Poignant palindromes prevent perverted pixels….

Posted on October 13, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

— Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 261 —

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kate Wolf: 27 Videos

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

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

This poem needs no introduction, nor any comment….

Ozymandias

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

~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Worshiping at the altar of self-mockery….

Posted on October 12, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://youtu.be/XiGwAvd5mvM

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Cops do it with nightsticks.” — Smart Bee

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fred Neil: Everybody’s Talkin’ At Me

http://youtu.be/M-Ql1284QLw

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

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

Television

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

~~ Roald Dahl ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

“She’s making her famous Cream of Kitten Soup!”, he cried….

Posted on October 11, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Anyone who has got a book collection/library and a garden wants for nothing.”

~~ Cicero ~~

This would probably be quicker, and quite possibly better, if I’d worked at In N Out® Burger at some point; since I didn’t, it won’t be anything of the sort. But, that’s okay, too, because, by now, I’m sure y’all are quite used to finding unusual statements here in the beginning…. It’s almost as if I were trying to manipulate your minds, to work them into the frame I wish it to inhabit for our time together… and, in truth, that is pretty much the way it actually is…. not to the degree used by your parents, or by the Asininnies, in their quest for ultimate mind-control of the populace, mind you….. No, more the way we all try to do with each other, in our weak, misguided attempts to interface with each other….

There, now, was that so bad? No, of course not. But, then, most blogs won’t tell you you’re part of an experiment in thought control, even though each and every blog out there is doing that very thing, one way or another, and to some degree…. We can’t help it, any more than we can help needing to use the toilet at regular intervals throughout the day…. it’s the way we’re built. We can, if we try, and learn certain forms of mental discipline, resist the impulse to control, but, we can’t change our inner nature, so it’s best to learn those disciplines, when one may, to afford one’s self the choice in doing so, at the very least…

So, where does all this get us? Nowhere particularly gratifying, I have to say…. We aren’t far enough down the page yet to call it a day, yet, I’ve only blathered & meandered this far because I started off talking process rather than principle, though, what any of THAT has to do with actual literary output, I haven’t a clue…. Maybe I can call this new style the “clueless” method; it seems appropriate, given how much it is leaving to chance, by performing an examination of fluff and stuff, rather than some specific sort of categorical assignation, or even a quizzical exploration of some more esoteric subject matter….

Hell, this stuff, so far, couldn’t even be called a faux–rant, because the only argument we’re having is to decide just how fucking long I can keep this up, when my hands are aching, & getting number by the moment….Oh, wait…. Okay, look, I know this isn’t even marginally legal, but, if we do it quickly, nobody will ever know…. I’m going to use the old emergency method #4 to get us out of here, okay…. Hold on….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Anybody can become angry — that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.” — Aristotle

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

“Badness, look you, you may choose easily in a heap: level is the path, and right near it dwells. But before Virtue the immortal gods have put the sweat of man’s brow; and long and steep is the way to it, and rugged at the first.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 287

This little aphorism may be another of the key pieces to the puzzle that is human nature, and to solving all that is wrong in today’s world, before it is too late…. It seems to me that this nation has lost touch with the truth of the statement by Hesiod… Not in the populace, but, in those who would be called leaders, the rugged nature of the path to virtue in life calls for too much effort; they choose to abjure all virtue, simply because it is easier to be bad… In every animal alive, there exists a tendency to choose the path of least resistance; this reflects the nature of matter, which always seeks the lowest, most common level for all interactions between the parts of reality….

In the case of one interaction for us humans, to wit: humor, the lowest common denominator is pain, of the emotional sort, mostly, but, physical pain plays a large part as well… for it is our pain that makes us laugh, ultimately, when we are able to choose to see the irony of our situation, rather than merely the stark details, thus freeing us from the pressure, by laughing, rather than crying, which, while cathartic to an extent, solves no problems, nor answers any riddles…. The more balanced one becomes, the funnier life seems…. to observe how much of the world flails about, desperately seeking peace, without realizing it is right in their pocket…. or, some corner of their mind, long abandoned and dark….

“You have a mongrel perception of humor, nothing more; a multitude of you possess that. This multitude see the comic side of a thousand low-grade and trivial things — broad incongruities, mainly; grotesqueries, absurdities, evokers of the horse-laugh. The ten thousand high-grade comicalities which exist in the world are sealed from their dull vision. Will a day come when the race will detect the funniness of these juvenilities and laugh at them — and by laughing at them destroy them? For your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon — laughter. Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution — these can lift at a colossal humbug — push it a little — weaken it a little, century by century; but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. You are always fussing and fighting with your other weapons. Do you ever use that one? No; you leave it lying rusting. As a race, do you ever use it at all? No; you lack sense and the courage.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910), “The Mysterious Stranger”

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

I had forgotten this for a time; my center is a place where I laugh, and laugh, and laugh still more, most often at the folly of humans, especially my own, and at the lives we live, as someone said, “of quiet desperation”, yearning for, often, what we do not even know…. until we laugh, and it all comes clear…. The Irish have a saying, that goes, “A long sleep and a good laugh are the two best cures for anything.” So, today, rather than ranting, let’s see if Smart Bee can make us laugh, or, if we cannot yet consistently chortle in glee, then, at least, find a chuckle or two hanging about….

“George Washington said to his father, “If I never tell a lie, how can I get to be President?” — Red Buttons

Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all; all shall die. How a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford fair? — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iii, Sc. 2

(Hey, don’t blame me if it isn’t funny… Shakespeare wrote it….)

“Luther Burbank crossed a potato with a sponge. He got something that tastes awful but it holds a lot of gravy.” — Doodles Weaver

“A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property, and vulgar employments.” — Aristotle

(Only a true patriot of this country could say this with a straight face…. for more than three seconds, anyway…. But, then, Aristotle probably wasn’t trying to be funny; it’s just funny to me….)

(Okay, Smart Bee, you’ve got to do better… as Hazim the Moor said to Robin Hood, “Move faster!….)

PATRIOT, n. One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole. The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

(Well, it IS funnier, but, it’s still too close to ranting….C’mon now, SB, let’s finish strong….)

——————— cut here ————————–

“Stress: The confusion created when one’s mind overrides the body’s basic desire to choke the living daylights out of some jerk who desperately deserves it.” — Smart Bee

“I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Okay, I’m done now. Zippy always manages to have the last word, doesn’t he? Now, to come to the point of all this, all you have to do is remember…..

“The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool.” — George Santayana (1863-1952)

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

Not much needs to be said about this music; it pretty well speaks for itself, most of it having survived as popularly accepted masterworks for several hundred years…. By following the link to the You Tube site, you will find numerous other choices in the same genre…. Enjoy, please… I can attest to the value of listening to this while working, playing, or just relaxing…. It seems to work for all of it….

Music for reading – Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Debussy, Lizst, Schumann

http://youtu.be/Qc7UzQB8gtI

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

This will be fairly easy, since I’m using my own poetry; all I have to do is pick one…. easy for ME to say…. Ah, here’s a good one, just right for today’s apparent theme…. well, same ballpark, maybe…

Early Observations

Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.

All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.

But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.

Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.

‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.

Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.

Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.

Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.

Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Smart Bee decided to gift me with a pearl; it seems it has something to say, apparently about the eccentricities of the human spirit, and the vagaries of human behavior…. All of them, to my way of looking at it, seem pretty well on target, well worth remembering when dealing with other members of our most perplexing species….

AMNESIA: Condition that enables a woman who has gone through labor to make love again. — Parents Dictionary

“One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to come up to you and show you a nice, brand- new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken, and this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of the deck and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, do not bet this man, for as sure as you stand there, you are going to wind up with an earful of cider.” — Damon Runyon

“It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta pawn it off on someone else.” — Smart Bee

“If today you can take a thing like evolution and make it a crime to teach in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools and next year you can make it a crime to teach it to the hustings or in the church. At the next session you may ban books and the newspapers… Ignorance and fanaticism are ever busy and need feeding. Always feeding and gloating for more. Today it is the public school teachers; tomorrow the private. The next day the preachers and the lecturers, the magazines, the books, the newspapers. After a while, Your Honor, it is the setting of man against man and creed against creed until with flying banners and beating drums we are marching backward to the glorious ages of the sixteenth century when bigots lighted fagots to burn the men who dared to bring any intelligence and enlightenment and culture to the human mind.” — Clarence S. Darrow (1857-1938), at the Scopes Monkey Trial

“The net effect of Clarence Darrow’s great speech yesterday seemed to be precisely the same as if he had bawled it up a rain spout in the interior of Afghanistan.”
— H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

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

In 1883 Cambridge University played a correspondence chess match with the Bedlam insane asylum. Bedlam won. — Smart Bee

Calvin: People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don’t realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.
Hobbes: Isn’t your pants’ zipper supposed to be in the front?

— Calvin (Bill Watterson, “Calvin and Hobbes”)

“The human mind is a dangerous plaything, Boys. When it’s used for Evil, watch out! But when it’s used for Good, things are much… nicer.” — the Tick

‘Nuff said…

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

Having done my duty, there is little point, at this point, in continuing my pattern of abuse upon the unsuspecting reading public…. Since that is as true as anything I’ve ever said in this blog, I’ll leave it at that….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if my luck holds….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Monotheism typically requires optimistic pessimism, and pink underwear….

Posted on October 9, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.”

(Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.)

~~ William of Occam, Occam’s Razor ~~

———————————-

“Some people still think you need shaving cream to use Occam’s Razor.”

~~ Sardonic Bee ~~

Miranda, Moon of Uranus, photo taken by Voyager, from an article on Space.com

It seems the battle waging inside my head is leaking over into my process; not only do I have nothing in my mind, but, the vast power of that nothing terrifies me. For over three years now, I’ve used the process of creating this blog to keep me relatively sane, but, sanity seems to be receding in my rear-view mirror, as I type…. For some days now, my mind has taken me for a retrospective ride through my memories, not always to the most comforting destinations therein…. All of us, even those of us who consider ourselves to be Warriors of the Light, know we have failed in life at certain moments; we all have places in our memory which we don’t care to remember often, as they are proof of our weakness….

My problem isn’t that there are too many of them, though, some might say so…. they, however, usually are people who don’t have a clue as to what I’ve lived through, so I figure what they may say doesn’t count, and, in fact, shows their own ignorance & lack of morality more than it does any such failures on my part…. No, I’m talking about memories which we wish we could change, where our actions, and the decisions made, were just wrong, and weak, and, worst of all, may have harmed another creature, whether human or otherwise…. Things we can only admit to ourselves, in the privacy of our own minds…. things so egregiously immoral that we condemn ourselves for having done them….

But, nobody can change the past, and, after a while, weeping over past mistakes gets old, as well as futile…. I KNOW that there are many things in Life we cannot change; the most obvious of those is the past. Feeling bad over past errors in judgment is about as futile as it gets in this dimension, under these laws of universal nature…. and, as long as I continue to whip myself over stuff I can’t change, I’ll continue to suffer these paroxysms of emotionalism and angst…..

I am feeling somewhat stronger, and better, because I’m closer to being able to live with my mistakes again; thanks to the time I spent in therapy, I know how to get through it better, to regain my center, and my balance there…. But, this time, it has leaked over into this process more than in the past, so, that, I think, is something to work on….

All I know at this point is, I’m tired of trying to type while tears are making it tough to see the keyboard, so, it’s got to stop. Putting these Pearls together has been my salvation; I refuse to give it up, even if it does become more work than play…. I guess the fact that it can serve as both is what makes it so valuable to me…. but, that’s another of those things I don’t want to look at too closely, lest it disappear altogether for being exposed….

Now, maybe the picture I chose today will make more sense to you…. Just look at Miranda, the poor wee thing…. a moon of a huge, eccentric planet, with a tilted axis, and a massively elliptical orbit, that over the millennia has pulled, and twisted, and turned her insides out with gravitational stresses. Consequently, the face she shows to the universe has turned into a horrible caricature of a moon, with lines, cracks, and twisted features running in all directions. For such a beautiful name, her face is scarred and terribly disfigured…. as I feel inside…. But, it’s okay, because, I know I don’t need to sweat making any changes in the world…. I only need to make changes within me, as necessary and appropriate….

Shall we Pearl?….

“How are things? Just as they are.” ~~ Smart Alec Bee

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

What we have below is a pearl composed of elementary ideas re: the American experiment…. If I were to rant, these would all be part of it, in the sense of being all of one theme, of how it is supposed to work… The first thing to remember, is to acknowledge the veracity of the first pearl, just below, by A. F. Tyler, a truism of historical perspective with which we must view all the rest, including the actual historical events we have observed since the inception of our nation…. We must never forget to place the form of government we have in its proper perspective, to keep track of the bigger picture in which it exists, in space, and time…. To wit:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.” — Alexander Frazer Tyler (1748-1813), — The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic

With this in mind, we see the following pearls/ideas become even more important, as we realize our own duty, if we wish to have ANY of the freedoms enjoyed by our ancestors. In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed our society progress from abundance into selfishness; we are well on our way to complacency now, as indicated by society’s general refusal to acknowledge the danger of climate change, which is only a PART of the environmental issues with which we are threatened… Given the state of the environment, we may, or may not, have enough time to ever get to the point of apathy, much less dependency…. Nonetheless, if we pay heed to these pearls, it certainly can’t hurt, and it could very well help….

“The voice of protest, of warning, of appeal is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum, echoed by the press and too often by the pulpit, is bidding all men fall in step and obey in silence the tyrannous word of command. Then, more than ever, it is the duty of the good citizen not to be silent.” — Charles Eliot Norton, True Patriotism, 1898

“Millions of sensible people are too high-minded to concede that politics is almost always the choice of the lesser evil. “Tweedledum and Tweedledee,” they say, “I will not vote.” Having abstained, they are presented with a President who appoints the people who are going to rummage around in their lives for the next four years. Consider all the people who sat home in a stew in 1968 rather than vote for Hubert Humphrey. They showed Humphrey. Those people who taught Hubert Humphrey a lesson will still be enjoying the Nixon Supreme Court when Tricia and Julie begin to find silver threads among the gold and the black.” — Russell Baker, “Ford without Flummery”

“That truth cannot be material in any respect, is contrary to the nature of things. No tribunal, no codes, no systems can repeal or impair this law of God, for by his eternal laws it is inherent in the nature of things … It is evident that if you cannot apply this mitigated doctrine for which I speak … you must for ever remain ignorant of what your rulers do. I can never think this ought to be; I never did think the truth was a crime; I am glad the day is come in which it is to be decided; for my soul has ever abhorred the thought, that a free man dared not speak the truth.” — Alexander Hamilton

“…I am opposed to all attempts to license or restrict the arming of individuals…I consider such laws a violation of civil liberty, subversive of democratic political institutions, and self-defeating in their purpose.” — Robert A. Heinlein, in a 1949 letter concerning “Red Planet”

“What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms!” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Letter to Colonel W. S. Smith, 1787

“We have a presidential election coming up. And I think the big problem, of course, is someone will win.” — Barry Crimmins

“He serves the state best, who opposes it the most.” — Smart Bee

Well, there you go…. so be it. gigoid has spoken….

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

We all grew up with the Beach Boys, so, no introduction is necessary, I think…. just enjoy…..

The Beach Boys, 50th Anniversary

http://youtu.be/1ldm-_jKKes

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

Again today, especially today, we’ll keep this in-house, to keep from affecting anyone else’s reputation….

Dreaming of Calliope

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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

All in all, the pearls below are not bad advice…. but, like all advice, it’s worth what one pays for it, exactly; for it to be of any value at all, one must pay heed….

“We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish.” — F. A. Hayek

“Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It wasn’t reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out.” — Sydney Smith

Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.” — Aldous Huxley (1904-1963)

“In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. Simplify, simplify.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“I love to doubt as well as know.’ — Dante

“Most recently, I’ve read so much about the dangers of smoke and drink that I have finally decided to give up reading altogether.” — variation on a theme by Henny Youngman

“Devote each day to the object then in time and every evening will find something done.” — Goethe (1749-1832)

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

Well, ’tisn’t evening, but, ’tis done, and I am content with that….. It gives me the rest of the day to try to find more ways to keep myself out of the pit…. I’m sure most of y’all are familiar with the pit…. you know, the deep one we fall into when we give in to the pain in our minds…. Fortunately for us all, there are a myriad of methods to keep from tumbling into its depths; the trick is to have one or more of them handy when the pit materializes right in front of our running feet…. See y’all tomorrow ffolkes, and, that is the best, most hopeful thing I can say…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

The myrmidons could be burlier….

Posted on October 8, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“To be “matter of fact” about the world is to blunder into fantasy….

and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

Aw, aren’t they cute? And lucky, too…. according to the accompanying blurb, these two adorable dormice are probably in shock, or at least, in need of a stiff drink. The photographer caught them chowing down while hanging on to this plant after losing their home to a bulldozer, somewhere in England, which we know as the picture got published in the same London Daily Telegraph series of photos as have been used the past few days here….. I’m not really going to use them as a rant-base, though it would be simple to do so…. the first paragraph of the day is a bit early, even for me….

The quote from RAH would also serve as a good one to start a rant with, but, I’m still not in ranting mode; it’s just too hard to feel bad about others when I don’t much like myself, yes? Any who, there would be no way of telling where such a rant might end up, with a flexible opening such as that…. I mean, reality, fantasy, and strong opinions always make for a good rant, if not exactly the most compelling of issues about which to do so…. Of course, that also discounts any discounts that may have been offered…. one can never afford to ignore coupons….

Coupons may even be one of those hidden, key secrets to life…. well, maybe not, but, shopping sure can be, right? It may go against stereotype, but, I believe males like to shop just as much as females do; they just like to do it differently, that’s all… Oh, and one mustn’t ever actually TALK about shopping with other men, or how it makes them feel; feelings, to most men, are foreign territory…. Men can’t deal with too many of them, so they usually stick to just one or two with which they’re familiar, and comfortable, such as anger, or confusion…..

Now that I’ve blathered, (sorry, but I just wanted to see if I still could….), and quite well, I think, we could find another subject to terrify, by threatening to discuss, but, it’s actually late, due to my recently destroyed routine, so, we’ll just leave all that be for now, and try to find a way out of here… It shouldn’t be too hard; the pilot was instructed to stay near the well-traveled routes so we could find our way back easier…. Plus, the jungle near the airstrip is now seeded with many opportunities for bailing out, so, if necessary, we can hit one of those stashes for a proper ending, or, in worst case scenario, an escape…

Today, I’m crazy enough to not care WHAT is used, as long as it works to get us onward…. and, since one of those solutions has presented itself, (don’t you see it?…. It’s standing right there, for goodness sake….), we’ll not just jump on the bandwagon, we’ll book it solid for the next month….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” — Plutarch

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

Here is a good fill-in for the lack of rant….

Last posted on 4/5/2013:

Here is a most excellent Pearl, from January of this year….. some of you may recognize it, as it wasn’t too long ago, but, I like it, and it’s a good one, so I feel justified…. Enjoy!…..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Note from 2014: Or, if we could answer the most compelling question we face, maybe…. but, first, we need to know, “How do you get Schrodinger’s Cat _into_ the box?”….. Smart Bee doesn’t know, and I don’t either…. Ah well, it’s probably too late anyhow….

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

George Harrison, that is…. who else?…..

Concert for George 2003

http://youtu.be/j9Dr1anRP9w

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

I’m sticking with my own poetry for now, to avoid spreading blame….

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 ~~

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

These pearls are more significant than they look…. The past week or two have been somewhat, well, shall we say, less than pleasant for me, what with my internal war with my self going on, to add the accompaniment to the physical issues that cascaded down upon me during that time period…. The first one alerted me, and the rest of them have helped me to find the way back to the center…. I’m not quite there yet, but, at least now I know what direction to follow….. Yay for me….

“Whom Fortune wishes to destroy she first makes mad.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 911 ~~

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

~~ W. Somerset Maugham ~~

“Man is never honestly the fatalist, nor even the stoic. He fights his fate, often desperately. He is forever entering bold exceptions to the rulings of the bench of gods. This fighting, no doubt, makes for human progress, for it favors the strong and the brave. It also makes for beauty, for lesser men try to escape from a hopeless and intolerable world by creating a more lovely one of their own.”

~~ H.L. Mencken ~~

“‘Tis the mark of an instructed mind to rest assured with that degree of precision that the nature of the subject admits, and not to seek exactness when only an approximation of the truth is possible.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

“Nothing can bring lasting peace, but you have it already if you just stop disturbing it. It is there always.”

~~ Sri Swami Satchidananda ~~

“He is nearest to the gods who knows how to be silent.”

~~ Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC), attributed ~~

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good;
And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

— Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289 —

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

There you go…. thus I make it through another morning, at least to daylight…. I’m outta here, ffolkes…. See y’all tomorrow, presumably….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Bound for Bohemia….

Posted on October 7, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“One ought, every day at least,

to hear a little song,

read a good poem,

see a fine picture,

and, if it were possible,

to speak a few reasonable words.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

Since I never learned to speak, or read, or write in Latin, the soothing release of creating a poem in Virgilian hexameter is denied me; this is too bad, since I could use the bleed-off of some of this internal pressure. Beset on all sides, (for how does one escape one’s own memories?…), I have been withdrawing from the outer world, partly for my benefit, but, mostly to keep from inadvertently dumping on those who don’t deserve it, a nasty little habit to which just about everyone alive falls prey, at one point or another in Life. At least I’m old enough to see it coming, isolating myself until the danger passes….

My mind is being stubborn, though, and even staying away from the public as much as possible isn’t doing the trick; waves of dark memories keep assaulting me at odd moments, bringing with them the same passions they held when current, thanks to the now seemingly permanent stripping away of all my distance from them, a distance hard to build, and harder to maintain, apparently… It’s been a couple years since I felt this unstable…. and, I want to go on record as saying I don’t much like it…. a perfectly natural reaction, by the way….

That is my main problem, you see…. One of the psychiatrists I saw for a time told me once that I wasn’t really insane, so much as having a sane reaction to insane conditions in my life…. Not terribly helpful, other than as a directional pointer, but, it does make it a bit easier to accept, as being the only course of action available to keep myself sane…. It’s just that the sanity I’m experiencing resembles too closely the insanity I’ve also seen… more’s the pity….

So, I’m subsisting through each day, minute by torturous minute, trying desperately to find my center again…. It is an old, familiar search, but, sadly, needs to cover new ground each time I have to go looking for it… so, any maps or techniques I’ve managed to keep are not valid, or particularly useful in completing the search…. All the answers are to be found buried in new ground, which I first must find…. It sounds complicated, and, to an extent, it is… but, it’s also very simple, once I find the key, which is knowing not so much what to stop, but, where to look for something to distract me from the insistent remembrances that plague my waking hours…. i.e., finding that distance, between me and the pain, whether physical, or mental….

Ah, the hell with it, I’m just whining, so, fuck it…. I see a place we can break loose here, so, let’s take advantage of it while we can…..

Shall we Pearl?

Let us begin with a pearl that puts a very fine point on a core reason for the state of the world today, concerning how those who prey on others can bring themselves to do so, seemingly without conscience, or empathy of any kind….

“Alienation without must be accompanied by alienation within; that is the law for every social level, even individuals. To harm one’s fellows, even one’s enemies, harms you, takes away some essential element from your self-respect and self-image.” — Greg Bear

Or, as someone said, long ago, in a simpler time….

“It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.” — Tacitus (54-119 AD) — Agricola, 42

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

Having spent the last few days in conflict with myself, I accept there is no rant in me just now; one must be confident to spew….. As part of the battle, here is a piece from shortly after this blog was begun, with some words about some of what I’m dealing with…. You could easily skip this section today, as it is chiefly here to assuage my own needs…. But, it’s not a bad little pearl, so, read on, if you’ve got the time….

From 9/24/2011:

Ffolkes,
I once read an article or essay somewhere that made this claim: when we cry or feel deeply sad over the death of a loved one, we are really crying for ourselves, not for the departed. In at least one respect, that is true; the person who has passed away is no longer suffering, and presumably has gone on to a better place, so in truth we ought to be happy, not sad. But we are sad, because it hurts to know that one in whom we have placed our trust and love will not be around anymore for us to be with, to talk to, to enjoy. So in that sense we are crying for ourselves, in lamentation for lost love.

But, unlike the author of the piece I was reading, I believe that is okay. It is, if nothing else, a completely human reaction to feel pain at a loss, and to a certain extent our reaction may be called selfish; no one can deny that selfishness is purely human. But it is more than merely selfish, because humans are never just one thing at a time. We also feel our loss in other ways, and with other feelings.

There is relief, for the ending of whatever pain the loved one may have been experiencing. There may be guilt, too, for taking the presence of the loved one for granted, or for not telling them they were loved. All of these differing reactions, and the many more I haven’t mentioned, only prove our humanity more, for in spite of what some would have us believe, we are not simple creatures. The relationships we build throughout our lives are held together with a myriad of feelings, all relating to the other person and the time we have shared with them. Our feelings don’t occur alone; there are always more than only one, for when they occur, they engender other feelings, which will then cause another, and another, and so on.

These thoughts, and a million more, have been circling around in my head for about a day now, since my brother called yesterday to let me know that our mother had passed away at about 1:00 pm. It was not unexpected; she was 90 years-old, and had been in the hospital for a week after suffering a massive stroke. I am sad, of course, and will miss her very much, but in truth, I don’t think it has really hit me yet.

When my father passed away, 20 or more years ago, the full reaction didn’t come until weeks later, and I have the feeling that in this instance, it may be some time before I can grieve fully. It’s just so hard to accept their absence; there is never any real belief they are gone until one day, all one’s feelings just crash in at once. So, I have that to go through yet, which is okay by me. I have enough problems just now, and can’t really afford to fall apart at present.

Today’s Pearls were picked out before I heard about my Mom, and so have no particular point in light of that. They are. however, well able to make their own point…..

“A ‘No’ uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.” — Mahatma Gandhi

“He who is most slow in making a promise, is the most faithful in the performance of it.” — Rousseau

“Here I am in the POSTERIOR OLFACTORY LOBULE but I don’t see CARL SAGAN anywhere!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“If you never assume importance you never lose it.” — Lao-tzu

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total oblivion. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me and turn my inner eye to follow its path. When the fear is gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” — The Litany Against Fear (Frank Herbert, -Dune-, 1965)

“Before you speak, just remember that you will not be asked to explain what you did not say!” — Smart Bee

Such a fine group of Pearls really deserves some witty or profound remark in response, but I’m afraid that may be asking too much of my Muse today, so we’ll have to make do with this…..y’all take care out there….and don’t forget to tell the people you love that they are appreciated. Ya never know when they might not be there any more to tell…..

Note from 2014: Okay, grieving for today is done…. let’s go on, shall we?…..

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

I picked this out days ago; if you’ve never heard of this artist, I’m not surprised, but, am also disappointed, as he was a legendary performer, and songwriter, perfectly voicing the beliefs and feelings of the time he was performing…. He also is one of the very few artists to give it all up when he started to become famous; he didn’t like the way it was changing his life, so he retired, to a private existence, only re-emerging recently to give us a bit more of his music… This was one of his few live performances, before he retired….

Cat Stevens, Live in Williamsburg, Va., 1976

http://youtu.be/pFuL3_RmxII

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

One thing about angst; it can make me bleed words….

Tempered Flesh, with Blood

Tiresome, the darkness, sitting in the sun,
submissively balancing over the pit.
Quiet as old terror, each brick one by one
building crescendo, sans music, sans style, sans wit.
Shadows thrown offer speculative fiction,
earning respite from burgeoning miscellany.
Light’s presence offers potential benediction,
if not divine, perhaps, then, beautifully zany.

Hours pass in days, minutes in a week,
challenging Reality to argue, adding a subtle smirk.
One humbly submits in hope of grace, small respite to seek,
in spite of prescient insistence ’twill never work.
Wave upon wave crash against the bloodied shore,
wearing down all natural defense.
All light is extinguished, darkness evermore;
if preserving life and love, sin no more.

~~ gigoid ~~

I’m not certain it’s done, but, that’s all there is for now…. I have a feeling it will grow further; for now, it’s all I have in me….

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

Now we come to the freshes part of this pearl…. picked out yesterday, in the midst of the cacophony in my head, I cannot vouch for how it came out, though I do accept responsibility…. Try to enjoy it anyway, okay?….

“What then in the last resort are the truths of mankind? — They are the’ _irrefutable_ errors of mankind.” — Nietzsche

“Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.” — Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense (1946)

“Human Kind cannot bear very much reality.” — T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton”

“To see what is right and not to do it, is want of courage.” — Confucius Analects

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

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” — Aldous Huxley

Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

“Brahma”

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

Before I forget, today’s first photo, of the beaver family, is another shot from the London Daily Telegraph Animal Pictures of the Week series. This one had a nice story: A young couple started observing two beavers in the wild, watching from a distance as they built their dam, had a baby, living their peaceful lives… After a couple years, the beavers became so accustomed to their presence, they allowed them to approach closer, to the point of greeting them whenever they came to visit, and posing for this picture…. It’s nice to see a story about something other than bombs, and rape, and police aggression…. hence, the inclusion here, as a reminder of something good in the world….

Thus far today, I have abused a surly security guard, two smarmy lab technicians, and one way-too-perky nurse, who dared address me prior to having coffee, but, I didn’t kill anyone while I was out, in spite of being caffeine-challenged…. Even when the sunshiny little perkette smiled at me & gave out with a classic cliche, (She actually said, “you’re alive!”, when I growled at her), I managed not to hit her with my stick, though sorely tempted. I did, however, reply to that statement with “Yeah, and not real f__ing happy about it, either!”, so, she went away with a bit less of a shine on her day…. I was sorry for it, but, it was her own fault for talking to me after I’d already growled a warning….

On that note, I’ll be leaving now, before I dump on somebody else…. See y’all tomorrow…. maybe…. I might have fled the country by then….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Aiming at center mass…..

Posted on October 6, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“To love someone deeply gives you strength.

Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

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

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?….

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

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

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

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

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

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

It’s worth thinking about…..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Sure, Bob…. we believe you….)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://youtu.be/HWCBwaNvHbE

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

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

The world is too much with us; late and soon

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

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

What are you doing with that ferret?….

Posted on October 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Freedom = Responsibility

Attribution is not required for an Unarguable Truth

If you feel you MUST argue it, well, bring it on…..

~~ gigoid ~~

The most excellent picture, which highlights the absolutely perfect form displayed by these two small warriors, is from The Daily Yell (London Daily Telegraph) Animal Pictures of the Week, 10/3/2014. Notice the strength of the stance, with four legs firmly gripping the limb, perfectly balanced, and the formidable knife-like spikes on the forearm and hand sections, held in perfect position to strike…. Their sifu would be proud…. *modest smile* Perfect tong long tong long bu…. preying mantis style kung fu, straight from the source….

One might think, given the week I’ve had, I’d be more, or less, insane…. In either case, more, or less, it would seem I’ve made a case for the newest format here on ECR, even if it is less than rigidly structured, or perfectly designed. Both of those qualities wouldn’t work well around here, anyway, so, it’s just as well… I suppose, since y’all have already had your tickets punched, you feel we’ve some sort of obligation to provide some of that sort of service…. but, you’d be wrong, both in reality, and in theory….

You see, service, and obligations, only happen when there is some sort of transaction, with real money exchanged; since we only charge the going rate for a blog (to wit: nada damn thing….), that never enters the picture, and such expectations from y’all is kind of disappointing…. One would think, after the exposure y’all have had to the process of actually USING the mind, rather than just providing a means for your ass to get from toilet to toilet, you’d have more sense, or, at least, more street cred…. TANSTAAFL, ffolkes, remember? But, then, Americans DO tend to believe that doesn’t apply to them, as a matter of course….

Not all their fault, of course, as the Asininnies are continually pounding the message into the thick skulls out there that they ARE entitled to all they can steal, so, it’s only natural there would be some sense of entitlement, even if it IS completely unwarranted, and unearned…. But, all the preachers, and all the political pundits, are forever trumpeting how special we are, and how we have the rights to do whatever we want to other nations, and/or people, without ever having to answer for our actions….. How else to explain our willingness to bomb almost anything that moves, if it will make us seem more important in our own eyes….

Bah, humbug! I’m ranting again, in the intro, aren’t I? Ah well, it’s just so easy to do, and such a natural thing to do, when confronted with all the BS and nonsense that goes on each day out on the world stage…. But, doing it here makes it hard to keep the process smooth when we actually get to the section where the ranting is appropriate…. It DOES, however, get us far enough down the page to call the intro complete, such as we see today…. Funny how that works, isn’t it? I suppose y’all think I plan it that way…. HAH! Fooled ya!….

But, since we did make it this far, and without shedding any blood, to speak of, we may as well use the escape clause that is presenting itself… In fact, I think, if we jump right here, it should all work out fine….

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

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

I’m late today, having actually gotten some decent sleep; I have no idea why it happened, it just did….. Since I haven’t had time to even look at the news, I’ll use an appropriate piece from the past…. Besides, it’s been a while since we discussed the process of Pearling, so, it’s time…. Here is a bit of explanation of this whole deal, just in case it seems important to y’all…. or not…. Don’t fret, it’s not a rant, and it’s not too long, so, it makes a nice change of pace, I think…..

From 3/28/2012:

“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” — Federico Fellini

It has been a while since I talked about Pearls, so when I stumbled upon the above quote, I knew it was time….. Pearls of Virtual Wisdom come with a caveat and disclaimer, to wit: These Pearls consist of ideas and concepts, and even procedures, that are Virtual Wisdom. They should never be confused with, or used as, Real Wisdom; the results can be somewhat unpredictable, have been known to cause injury, and in one case, (my own), have resulted in months of severe depression.

(Of course, that depression may not be due strictly to the intrinsic differences in the Pearls themselves, but rather a direct result of inattention to which variety I was using at the moment) Regardless of how real Pearls of Virtual Wisdom may appear, or how shiny they look to the untrained eye, the author assumes no liability for failure to heed this caveat.

That being said, let us for a moment consider pearls as incarnations of jewels, as the precious gems of rare beauty and great value they become when freed from the oyster, the shelter which created each layer of the pearl’s beauty out of its own pain…. The soft sheen of a fine pearl, luminescent in the dimness, glowing in the light, has captivated the eyes and imaginations of men and women since the first oyster was plucked from the sea bed to become someone’s supper, and has inspired those who fall under its spell to acts of great sacrifice, and acts of great cruelty, in the quest to possess these timeless treasures from the sea.

Thus the metaphorical nature of the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom becomes apparent, as we see that although virtual wisdom looks just like real wisdom, the difference may be likened to the difference between naturally produced pearls, and those that are cultivated in laboratories. One is shiny, and of great value for its rarity and beauty, naturally endowed; the other is shiny, but of lesser value, due to lesser rarity, and a somehow lesser beauty, as made by the hand of man.

The subtle differences are of little note, except to Reality, which always knows which wisdom is which, as it knows which pearl is which; hence the caveat and disclaimer, to avoid any conflicts with Reality due to negligence on my part…..so, please use these Pearls with appropriate caution, and they will bring you joy for years to come…..

“Did an Italian CRANE OPERATOR just experience uninhibited sensations in a MALIBU HOT TUB?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Note from 2014: There…. that should help make things clearer… and if not, well, so what, eh? It’s not as if you spent a lot to get in, is it?….. Right…..

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

Very little needs to be said about these two gentlemen, or the music they created together…. Serendipity, indeed…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. this is one of the greatest concerts ever…. with music that will never again be created just this way….

IN CONCERT ” SIMON AND GARFUNKEL ” LIVE IN CENTRAL PARK NEW YORK 1981

http://youtu.be/zXzpY4uI48U

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

As I heard quoted in a movie recently, “I think Wordsworth is sometimes underrated.”….. So do I….

The Solitary Reaper

Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?–
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?

Whate’er the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o’er the sickle bending;–
I listened, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

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

It’s been some time, but, here is an old-school pearl, of the type that has lasted the longest…. It is merely a grouping of comments on Reality, Life, and how to approach both with some dignity, and a bit of style….and, in the process, perhaps, teach us a bit about ourselves, and our inner nature…. It helps if you pay attention….

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

“I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don’t trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance, any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.” — Charles Dickens

“Make your enemies by choice, not by accident. The same applies to friends.” — Xavier R. Quinton

“Hell hath no fury like a vested interest masquerading as a moral principle.” — Smart Bee

“Nothing can come out of nothing, any more than a thing can go back to nothing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 4

“A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.” — Herb Caen

“Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.” — Francis Bacon

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

Not too shabby, for a Pearl thrown together on the fly, and in a massive hurry…. In fact, it came out rather well, all things considered, and we know better than to look at the teeth of any horse in the stable, no matter where it came from, or what wagons it may have dragged in behind it…. whatever that means, metaphorically, euphemistically, or, practically…. Of course, in this case, only the latter counts…. Since that is true, I’m outta here, and y’all can’t legally stop me…. though, why you’d wish to try, I haven’t a clue…. That last statement may just cover the whole business, and before we find out…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Buttery smooth and savory…..

Posted on October 4, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ G. K. Chesterton ~~

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

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ Thomas Gray ~~

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

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

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

20 Hits from The Everly Brothers: Platinum Collection

http://youtu.be/U5o7DP8jQiM

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

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

Another Day

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

you begin eating the sandwich.

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

you start the engine.

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Stick with the potted meats, Bosley….

Posted on October 3, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

(1688-1744)

— Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 15 —

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

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

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

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

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

Okay, I think we’re good to go, so….

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

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

“Become what you are.” — Buddha

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oops!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Council removes Banksy artwork after complaints of racism

5. Wonga writes off debts for 330,000 customers

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

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

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

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

“Become what you are.” — Buddha

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

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

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

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

http://youtu.be/GRxofEmo3HA

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

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

Random Exposure

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

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

View Full Profile →

	katiemiafrederick on Are those Foster Grants to blo…
	katiemiafrederick on Funk-o-matic accessories are o…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on But…. but…. what a…

gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Smart Bee

Poignant palindromes prevent perverted pixels….

Worshiping at the altar of self-mockery….

“She’s making her famous Cream of Kitten Soup!”, he cried….

Monotheism typically requires optimistic pessimism, and pink underwear….

The myrmidons could be burlier….

Bound for Bohemia….

Aiming at center mass…..

What are you doing with that ferret?….

Buttery smooth and savory…..

Stick with the potted meats, Bosley….

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: