Significant signs of sincere drivel….

Posted on June 1, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Richard Bach, “Illusions” ~~

Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC

Hajime…. In retrospect, there was nothing to be done; if there had, I’d have done it. Instead, here I sit, again searching for some small inspiration to get us to our desired destination. In the ineffable, incomparable way of life at large, nothing doing, at least, not so far. Since waiting around for it to show would be rather presumptuous (for it may never show at all), I suppose I’ll need to find some other source for material to put here. That, of course, is also a hit or miss issue, but, given the circumstances, it could be worse. How, I am not sure, but, I know Murphy, and, believe me, if given half a chance, it WILL get worse.

In order to avoid any such conundrum this morning, I’ll use the new degree of ruthlessness I seem to have found, and cut this intro without mercy. It won’t take long, and actually is quite fun, if one doesn’t fight it. All you need to do is put down your adult beverage, take a deep breath, and read on. As for my part, it works pretty well, all things considered. How does it work? Easy, I push this button, and we’re gone…. Watch….

Shall we Pearl?….

Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens.

[Against stupidity the very gods fight in vain.]

~~ Friedrich Schiller ~~

~~ The Maid of Orleans, Act iii, Sc. 6 ~~

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

Leonard Cohen

Image from http://www.pinterest.come via Google Images

One of yesterday’s commenters mentioned today’s featured artist; it’s been a while since we’ve included his work, so, here is a pretty thorough collection of many of his most popular pieces, all in one place. Enjoy!….

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

The Best of Leonard Cohen

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

https://youtu.be/L9WDRGxp0vA

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

Originally, I had a quote picked out for today, to lead into a discussion of the ubiquitous corporate oligarchy as it now exists in our world. However, reality intervened, to prevent any such fresh ranting today. Instead here is a more light-hearted discussion from early in 2014 to fill in for today. It’s a fun one, so, have fun…..

From 1/30/2014:

“We’re not into science fiction because it’s _good literature_, we’re into it because it’s _weird_. Follow your weird, ladies and gentlemen. Forget trying to pass for normal. Follow your geekdom. Embrace your nerditude. In the immortal words of Lafcadio Hearn, a geek of incredible obscurity whose work is still in print after a hundred years, “woo the muse of the odd”.” — Bruce Sterling, addressing a convention of SF writers

A few days ago, I experienced an epiphany regarding the solutions we need to find to the issues of global warming and climate change…. This statement is one that, though not exactly what I’m talking about, is in the right ballpark…. Finding answers to what is happening in the real world has been part of what science fiction writers have done, peripherally, for many years, in the sense that the stories they write explore the concepts involved in ways that demonstrate the questions, and can, hopefully, point the way to finding the answers we now need…

There have been many, many stories…. full length novels, novellas, short stories… all written over the last two hundred years or so, that talk about the most critical issue we now face, to wit: the climate changes produced by our insane pollution of the atmosphere. There has also been a lot of speculation and talk among the people who do the writing, and those who write about them, all discussing possible scenarios for possible futures….. Somewhere among all that talk and discussion, there MUST be an idea that we can use to turn the tide that we have so foolishly turned against us…..

In other words, in a metaphorical sense, we need to go out into the realms of fantasy and imagination, to find the elves, so we can benefit from the wisdom of their counsel…. Even though I already know what they will tell us…. The elves always give the same counsel…. we will need to find a Hero, who can step forward to assume the Quest to save mankind from the folly of his own greed and ambition…. Metaphorically, this is absolutely correct…. what it will translate to in real terms is yet to be seen, but, something needs to be done to find an answer, and soon, for the time we have to accomplish anything that will work is growing smaller rapidly….

“There is something inside all of us that yearns not for reason but for mystery… not for penetrating clear thought but for the whisperings of the irrational… not for science but for wizardry disguised as science.. not for rationally founded influence but for magic.” — Karl Jaspers

In the meantime, rather than ranting at you to get out there and try to find an elf, who can then lead us to his where his people have gone, far over the Western Sea,…. I’ll put together an old-school pearl, with some good advice and/or some snarky comments about the assholes who got us to this point in the first place….

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

“You shouldn’t think about *how* we’re doing this. You should ask yourself, ‘why?'” — Penn Jillette

“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” — Agatha Christie

“A little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity.” — Michael de Montaigne — Book iii, Chap. ix

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde

“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?” — Plato

See? There is a perfect example of why I seldom make precognitive assumptions about a particular pearl, especially BEFORE it is constructed…. This is a grand pearl, but, no snarky comments to be seen…. ‘S’okay, it doesn’t need them….

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

Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, or teach us to truly know.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/7/2014

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

Naked Pearls

The best wisdom at affordable prices….

*******

“A wise man first determines what is within his control;
all else is then irrelevant.”

~~ Epictetus ~~

*******

“Between the vision and the act lies the shadow.”

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

*******

“Joy is wealth and love is the legal tender of the soul.”

~~ Robert Green Ingersoll ~~

*******

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

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

*******

“we can never be born enough.
We are human beings;
for whom birth is a supremely welcome mystery,
the mystery of growing:
the mystery that happens only and whenever
we are faithful to ourselves.”

~~ e. e. cummings. ~~

*******

“…and remember you’re a Man, not just god,
and for you there aren’t and never will be any easy answers,
only questions, and no reasons,
only causes, and no meaning,
only intelligence, and no destination
and no kindly magic smiling down from above,
and no fires to goad you from below,
only Yourself and the Universe
and what you make out of the interface between the two equals.”

~~ Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_ ~~

*******

“On SECOND thought,
maybe I’ll heat up some BAKED BEANS
and watch REGIS PHILBIN..
It’s GREAT to be ALIVE!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

*******

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

Since Zippy finished off that most excellent old-school pearl with such panache, I don’t think I’ll need to get too fancy here at the close. Rather than make any such faux pas, we’ll just note, it’s done, and we’re done for today. We will, with great anticipation, see y’all again tomorrow, as long as the Universe holds together. It’s got a solid record of doing so; most likely, we’ll see y’all then….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Born to be mild….

Posted on May 26, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“What men really want is not knowledge but certainty.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

gigoid leaving his mark in Beijing, 2004….

Hajime…. To answer any untoward remarks before they occur, yes, my hair was short. In fact, this picture shows how I looked about a week after the very last haircut I got; I haven’t cut it since. The picture was taken during a short trip to China, where I tried, without notable success, to secure a job teaching English in their schools for a year, under contract. However, I mis-prepared, and was unable to secure a position before my savings got too small to stay….

I did spend 10 days in the capitol of China, where I met, and made some great friends, a couple of whom still communicate occasionally. This photo was taken by one of the other teachers seeking jobs, with whom I stayed, in a bar in some random alley, called hutongs, in which much of the street and night life takes place. This particular hutong was lined with about 20 or 30 bars, all with different themes of music and/or decor, to attract tourists and their Chinese fans, all of whom want to practice their English. There is a rather extensive community of expatriates and traveling young people who also tend to gather there, to mingle and find someone with whom to speak their own language

A bit of history is always good, right? So we are told, anyway. Good morrow, ffolkes. I am up, tired and late, again, but, have a Pearl to post, so, all will eventually be well. Well, it will be, if Leelu and I can come to terms today. She’s being a bit rude this morning; can’t say why. She’ll get over it, as will I, if I can get this done. To help with that, I’ll use the old red-tape scissors on the intro, & get us on our way without any further BS, or nonsense, or, well, anything at all…. It’s actually pretty easy, and works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I bid him look into the lives of men as though into a mirror, and
from others to take an example for himself.”

~~ Terence — Adelphoe, Act iii, Sc. 3, 61, (415.) ~~

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

Today I felt like hearing a ‘voice’. This lady’s voice is, quite simply, the best of my generation….. This is her 75th birthday celebration, which, naturally, she celebrated on stage, in New York. Enjoy, ffolkes; she’s the best…..

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

Joan Baez Live 2016
75th Birthday Celebration

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

https://youtu.be/4b0XeJNK-Sk

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

I’m still recovering from my trip, thanks to my advanced years, all of which seem to continually catch me unawares…. Here is a discussion from the archives, to sublimate today’s angst….. Enjoy!….

From 1/27/2013:

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

Right! What a wonderful pearl! Not only is it short and sweet, it’s just packed with insight and implied wisdom…. In my mind, when I read it, I get a vision of a fireworks fountain, spewing light and beauty into the air, in blazing, colorful sparks…. A bit fanciful, but that’s the impression I got upon seeing it the first time…. You see, I’ve been thinking a lot of late, about Death vs. Life, due most likely to the fact that my own time to face that specter is approaching, seemingly ever more rapidly, as it tends to do later in our lives. When we look back over the time we’ve had on this Earth, the time left seems so short….

But, it isn’t really any shorter, nor, I’ve come to believe, is there anything to fear from Death’s approach. We all get to live just one day at a time…. Nay, not even so much…. we live one moment at a time, and we can’t make it go faster, or slow it down. So, worrying about what might happen in the future is a waste of the moment, and not worth the effort of doing so. In addition, I’ve come to the conclusion that what happens after Death comes for us isn’t anything to fret over, either, because, logically, death is merely a transition phase, from one level of perception to another, with the other being a reality for which we do not possess the ability to perceive, lacking some organ, or some mental awareness that is needed to do so…..

There is no evidence at all that consciousness, as we understand it, persists on this level of reality after the body has died. On the other hand, there is also no evidence at all that it does not continue to exist, on some other level that we are not aware of; add to this the simple fact that in our universe, according to physical laws, energy, in ALL of its forms, cannot be destroyed, only changed in form. The Law of the Conservation of Energy has been proven many times, and is not a matter for dispute. When one considers consciousness, i.e., the MIND, as a form of energy, it makes perfect sense to assume that it changes forms when we die, but is not destroyed. It is the only logical answer, as far as I can see….

The wise women and men of the Blackfoot tribe apparently were aware of this, as well as being aware that the universe exists as a duality, with each characteristic of reality having its opposite complement, that defines and proves its very existence. We see the world in these opposites, so it is very easy to be fooled into thinking that what we see is the true nature of that reality…. but, it isn’t, because those two opposites are all part of the same grand scheme of things, and cannot be separated, not in reality…. only in our minds, where we separate them in order to comprehend them….

“Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.” — Murphy, courtesy of Smart Bee

Why does he do that? Why wait until I’ve spouted off for almost a thousand words before dropping these little bombs? Ah well, fuck him, and his bloody white horse! Everything I said above is the absolute truth, in my mind, so Murphy can just go f__k himself. Even though this aphorism is also true as the day is long, I don’t think I’ve gone so far astray that it applies… so, in spite of the Irish asshole, we’ll push on….

I have yet to discern any reason that can logically, or even speculatively, answer the question of why we don’t remember any of the time we’ve spent dead, or whatever it’s called when we’re busy not living on this plane of existence. You know, before you were born? And after we die? All of that is a long time, and since it is logical to assume the energy that makes up our consciousness is still in existence when we aren’t alive, in the classic sense, then it is also logical to assume that our minds are busy doing….. something else.

What that may be, well, your guess is as good as mine…. But, some folks’ guesses aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on…. I doubt seriously that the typical version of Heaven is a likely scenario, nor is Hell…. I regard those as just the unscrupulous concepts created by the BRC and/or priestly hierarchies to try to control the populace, not having any basis, or evidence to support them, in reality. In fact, there is ample evidence that shows otherwise, if one is open to perceiving it….. I figure what Robert Heinlein said once is the best way to look at it, “There’s no evidence that says we live after death; there is also no evidence saying we don’t. Soon enough, you will know, so why worry about it now?” (That may be slightly paraphrased, but the idea is precisely accurate….)

Ah well, this subject, due to its nature, is one that we, or I, could ramble on about all day, and, from the looks of things, almost have done so. Life and Death are popular subjects, understandably enough, and since we all are experts, there’s no lack of stuff to read about it; everybody’s talking, as Glenn Campbell said. But, since we have the rest of this Pearl to finish, I guess I’ll let this go for now….. Just keep in mind, ffolkes, Death isn’t anything to fear, because, if nothing else, Life itself is proof of our continued existence after it is gone…. Think about it….

“The adventure is over. Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough. Except the part you carry with you.” — E. L. Konigsburg

“One never realizes how much and how little he knows until he starts talking.” — Louis L’Amour

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

Confidentially Paranoid

Only when the bright sunlight of dreams draws nigh
can the dark glass of reality factor true value..
Destiny’s horses run in fear as time goes dry,
for grappling with fate in such traitorous venue.

In pallid costumes made of graven cast-off tales,
fallen angels and demons show the measure of faith.
No sad transactions should escape these well-marked trails,
no angry relatives cast insults to a sedentary wraith.

Meaning can always hide in literal cold intent,
yet show mere facets of honor to perishable youth.
Sincere contentions leave with sorrowful bent,
while bastardly arguments fill in poorly for the truth.

Gone are moments filled with florid blasts of rhyme
left to moulder on the shoulders of unreasonable hope.
Only courage can save these measures of unspoken time
to gather new issues, powerfully broad, painful in scope.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/25/2015

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

Our final pearl today requires a bit of explanation. Well, more of an apology, really, but, we’ll go with the former, for dignity’s sake. These pearls all picked themselves; I had nothing to do with the choices. I found myself in an old, familiar state, wherein I cruise through the database, and let my hand on the mouse have free rein, connected only to my unconscious mind. The results are generally fairly subtle, but, this one reaches for new heights of obscurity. That’s fine with me; that always makes it a challenge to figure out the final conclusion, especially given the simple fact there isn’t always one to figure out. Sometimes, the mountain is just a mountain…. Enjoy, ffolkes; this one’s quite a ride….

Serendipity is where you find it….

*********

“The cold wind that blows before and after time.”

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

*********

“If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd,
take a look back every now and then
to make sure it’s still there.”

~~ The Cowboy’s Guide to Life ~~

*********

The head thinks,
the hands labor, but it’s
the heart that laughs.

~~ Liz Curtis Higgs ~~

*********

I postpone death
by living,
by suffering,
by error,
by risking,
by giving,
by losing.

~~ Anais Nin ~~

*********

“It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another;
it is one damn thing over and over.”

~~ Edna St. Vincent Millay ~~

*********

“Dharma: What is the greatest mystery of all?
Yudishthira: That each day, death walks the earth,
and we continue to live as though we were immortal.”

~~ The Bhagvad Gita ~~

*********

“Forward goes the vanguard of the lunatic fringe,
tickling the death clowns of normality.”

~~ HealNorm ~~

*********

“Change is disruptive–that’s the point!”

~~ Karen Bredfeldt ~~

*********

“Toes, knees, NIPPLES.
Toes, knees, nipples, KNUCKLES…
Nipples, dimples, knuckles, NICKLES,
wrinkles, pimples!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

*********

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

I did it. I wasn’t entirely confident it would get done, but, after a short conversation with a friend in Europe, and some minor scuffles with Leelu, it’s finished, at least to the point I’m done with trying to get it to look any better. Once again, we’ll trust the process, and go post what we have. I will try again, as is my wont. Moreover, I’ll do that, and be back tomorrow; habits die hard. See y’all in the morning, ffolkes; I seem to have little choice in the matter….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Pecans? Or, Icons? Same price….

Posted on April 9, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He that feareth is a slave,
were he never so rich, were he never so powerful.
But he that is without fear is king of all the world.”

~~ E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros ~~

Where’d it go?….

Hajime…. Sometimes, one must take what one gets. That’s not too hard when what I got feels like a small, yet tasteful prize for hard work; in truth, that’s exactly what it was/is. To keep from falling into my usual chatty mode, I’ll be brusque; I got some damn sleep, after an extended battle to get there. And, I can honestly say, some is better than none. I’m gonna take it, and run….

Where to run is another question. In fact, it’s both a rhetorical, and a moot question this morning, as I managed to complete this Pearl yesterday, but for this opening section, and a few words at the end. Not bad for an old fart who can’t sit for long. Got a few mini-rants in over at my friend’s site, too, mitigated in effect by having found an excellent archived piece, a combination rant and old-school indictment, first thing, as a treat for today’s post. Since I also received a shipment of the proper treatment for some of my pain, it was a productive day, all in all.

So productive, I’m bound & determined to keep this to a reasonable size, so we can get right into the mess for today. As a matter of fact, it would probably be best to just end this now, just as if I’d planned it that way. Hell, nobody will know for sure whether I did, or not; for that matter, I’m not even sure if I did. There are some vague memories in there, but, I don’t want to take credit where credit isn’t due. Aw, crap. I’m losing it again, aren’t I? These damn threads of consistency are tough to maintain in the early morning, even WITH a half-cup of almost pure caffeine on board. To make it seem like it WAS a plan, we’ll use this switch right here to get us gone, before anyone notices. Watch your step, please…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“It is better to copulate than never.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

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

Antonio Vivaldi ~ The Red Priest

For a few years near the end of my work career as a psychiatric technician, I was working with severely developmentally disabled teens & young adults. Ninety or more percent of the individuals were bed-ridden, unable to walk or move about without assistance. As a result, they required 24 hour care to enable them to live a life with any degree of quality; in point of fact, most would not be able to survive at all without such care….

For about 11 months, I worked the night shift, during which time, as might be expected, it got pretty quiet, as none of these individuals could speak. To keep from going completely batty from the relative silence, I played music that would not disturb their sleep, of which, naturally, this piece was foremost in my regard, for its excellence, and that timeless quality that allows one to hear it time after time, and find new joy in each hearing. I defy anyone with any wit or heart to not enjoy this…. In this case, I think the correct admonition is, Abondanza!….

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

Antonio Vivaldi
The Four Seasons

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

https://youtu.be/ygpf6mxTUeY

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

In recent posts, I’ve limited my fresh ranting, simply because of the time constraints I’ve found to be extant while I’m having pain issues. I have plenty of passion and angst that needs to be vented, but, not the solid block of time required to compose a coherent indictment of our BRC and the oligarchs who are their puppet masters. The little bit of time I’ve been on other sites has apparently fulfilled my venting requirements for the time being, so, for today, I’m using a rather extensive older piece, from a day in which my rage got the better of my pain… I enjoyed it, so, why don’t you?….

From 9/2/2014:

“The sunlights differ, but there is only one darkness.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Dispossessed”

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Law-enforcement-employers-still-view-private-5722229.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bustech

One coined word…. OUTFUCKINGRAGEOUS…. though, not at all surprising, the information, and quotes, in this article are, to say the least, infuriating, and, oh, I don’t know…. it makes me want to take these assholes by the lapel, and just bitch-slap them, to see if THAT might get them to HAVE A FUCKING CLUE…..

Whew!… Okay, I feel a little better… Sorry to have shouted at you, or, in your apparent direction; it was never aimed at y’all, or anyone I’ve ever called “ffolkes”… No, my anger and outrage is confined to the bloody idiots, such as the one in the article who said, and I quote, directly from the article, “Obviously, when hiring someone who will serve as a public servant in law enforcement we do a thorough background check,” Corney said. “We turn over every stone. … Even now, it’s not a perfect system. So why would we want to restrict it?”

Do you hear it? The subtext in what he states here? “why would we want to restrict it?” Well, maybe, I thought immediately, because the law says you are supposed to?. Or, maybe, your “interpretation” of the law makes the (unwarranted) assumption that police forces shouldn’t be restricted by the same laws as the rest of the populace is required to follow?… Perhaps he feels they are ‘entitled’ to not be restricted in their efforts to…. what? To know everything there is to know about everyone? It seems to me, if they were really concerned about the relative trustworthiness of their job applicants, they would have them examined, thoroughly, by a psychologist, or even a psychiatrist, to determine their reliability, their moral and ethical strengths and weaknesses, and the suitability of their persona for this kind of important work…

A psyche evaluation makes much more sense to me; it gives them the information they SHOULD be considering in their candidates, not just their weak, stupid moments, but their tendencies, their decision-making skills, their flexibility, their courage, etc…. All of that, and more, would be much clearer, without having to invade their privacy, which still should be sacrosanct….

If all those who wished to be police officers at ANY level were required to undergo psyche evaluation, I think we would see a much different, much more intelligent, more efficient, and less violent institution, whose members would, once again, be viewed as they were in the past, as the best examples of integrity, honesty, courage, and, compassion for their fellow man, that our society can produce…. Instead, in today’s society, most police are seen, by the people they are supposed to protect, as examples of arrogant, entitled bullies, flaunting their immunity from the same laws they enforce upon a fearful populace, teeming in poverty, in so many inner city communities across this nation….

Unfortunately, in the minds of today’s modern police, and the mentality of most of those who end up in that field, the laws being enforced should not have to apply to them, or anyone in their position as the “guardians” of society…. In short, the field tends to attract those who need to be regarded as special, and important, just for doing the job they’ve chosen to do, no matter their motivation, or their talent for the job…. Being large, aggressive, and able to follow orders is more highly prized than compassion, judgment, or intelligence, in today’s culture of militarization, a process affecting of all of society….

I gotta take a break…. On Memorial Day, (today) this was the first news item that drew my attention, after finishing all the steps in posting the Pearl for the holiday (as per policy, and practice, I don’t recall mentioning it at all… I never do remember it IS holiday, until I’m done… Well, most of the time, if not never….)… When I read it, and saw the incredibly asinine quote you see excerpted above, I felt like a cherry bomb firecracker going off… I damn near fell out my chair, literally, when I read those words “why would we… etc.”; I was so astounded my whole body gave a big jerk, throwing me off balance, and almost out of the chair…

Any who, break-time…. I’ve been writing straight for twenty minutes, in a rage, and need to settle…. As Arnold said, playing the Terminator “I’ll be….”, well, you know what he said….

I am. Back. But, you knew that, didn’t you? I can always count on y’all to see what is necessary…. Now that I’m back, I’ll tell you…. I’m still mad as hell, and find myself wishing very badly I could justify typing the word “fuck” a few times more, just because it releases the anger so well. But, I also typed so much on this already, my thumb is screaming, so, instead, I’ll inform you that I went to look for some pearls to go with this diatribe… One for the top, one for here, in the middle, to solidify the concepts under discussion, and provide the impetus for the remainder of the rant that is just waiting to burst out onto the screen…

But, rather than take the chance of overdoing it, I’ll finish off these thoughts with the pearls I found… In fact, an entire seven-star old-school pearl, with parameters set to find whatever seems appropriate to the theme of the now-aborted politirant…. You can thank me later for sparing y’all from the rant itself…. I’ll just go sublimate, by going out into the Big Blue Room, & finding some poor officious bureaucrat to torment…. Sounds like fun!….. Y’all enjoy the pearl, and the pearls that make it special…. Hmm…. Since the poetry is next, I think I’ll format this into the center, to blaze the path….

*******

“Earthmen like Ramses, Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler, Lee Kuan.
Your whole Earth history is made up of men seeking absolute power.”

~~ Spock ~~

Patterns of Force, stardate 2534.7.

*******

`Business!’ cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again.
`Mankind was my business.
The common welfare was my business;
charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence,
were, all, my business.
The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water
in the comprehensive ocean of my business!’

~~ Charles Dickens ~~

~~ A Christmas Carol ~~

*******

“People seldom improve, when they have no other model but themselves to copy.”

~~ Oliver Goldsmith ~~

*******

“I don’t know WHY I said that.. I think it came from the FILLINGS in my rear molars..”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

*******

“Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are fools
and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.”

~~ Thornton Wilder ~~

*******

“1935 will go down in History!
For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration!
Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient
and the world will follow our lead to the future!”

~~ Adolf Hitler ~~

~~ (1889-1945), prior to confiscating all civilian firearms ~~

*******

“Between the vision and the act lies the shadow.”

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

*******

Here’s a link I found, after finishing the above…. It’s perfectly appropriate humor to serve as the final word today on this subject, and is only here to lighten the mood a bit…. Enjoy!

http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/slideshow/Who-were-the-most-hated-presidents-92564.php

Note from 2016: I found out later I had my holidays mixed up; it was actually Labor Day, but, hey, they’re all just made up days, anyway, put where they are to stimulate commercial activity…. They really have nothing to do with cultural relevance, at all. But, then, that’s actually a pretty good metaphor for our entire governmental range of activity, isn’t it? Yep….

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

Savory

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

4/9/2013

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

Our final pearl for the day is really old-school. I call this a Random Harlequin pearl about Life As We Know It, for, it speaks of things many of us never, or seldom consider, as well as of things with which all of us are familiar, and can feel/see/understand without a qualm. Mostly, I think it’s just stuff it’s good to know, to think about, and, to remember…. All of it, by the way, can be found in your own heart/mind.

“Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.” — Ancient Sage Bee

“A good word is an easy obligation, but not to speak ill, requires only our silence, which costs us nothing.” — Tillotson

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” — H. L. Mencken

“Great tranquility of heart is his who cares for neither praise nor blame.” — Thomas A Kempis

“At times the wolves howl and the moon is silent.” — Mystical Bee

“It takes a very long time to become young.” — Pablo Picasso

“Some actions have an end but no beginning; some begin but do not end. It all depends upon where the observer is standing.” — Frank Herbert

“Life is cruel? Compared to what?” — Edward Abbey

“At any price that I can pay, let me own myself. And the price is worth paying if you keep what you have bought… A man may apply his independence to what is called worldly advantage, and discover too late that he laboriously has made himself dependent on a mass of external conditions for the maintenance of which he has sacrificed himself. So he may be festooned with the whole haberdashery of success, and go to his grave a castaway. Some men hold that the risk is worth taking. Others do not. It is to those that I have spoken.” — Rudyard Kipling, speech at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, 1923, — quoted in _Kipling’s Science Fiction_ edited by John Brunner

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

Okay, ffolkes. I did it. Big surprise, right? Okay, right, sarcasm noted and ignored, check. Since I can’t seem to find much of anything other than tricks and traps to write here, perhaps I’ll take my leave, and try again tomorrow. Yeah, that’s the ticket. I’ll see y’all in about 24 or so hours, ffolkes. The universe seems to approve, at least to the extent of allowing me to continue, which I shall do until something makes it impossible to do so. In light of that, see y’all on the flip side…

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Organized reserves of flippancy….

Posted on March 30, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I expect nothing. I fear no one. I am free.”

~~ Nikos Kazantzakis ~~

Captive Beauty

Hajme…. Quietly babbling to itself, the brook tumbled over rocks down the gentle slope toward the waiting trees, obligingly leading into the depth of the woods. Softly, the breeze pushed at the backs of sweaty necks of the party walking alongside the brook, on an ancient path worn by generations of animal and human feet. In the afternoon sun, which beat mercilessly upon the heavily laden backs of the porters, the party looked wilted and fatigued, stumbling occasionally on the rock-strewn path. As the afternoon wore on, they walked more slowly, peering side to side on the path, obviously seeking the proper bivouac…..

Okay, that’s enough. We’ll leave our party wherever in the hills they happen to be, & let them find their own camp site. I wrote that story intro because I don’t really want to be up at all, having again fought for sleep all night, unsuccessfully. I don’t feel too bad, considering, but, I decided to try not to complain about it first thing. Since I could only wait until the second paragraph, I’ll also place a firm limit on it, and end such indulgence before it really gets started…. The primary purpose in saying anything at all about it is to give warning to my Gentle Readers as to the general outlook for today’s Pearl, which is, sad to say, rather unpredictable in nature…. Go figure….

I only say this to give y’all a chance to skip the parts that don’t suit you today. It’s all fairly fresh, if not from the archives, and probably won’t be too weird, thought, of course, a certain degree of that is always present. However, it will be, due to circumstances well beyond my comprehension, if not control, shall we say, somewhat patchwork in nature, and, thus, the unpredictability previously mentioned. Hell, I guess I’m saying, I haven’t a clue as to what may happen after the intro, so, watch where you put your feet, and your faith. Either one could be in serious danger if you are less than mindful…..

Now I’ve probably driven most everyone away, I guess I’ll get to this; it’s already late, by my usual schedule, so, some haste might be in order…. Haste, however, as we know, makes waste, so, fuck that. I’m going to take my time, and see if I can’t make it, if not good, at least palatable as food for thought. If I can do it, it will be a first, but, we won’t comment on that. Instead, we’ll do this…..

Shall we Pearl?

A wise man once said …”I don’t know.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

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

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

Today’s music was chosen simply because it’s a default day. As always, this compilation was picked because the picture drew my eye. I hope you enjoy it as you read….

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

Classical Music

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

https://youtu.be/aJZtIHeI27s

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

As a break from the usual sobriety, here is a discussion of one of our favorite things around here, to wit: sheer nonsense…. Enjoy!….

From 2/8/2013:

“Yow! I want to mail a bronzed artichoke to Nicaragua!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

As previously noted, we like our nonsense around here…. This one from Zippy is particularly nonsensical, and will serve nicely as a segue into a discussion of the value there is in engaging in nonsensical behavior on occasion. A lot of folks, and even some ffolkes, might think there isn’t a lot to say on the subject, but, they don’t know me, do they? Having spent much of the last two years honing that very skill, to wit: propounding at length on subjects of little meaning, I think we can turn this into quite a nice little pearl, one that will shine even in the dark…. or maybe not… Why don’t we just go ahead, and see what happens, eh?….

Now, to begin, let me point out that the concept of nonsense, by the structure of the word itself, gives us a clue as to where its value lies… it is composed of two parts, “non” a prefix indicating negative state, and “sense”, in this form meaning perception, or ordered perception, more accurately (it makes good sense….). This tells us that the word ‘nonsense’, as the direct antonym for ‘sense’, supplies the balance that the universe demands from every part of its makeup….

“As a professional humorist, I often get letters from readers who are interested in the basic nature of humor. “What kind of a sick perverted disgusting person are you,” these letters typically ask, “that you make jokes about setting fire to a goat?” … — Dave Barry, “Why Humor is Funny”

Everything in the universe exists in duality, as we have explored previously; this duality is directly related to our own set of perceptive abilities, which operate solely by noting the presence or absence of certain forms of matter, or energy manifestation (light, sound, etc….) We see because our eyes note the presence and absence of light waves. We hear the moments of sound between the moments of silence…. It all exists in duality, and that is how we perceive it, for that is what gives the universe its balance, and allows it to produce life, and matter, and all that we are a part of in this grand landscape of wonder….

But, the human mind is subtle, and recognizes the subtlety of the universe…. Thus, when we are confronted with seriousness for a long period of time, our nature demands something as balance, and we slip over into the nonsense mode in the privacy of our minds, to provide some relief from the somber nature of much of what is created by the hand of Man…. Goodness knows, after I am forced, or trapped, into listening to the prattling of fools about laws, or dogma, or some such asinine bureaucratic folderol, a bit of Zippy, or Wacko, or Pooh’s evil twin can always make me smile, and get through the boredom with greater equanimity….. or, as much as I ever can summon in those situations…..

“A little nonsense now and then,
is cherished by the wisest men.”

~~ Willie Wonka ~~

Willie knew this little fact about the universe well, thanks to Roald Dahl, whom we can thank for his contribution to literature of quite a bit of nonsense, written with great style and verve, and not a little sarcasm. This little couplet springs up in my mind on many occasions when I am confronted by some piece of societal sobriety, and reminds me to take what I’m seeing or hearing with a big dose of salt, and maybe some Cholula’s hot sauce to spice it up. What the hell, it can’t hurt…. Can it? You tell me…..

“SANTA CLAUS comes down a FIRE ESCAPE wearing bright blue LEG WARMERS.. He scrubs the POPE with a mild soap or detergent for 15 minutes, starring JANE FONDA!! — Zippy the Pinhead

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

Notes of process and program…

Poems, alas, don’t chase through my head,
bumping and pushing each other like brothers at dinner.
They’re more ripped out of my innards, instead.
Time and circumstance reveal no ultimate winner.

Simmering and bubbling near my unconscious mind
these maddening rhymes blind me sans glimmer.
Building until bursting as if to be dined and wined,
the remaining denizens appear much slimmer.

Fiery visions retain such glorious fatal dimension,
in retrospect, yet fail to leave a permanent scar,
until blessed, or cursed, with focused attention,
singing, crying, bleeding, fast as a movie star.

Pretty soon can’t be soon enough, she said
to a chameleon colored thief bathed in moonlight.
Fancy candles in stripes of blue, gold, and red
foster honest dreams in shades of white.

Passage to daylight is problematic, at best:
beastly ghosts of insomniacs cast no shadow.
Even judges with robes can pass the wrong test
while the rest of us go with what we know.

~~ gigoid ~~

1/3/2013

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

Naked Pearls

Good Stuff to Remember

*******

“What you think of yourself is more important than what others think of you.”

~~ Seneca ~~

*******

“Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right.”

~~ Sophocles — Antigone, 706 ~~

*******

“It is necessary to the happiness of man
that he be mentally faithful to himself.
Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving,
it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe.”

~~ Thomas Paine ~~

*******

“It is impossible to design a system so perfect that no one needs to be good.”

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

*******

“Do not look for all the answers at once.
A path is formed by placing stones one in front of the other.”

~~ The Giant from Twin Peaks ~~

*******

“…for the most part happiness consists in being willing to be what you are.”

~~ Erasmus ~~

*******

“Tanstaafl!”

~~ Ancient Sage Bee ~~

*******

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

Well, I did it. As I figured before beginning, I don’t think I’ll comment on the quality of whatever you find above; too easy to look silly, and, I’ve probably already reached my limit for that today. I think I’m going back to bed, to see if the sleep I seek, which seems so elusive at night, can be found, or persuaded to approach for a session of indulgence. The way I am feeling, fat chance…. In a perfect world, who cares, right?

Okay, that does it. I’m outta here, before I try to be rational. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. I can’t seem to help myself….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Whiny wimps boast no cheeses….

Posted on February 22, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man of quality is not threatened by a woman of equality.”

~~ Gentle Bee ~~

Best Shot Two

Hajime….. Time, Space, and Reality at Large can be a rather complex three-body problem to solve, especially when our routines for dealing with the chaotic world in which we live become less than reliable. To be honest, the changes that seem to be taking place aren’t unwelcome; it’s hard to complain about getting more sleep. But, adjusting the elements of Reality thus affected is not as simple as it may sound, or look. That said, I think it’s probably a good idea to let this subject die a natural death, by negligence. So be it.

Okay, we’ve managed to obscure the issue fairly well, so far. Let’s see if a bit of nonsense will help us get to our necessary jumping-off point, shall we? Zippy always enjoys it so much when we do. Why, look! There’s our spot now! Okay, we’d better go, so hang on….

Shall we Pearl?….

“A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party:
there is no battle unless there be two.”

~~ Seneca ~~

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

The process today is a bit choppy, but, I think we can get done, if I go with a default for this section. Classical music, of course, is our default, for it seems to soothe my fevered brow when I write, or read… Go figure…. Oh, and, enjoy, too, if you wish….

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

Classical Music

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

https://youtu.be/2JQsf7i_dXY

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

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

I mentioned, somewhere, I’m not into ranting for now; so be it. In keeping to that policy, here is an archived piece, an old-school pearl from another day I wasn’t up to the challenge of speaking out…. Ah, well, so be it…. Enjoy the break from routine, if you would; I intend to do so for an extended period of time…

From 12/5/2013:

Any ranting I do today will be related to the above subject, in order to keep the details fresh in what is left of my mind…. Plus, I haven’t kept up with what is happening out in the Big Blue Room, which tends to keep me from picking a current event to rag upon, more’s the pity….. That does mean a bonus for y’all, as I’ll naturally fall back into the default position here at ECR when this happens…. Yes, you know what it means, ffolkes, another old-school pearl, a group of small but tasty pearls, all in a certain direction, or implying a certain theme…. Sure, those themes may not be immediately apparent, even to the most discriminating of Gentle Readers, but, more often, they simply bash one over the brows, driving home the desired point with all the delicacy of a professional wrestler….

I am, as is already obvious, more than just a little verbose this morning, having not written ANYTHING for over four days…. but, I don’t think that will hurt this section, since I’m going to segue right into the remainder of this section’s contents by using the old magical phrase, “slick as Natty Bumpo’s Chevrolet sedan!”…. Or, as we like to say here on ECR… let’s dive…. Ooh, ooh, let’s go really old school, too, with poetry brackets and everything all mellow….

I knew, by the smoke that so gracefully curl’d
Above the green elms, that a cottage was near;
And I said, “If there ‘s peace to be found in the world,
A heart that was humble might hope for it here.”

~~ Thomas Moore — Ballad Stanzas ~~

“I readily relapse into my reflections on the uselessness of our education. Its aim has been to make us not good and wise, but learned; and in this it has succeeded. It has not taught us to follow and embrace virtue and wisdom, but has imprinted their derivations and etymologies on our minds. We are able
to decline ‘virtue’ even if we are unable to love it; if we do not know what wisdom is in fact and by experience, we are familiar with it as a jargon learned by heart.” — Michel de Montaigne, Essays

In the vacant places, we will build with new bricks.” — T.S. Eliot

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

“Be not ashamed of thy virtues; honor’s a good brooch to wear in a man’s hat at all times.” — Ben Johnson

“We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch
Beware the jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious bandersnatch

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

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

Bluebird

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody’s asleep.
I say, I know that you’re there,
so don’t be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he’s singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

~~ Charles Bukowski ~~

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

***********

                                                       ..       :
                    .                  .               .   . .
      .           .                .               .. . . *
             *          .                    ..        .
                           .             .     . : .   .    . .
            .                         .   . . .   .
                                         . . *:. . .
.                                 . .   . .. .         .
                         .     . . . …    .    .
       .              . . . .    . . . .
                        .    .     . …   ..   .       .               .
                 . .    . *.   . .
    .                   :. .           .
                 .   .    . x   .
              . . .    ./|\
                       .   .. :.    .    .|               .
     .   … .            |
.    :. .                     .   *.        |     .               .
   . *.             You are here.
. .    .               .             *.                         .

***********

“Integrity has no need for rules.”

~~ Albert Camus ~~

***********

Virtue is not left to stand alone.
He who practices it will have neighbors.

~~ Confucius ~~

***********

“One of the greatest joys known to man
is to take a flight into ignorance
in search of knowledge.”

~~ Robert Lynd ~~

***********

Virtue is a habit of the mind,
consistent with nature and moderation and reason.

~~ Cicero ~~

***********

The mind ought sometimes to be amused,
that it may the better return to thought,
and to itself.

~~ Phaedrus ~~

***********

“Be a moving target.”

~~ Raoul Lionel Felder ~~

***********

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

~~ Moliere ~~

***********

…for the most part happiness consists in being willing to be what you are.
— Erasmus

***********

Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules.

~~ Zen Bee ~~

***********

“May the Forces of Evil become confused on the way to your house.”

~~ George Carlin ~~

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

Well, that was something…. Interruptions by a cat insisting on cuddle-time, a call from a friend in Europe, and small coffee disaster made it even more of a struggle than usual. As is our wont today, to this we say, so be it. We are practicing our dispassion today. And, we shall see you tomorrow, when we shall try again to achieve some minor brilliance, and get this approximately right. We’ll also try to lose the royal ‘we’, if possible. See y’all then, ffolkes, as long as reality stays on course….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Interview with an organic penguin groomer….

Posted on February 20, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.”

~~ Knights of Pythagoras ~~

Channeling New Ideas

Hajime….. As I sit to begin, I feel a sense of deja-vú, not particularly surprisingly, as this happened a lot in the past. Though most of the Pearl for today is finished, the rest promises to be a complete struggle, as my mind is blank as the proverbial clean slate. Oh, there’s plenty going on in there, it’s just not printable, or, even, shareable. The dega-vú just makes it worse, as it attempts to add guilt to the mix, which we don’t allow, thus muddying up the waters even further…

Rather than bore y’all any further with my issues with writing, let’s try the old cut-’em-off-at-the-pass technique we employ so well, to get us down to the meat of today’s post. ‘Meat’ may be an unfortunate euphemism, given the somewhat odoriferous state of what may follow, but, we’re nothing if not bold in the pursuit of our Art, if such title may be justifiably applied to what is found here. Me, I don’t give a crap whether it’s valid art, or just frank & earnest; it’s still better out than in, so there.

Okay, I’m getting grumpy, so, we’d best be on our way. I have no expectations for today’s Pearl; it’s on its own. And, so are y’all, once we hit the oyster beds…. Our insurance is going to lapse at noon, and, since we don’t actually HAVE any income, we won’t be supplying it in future posts. C’est la fucking vie, as we say downtown. We also say this, a lot….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Birth, copulation and death.
That’s all the facts when you come to brass tacks;
Birth, copulation and death.”

~~ T. S. Elliot, Sweeney Agonistes (1932) ~~

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

The Three Tenors

Image from last.fm via Google Images

I am NOT a fan of opera. Never have been. There are a few arias sung by duets, or alto sopranos, that are inspiring and beautiful, to be sure, such as the one in The Shawshank Redemption. Mostly, it’s just noise, as far as I’m concerned. I could go with a few Twain quotes; he wasn’t much enthused by it, either. But, instead I will say this: I am a fan of the human voice. I love a Capella music, especially live on the street. I play guitar, having learned simply so I could sing along myself. Music is in all of us, but, isn’t always easily expressed, or felt. Whomever had the brainstorm to bring these three gentlemen together to sing, was guilty of an act of genius….

Just listen, & try not to drop your jaw too far when they start to hit the high notes on some of these songs….. It will send chills up your spine, I guarantee…. In case I forgot, and, I did, their names are Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti…. Enjoy!….

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

The Three Tenors In Paris

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

https://youtu.be/4IUcm3_aVTU

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

“A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.”

~~ Robert Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long ~~

In general terms, a generation can be considered to be twenty-five years; some might say it is longer, as much as fifty years. To strike a logical, or, at least, reasonable balance, we will use the mean of the two, rounded off from 37.5 years to 40, for convenience of addition, etc. Given that assumption, I would estimate we have now gone at least three, and possibly four generations without paying the slightest attention to the lessons taught to us by our own history…. This period, significantly enough, covers about the same time as has passed since the advent of what is usually called The Industrial Revolution. For our purposes, this age of man began in earnest soon after, if not prior to, the birth of this nation, in the early part of the nineteenth century.

Now, one might think an author, or a character from a novel he wrote, is not the most appropriate judge of such matters; I contend this author is sufficiently educated as a historian, as a graduate of the US Naval Academy, to warrant some attention paid to his assertion, voiced by one of his characters. Robert Heinlein was not only an author, but, a scholar/historian/astronomer/engineer/pilot, and a number of other titles he earned throughout his life. He was one of the most cogent social philosophers of his time, though many of his ideas were considered radical…. a sobriquet commonly applied by mankind to all free thinkers….

In addition, this statement echoes the idea of many historical sages, in almost identical words. Thomas Jefferson made statements similar to this, when he wrote letters to peers in his time. He warned of the corruption he saw in the government almost immediately upon the signing of the Constitution, lamenting in one letter, “A monied aristocracy in our country … has already set the government at defiance.” He also warned of who he felt was the worst danger to the new republic, when he wrote, “Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.”.

If in no other way, this country has completely ignored this warning, allowing the interests of corporations and oligarchs to corrupt the halls of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidency of this nation, with the apparent full agreement of the populace, who embrace every economic principle spouted to them by those who have consistently preyed upon their ignorance. The checks and balances set up by the Constitution are useless, for those who make the laws now are in the complete power of the lust for money and power.

“History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion
— i.e., none to speak of.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

Lazarus’s wry observation, though tongue-in-cheek, nonetheless points out a good part of why those who care nothing about community, but, live only to fulfill their own narcissist desires for power have been able to keep the public in the dark about the true state of affairs in the halls of government…. These congenital liars are willing to say anything at all to convince the gullible they are working in their interests, while in truth, have been busily corrupting judges and legislators to pass and approve laws which favor business principles over those of people. This, in spite of any claims to the contrary you may hear from those predators, is absolute truth for anyone with any wit to see, right in front of their eyes.

What is it they refuse to see? Simply this: the entire human culture, in every country in this world, exists as it does while laboring under two delusions. First, people have come to believe money exists in reality, as something other than an idea, which we learned to use to represent our time and energy, by placing a value on it. Second, there is a completely false belief in the need to be governed. Governments do not perform any of the functions for which they originally were formed; instead, they merely act as a means for unscrupulous people to take advantage of those who do not understand their own nature, much less the nature of reality around them.

Of course, since the first step to learning is to admit one does not know, or is wrong, these people would have to first find the courage to overcome their fear of either of those states. Fear arises from ignorance, or, perceived danger without understanding. It is easier to accept what one is told, than it is to be strong enough to think for one’s self, a very common human characteristic, of which those who prey on others are well aware. In fact, they count on it….

As a scientist, with leanings toward social history and the nature of humankind, I cannot say there is any solution at this point. I can also say I don’t believe there is a need for one, as the situation in the world today is ultimately self-correcting, according to the now-proven laws of evolution. No species can long survive when there is no limit to their breeding; our world has rejected any such control over our reproductive characteristics. Simply put, there is not enough planet to support the number of humans currently living here; not for any length of time. In addition, our own short-sightedness is going to play a large part, as we continue to degrade the environment upon which our survival depends, with no thought to the future at all.

“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

Society has reached the point where we are cancerous, to ourselves, and to the planet. I can say what changes we need to make, but, I am almost certain they won’t be heeded, or made. So be it. As I mentioned somewhere, this is a rant to end all rants, for I am tired of singing to the choir. For a time, this section may/will exhibit some rather different material, not all from the archives. Also, so be it. For now, here are a few pearls to finish off this indictment of us all…. The last one tells us exactly what I mentioned needs to be done, if we are to have any chance at all of surviving as a species….

“In this world there is always danger for those who are afraid of it.” — George Bernard Shaw

“We think caged birds sing, when indeed they cry.” — John Webster

“A fish never thinks about water until he’s out of it.” — Robert Penn Warren

“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” — Sun Tzu (fl. c. BC 500)

“Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” — Denis Diderot in “Dithrambe sur la fete de rois”

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

The duties of the wind are few…

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

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

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

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

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

Naked Pearls

Don’t forget…

*********

“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

“Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.” — Confucius

“The best things in life are never rationed. Friendship, loyalty, and love. They do not require coupons.” — George T. Hewitt

“Full wise is he that can himselven knowe.” — Geoffrey Chaucer — The Monkes Tale, Line 1449

“Live dangerously and you live right.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust (1806)

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” — Marcus Aurelius

“‘Truth’ never set anyone free. It is only *doubt* which will bring mental emancipation.” — Anton LaVey

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.” — Jawaharlal Nehru

“Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.” — Walt Whitman

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

Such as it is, it’s done, And, so am I. Another long night, and a long day ahead, promises today will be a challenge. May as well get started. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided all goes relatively according to plan….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Curious fractals or penny-wise mavens….

Posted on February 2, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Wherever I go, there I am,” Pooh mused.

~~ Philosopher Bee ~~

Early morning in Galway, post-championship game….

Hajime…. Up a bit late, & running smoothly, he sits to write, ever clueless in pre-coffee state…. “What are you doing, trying to type before the first sip?”, he cries, piteously. “Don’t you remember what happened last time?” Shuddering with the memory, he hunches his shoulders, rises, & walks off into the nether regions of the mortal coil, attempting to shake off the sense of foreboding sitting heavily on his left shoulder, trying to make him turn to look at his fears…. Moaning softly with the effort, he shuffles into the loo, to sublimate the blues….

Not too shabby, I’d say, for a first effort, pre-coffee…. We’ll play it as it lies, too, since it’s laid up so close to the hole. A tap in for a birdie, we can hope. Not that we’re concerned with our handicap; no, it’s more the challenge of playing a game in my head as I write I enjoy. Since, however, we are not here to enjoy ourselves….. Wait! That is what we ARE here for! What was I thinking? Oh, right….

Well, never mind, I’ve wandered & blathered sufficiently to soothe the monitors, so, we’ll just be off to the oyster beds without further fussing. In fact, we’ll get this slow on the toad with some style, and cruise over in the Tardis. Sound good? Good. Let’s do it, before the warranty expires….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.” — Carl Jung

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

©Jay Blakesberg

50th Anniversary Show

The band needs no introduction. Suffice it to say I was at one of their concerts earlier in the year this show finished off, which I have on my computer to watch again whenever I like…. I listened to this show live, as well…. It’s a good one, as many were….. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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

Grateful Dead Live
New Year’s Eve 1987

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

https://youtu.be/ldiZ1pNA7us

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

The discussion I’m working on isn’t done, and I’m too late today to finish it before posting. Here is a discussion from 2012 to fill in for the day…. I hope you enjoy it; it’s from the early days of ECR, when I was still feeling my way to the form it now shows….

From 915/2012:

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

See? There, now, I’ve been saying this for years, and here’s old Marcus Aurelius, that Roman cogitator extraordinaire, putting it straight out there way back around the time of J.C.’s failed attempt at societal reform. A very cogent, yet poignant description of human nature and the preponderance of Ego that drives most of humanity to act out of their own ignorance, rather than consider the veracity or usefulness of someone else’s ideas. This format for stating this answer to one of the great questions is one that all the best philosophers choose when creating aphorisms; clear, simple language and brutally honest self-examination provide us with true wisdom, like it or not……

What particularly gets me about people at large is the high percentage of folks who fall into the trap that Ego sets; for some reason, people seem to prefer the cozy blindness with which ignorance can cover them to the cold, harsh light of self-knowledge. The very ego that sets them apart from the rest of the animals who inhabit this planet becomes also the greatest threat to survival, when it is allowed to dictate how one views reality.

The state of society in today’s world rests on the brink of total collapse; any number of issues currently in play in the world can lead us to upheaval unseen since the last Ice Age. Pollution, created by mankind, is pumping tons of carbon monoxide into the air every minute, and all those precipitates are eventually bound to cause changes to climate that we will have no power to stop, or reverse.

The economy of the world is constantly on the verge of collapse in these times, due mostly to the unacknowledged crimes of the 1% of mankind who controls 99% of the money and resources. These crimes arise, again, out of Ego, as the elite of the world believe that they are “different” from the rest of humanity, and deserve to make all the decisions, which oddly enough, are only beneficial to themselves….. again, the power of Ego trumps virtue…..

I’m a smart guy, pretty much, but this is a problem for which even I cannot find a solution, other than the age-old, time-worn, and always ineffective war between the classes. That solution has been tried innumerable times throughout history, and each time the same structure of society re-settles into the same old shape, with a few people at the top, making all the important decisions for the rest of humanity. All because we, as individuals, and as a species, cannot learn to control our ego, to persuade it to act for the benefit of all, rather than just looking out for itself….. I figure that whatever happens will be what we deserve, and I can’t say that I think it will be very pretty, for the species….. or for a lot of individuals…..

Maybe there is a solution…. as a matter of fact, there is one that has been around for as long as mankind has been writing stuff down…. and it’s always the same little piece of advice, a little idea that can change one’s entire life and world-view….. but only if it is accepted, and believed, and applied to reality…… Everybody knows this, but, how many actually live it?…..

“Do unto all as you would wish to have done unto you, and reject for others what you would reject for yourself.” — Mohammed

That’s right, the Golden Rule…. a basic tenet of EVERY philosophy that Mankind has ever formulated; even most religions will acknowledge the wisdom of this, though it doesn’t serve their interests as well as they would wish. But, throughout history, we have always known what is the right way to act…. we’ve just always chosen not to apply the principle in interacting with others…. Instead, we allow our ego to dictate how we behave, thus bringing us to the current world, with all of its problems and dangers…..

SIGH….. It’s really quite easy, and it’s the only answer that will work, in the long run. It really is too bad that most of humanity isn’t buying into it, isn’t it?……

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

Between what I see and what I say
Between what I say and what I keep silent
Between what I keep silent and what I dream
Between what I dream and what I forget:
Poetry.

~~ Octavio Paz (1914-1998) ~~

*********

Visible life

Forty-two days of pressure and internal rain,
leave marks of salvation, often in pain.
Such sharp reminders of yesterday’s remorse
fight heavily to keep a straight course.
Rash moments, bright, and routinely immense
Give us pleasure, bereft of common sense.

Still the night comes soft and eternally dear
to bring out wishful dreams so vitally clear.
Life’s myrmidons give freely in protest
lifting with skill, soul pieces first to infest,
Loudly brash, with no such voices to remain
Sealed in infamy, branded ugliness all too plain.

Now come brave signs of chapter and verse
Shielded by ignorance, irritable and terse.
Gravid portions of in-between retaliation
leave only pale marks of initial gestation
With hope even pallid warriors grow brave
Leading all humanity, to a warm, stale grave.

Hope never falters, nor leaves any trace
Yet lingers forever in a welcoming space.
Cheerful faces yet shine out of time
for tricking and fumbling sweet melody sublime.
Fill in the spaces with a long, strong retort
life is ever visible, if only as last resort.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/15/2012

*********

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

~~ John Donne ~~

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

Naked Pearls

Human, done right….

*********

Between those who use their neighbors, and those who use a cane.
Between those in constant power, and those in constant pain.
Between those who run to evil, and those who cannot run.
Tell me which ones are the cripples, and which ones touch the sun.

~~ Ceili’s Muse “What you do with what you’ve got” ~~

*********

“There is only one nature
the division into science and engineering
is a human imposition,
not a natural one.
Indeed, the division is a human failure;
it reflects our limited capacity
to comprehend the whole.”

~~ Bill Wulf ~~

*********

“If you make a mess, clean it up.”

~~ Mom ~~

*********

“No man, for any considerable period
can wear one face to himself,
and another to the multitude,
without finally getting bewildered
as to which may be the true.”

~~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850) ~~

*********

“A possum must be himself, and being himself he is honest.”

~~ Walt Kelly ~~

*********

“A person is not given integrity.
It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times.”

~~ Anonymous Bee ~~

*********

“Men can only be happy
when they do not assume
that the object of life is happiness.”

~~ George Orwell ~~

*********

“I searched into myself.”

~~ Heraclitus ~~

*********

In the vacant places, we will build with new bricks.

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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

It will be okay; I know it will, if I can just wait. So, we’ll post it, and wait to see what happens. Trust the process, Luke! Okay, Ben, back off, now. And leave the pastries….. Hmph. I hate when my head goes all strange like that. Oh, well, tomorrow is another day, theoretically. I’ll see y’all then, unless I regain my senses before then…. Fat chance of that, right?…. Right….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Distant sounds of hilarity….

Posted on January 30, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“There is nothing so arrogant as ignorance.”

~~ Erasmus ~~

Showing her colors….

Hajime…. Okay, so, here we are once again, without a clue. Oh, there are hints of a clue, but, nothing we can use to help us get any of this done. No, we’ll just have to do what we do best, which is fake it, best we can. Of course, this means we’ll have to take some shortcuts, as a blogging friend calls them…. a nicer word than ‘cheats’, to be sure. I’m still not certain what sort of karmic burden such will add to my account, but, it’s way overdrawn, so, what the hell?….

Now we’ve established the proper tone of curmudgeonly empathy, so to speak, it would be best, I’m thinking, to just get on with it. There are, of course, hazards involved, but, we’ve taken as many precautions as we could think of; it is a shame what happens seldom matches what we predict. Our insurance guy hates that. But, we’ve paid the premiums, so, they have little choice but to carry on, which we shall proceed to do right now. I have a new toy to try out; you let me know how it works, okay? Let’s do this…

Shall we Pearl?….

“Neither do the ignorant seek after wisdom. For herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself; he has no desire for that of which he feels no want.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

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

Image by Asama Moru via deviantart.com via Google Images

I’m not ranting today, so, I’ll let George do it for me; he’s much better at it, anyway…. Enjoy, ffolkes, as he goes after our Beloved Ruling Class with a vengeance….

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

George Carlin

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

https://youtu.be/Hy-sVByUHqE

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

Since George filled in above with a most excellent indictment of the BRC, lets go to the archives to find one to take some shots at our old friends, the Dogma Dogs…. Enjoy!….

From 9/8/2012:

It is popularly supposed that between those who use the word “God” and those who do not there is some great gulf. But the gulf lies elsewhere. It lies between those who dogmatize, either positively or negatively, and those who recognize in great humility that something within them bears witness to realities which may be momentous in our lives, but which lie beyond the grasping net of our categories of thought. — Smart Bee

Yet more proof of Murphy’s presence in Life…. or, in my life, anyway….. Yesterday I wrote about this subject, expounding as I am wont to do with no little enthusiasm, trying to bring some clarity to a naturally murky subject (it’s hard to pin down anything solidly when the subject under discussion is a matter of conjecture, not physically present to be examined….). Then, later in the day, I come across this one short paragraph, that summarizes my 3-400 words succinctly in three lines, and very clearly, for all its brevity. SIGH….. So much for originality, eh? Though I don’t know who said it, I salute them….

“In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that our Universe is simply one of those things which happen from time to time.” — Edward P. Tryon

Once more, I have to agree with the author, especially as it gives a sort of pat on the shoulder to the paragraph above, as if sharing an obvious point. Serendipity, I say, and well met….

“When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.” — Bernard Bailey

This one, when viewed in light of the previous two quotes, made me smile, big….. now, why is that? Because when he says a lot, he means, A LOT OF PEOPLE!…..

“And don’t tell me God works in mysterious ways, Yossarian continued There’s nothing mysterious about it, He’s not working at all. He’s playing. Or else He’s forgotten all about us. That’s the kind of God you people talk about, a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling, brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed. Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of Creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatological mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements? Why in the world did He ever create pain?” — Joseph Heller, Catch 22

Funny how people under stress always get so close to the truth; it makes the one who hears it more nervous and upset than he who said it…. or it that just me? Of course it is…. Why shouldn’t it be me? What’s the matter with me? Don’t you like me?….. Sorry…. any who, let’s see what else the magic can find….

“Every sensible man, every honest man, must hold the Christian sect in horror. But what shall we substitute in its place? you say. What? A ferocious animal has sucked the blood of my relatives. I tell you to rid yourselves of this beast and you ask me what you shall put in its place?” — Voltaire

Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?…

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

~~ T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” ~~

I’m not sure why, but this excerpt from T.S. Eliot seems to be the perfect finishing line for the above meandering treatise…. and it is as close to a verifiable point as we’re going to get today, I can tell…. so, best leave it be for now, and go on to something else…. Or, in this case, to something the same….

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

Funny Bones

Dreaming the way home, lost, unseen,
from the dance, where
he felt so free, and clean.
Sorrow couldn’t find him there.

Waiting, filling up the hours, hoping,
some connection can be found
keeping busy as bees, coping.
Love creeps in, without a sound.

Fat days, skinny nights, passionate
visions of semi-conscious entities,
cannot seem to fully illuminate
or hide our innermost frailties.

Resolute, find the perfect sense, codify
simple rules with every breath
never waiting, anxious to modify.
fear nothing in life, not even Death.

~~ gigoid ~~

5/3/2013

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

Image from historywatchers.com via Google Images

Today’s final pearl earned a new icon for the top of the section, simply because it took an effort of herculean proportion to rip the quotes from Smart Bee, who seems to be in a snit…. Ah, well, it will pass, I’m sure, & for the nonce, we have an excellent group of philosophical observations on living from a wide variety of ffolkes….. I hope you enjoy it…. If nothing else, it’s a great pic of Plato & Aristotle, eh?….

“…life is long enough if it is well-spent.”

~~ Erasmus ~~

“In anything at all, perfection is finally attained, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery , Wind, Sand & Stars

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

“The poetry of earth is never dead.” — John Keats, On the Grasshopper and Cricket

“Never fear shadows. They simply indicate there’s a light shining close by.” — Positive Bee

“In the midst of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

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

“Be what you is, ’cause if you is what you ain’t, then you ain’t what you is.” — Satchel Paige

“If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture – that is immortality enough for me. And as much as anyone deserves.” — Edward Abbey

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

Thought there seems to be little I can do about it, we’re done for today. Rather than try to figure that out now, I’ll leave you to work on that as a homework assignment, fully optional, of course. Me, I’ll be back tomorrow, as long as my keyboard holds up….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Assemble the marigolds for debarkation….

Posted on January 19, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Become who you are.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~

Dusk over Galway Bay

He sat in a squalid, empty room, engaged in passive questing through the reaches of time, searching for truth. Finding none, he turned away, saddened by the defunct nature implied in such a loss. “Still,” he thought to himself, with an ironic smile touching the corners of his mouth, “it could be worse. It could be raining.” With a poignant shake of the head, he slipped into a dream….

Rain poured down, filling the streets with rushing feet and pounding hearts. Beside the lamp post on the corner, he stood, dripping, with a small shadow of reality sticking to his shoe. Wiping it on the nearest centurion, as directed, he began to bail with the rest of the crowd, stopping periodically to clap his hand to his head, moaning, “Oh, for the boon of sanity!”, in stentorian tones, dulcet over the roar of water on the roofs.

Then, of course, he woke up, only to realize he was deep into the intro section already, without a plan, only a sadly over-rated trick of the trade, or two, to get him to the proper stance, where there exists a small chance of saving this from an early death, well before ever beginning to live. “What the hell is going on?”, he cried in dismay….

Strange, isn’t it, what will happen late at night, with nothing better to do than sit around making shit up in your head? I thought so, but, then, I’m the one who’s trying to find a way back to something resembling reality even slightly…. I think, perhaps, I’d best give up, and get on with the rest of today’s mess…. Whew, made it…. Not only made it, but, made it with room to spare…. Go figure….

Shall we Pearl?….

“What are the facts? Again and again and again–what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what ‘the stars foretell,’ avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable ‘verdict of history,’ –what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your only clue. Get the facts!” — Lazarus Long — Robert A. Heinlein

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

Image from photoalbum.bloguez.com via Google Images

Today’s music choice is a nod to two friends, who both expressed their appreciation of this band’s music…. Enjoy, ffolkes, these guys rock!…..

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

Little Feat
Dixie Chicken

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

https://youtu.be/FXvoRRMSSGU?list=PL94gOvpr5yt0sC0LG0F1Ombpb4syfFpD7

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

The discussion I’m working on is not ready, so here is a little discussion from the archives, with a message of hope, once you work your way to the end…. Enjoy!….

From 3/3/2013:

“As a draft-animal is yoked in a wagon, even so the spirit is yoked in this body.” — Upanishads (c. B.C. 800)

Each of us is faced at times with the consciousness of our own approaching encounter with Death, the moment in time when our yoke is removed, and our spirit is freed, to once more join the rest of the conscious minds in the universe in roaming through realms of Reality we cannot see in this form. This Reality we cannot see is much larger, in one sense, than the one we can now perceive; it has to be, to be able to accommodate all the souls that have gone before, and all that are now present on Earth, that will someday join the rest of them, when they die…..

Every human being alive must face their own Death (I am capitalizing the word to give it the proper respect as one of the most important concepts we have as humans….); this is a truism no one can deny, or refute. Many people have banded together, to assume the belief that our universe was created this way by a supernatural being, who, for some unknown, and unknowable (self-explanatory, I think….) reason, decided that we are “special”, and gave us, and only us, the knowledge we have, and our very lives. This, of course, is rather hard to believe, as it doesn’t really account for much of what is observable truth in Reality, being, as it is, complete speculation, devoid of any concrete evidence to support it…..

“There is no conclusive evidence that there is life after death. There is also no real evidence to the contrary. Soon enough, you will know. So, why fret about it?” — Lazarus Long, aka Robert A. Heinlein

I first read this aphorism when I was in my early teens; it codified, and made succinct, what I had already concluded about the major religions of the world, i.e., they’re a collection of unwarranted, and unproven, assumptions. What’s more, they are all highly unlikely, given the observable parameters of the real world. It became obvious to me, as it is to many, that what the religious folks were trying to get me to believe was intended merely to soften my mind, making it more amenable to suggestion, of which they have an endless supply. Preachers, priests, imams, nuns, all are quite willing to give other people advice and suggestions on how they should live, in exhaustive detail, for as long as they are allowed to do so….

Since I had very little desire to have other people decide for me how I should think, or live my life, I rejected the dogma they tried to force into my head, turning instead to other sources of thought about Life, Death, and Reality. I found an endless supply of folks who had thought long and deeply about all of these ideas, and gladly did I read all I could of everything I could find on the subject. In addition, I read science fiction, during the years when its popularity had just begun to climb to the heights it now occupies; sci-fi has always been literature that explored, and continues to explore, the very limits of thought, both in the real world, and the world of the mind.

As is seen by the first pearl above, these thoughts and ideas are not new with me; mankind has been thinking about these concepts since we first sat around the campfires, wondering at the beauty of the heavens we saw above our heads, and all around us. In all that time, no conclusions have been reached that seem to cover ALL of the questions we have about the universe. We still don’t have a clue as to “what is the mind”, or “what is thought”…. and if we cannot understand ourselves, what chance do we have of unraveling the secrets of the universe around us? Not much, would be my guess…

That, fortunately, does not mean it is impossible to know the truth, nor does it mean we are condemned to die in ignorance and fear…. I know this because I have learned in my time that our fear is a direct outgrowth of our ignorance; we fear what we do not understand. Now, if I were a God, why would I make people that way, unless for some ulterior motive, having to do with motivations that are human, not divine? No, it just doesn’t make sense to me to assume that we were put here with a deliberate handicap, just to see how we dealt with it; that seems more like an evil scientist at work than a compassionate deity.

“One must marry one’s feelings to one’s beliefs and ideas. That is probably the only way to achieve a measure of harmony in one’s life.” — Etty Hilsum

Since I believe firmly in the Law of Conservation of Energy (proven true in this universe, to all our knowledge), and, I believe that our minds/souls are a form of energy we currently don’t fully understand, and cannot perceive directly, then the concept of Death is nothing to fear, as it merely means that my current state of energy will be replaced with another state, one I don’t currently have the ability to perceive. What that state may be like may be unknown, but that doesn’t mean it is something of which I should be afraid…. I prefer to look at it as the next great adventure….

So, when my father died, I asked him to leave me some trail-sign, to let me know how to find him in the next reality; he smiled at me, and said he would do that… and I was much comforted by that, knowing that our connection as family can never be severed, and that, someday, I would once more have the pleasure, and comfort, of his presence…. Now that’s something to look forward to, don’t you think?…. Much better than worrying that what I do now is going to determine what happens to me after I die, a silly proposition, at best……

“Do not think that man is but flesh, skin, bones and veins; far from it! What really makes man is his soul; and the things we call skin, flesh, bones and veins are but a garment, a cloak; they do not constitute man. When man departs this earth, he divests himself of all the veils that conceal him.” — Zohar

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

POETRY, n. A form of expression peculiar to the Land beyond the Magazines.

~~ Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary” ~~

Today’s poem is from T.S. Eliot. It’s a rather long poem, but, well worth reading; it is regarded as one of the most important poems of the twentieth century, with a marked influence on the poetry of the time, an influence which continues today…. I give you….

The Waste Land

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory out of desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in a forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176735

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

Naked Pearls

Observations on Life at Large

*********

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below.

~~ John Dryden, “All for Love, Prologue” ~~

*********

“Forget what you know and learn.”

— Roger von Oech

*********

“Irony is the hygiene of the mind.”

— Insightful Bee

*********

“Action should culminate in wisdom.”

~~ Bhagavad Gita ~~

*********

“The discipline of desire is the background of character.”

~~ John Locke ~~

*********

“As the tempest and the thunder affect not the sun or the stars,
but spend their fury on stones and trees below;
so injuries ascend not to the Soul of the great,
but waste themselves on such as are those who offer them.”

~~ Akhenaton? (c. B.C. 1375) ~~

*********

“The moment in which you confront your own death
is the moment in which you are most totally alive.”

~~ Solomon Short ~~

*********

“Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me,
why should you not speak to me?
And why should I not speak to you?”

~~ Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass ~~

*********

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

I’m not really sure what took place here today. That’s okay, though; we’ve been here before, haven’t we? Yep. Moreover, we were done, then, too, weren’t we? Yep again. So, what do we do now? We go away, like this, with nary an explanation, nor a clue…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes; count on it, one way or another…. or, not. Choice is all we have, in the end, which this is….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Baffling instants of dawning comprehension….

Posted on December 24, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Calvin (“Calvin and Hobbes”) ~~

The Globe Theater, London

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

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

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

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

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

Shall we Pearl?….

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

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

Bo Diddley

Image from 8tracks.com via Google Images

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

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

Bo Diddley
Live with Ron Wood 1987

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

https://youtu.be/QgsAbwFAMb8

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

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

~~ Niccolo Machiavelli ~~

“Surely every human being ought to attain to the dignity of the unit. Surely it is worth while to be one, and to feel that the census of the universe would be incomplete without counting you. Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and all depths; that there are no walls or fences, or prohibited places, or sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought; that your intellect owes no allegiance to any being, human or divine; that you hold all in fee, and upon no condition, and by no tenure, whatsoever; that in the world of mind you are relieved from all personal dictation, and from the ignorant tyranny of majorities. Surely it is worth something to feel that there are no priests, no popes, no parties, no governments, no kings, no gods, to whom your intellect can be compelled to pay a reluctant homage. Surely it is a joy to know that all the cruel ingenuity of bigotry can devise no prison, no dungeon, no cell in which for one instant to confine a thought; that ideas cannot be dislocated by racks, nor crushed in iron boots, nor burned with fire. Surely it is sublime to think that the brain is a castle, and that within its curious bastions and winding halls the soul, in spite of all worlds and all beings, is the supreme sovereign of itself.” — Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899), “The Free Soul”

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

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

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

‘Nuff said….

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

Dont keep calm

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

A dream, weeping….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

— 8/30/2014 —

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

A true psycho kitty

Image from zulgobang.blogspot.com via Google Images

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

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

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

“Become who you are.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

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: T.S. Eliot

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: