz, March, 1933

(I keep expecting to see a bill with this wording hit the floor of the House any time now, with a few minor changes to reflect the passage of time…. Every time there is another random shooting in this country, the pundits break out something like this to put through Congress, in the deluded hope that it might change something, which they refuse to believe cannot be changed, without changing human nature….)

“All you have to do is… Spot The Looney!” — Monty Python

(A very apt description of the voting process here in ‘murrica….) (Addendum from2015: Everywhere else. too, it seems…)

“Being against torture ought to be sort of a bipartisan thing.” — Karl Lehenbauer

(One would think this is true, until you actually look at what they are DOING, instead of what they are SAYING….)

“Faith: not wanting to know what is true.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

(Another fine delineation of how the voting process works in the oligarchy we call home…. Plus, do you see how smoothly this dovetails in with what the preachers preach from their pulpits?…. Funny how that works, eh?….)

Okay, so that’s eight pearls, an even number, which will never do…. We’ll go with one last pearl, in what I know to be a futile attempt to bring one of them down for good…. I’ll try to make it a good one, a fitting finish to an epic melding of irritated ranting and old school pearling….

“For in religion as in friendship, they who profess most are ever the least sincere.” — Sheridan

(I probably don’t need to make this suggestion, but, since when do I listen or pay attention to crap like that? You can substitute the word “politics” for “friendship” in this, without changing or reducing its validity…. which is why it’s here….)

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

Fatal Supplication

But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.

Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.

Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.

Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanations?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigations,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/12/2012

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

Snoopy’s Dance of Joy

Image from pinterest.com via Google Images

Today’s final, old-school pearl is rather special, in a way…. I chose a new icon for this kind of pearl, which I can only call unique. The message, to me, is perfectly clear, as the choice of icon will be, once you have begun the process. If it isn’t clear to you, don’t worry. Just read them all, let them roll around in your head a while, and you’ll begin the dance…..

“Every creature has within him the wild, uncontrollable urge to PUNT.”– Snoopy, aka Charles Schultz (Some sources say this is Unknown; trust me, I know
Snoopy….)

“What I like is when you’re looking and thinking and looking and thinking… and suddenly you wake up.” — Hobbes

“All I can say is that if, whenever you are asked where you live, you seize yourself by the throat and start choking, it is apt to cause comment” — R. Hull

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but, certainty is an absurd one.” — Voltaire

“With one long breath, caught and held in his chest, he fought his sadness over his solitary life. Don’t cry you idiot! Live or die, but don’t poison everything…” — Saul Bellow

A process which led from amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously progress, though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known.” — Bertrand Russell

“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” — Mark Twain

“How infinitely superior to our physical senses are those of the mind! The spiritual eye sees not only rivers of water but of air. It sees the crystals of the rock in rapid sympathetic motion, giving enthusiastic obedience to the sun’s rays, then sinking back to rest in the night. The whole world is in motion to the center. So also sounds. We hear only woodpeckers and squirrels and the rush of turbulent streams. But imagination gives us the sweet music of tiniest insect wings, enables us to hear, all around the world, the vibration of every needle, the waving of every bole and branch, the sound of stars in circulation like particles in the blood. The Sierra canyons are full of avalanche debris – we hear them boom again, and we read the past sounds from present conditions. Again we hear the earthquake rock-falls. Imagination is usually regarded as a synonym for the unreal. Yet is true imagination healthful and real, no more likely to mislead than the coarse senses. Indeed, the power of imagination makes us infinite.” — John Muir, American Naturalist (1838-1914)

“All poets are mad.”

~~ Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy ~~

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

All I can say, ffolkes, is, Whew! I’m almost not glad I’m done today; it all came out just how I like it best. Ugly and real, yet, with a certain charm one is forced to acknowledge, only due in small part to the (small caliber) weapons pointed at you…. Think of it as more like fungus; it grows on one.

Okay, I’ll stop. It was just too much fun; cathartic, even purgative, in a gentle way (ALWAYS preferable, trust me; I know. No shit. Well, not currently, but, oh, well never mind. I said I’d stop….).

SIGH. I’m done now. I’ll go. Really, I will, just as soon as I get this one last, traditional failure-guaranteed, final attempt to get ANYONE at all to at least smile out of my head; it’s best, believe me. Would I lie? That way, I don’t let it out on some poor sap on the street, when they aren’t expecting it….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I have to hack into somebody’s server farm…. Hah!…. (Boy, that was bad. Can I have another one? No? Oh, okay. Bye for now….)

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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