The more you have thought, and the more you have done, the longer you have lived.
Immanuel Kant
************************
"All that thinkin' ain't good for the mind."
Recently I had a long conversation with my friend Charles. We do that about once every 6 weeks. Charles is an actor who lives in New York. He's about my age, a gentleman and a good liberal thinker. Our conversations are always vital, energetic and filled with humor.
What perplexed us both during the call was why some people have given up the right to think for themselves. Why do some people lapse into a pool of attitudes instead of the sea of ideas? Why are people so willing to adopt any theory that floats through the atmosphere no matter how inane it is? Why are they mentally inactive but emotionally reactive, and why do those two qualities seem to go together? There is a definite mental entropy at work in the human race.
A woman I used to know once flattered me by asking "Why do you insist on believing that everyone is as intelligent as you are?" My answer at the time was "Because I want them to be." But now, after some years of flapping my wings and flying over landscapes of experience, my answer would be "Because they potentially are."
I think we have been fooled, allowed ourselves to be tricked, into believing in intellectual self satisfaction. "What I know is enough. I don't need to know anything more" we say. Or, "Some things are beyond my comprehension." Or, "I know what I think and I don't want anything changing my mind." That's the worst.
All human activity begins in the mind. Thoughts, ideas and imaginations bring about the results of human behavior and accomplishments. Why do people seem to be so timid at exercising their right to such things? A candle contains all the heat and light within itself in a potential but dormant state. It only releases its strength and purpose when a flame is applied to the wick. Examples abound of thinkers who offer the flame, but there is that reluctance to accept it.
The essential truth of anything is not complicated. Once all the dots have been connected and the pieces joined together its truth can be stated very simply. But there is mental work to be done. It is easier to be lazy, easier not to do the work even though it costs very little to do.
I don't blame people for being ignorant. We are all ignorant about most things. The fault does not rest with the ignorant man. The fault, which probably cannot be defined, described or understood, is more like a world wide virus of ignorance, a parasite feeding on the innate mental might and leaving the vitals of emotion and undirected energy, an illness of spirit that we must challenge at every sign post.
Mental laziness also produces a life of unimportance. But here again we are fooled. We can be very active doing a lot of things and feel a sense of accomplishment. And one day, maybe, we look back and realize how little we actually did compared to what our potential was. The candle was never lit. We can blame our unsatisfactory lives on destiny, circumstances, environment, childhood and justify it with some religious reason.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings" Shakespeare wrote. I want the whole world of humans to wake up and start thinking better. I want to think better than I do. Can you imagine what life would be like for all of us if the human race was thinking better, clearer and with the mental vitality it is capable of?
-------------------------------------
DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
***************************
Showing posts with label Immanuel Kant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immanuel Kant. Show all posts
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
New York
Everything that furthers companionship is a dress that properly clothes virtue.
Immanuel Kant
*******************
Hello Sandy
*******************
I don't know what furthers companionship any more because I don't have any. There was a time when I lived among people I admired and was admired by them for what abilities and talents we had and how we used them. Now I live among petty criminals who are admired for their ability to go undetected. What has brought me to such a wretched state? Never mind. I don't want an answer to that. I want an answer to how I get out of here and back among people I can admire for good reasons.
There is virtue to be found in the world. I know that. But for a gregarious man like me to be stuck in a place where virtue is not a goal and a practice makes for a hard and painful life. Companionship here seems to consist of getting together and getting stoned. Where is the desire for a better life?
I seem to be living in a community of people who have given up in one way or another, as if there was no other way to live, as if there was nothing more to life than just existing until you die.
Help!! Get me away from this masquerade. I never want to fall into that mentality and have no temptation to do it. I don't fit in here, obviously. In short I'm not happy here. But where will I be happy, or at least alive?
These vagabond shoes
They are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York
(Ebb)
Is there crime in New York, petty and otherwise? Of course. a lot of it. But there are also artists, actors, musicians, writers, thinkers. For every one hundred people who don't give a damn, there is one who does, and with millions of people living there that's a lot of people who care, a lot of -people to admire.
Well, it's a dream. But it's one that has occupied my thoughts most of the day, every day, since I was finally convinced. by irrational reactions to virtue itself that I live in a dead end town.
Now I have to make a long, painful walk on my crutches to do some food shopping. In New York that would be just to the corner. or on a bus. Please NYC, take me back. I'll be a good companion.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
******************************
Immanuel Kant
*******************
Hello Sandy
*******************
I don't know what furthers companionship any more because I don't have any. There was a time when I lived among people I admired and was admired by them for what abilities and talents we had and how we used them. Now I live among petty criminals who are admired for their ability to go undetected. What has brought me to such a wretched state? Never mind. I don't want an answer to that. I want an answer to how I get out of here and back among people I can admire for good reasons.
There is virtue to be found in the world. I know that. But for a gregarious man like me to be stuck in a place where virtue is not a goal and a practice makes for a hard and painful life. Companionship here seems to consist of getting together and getting stoned. Where is the desire for a better life?
I seem to be living in a community of people who have given up in one way or another, as if there was no other way to live, as if there was nothing more to life than just existing until you die.
Help!! Get me away from this masquerade. I never want to fall into that mentality and have no temptation to do it. I don't fit in here, obviously. In short I'm not happy here. But where will I be happy, or at least alive?
These vagabond shoes
They are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York
(Ebb)
Is there crime in New York, petty and otherwise? Of course. a lot of it. But there are also artists, actors, musicians, writers, thinkers. For every one hundred people who don't give a damn, there is one who does, and with millions of people living there that's a lot of people who care, a lot of -people to admire.
Well, it's a dream. But it's one that has occupied my thoughts most of the day, every day, since I was finally convinced. by irrational reactions to virtue itself that I live in a dead end town.
Now I have to make a long, painful walk on my crutches to do some food shopping. In New York that would be just to the corner. or on a bus. Please NYC, take me back. I'll be a good companion.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
******************************
Friday, January 27, 2012
The Editors Two
Nature alone can make a man judicious, experience can make a judicious man wise.
Immanuel Kant
**********************
Hello Indigo
**********************
My country has been one that tried, through the years, to encourage virtue, valor and excellence, and to have them rewarded. The United States is not the only country in the world where those ideals and goals are to be found, for sure. But I have come to believe that, as with many other activities of our lives, there is a characteristically American way of doing things in the pursuit of those values. We simply don't do things the way other peoples do them. And that may be one of the reasons why we have some difficulty understanding folks from other lands and why they have trouble understanding us.
Many years ago I listened to a speech given by the Managing Editor of The New York Times. During the speech he talked about a meeting he had with the Managing Editor of The London Times, of London, England. They were two of the most important men of two of the most important newspapers of the world. They were having lunch.
The Editor of The London Times described his career. He was born into the right upper middle class family. He went to the best schools. Then on to Cambridge University where he achieved a graduate degree in journalism. His entry level at the Times was a desk job with some minor production responsibility. But he gradually worked his way up to eventually become the Managing Editor, the kind of position his birth and education assured him he was destined for.
Then The New York Times Editor told the story of his life. He was born into a lower class Jewish family in New York City, educated in the public schools and eventually at City College of New York, where he went on to get a degree in journalism. His entry level job at the NY Times was running copy around, cleaning out news bins and occasional proof reading. But he gradually worked his way through all the departments, gaining experience of how the newspaper was run and learning what his contributions could be. He took on some minor and then major writing assignments. And then one day he emerged as the Managing Editor.
Their backgrounds could hardly have been different: the wealthy boy from England and the poor boy from New York. And yet there they were Managing Editors of two International Newspapers.
When the Englishman heard the New Yorker's story he said "Only in America."
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
***************************
This invitation is still open for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.
A new year is upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I think people have things to say.
Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own is why I invite you to write for me.
I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain or the Confused. Tell me your thoughts on any subject you wish.
There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.
Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.
I have 13 Guest Authors so far. Check them out.
All are welcome. Admission is free.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Immanuel Kant
**********************
Hello Indigo
**********************
My country has been one that tried, through the years, to encourage virtue, valor and excellence, and to have them rewarded. The United States is not the only country in the world where those ideals and goals are to be found, for sure. But I have come to believe that, as with many other activities of our lives, there is a characteristically American way of doing things in the pursuit of those values. We simply don't do things the way other peoples do them. And that may be one of the reasons why we have some difficulty understanding folks from other lands and why they have trouble understanding us.
Many years ago I listened to a speech given by the Managing Editor of The New York Times. During the speech he talked about a meeting he had with the Managing Editor of The London Times, of London, England. They were two of the most important men of two of the most important newspapers of the world. They were having lunch.
The Editor of The London Times described his career. He was born into the right upper middle class family. He went to the best schools. Then on to Cambridge University where he achieved a graduate degree in journalism. His entry level at the Times was a desk job with some minor production responsibility. But he gradually worked his way up to eventually become the Managing Editor, the kind of position his birth and education assured him he was destined for.
Then The New York Times Editor told the story of his life. He was born into a lower class Jewish family in New York City, educated in the public schools and eventually at City College of New York, where he went on to get a degree in journalism. His entry level job at the NY Times was running copy around, cleaning out news bins and occasional proof reading. But he gradually worked his way through all the departments, gaining experience of how the newspaper was run and learning what his contributions could be. He took on some minor and then major writing assignments. And then one day he emerged as the Managing Editor.
Their backgrounds could hardly have been different: the wealthy boy from England and the poor boy from New York. And yet there they were Managing Editors of two International Newspapers.
When the Englishman heard the New Yorker's story he said "Only in America."
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
***************************
This invitation is still open for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.
A new year is upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I think people have things to say.
Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own is why I invite you to write for me.
I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain or the Confused. Tell me your thoughts on any subject you wish.
There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.
Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.
I have 13 Guest Authors so far. Check them out.
All are welcome. Admission is free.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Sunday, August 21, 2011
No Rules
The artist needs to be possessed of a good disposition as well as a moment of inspiration, because whatever is made according to instructions and rules turns out to be spiritless.
Immanuel Kant
************************
I used to say, half jokingly, half seriously, that I reinvent that art of acting with every role I get.
One of the best directors I ever had the privilege of working with is Charles Hensley. He came into rehearsal the first day of the first play I did with him wearing a button which read "There are no rules." Immediately I knew there was a man I could work with. He is a director who understands one of the basic principles of good theatre and how to achieve it: "Direct the Play, Not the Players."
I have known too many actors and other artists who waste their time (and other people's) looking for a path of instruction, a list of duties, in short, rules. When they find them, or make them up, their work becomes assembly line and uninspired.
The making of rules to work by, for an artist or anyone, is just as dangerous as doing something a certain way because "we've always done it that way." I used to know a world class flutist who told me that he once played with an orchestra whose conductor had a strict method for playing the music and would allow for no originality. He didn't play with that orchestra again.
The creative experience is just that, an experience. It isn't something the artist makes up. It exists in the mental realm of imagination, appreciation and discovery. Inspiration, when it comes, is a gift. But the artist must put himself in the way of it by an openness which doesn't come out of a rule book.
In my opinion, which I will defend with unarguable facts, any time, any where, 2 of the worst things a director can do to mess up the rehearsal process are 1 demand a performance level at the first rehearsal and 2 ask for improvisations before anyone knows the story. I've been through both and can attest how just plain stupid they are. In both cases they delay the creative process instead of adding to it.
I have a friend who is right now involved in a production of a Shakespearean comedy. At the first rehearsal the director wanted the actors to be up on their feet, walking around, speaking up, speeding up and relating to each other. In other words he wanted a performance. It doesn't work that way.
I was in an Off Broadway show where the director wanted the cast to improvise before we had a chance to investigate the script. As a result we improvised ourselves off into a fog. It doesn't work that way either.
On the other hand the actor who was trying to give the director a performance on the first day directed me in a Chekhov play. We spent a long time sitting around, reading and discussing it, learning about Chekhov and about life in Russia during the time of the play. Rich, excellent background work. When we got up on our feet the cast knew their parts very well. Then one day the director asked us to improvise the first act. That was one of the best experiences I ever had in the theatre. I faced and solved acting problems I might have just walked through, without knowing it, using only the Chekhovian dialogue.
And the aforementioned Charles Hensley, the "no rules" man, directed me in a Shakespearean comedy. We spent many days sitting around a table reading and talking about the play. By the time we got up to move around we were a tight ensemble company. Charley trusted us. And the performance that emerged was one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of being in. It was fresh, original, unforced, liberated, exciting and I reinvented myself again.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
*******************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
15 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Immanuel Kant
************************
I used to say, half jokingly, half seriously, that I reinvent that art of acting with every role I get.
One of the best directors I ever had the privilege of working with is Charles Hensley. He came into rehearsal the first day of the first play I did with him wearing a button which read "There are no rules." Immediately I knew there was a man I could work with. He is a director who understands one of the basic principles of good theatre and how to achieve it: "Direct the Play, Not the Players."
I have known too many actors and other artists who waste their time (and other people's) looking for a path of instruction, a list of duties, in short, rules. When they find them, or make them up, their work becomes assembly line and uninspired.
The making of rules to work by, for an artist or anyone, is just as dangerous as doing something a certain way because "we've always done it that way." I used to know a world class flutist who told me that he once played with an orchestra whose conductor had a strict method for playing the music and would allow for no originality. He didn't play with that orchestra again.
The creative experience is just that, an experience. It isn't something the artist makes up. It exists in the mental realm of imagination, appreciation and discovery. Inspiration, when it comes, is a gift. But the artist must put himself in the way of it by an openness which doesn't come out of a rule book.
In my opinion, which I will defend with unarguable facts, any time, any where, 2 of the worst things a director can do to mess up the rehearsal process are 1 demand a performance level at the first rehearsal and 2 ask for improvisations before anyone knows the story. I've been through both and can attest how just plain stupid they are. In both cases they delay the creative process instead of adding to it.
I have a friend who is right now involved in a production of a Shakespearean comedy. At the first rehearsal the director wanted the actors to be up on their feet, walking around, speaking up, speeding up and relating to each other. In other words he wanted a performance. It doesn't work that way.
I was in an Off Broadway show where the director wanted the cast to improvise before we had a chance to investigate the script. As a result we improvised ourselves off into a fog. It doesn't work that way either.
On the other hand the actor who was trying to give the director a performance on the first day directed me in a Chekhov play. We spent a long time sitting around, reading and discussing it, learning about Chekhov and about life in Russia during the time of the play. Rich, excellent background work. When we got up on our feet the cast knew their parts very well. Then one day the director asked us to improvise the first act. That was one of the best experiences I ever had in the theatre. I faced and solved acting problems I might have just walked through, without knowing it, using only the Chekhovian dialogue.
And the aforementioned Charles Hensley, the "no rules" man, directed me in a Shakespearean comedy. We spent many days sitting around a table reading and talking about the play. By the time we got up to move around we were a tight ensemble company. Charley trusted us. And the performance that emerged was one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of being in. It was fresh, original, unforced, liberated, exciting and I reinvented myself again.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
*******************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
15 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Friday, August 12, 2011
Astonish Me
Novelty in the presentation of a concept is a principal demand made by the fine arts upon the poet, even if the concept itself should not be new.
Immanuel Kant
***************************
In theatre, film and TV drama the story always involves a crisis of some sort. And the story is built around an idea, a truism, a life lesson that is recalled or relearned for the audience.
Of course we could always wait until the audience is seated then have someone step out in front of the curtain and say "Patience and persistence in pursuer of a goal generally succeed in obtaining it. Thank you." Then take a bow and send the audience home. But to drive that lesson home it's much better, not to mention much more enjoyable, to show someone actually achieving a goal through all sorts of difficulties while practicing the acts of persistence and patience, to identify with that character and get involved in his life as the evening progresses.
All art is the pointing of a finger, the opening of a door, the shining of a light. What is seen as a result is important to the viewer and the listener as it is to the artist. The good artist is the one who can discover and open a door that has not been found before, to reveal the truth of things in a new perspective. Whenever I see a painting I always ask myself what I see in it I have never seen in any painting before. I do the same with music.
There is imitative art and there is creative art. And there are surprises. There's a famous story about Serge Diaghilev, the choreographer of the Ballet Russes in France. A young Jean Cocteau was to write the scenario for a new ballet and when he asked Diaghilev what he wanted the reply was "Astonish me." And he did.
To astonish one like Diaghilev who has seen it all is no easy task, but it isn't done through magic tricks or splashy productions. It is the effect of a deeply penetrating and inspired poetry that renders a cosmic truth clearer then has been remembered. It's what changes one's life.
I have been astonished a few times in my life by films I've seen, actors and musicians performances, poems I've read and paintings I've stood in front of. An artist will keep reaching into the unknown to find the amazing things that need to be found and known. There is no finer task for an artist.
Someday I hope I will astonish you.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
*************************
WEEKEND CONTEST
4 Weird Songs
___________________
ZEY NKZ VQ AFQ KCCUQ ED ZEYM NEAFQM'T QZQ, VYA ZEY'MQ IEA KCCQKUWIR AE NQ.
W REA K METQ VQAJQQI NZ AEQT DMEN JKUBWIR VKMQDEEA AFMEJRF AFQ FEAFEYTQ AE ZEY, VKVZ.
JFE JKT FKXWIR IKCEJQEIT JWAF LETQCFWIQ JFWUQ VEIQCKMA JKT KHKZ KA AFQ JKM?
GWRKMQAAQT KIS JFWTBQZ KIS JWUS, JWUS JENQI, AFQZ'UU SMWXQ ZEY GMKYZ, AFQZ'UU SMWXQ ZEY WITKIQ.
Good luck.
DB
*************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 14 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Immanuel Kant
***************************
In theatre, film and TV drama the story always involves a crisis of some sort. And the story is built around an idea, a truism, a life lesson that is recalled or relearned for the audience.
Of course we could always wait until the audience is seated then have someone step out in front of the curtain and say "Patience and persistence in pursuer of a goal generally succeed in obtaining it. Thank you." Then take a bow and send the audience home. But to drive that lesson home it's much better, not to mention much more enjoyable, to show someone actually achieving a goal through all sorts of difficulties while practicing the acts of persistence and patience, to identify with that character and get involved in his life as the evening progresses.
All art is the pointing of a finger, the opening of a door, the shining of a light. What is seen as a result is important to the viewer and the listener as it is to the artist. The good artist is the one who can discover and open a door that has not been found before, to reveal the truth of things in a new perspective. Whenever I see a painting I always ask myself what I see in it I have never seen in any painting before. I do the same with music.
There is imitative art and there is creative art. And there are surprises. There's a famous story about Serge Diaghilev, the choreographer of the Ballet Russes in France. A young Jean Cocteau was to write the scenario for a new ballet and when he asked Diaghilev what he wanted the reply was "Astonish me." And he did.
To astonish one like Diaghilev who has seen it all is no easy task, but it isn't done through magic tricks or splashy productions. It is the effect of a deeply penetrating and inspired poetry that renders a cosmic truth clearer then has been remembered. It's what changes one's life.
I have been astonished a few times in my life by films I've seen, actors and musicians performances, poems I've read and paintings I've stood in front of. An artist will keep reaching into the unknown to find the amazing things that need to be found and known. There is no finer task for an artist.
Someday I hope I will astonish you.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
*************************
WEEKEND CONTEST
4 Weird Songs
___________________
ZEY NKZ VQ AFQ KCCUQ ED ZEYM NEAFQM'T QZQ, VYA ZEY'MQ IEA KCCQKUWIR AE NQ.
W REA K METQ VQAJQQI NZ AEQT DMEN JKUBWIR VKMQDEEA AFMEJRF AFQ FEAFEYTQ AE ZEY, VKVZ.
JFE JKT FKXWIR IKCEJQEIT JWAF LETQCFWIQ JFWUQ VEIQCKMA JKT KHKZ KA AFQ JKM?
GWRKMQAAQT KIS JFWTBQZ KIS JWUS, JWUS JENQI, AFQZ'UU SMWXQ ZEY GMKYZ, AFQZ'UU SMWXQ ZEY WITKIQ.
Good luck.
DB
*************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 14 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thinking For Dummies
mental vitalityleThe more you have thought, and the more you have done, the longer you have lived.
Immanuel Kant
************************
"All that thinkin' ain't good for the mind."
Friday night I had a long conversation with my friend Charles. We do that about once every 6 weeks. Charles is an actor who lives in New York. He's about my age, a gentleman and a good liberal thinker. Our conversations are always vital, energetic and filled with humor.
What perplexed us both during the call was why some people have given up the right to think for themselves. Why do some people lapse into a pool of attitudes instead of the sea of ideas? Why are people so willing to adopt any theory that floats through the atmosphere no matter how inane it is? Why are they mentally inactive but emotionally reactive, and why do those two qualities seem to go together? There is a definite mental entropy at work in the human race.
A woman I used to know once flattered me by asking "Why do you insist on believing that everyone is as intelligent as you are?" My answer at the time was "Because I want them to be." But now, after some years of flapping my wings and flying over landscapes of experience, my answer would be "Because they potentially are."
I think we have been fooled, allowed ourselves to be tricked, into believing in intellectual self satisfaction. "What I know is enough. I don't need to know anything more" we say. Or, "Some things are beyond my comprehension." Or, "I know what I think and I don't want anything changing my mind." That's the worst.
All human activity begins in the mind. Thoughts, ideas and imaginations bring about the results of human behavior and accomplishments. Why do people seem to be so timid at exercising their right to such things? A candle contains all the heat and light within itself in a potential but dormant state. It only releases its strength and purpose when a flame is applied to the wick. Examples abound of thinkers who offer the flame, but there is that reluctance to accept it.
The essential truth of anything is not complicated. Once all the dots have been connected and the pieces joined together its truth can be stated very simply. But there is mental work to be done. It is easier to be lazy, easier not to do the work even though it costs very little to do.
I don't blame people for being ignorant. We are all ignorant about most things. The fault does not rest with the ignorant man. The fault, which probably cannot be defined, described or understood, is more like a world wide virus of ignorance, a parasite feeding on the innate mental might and leaving the vitals of emotion and undirected energy, an illness of spirit that we must challenge at every sign post.
Mental laziness also produces a life of unimportance. But here again we are fooled. We can be very active doing a lot of things and feel a sense of accomplishment. And one day, maybe, we look back and realize how little we actually did compared to what our potential was. The candle was never lit. We can blame our unsatisfactory lives on destiny, circumstances, environment, childhood and justify it with some religious reason.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings" Shakespeare wrote. I want the whole world of humans to wake up and start thinking better. I want to think better than I do. Can you imagine what life would be like for all of us if the human race was thinking better, clearer and with the mental vitality it is capable of?
-------------------------------------
DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
***************************
SUMMER QUESTION
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
13 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Immanuel Kant
************************
"All that thinkin' ain't good for the mind."
Friday night I had a long conversation with my friend Charles. We do that about once every 6 weeks. Charles is an actor who lives in New York. He's about my age, a gentleman and a good liberal thinker. Our conversations are always vital, energetic and filled with humor.
What perplexed us both during the call was why some people have given up the right to think for themselves. Why do some people lapse into a pool of attitudes instead of the sea of ideas? Why are people so willing to adopt any theory that floats through the atmosphere no matter how inane it is? Why are they mentally inactive but emotionally reactive, and why do those two qualities seem to go together? There is a definite mental entropy at work in the human race.
A woman I used to know once flattered me by asking "Why do you insist on believing that everyone is as intelligent as you are?" My answer at the time was "Because I want them to be." But now, after some years of flapping my wings and flying over landscapes of experience, my answer would be "Because they potentially are."
I think we have been fooled, allowed ourselves to be tricked, into believing in intellectual self satisfaction. "What I know is enough. I don't need to know anything more" we say. Or, "Some things are beyond my comprehension." Or, "I know what I think and I don't want anything changing my mind." That's the worst.
All human activity begins in the mind. Thoughts, ideas and imaginations bring about the results of human behavior and accomplishments. Why do people seem to be so timid at exercising their right to such things? A candle contains all the heat and light within itself in a potential but dormant state. It only releases its strength and purpose when a flame is applied to the wick. Examples abound of thinkers who offer the flame, but there is that reluctance to accept it.
The essential truth of anything is not complicated. Once all the dots have been connected and the pieces joined together its truth can be stated very simply. But there is mental work to be done. It is easier to be lazy, easier not to do the work even though it costs very little to do.
I don't blame people for being ignorant. We are all ignorant about most things. The fault does not rest with the ignorant man. The fault, which probably cannot be defined, described or understood, is more like a world wide virus of ignorance, a parasite feeding on the innate mental might and leaving the vitals of emotion and undirected energy, an illness of spirit that we must challenge at every sign post.
Mental laziness also produces a life of unimportance. But here again we are fooled. We can be very active doing a lot of things and feel a sense of accomplishment. And one day, maybe, we look back and realize how little we actually did compared to what our potential was. The candle was never lit. We can blame our unsatisfactory lives on destiny, circumstances, environment, childhood and justify it with some religious reason.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings" Shakespeare wrote. I want the whole world of humans to wake up and start thinking better. I want to think better than I do. Can you imagine what life would be like for all of us if the human race was thinking better, clearer and with the mental vitality it is capable of?
-------------------------------------
DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
***************************
SUMMER QUESTION
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
13 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Monday, June 20, 2011
Minds Wide Open
The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.
Henry Miller
*********************
Geology and drawing are two of the most important and most memorable courses of study of my experience, because they both taught me not only to observe but also to think.
Intuition is a valuable tool in those two disciplines as it is in any instruction of value. Intuition is one of the thruways to imagination. Observation is the starting place of all learning, doing and creating, the first step toward the silent world which is only symbolized by such things as rocks and drawings.
Immanuel Kant wrote "Sense is the faculty of intuition in the presence of an object. Imagination is intuition without the presence of the object."
Some rocks are very beautiful (lapidists deal in them) while others are very ordinary looking, just a rock. But all of them have stories to tell. It is interesting to examine a rock to determine it's age and chemical, cellular composition. But whenever I hold a rock in my hand I realize I am holding millions of years of history.
A mystic I used to know once gave me a rock she had pick up off the side of Mount Olympus in Greece, the mountain of the ancient gods. She put it in her purse and carried it all the way back specifically to give to me. I kept that rock for many years until someone found it and threw it out. It was just a rock, after all, it didn't belong in the house. So somewhere on the ground in Westchester County, New York is a bit of Mount Olympus.
One day I discovered an outcropping of stratified rock sticking up from the ground at an angle and pointing at the sky. I knew it was stratified, which meant it was made of layers of sediment, probably laid down by centuries of rain, baked in the hot sun, hardened into solid rock, then covered over by other layers, twisted into an arc by volcanic action of the earth and then eroded by rain and wind to it's current state. As I looked at it I tried to imagine what it must have looked like when it first covered the surrounding earth, and what it was like as a mammoth spectacle after the earth had buckled it. I also imagined the real possibility that somewhere, near or far, one could find the other end of that rainbow, a chunk of stratified rock jutting out of the ground and pointing in the opposite direction back to itself.
In upper Manhattan, around 200th Street, there's a boulder. It's surrounded very closely by houses and it's a prime piece of real estate. But ti's protected from developers because it's a natural wonder. It was set down there centuries ago during the ice age by a gigantic glacier that traveled through.
There is another boulder of comparable size along the Boulder Loop Trail in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. That one is surrounded by trees and is also protected because of the National Forest it's in. I wonder if the two boulders are related. They were both probably set down by the same glacier.
Michael Chekhov (1891 - 1955) was the nephew of Anton Chekhov, the great Russian playwright. He was an actor who also taught and wrote on acting. One of his theories was called the PG, which stands for Psychological Gesture. It's not the kind of gesture such as pointing a finger or shrugging of shoulders but a full body gesture. With it an actor can convey the inner life of a character even though presenting a false face to the other characters on the stage. The way a person stands or sits can tell a lot about how that person feels or thinks.
I studied life drawing at various locations around New York City. When I first began I struggled with getting the proportions right of the human figure, then learning how to articulate the bones and muscles in different poses. After a few years I began to observe something else. The models weren't actors, most of them, but whenever they would drape themselves into a pose for a period of time they would strike a psychological gesture. Each figure, each pose had a story to tell. Though unconscious, perhaps, on the part of the model it was a clear statement of some inner life. My imagination began to provide histories of these people, current events in their lives, their fears and dreams. My drawings took on a more interesting quality and were more enjoyable to do and to see.
On the stage when a character enters the scene he is coming from somewhere. The actor is coming from the wings, but the character is coming from a specific place not seen on the stage. The actor has to know where his character is coming from, and he does know because he decides, through observation and imagination.
Imagination is creative intuition. By careful observation of all the things we come across in the world, from boulders to blades of grass, and by intelligent thinking about them, the mysteries of life unfold themselves on every level, in every place.
DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
*************************
I recommend that you read "Voracious Details" at http://shatteredprose.blogspot.com/
****************************************
****************************************
LAST DAY OF SPRING !!!
Get in under the wire, before the door closes and you're left out in the heat.
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
Come on. 12 diverse and interesting answers so far. Where's yours?
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
******************
Henry Miller
*********************
Geology and drawing are two of the most important and most memorable courses of study of my experience, because they both taught me not only to observe but also to think.
Intuition is a valuable tool in those two disciplines as it is in any instruction of value. Intuition is one of the thruways to imagination. Observation is the starting place of all learning, doing and creating, the first step toward the silent world which is only symbolized by such things as rocks and drawings.
Immanuel Kant wrote "Sense is the faculty of intuition in the presence of an object. Imagination is intuition without the presence of the object."
Some rocks are very beautiful (lapidists deal in them) while others are very ordinary looking, just a rock. But all of them have stories to tell. It is interesting to examine a rock to determine it's age and chemical, cellular composition. But whenever I hold a rock in my hand I realize I am holding millions of years of history.
A mystic I used to know once gave me a rock she had pick up off the side of Mount Olympus in Greece, the mountain of the ancient gods. She put it in her purse and carried it all the way back specifically to give to me. I kept that rock for many years until someone found it and threw it out. It was just a rock, after all, it didn't belong in the house. So somewhere on the ground in Westchester County, New York is a bit of Mount Olympus.
One day I discovered an outcropping of stratified rock sticking up from the ground at an angle and pointing at the sky. I knew it was stratified, which meant it was made of layers of sediment, probably laid down by centuries of rain, baked in the hot sun, hardened into solid rock, then covered over by other layers, twisted into an arc by volcanic action of the earth and then eroded by rain and wind to it's current state. As I looked at it I tried to imagine what it must have looked like when it first covered the surrounding earth, and what it was like as a mammoth spectacle after the earth had buckled it. I also imagined the real possibility that somewhere, near or far, one could find the other end of that rainbow, a chunk of stratified rock jutting out of the ground and pointing in the opposite direction back to itself.
In upper Manhattan, around 200th Street, there's a boulder. It's surrounded very closely by houses and it's a prime piece of real estate. But ti's protected from developers because it's a natural wonder. It was set down there centuries ago during the ice age by a gigantic glacier that traveled through.
There is another boulder of comparable size along the Boulder Loop Trail in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. That one is surrounded by trees and is also protected because of the National Forest it's in. I wonder if the two boulders are related. They were both probably set down by the same glacier.
Michael Chekhov (1891 - 1955) was the nephew of Anton Chekhov, the great Russian playwright. He was an actor who also taught and wrote on acting. One of his theories was called the PG, which stands for Psychological Gesture. It's not the kind of gesture such as pointing a finger or shrugging of shoulders but a full body gesture. With it an actor can convey the inner life of a character even though presenting a false face to the other characters on the stage. The way a person stands or sits can tell a lot about how that person feels or thinks.
I studied life drawing at various locations around New York City. When I first began I struggled with getting the proportions right of the human figure, then learning how to articulate the bones and muscles in different poses. After a few years I began to observe something else. The models weren't actors, most of them, but whenever they would drape themselves into a pose for a period of time they would strike a psychological gesture. Each figure, each pose had a story to tell. Though unconscious, perhaps, on the part of the model it was a clear statement of some inner life. My imagination began to provide histories of these people, current events in their lives, their fears and dreams. My drawings took on a more interesting quality and were more enjoyable to do and to see.
On the stage when a character enters the scene he is coming from somewhere. The actor is coming from the wings, but the character is coming from a specific place not seen on the stage. The actor has to know where his character is coming from, and he does know because he decides, through observation and imagination.
Imagination is creative intuition. By careful observation of all the things we come across in the world, from boulders to blades of grass, and by intelligent thinking about them, the mysteries of life unfold themselves on every level, in every place.
DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
*************************
I recommend that you read "Voracious Details" at http://shatteredprose.blogspot.com/
****************************************
****************************************
LAST DAY OF SPRING !!!
Get in under the wire, before the door closes and you're left out in the heat.
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
Come on. 12 diverse and interesting answers so far. Where's yours?
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
******************
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Swords Into Plows
The increasing number of the human species that behave well reduces the activity of those humans who try to further their means by war.
Immanuel Kant
***********************
Hello Andorra. May there be peace in your mountains.
************************
I can't tell whether the human race is getting saner or madder. There is a lot of evidence to prove both theories. Some idiots in Florida burn a Quran, a book they've never read, and some other idiots in Afghanistan take revenge by attacking UN workers, who had nothing to do with it.
There are too many people in this world who believe the ancient canard that the way to resolve disagreements, disputes and dangers is by violence But as Isaac Asimov said "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
We have our war machines in place. It used to be called The Department of War, in the days when we needed to be prepared to defend ourselves. Then, in the 40's it became euphemistically called The Department of Defense, and we've been waging war ever since. We are told that those wars are in order to protect our freedoms. We are told that by some whose pockets are benefited by them, and, sad to say, a great many people still believe it. But as Nehru noted "It is the habit of every aggressor nation to claim that it is acting on the defensive."
I don't know if Kant is correct. I want to believe that the human race is producing more and more people who wish to behave in a sane and reasonable manner. If they are there they certainly don't make the news. It's the mad and bad that make the news.
What can one humble senior citizen say to them?
STOP SPENDING MONEY ON WAR.
STOP GIVING TAX BREAKS TO THE WEALTHY.
STOP CUTTNG THE PROGRAMS THAT MAKE LIFE BEARABLE AND ENJOYABLE FOR THE REST OF US.
AND STOP ARGUING ABOUT IT.
(I, for one, am not impressed with you.)
DB - The Vagabond
************************
Puzzle
No fooling around, here is this week's puzzle.
These are all legitimate movie titles in translation.
Your task, if you wish to survive, is to translate them back into their original titles by the end of next week.
Several Saints
Uprising Over The Thanksgiving Dinner
How One Murders An Imitator
Swept Away In A Breeze
The Lion Is Burning It's Feet
What The Flute Makes
The Insects' Messiah
She Married The Monster
Mr. Summerfall Winterspring
The Chimpanzees Live There
Confessing When Drenched
He Paid Very Close Attention, Unfortunately
Boiling When It's Dark
Misplaced Religious Artifact Stolen
Trees Around The Little House
Leo's Secret Message
Ultimate Spanish Dance in France
Country In A Maternity Ward
Instructions In Stone
Creepy Creatures Aloft
The Bitch Is Domesticated
1 entry so far.
Good luck
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB
*********************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
4 answers so far
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
******************
Immanuel Kant
***********************
Hello Andorra. May there be peace in your mountains.
************************
I can't tell whether the human race is getting saner or madder. There is a lot of evidence to prove both theories. Some idiots in Florida burn a Quran, a book they've never read, and some other idiots in Afghanistan take revenge by attacking UN workers, who had nothing to do with it.
There are too many people in this world who believe the ancient canard that the way to resolve disagreements, disputes and dangers is by violence But as Isaac Asimov said "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
We have our war machines in place. It used to be called The Department of War, in the days when we needed to be prepared to defend ourselves. Then, in the 40's it became euphemistically called The Department of Defense, and we've been waging war ever since. We are told that those wars are in order to protect our freedoms. We are told that by some whose pockets are benefited by them, and, sad to say, a great many people still believe it. But as Nehru noted "It is the habit of every aggressor nation to claim that it is acting on the defensive."
I don't know if Kant is correct. I want to believe that the human race is producing more and more people who wish to behave in a sane and reasonable manner. If they are there they certainly don't make the news. It's the mad and bad that make the news.
What can one humble senior citizen say to them?
STOP SPENDING MONEY ON WAR.
STOP GIVING TAX BREAKS TO THE WEALTHY.
STOP CUTTNG THE PROGRAMS THAT MAKE LIFE BEARABLE AND ENJOYABLE FOR THE REST OF US.
AND STOP ARGUING ABOUT IT.
(I, for one, am not impressed with you.)
DB - The Vagabond
************************
Puzzle
No fooling around, here is this week's puzzle.
These are all legitimate movie titles in translation.
Your task, if you wish to survive, is to translate them back into their original titles by the end of next week.
Several Saints
Uprising Over The Thanksgiving Dinner
How One Murders An Imitator
Swept Away In A Breeze
The Lion Is Burning It's Feet
What The Flute Makes
The Insects' Messiah
She Married The Monster
Mr. Summerfall Winterspring
The Chimpanzees Live There
Confessing When Drenched
He Paid Very Close Attention, Unfortunately
Boiling When It's Dark
Misplaced Religious Artifact Stolen
Trees Around The Little House
Leo's Secret Message
Ultimate Spanish Dance in France
Country In A Maternity Ward
Instructions In Stone
Creepy Creatures Aloft
The Bitch Is Domesticated
1 entry so far.
Good luck
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB
*********************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
4 answers so far
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
******************
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wild Woods Wisdom
It is a kind of sacred shudder to feel the abyss of the trancendental opening up before one's feet.
Immanuel Kant
**********************
For several years my recreation was the metaphysical,.experience of hiking in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire. I say it was metaphysical because I soon found the many metaphors that abounded when I was in the presence of untamed nature.
I do not remember all the many hours I spent or the countless thousands of steps I took over the roots and rocks of those trails. Those steps, like the sausage grinder of my own mental works, were there to take me to a destination, not necessarily the destination those who laid out the trail had in their own grinders.
There were meadows with foliage so overgrown it was difficult to see the long trail that went through them. There were tiring ascents through relentless forests. There were steep and dangerous cliffs where it was almost impossible to find a foot hold. There was a lake with leeches in which no one should want to swim. I do remember those places.
But there are other memories. I remember suddenly coming upon something that was strikingly beautiful. There was the Swift River with the waterfalls upstream of it. I remember an unexpected clearing on the Mount Cranmore trail in which, though surrounded with trees, nothing was growing but grass. I wondered what was underground and invisible that prevented other growth. I remember the view from the edge of the cliff atop Boulder Loop Trail and the tree growing bravely from the face of that cliff. I remember the Lake Of The Clouds on the way up Mount Washington.
I remember the summit of South Moat Mountain that was so comfortable I didn't want to leave it. And I remember the creatures,the grouse, the toad, the beaver, the wild turkey, the pheasant, the moose tracks and the eyes of the forest beings suddenly appearing in the light of my match on the other side of the brook I was about to ford at night.
Many people who visit those trails are not there for the same reason I was. Those who are out for exercise, those who come to see the magnificent autumn foliage, the mad hunters from the "flat lands" will miss most of the beauties, lessons and metaphors of the forest. But those mysteries are the reason I went out, rain or shine, from June to November whenever I could to find what Nature could teach me.
One of the first lessons I learned was that, even though many of those grand metaphors were designed and put in place many thousands or millions of years ago, Nature doesn't care whether we see them or not. It is Nature talking to itself. Nature doesn't care about our tedious committee meetings, our over crowded schools, our struggles to understand the world we live in or our vain attempts to improve it, our wars and our bickering governments, our aspirations, our foolishness, the lurking evils in the hearts and minds of the subhuman members of our race. Wild Nature doesn't' care if we try to wrap things up in nice neat bundles. Nature doesn't even care there are trails through it's world. Even though we are creations of Nature itself it rarely looks back at us to see what we're doing. If we cut down one of Natures's trees, it grows another one. That's the first great lesson. Having learned that one I was ready to learn the rest, and it was for those transcendent experiences that kept me going back to the forest.
I was being taken by the wild woods into a place where the stream of ideas, which would occasionally reveal themselves in a momentary flash of recognizable thought but were otherwise coming at me so rapidly it was impassable for my meat grinder of a mind to comprehend them. I wanted to jump in and let all the primordial wisdom wash over me, shudder me and cleans me of all confusion.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 7 responses so far. Winter is almost over. What's your answer?
DB
******************************
Immanuel Kant
**********************
For several years my recreation was the metaphysical,.experience of hiking in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire. I say it was metaphysical because I soon found the many metaphors that abounded when I was in the presence of untamed nature.
I do not remember all the many hours I spent or the countless thousands of steps I took over the roots and rocks of those trails. Those steps, like the sausage grinder of my own mental works, were there to take me to a destination, not necessarily the destination those who laid out the trail had in their own grinders.
There were meadows with foliage so overgrown it was difficult to see the long trail that went through them. There were tiring ascents through relentless forests. There were steep and dangerous cliffs where it was almost impossible to find a foot hold. There was a lake with leeches in which no one should want to swim. I do remember those places.
But there are other memories. I remember suddenly coming upon something that was strikingly beautiful. There was the Swift River with the waterfalls upstream of it. I remember an unexpected clearing on the Mount Cranmore trail in which, though surrounded with trees, nothing was growing but grass. I wondered what was underground and invisible that prevented other growth. I remember the view from the edge of the cliff atop Boulder Loop Trail and the tree growing bravely from the face of that cliff. I remember the Lake Of The Clouds on the way up Mount Washington.
I remember the summit of South Moat Mountain that was so comfortable I didn't want to leave it. And I remember the creatures,the grouse, the toad, the beaver, the wild turkey, the pheasant, the moose tracks and the eyes of the forest beings suddenly appearing in the light of my match on the other side of the brook I was about to ford at night.
Many people who visit those trails are not there for the same reason I was. Those who are out for exercise, those who come to see the magnificent autumn foliage, the mad hunters from the "flat lands" will miss most of the beauties, lessons and metaphors of the forest. But those mysteries are the reason I went out, rain or shine, from June to November whenever I could to find what Nature could teach me.
One of the first lessons I learned was that, even though many of those grand metaphors were designed and put in place many thousands or millions of years ago, Nature doesn't care whether we see them or not. It is Nature talking to itself. Nature doesn't care about our tedious committee meetings, our over crowded schools, our struggles to understand the world we live in or our vain attempts to improve it, our wars and our bickering governments, our aspirations, our foolishness, the lurking evils in the hearts and minds of the subhuman members of our race. Wild Nature doesn't' care if we try to wrap things up in nice neat bundles. Nature doesn't even care there are trails through it's world. Even though we are creations of Nature itself it rarely looks back at us to see what we're doing. If we cut down one of Natures's trees, it grows another one. That's the first great lesson. Having learned that one I was ready to learn the rest, and it was for those transcendent experiences that kept me going back to the forest.
I was being taken by the wild woods into a place where the stream of ideas, which would occasionally reveal themselves in a momentary flash of recognizable thought but were otherwise coming at me so rapidly it was impassable for my meat grinder of a mind to comprehend them. I wanted to jump in and let all the primordial wisdom wash over me, shudder me and cleans me of all confusion.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 7 responses so far. Winter is almost over. What's your answer?
DB
******************************
Friday, March 4, 2011
Remarkable Things
He who thoughtfully and with a searching eye investigates the laws of Nature in all their immense variety is stricken with astonishment when he stumbles upon a wisdom he was not aware of.
Immanuel Kant
**********************
Does the bee hover over the blossom to announce her arrival to the flower's vital parts?
If tortoises flip over on their backs can they turn over again without help?
I read in a nature magazine that squirrels who bury acorns for the winter forget where they buried some of them, and that's how Nature plants her oak trees. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
We recently had a total eclipse of the moon. Many people watched it including me. I was struck by the fact that the moon did nothing about it, but the globe I was standing on was casting its shadow over the moon. If an astronaut had been standing on the moon he would have seen the sun disappear. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
How do pigeons find their way back to their home cages even from hundreds of miles away?
Why does Nature sometimes create two headed snakes. Siamese snakes, imagine that.
In New England they observe where the spiders build their winter nests. The higher the webs the greater amount of snow there will be. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
How can a polar bear swim in water so cold that an average human being would not live in it for a minute?
Why must there be a dip, a harmonic arc, at the top of a harp?
A healthy bat can consume over a thousand mosquitos in one night. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
How can Nature gradually turn wood into stone?
Why do your household pets know more about you than you know about them?
The ocean tides come in and go out everyday without fail. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
I'm an artist. I don't want to be a scientist, but I'm delighted to learn some of the astonishing things that scientists know.
DB - The Vagabond
***********************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 7 responses so far. Winter is almost over. Get on board people.
DB
******************************
Immanuel Kant
**********************
Does the bee hover over the blossom to announce her arrival to the flower's vital parts?
If tortoises flip over on their backs can they turn over again without help?
I read in a nature magazine that squirrels who bury acorns for the winter forget where they buried some of them, and that's how Nature plants her oak trees. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
We recently had a total eclipse of the moon. Many people watched it including me. I was struck by the fact that the moon did nothing about it, but the globe I was standing on was casting its shadow over the moon. If an astronaut had been standing on the moon he would have seen the sun disappear. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
How do pigeons find their way back to their home cages even from hundreds of miles away?
Why does Nature sometimes create two headed snakes. Siamese snakes, imagine that.
In New England they observe where the spiders build their winter nests. The higher the webs the greater amount of snow there will be. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
How can a polar bear swim in water so cold that an average human being would not live in it for a minute?
Why must there be a dip, a harmonic arc, at the top of a harp?
A healthy bat can consume over a thousand mosquitos in one night. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
How can Nature gradually turn wood into stone?
Why do your household pets know more about you than you know about them?
The ocean tides come in and go out everyday without fail. Isn't that a remarkable thing?
I'm an artist. I don't want to be a scientist, but I'm delighted to learn some of the astonishing things that scientists know.
DB - The Vagabond
***********************
WINTER QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
What was the most significant event that happened in 2010?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 7 responses so far. Winter is almost over. Get on board people.
DB
******************************
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Congress Beware
In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.
Immanuel Kant
************************
One of the most amazing events of history is when the uprising of the common people topple a government. Hiding underneath the day to day commerce of a nation is the passion of its people for freedom and human rights. That passion is like a store house of explosives. The spark that ignites it is inevitable. We are now seeing evidence of that passion exploding out of the hearts and minds of citizens in some foreign countries where there has been tyranny, suppression, laws against liberties and powerful, dictatorial governments, unconcerned and unconnected to the people they are supposedly responsible for.
Far too often that oppression is founded on flimsy and arbitrary religious traditions. When a country is run by religious beliefs and not by reason, regulations and actions become violations against the very center of civilization.
The recent legislations proposed by the House of Representatives and various state legislatures display a serious lake of reason. To deprive American citizens of valuable programs under the ruse of balancing the budget is nothing more that playing arrogant politics with the welfare of the nation.
Where is the concern, the willingness to improve our lives instead of threatening them, where is the compassion? Most members of Congress have no idea what it is like to be poor, to be homeless, to be a single parent, to be unemployed, to be on welfare, to live a life of silent desperation. And so they are free to make decisions and implement laws to suppress us, control us, take away some of our opportunities, lower our quality of life and our ethical standards. American tyranny is not coming from the White House.
But there is a stockpile of passion in this country also. Those of us who are not sleeping with the rich , dining with the privileged, voting with the gullible or conversing with the ignorant are aware of it. Don't look for conspiracies Congress. There are none. There is anger, frustration and fear.
DB
**************************
HELL'S BELLS
Last weekend people had fun with the ball.
This weekend let's play with the bells
The winner is the one who comes up with the most number references using bell or bells. So ring 'em up.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Good luck
DB
*************
Immanuel Kant
************************
One of the most amazing events of history is when the uprising of the common people topple a government. Hiding underneath the day to day commerce of a nation is the passion of its people for freedom and human rights. That passion is like a store house of explosives. The spark that ignites it is inevitable. We are now seeing evidence of that passion exploding out of the hearts and minds of citizens in some foreign countries where there has been tyranny, suppression, laws against liberties and powerful, dictatorial governments, unconcerned and unconnected to the people they are supposedly responsible for.
Far too often that oppression is founded on flimsy and arbitrary religious traditions. When a country is run by religious beliefs and not by reason, regulations and actions become violations against the very center of civilization.
The recent legislations proposed by the House of Representatives and various state legislatures display a serious lake of reason. To deprive American citizens of valuable programs under the ruse of balancing the budget is nothing more that playing arrogant politics with the welfare of the nation.
Where is the concern, the willingness to improve our lives instead of threatening them, where is the compassion? Most members of Congress have no idea what it is like to be poor, to be homeless, to be a single parent, to be unemployed, to be on welfare, to live a life of silent desperation. And so they are free to make decisions and implement laws to suppress us, control us, take away some of our opportunities, lower our quality of life and our ethical standards. American tyranny is not coming from the White House.
But there is a stockpile of passion in this country also. Those of us who are not sleeping with the rich , dining with the privileged, voting with the gullible or conversing with the ignorant are aware of it. Don't look for conspiracies Congress. There are none. There is anger, frustration and fear.
DB
**************************
HELL'S BELLS
Last weekend people had fun with the ball.
This weekend let's play with the bells
The winner is the one who comes up with the most number references using bell or bells. So ring 'em up.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Good luck
DB
*************
Sunday, October 10, 2010
On Geezer's Lap
To what childishness does man descend in his ripe old age, when he allows himself to be held by the leash of sensuousness.
Immanuel Kant
********************
Growing older is not for the squeamish. It is filled with surprises, unexpected changes, adaptations and reevaluations. And there are things that must be left behind, and one of them is childhood, that which Shakespeare referred to as "second childishness." To be perpetually young at heart is a very good and useful thing, but though childhood may not end when you're 20, it had better have ended by the time you're 80.
I always get a chuckle when I see a photograph of a skinny old geezer flashing thousands of dollars of false teeth, with a young buxom blonde in big hair sitting on his lap, his wife. What's going on? Is he trying to recapture his adolescents? Or to get the youth he never had because he was too busy making his fortune? Is he trying to tell us that in spite of his age and lack of hair and teeth he's still a virile young man? Or is he simply saying "Look what I have" thinking he's roped in a beauty with his money and has her on his leash.? The fact is she's the one holding the leash and either he doesn't know it or he doesn't care.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not against loving relationships between people of different ages. In the long run age should have nothing to do with it. It's true that young people usually want someone who has the same amount of energy as they do. And it's advantageous for older folks to have someone around with some life experience. "The sadder but wiser girl for me" Meredith Wilson wrote. But I've seen many examples where it works out well if people come together from different ages.
I knew a broadcaster, an excellent one and a senior citizen, whose wife was a couple of decades younger than he. They were completely dedicated to each other. And in the theatre I knew a stage manager whose husband was much younger than she was. I saw them once at a party and it was obvious they were very much in love with each other.
So if an old coot wants a young wife that's fine with me. Just let the reasons for it be about love and a shared life, not about money or power. If you ever see me at 90. all skin and bones, smiling like a fool, with a Dolly Parton wannabe sitting on my lap, shoot me.
DB - The Vagabond
-------------------------
Weekend Contest
Below are the name of three fictitious law firms. Read them carefully and then come up with your own example. You may enter more than once but the decision of the irascible judge is final.
Chase & Sewer
Huchlein & Sincker
Locke, Stock & Beryl
4 entries so far.
Good luck
DB
****************
Immanuel Kant
********************
Growing older is not for the squeamish. It is filled with surprises, unexpected changes, adaptations and reevaluations. And there are things that must be left behind, and one of them is childhood, that which Shakespeare referred to as "second childishness." To be perpetually young at heart is a very good and useful thing, but though childhood may not end when you're 20, it had better have ended by the time you're 80.
I always get a chuckle when I see a photograph of a skinny old geezer flashing thousands of dollars of false teeth, with a young buxom blonde in big hair sitting on his lap, his wife. What's going on? Is he trying to recapture his adolescents? Or to get the youth he never had because he was too busy making his fortune? Is he trying to tell us that in spite of his age and lack of hair and teeth he's still a virile young man? Or is he simply saying "Look what I have" thinking he's roped in a beauty with his money and has her on his leash.? The fact is she's the one holding the leash and either he doesn't know it or he doesn't care.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not against loving relationships between people of different ages. In the long run age should have nothing to do with it. It's true that young people usually want someone who has the same amount of energy as they do. And it's advantageous for older folks to have someone around with some life experience. "The sadder but wiser girl for me" Meredith Wilson wrote. But I've seen many examples where it works out well if people come together from different ages.
I knew a broadcaster, an excellent one and a senior citizen, whose wife was a couple of decades younger than he. They were completely dedicated to each other. And in the theatre I knew a stage manager whose husband was much younger than she was. I saw them once at a party and it was obvious they were very much in love with each other.
So if an old coot wants a young wife that's fine with me. Just let the reasons for it be about love and a shared life, not about money or power. If you ever see me at 90. all skin and bones, smiling like a fool, with a Dolly Parton wannabe sitting on my lap, shoot me.
DB - The Vagabond
-------------------------
Weekend Contest
Below are the name of three fictitious law firms. Read them carefully and then come up with your own example. You may enter more than once but the decision of the irascible judge is final.
Chase & Sewer
Huchlein & Sincker
Locke, Stock & Beryl
4 entries so far.
Good luck
DB
****************
Monday, July 5, 2010
Treasure Hunt
Spirit is the animating principle in a person.
Immanuel Kant
******************
A biologist can take a spoonful of water out of the sea, put it under a microscope and see a vast community of unicellular creatures swimming around, looking for the ocean they once knew. Another biologist can take a pinch of dirt from the ground and see the bacteria and microbes of vital life in it under the same microscope.
Think of the astrophysicists who are using X-rays, ultraviolet rays and electromagnetism to see the dark matter that can't be seen, even with a telescope and can only be known by its effects..
On every level of life from the simplest to the most universal, things are neither what they seem nor are they likely to remain what we think we know about them after careful analysis. That's one of the things that makes life so interesting.
Which brings me to the human being, if not the most complex then one of the most complex creatures in the universe. You are not what you seem to be. You are not what you eat. You're not what you look like. And you're not what you think about most of the time. Hidden underneath the life style, the clothes, the flesh and blood and even the dark matter is a vital, animating force which defines you as a very special, unique creature of the universe. It can't be seen even under the most powerful microscope. It can only be known by its effects. But it is at work all the time, asleep or awake, knowing the unknown and getting to know the unknowable.
We are amazing things, we humans, worth more wonder and respect than we permit ourselves.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
Weekend Puzzle
A few attempts so far, no answer.
A minimalist cryptogram
B'S GHH GH1 TXTPE P.M.
GHH GH1 ZTTHBFI AZURE
1L'O CATPT U R & AYC U R
& BZ U R GHH GH1 2.
BPXBFI NTPHBF
(G L)
DB
Immanuel Kant
******************
A biologist can take a spoonful of water out of the sea, put it under a microscope and see a vast community of unicellular creatures swimming around, looking for the ocean they once knew. Another biologist can take a pinch of dirt from the ground and see the bacteria and microbes of vital life in it under the same microscope.
Think of the astrophysicists who are using X-rays, ultraviolet rays and electromagnetism to see the dark matter that can't be seen, even with a telescope and can only be known by its effects..
On every level of life from the simplest to the most universal, things are neither what they seem nor are they likely to remain what we think we know about them after careful analysis. That's one of the things that makes life so interesting.
Which brings me to the human being, if not the most complex then one of the most complex creatures in the universe. You are not what you seem to be. You are not what you eat. You're not what you look like. And you're not what you think about most of the time. Hidden underneath the life style, the clothes, the flesh and blood and even the dark matter is a vital, animating force which defines you as a very special, unique creature of the universe. It can't be seen even under the most powerful microscope. It can only be known by its effects. But it is at work all the time, asleep or awake, knowing the unknown and getting to know the unknowable.
We are amazing things, we humans, worth more wonder and respect than we permit ourselves.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
Weekend Puzzle
A few attempts so far, no answer.
A minimalist cryptogram
B'S GHH GH1 TXTPE P.M.
GHH GH1 ZTTHBFI AZURE
1L'O CATPT U R & AYC U R
& BZ U R GHH GH1 2.
BPXBFI NTPHBF
(G L)
DB
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Ensembles
Young man! (I repeat) be fond of your work.
Immanuel Kant
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not hard to find a prima donna. There is usually one around somewhere. They come in all ages, genders and sexualities. One hopes the prima donna is not the one in charge.
When a prima donna appears in a theatre or film production the rest of the company just ignores it, works around it and shares the ridicule and disgust. I always visualize a prima donna as a gremlin, sitting on a toad stool with a grumpy and unhappy look on its face, surrounded by nobody.
One of the things I always enjoyed the most about working in the theatre was the ensemble aspect of it, a bunch of people, cast and crew, working together to bring off a successful production. Crew people are particularly important. They are there to change the scenery, hand the actor a prop or to help him with his clothes if he has a quick change. And I know that good crew people are fond of their work because they have told me so.
One night I was sitting in a bar in the theatre district of New York. At the bar were a group of stage hands. I was fascinated to hear them talk about the problems and successes of their various productions and also about what was going on in other theatres, which they knew from talking with other stage hands. They all knew each other you see.
I had to do crew work when I first started out and hence I never took crew people for granted. Prima Donnas usually do, but the crew are there with their jobs well done anyway.
When I was doing "Twelfth Night" in Norfolk, Virginia I had less than 10 seconds to go off stage and get a sword during one of the scenes. At every performance there was a young man standing there with the handle of the sword pointed toward me so I could easily grab it and get back on stage. I never knew his name but I always said "Thank you."
I enjoy watching NASA TV, especially when they show the activities of the astronauts on the shuttle or the space station. They frequently mention the thousands of people who are responsible for doing all the other jobs and doing them right that make the space flights safe and successful. A lot of people are fond of their work.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.
Only 7 responses so far.
Answers will be published the first day of Summer.
Thank you.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
Immanuel Kant
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not hard to find a prima donna. There is usually one around somewhere. They come in all ages, genders and sexualities. One hopes the prima donna is not the one in charge.
When a prima donna appears in a theatre or film production the rest of the company just ignores it, works around it and shares the ridicule and disgust. I always visualize a prima donna as a gremlin, sitting on a toad stool with a grumpy and unhappy look on its face, surrounded by nobody.
One of the things I always enjoyed the most about working in the theatre was the ensemble aspect of it, a bunch of people, cast and crew, working together to bring off a successful production. Crew people are particularly important. They are there to change the scenery, hand the actor a prop or to help him with his clothes if he has a quick change. And I know that good crew people are fond of their work because they have told me so.
One night I was sitting in a bar in the theatre district of New York. At the bar were a group of stage hands. I was fascinated to hear them talk about the problems and successes of their various productions and also about what was going on in other theatres, which they knew from talking with other stage hands. They all knew each other you see.
I had to do crew work when I first started out and hence I never took crew people for granted. Prima Donnas usually do, but the crew are there with their jobs well done anyway.
When I was doing "Twelfth Night" in Norfolk, Virginia I had less than 10 seconds to go off stage and get a sword during one of the scenes. At every performance there was a young man standing there with the handle of the sword pointed toward me so I could easily grab it and get back on stage. I never knew his name but I always said "Thank you."
I enjoy watching NASA TV, especially when they show the activities of the astronauts on the shuttle or the space station. They frequently mention the thousands of people who are responsible for doing all the other jobs and doing them right that make the space flights safe and successful. A lot of people are fond of their work.
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.
Only 7 responses so far.
Answers will be published the first day of Summer.
Thank you.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Let's Be Adults Now
To what childishness does man descend, in his ripe old age, when he allows himself to be held by the leash of sensuousness?
Immanuel Kant
*****************
I;ve been looking over my recent entries here on Vagabond Journeys and noted that many of them are heavy. I've written about the universe, mind, intelligence, consciousness and so forth. I ask myself: "Self? Is that it? Can't you find anything else to write about? Can't you write abut something light and humorous?" Okay. Today I'm writing about everyone's favorite topic, pornography.
One morning, when I was doing temp work between shows, I was assigned to do some proofreading for a very large corporate law firm in New York City. Because it was located in one of the biggest, most prestigious locations in the city I wore my suit. When I arrived the receptionist directed me to a certain room. When I opened the door I saw a very long table and seated around it were about 20 men in suits, some in shirt sleeves, some with sleeves rolled up. But they all had ties. It was clear the meeting had been going on for some time. They looked at me with curiosity. Being a mischievous guy and sometimes a miscreant, I couldn't resist the temptation. I said "Good morning gentlemen,I'm from the SEC." The looked at me as if they were 20 frightened deer caught in the headlights.
I said "Just kidding, I'm the proofreader" left the room, closed the door and found an empty room to sit and wait. Later, one of the lawyers said I really had them scared for a moment. The one person you don't want in the room when you're engaged in the barracuda wheeling and dealing of high finance is someone from the SEC.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is the nations watch dog on Wall Street, you might say it's the financial world's detective force. That's why the major law and investment firms hire proofreaders so that no mistake gets by on the document they file with the SEC that might cause a red flag to pop up.
Now we learn the many high ranking members, the over $100,000 a year types, have been spending all their time watching pornography on their expensive office computers, recording it and keeping it in the locked drawers of their expensive desks.
Think of it, the nations top ranked police force of finance, the protector of home buyers, small businessmen and tax payers from the fraudulent practices of big banks and investment firms, the strong armed bully of DC has been caught literally with it's pants down. Truly, how DELIGHTFUL!!!
Not only that but it has been going on for years. All the time our economy was slowly heading down the thorny path to depression, banks and businesses were closing, unemployment rising, Bernard Madoff was robbing people, the large banks were plundering credit card holders and granting variable rate mortgages to people who shouldn't have them and the shenanigans of Goldman Sachs was going on under the watchful eye of no one, the SEC, in a classic Nero manner, was titillating itself. I can't wait for one of them to say he was only doing research. That should cause a good loud knee slapping guffaw all across America.
The bad side to this huge joke is that now the political right will use it as an excuse for there to be less government scrutiny and control of Wall Street, which is, of course, obviously and absolutely the wrong choice.
If you go into a Jewish restaurant in New York City and order a bagel, you'll get a bagel. If you go to an Italian restaurant and order a pizza, you'll get a pizza. In a Mexican restaurant you'll get an enchilada. There are many things that are called bagels, pizzas and enchiladas that aren't. One year a women's fashion designer was selling a line of clothes for teenage girls. Among the ads was a photograph of a 17 year old girl in some underwear. Some self-moralizing do-gooders sued the company saying that the picture was child pornography (which it wasn't of course, anyone who had ever seen pornography would know that), the judge agreed and the company had to remove the picture. At the same time there was another 17 year old who had a baby. Another bunch of do-gooders sued to have the baby taken away from her because she was too young. A feminist group came to her defense and the judge ruled in their favor saying "The woman has a right to have her baby." She's 17. If she has a baby she's a "woman" but if you take a picture of her in her underwear she's a "child." You untangle that hypocrisy. I can't.
I've seen pornography and I fail to see why anyone would spend 8 hours a day looking at it and surfing the web to find it. Anyone who does that must become aware that he has a problem and needs to check into a clinic for a cure and not go to the Chop Stick Massage Parlor after work to relive his fantasies. After a couple of times porn all begins to look the same. The colors change, the ages change, the genders change and sometimes the toys change, but basically it's how many different ways one can stage the same event.
But to be fair we shouldn't call it "pornography." It has been whitewashed with the name "erotic art" which it isn't. Good erotic art has nothing pornographic about it. No, to be politically correct we must refer to it as "adult entertainment" although what is so adult about it also eludes me.
DB - The Vagabond
**********************
WEEKEND CONTEST
"What's in a name?" Your challenge is to give me a humorous name beginning with the same letters that matches a persons career, work or major activity. For example:
The Russian Cosmonaut - Boris Blastov
The French cabdriver - Henri Honkalotte
The Irish mechanic - Tommy Tinker
Enter as often as you wish, be imaginative, have fun and good luck. The decision of the bucolic judge is final.
DB - The Vagabond
***********************8
Immanuel Kant
*****************
I;ve been looking over my recent entries here on Vagabond Journeys and noted that many of them are heavy. I've written about the universe, mind, intelligence, consciousness and so forth. I ask myself: "Self? Is that it? Can't you find anything else to write about? Can't you write abut something light and humorous?" Okay. Today I'm writing about everyone's favorite topic, pornography.
One morning, when I was doing temp work between shows, I was assigned to do some proofreading for a very large corporate law firm in New York City. Because it was located in one of the biggest, most prestigious locations in the city I wore my suit. When I arrived the receptionist directed me to a certain room. When I opened the door I saw a very long table and seated around it were about 20 men in suits, some in shirt sleeves, some with sleeves rolled up. But they all had ties. It was clear the meeting had been going on for some time. They looked at me with curiosity. Being a mischievous guy and sometimes a miscreant, I couldn't resist the temptation. I said "Good morning gentlemen,I'm from the SEC." The looked at me as if they were 20 frightened deer caught in the headlights.
I said "Just kidding, I'm the proofreader" left the room, closed the door and found an empty room to sit and wait. Later, one of the lawyers said I really had them scared for a moment. The one person you don't want in the room when you're engaged in the barracuda wheeling and dealing of high finance is someone from the SEC.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is the nations watch dog on Wall Street, you might say it's the financial world's detective force. That's why the major law and investment firms hire proofreaders so that no mistake gets by on the document they file with the SEC that might cause a red flag to pop up.
Now we learn the many high ranking members, the over $100,000 a year types, have been spending all their time watching pornography on their expensive office computers, recording it and keeping it in the locked drawers of their expensive desks.
Think of it, the nations top ranked police force of finance, the protector of home buyers, small businessmen and tax payers from the fraudulent practices of big banks and investment firms, the strong armed bully of DC has been caught literally with it's pants down. Truly, how DELIGHTFUL!!!
Not only that but it has been going on for years. All the time our economy was slowly heading down the thorny path to depression, banks and businesses were closing, unemployment rising, Bernard Madoff was robbing people, the large banks were plundering credit card holders and granting variable rate mortgages to people who shouldn't have them and the shenanigans of Goldman Sachs was going on under the watchful eye of no one, the SEC, in a classic Nero manner, was titillating itself. I can't wait for one of them to say he was only doing research. That should cause a good loud knee slapping guffaw all across America.
The bad side to this huge joke is that now the political right will use it as an excuse for there to be less government scrutiny and control of Wall Street, which is, of course, obviously and absolutely the wrong choice.
If you go into a Jewish restaurant in New York City and order a bagel, you'll get a bagel. If you go to an Italian restaurant and order a pizza, you'll get a pizza. In a Mexican restaurant you'll get an enchilada. There are many things that are called bagels, pizzas and enchiladas that aren't. One year a women's fashion designer was selling a line of clothes for teenage girls. Among the ads was a photograph of a 17 year old girl in some underwear. Some self-moralizing do-gooders sued the company saying that the picture was child pornography (which it wasn't of course, anyone who had ever seen pornography would know that), the judge agreed and the company had to remove the picture. At the same time there was another 17 year old who had a baby. Another bunch of do-gooders sued to have the baby taken away from her because she was too young. A feminist group came to her defense and the judge ruled in their favor saying "The woman has a right to have her baby." She's 17. If she has a baby she's a "woman" but if you take a picture of her in her underwear she's a "child." You untangle that hypocrisy. I can't.
I've seen pornography and I fail to see why anyone would spend 8 hours a day looking at it and surfing the web to find it. Anyone who does that must become aware that he has a problem and needs to check into a clinic for a cure and not go to the Chop Stick Massage Parlor after work to relive his fantasies. After a couple of times porn all begins to look the same. The colors change, the ages change, the genders change and sometimes the toys change, but basically it's how many different ways one can stage the same event.
But to be fair we shouldn't call it "pornography." It has been whitewashed with the name "erotic art" which it isn't. Good erotic art has nothing pornographic about it. No, to be politically correct we must refer to it as "adult entertainment" although what is so adult about it also eludes me.
DB - The Vagabond
**********************
WEEKEND CONTEST
"What's in a name?" Your challenge is to give me a humorous name beginning with the same letters that matches a persons career, work or major activity. For example:
The Russian Cosmonaut - Boris Blastov
The French cabdriver - Henri Honkalotte
The Irish mechanic - Tommy Tinker
Enter as often as you wish, be imaginative, have fun and good luck. The decision of the bucolic judge is final.
DB - The Vagabond
***********************8
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