The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.
John F. Kennedy
*************************
"The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comedy, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene undividable, or poem unlimited:" (Shakespeare)
An authority: Someone who knows more and more about less and less until he knows all there is to know about nothing at all.
When I was in high school the options were very simple: math, chemistry, biology, physics. That was more or less it. Over the years the more that has been discovered the more specialized science has become: anthrozology, primatology, robotics, evolutionary computation, paleobotany, astrochemistry, climatology, microbiology, crystallography, nanotechnology, nonEuclidian geometry and so on.
How does a young scientifically inclined person make a choice out of that cornucopia of disciplines, especially as they seem to be dividing themselves every day? There use to be a saying that two advanced chemists can't talk shop to each other because they haven't spoken the same language since 10th Grade Chem Lab.
The true mystery of all this is that Nature, like Life, is a very complicated thing and the more we know about it the more there is to know. And also, like Life, there is a lot of guess work involved, trial and error, hypotheses proven or unproven, theories that fly or crash. And, if anyone cares to face it, that's what makes everything so interesting.
I would like to know everything there is to know as impossible as it is. And that's why I'm glad to learn something every day. Being retired I don't have to ask myself what good it's going to do for my career, not that I ever asked myself that. And I am glad there is always something more to learn.
Lunar geology anyone?
--------------------------------
DB - The Vagabond
**************************
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
************************
WEEKEND CONTEST ANSWERS
4 Weird Songs
Once again Geo was the only contestant. So he wins the grand prize of a stuffed organ grinders monkey, complete with cup and funny hat.
___________________
ZEY NKZ VQ AFQ KCCUQ ED ZEYM NEAFQM'T QZQ, VYA ZEY'MQ IEA KCCQKUWIR AE NQ.
You may be the apple of your mother's eye, but you're not appealing to me.
W REA K METQ VQAJQQI NZ AEQT DMEN JKUBWIR VKMQDEEA AFMEJRF AFQ FEAFEYTQ AE ZEY, VKVZ.
I got a rose between my toes from walking barefoot through the hot house to you, baby.
JFE JKT FKXWIR IKCEJQEIT JWAF LETQCFWIQ JFWUQ VEIQCKMA JKT KHKZ KA AFQ JKM?
Who was having napoleons with Josephine while Bonepart was away at the war?
GWRKMQAAQT KIS JFWTBQZ KIS JWUS, JWUS JENQI, AFQZ'UU SMWXQ ZEY GMKYZ, AFQZ'UU SMWXQ ZEY WITKIQ.
Cigarettes and whiskey and wild, wild women, they'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane.
Thank you Geo.
DB
*************************
Showing posts with label John F. Kennedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John F. Kennedy. Show all posts
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Step Into Reality
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
John F. Kennedy
***********************
Hooray! Someone has found the Garden of Eden. But due to the movement of the Earth's crust it's currently at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. No problem. Divers are going down hoping to find the Tree of Life and bring up some of the pods and seeds to plant so that the wealthy can live forever, those being the only ones rich enough to afford the exorbitant prices the finders will demand. There will be a black market, I suppose, but that's no guarantee of a cheaper price.
Meanwhile others are exploring the mountains of the Near East to find the planks of the original Noah's Ark while others are combing the desert of Iraq looking for bricks from the Tower of Babel.
It is an amazing thing that there are still unfortunate people who believe that creation literally started with a man made out of mud, a woman ripped from his side and that evil began with a talking snake and a bite of forbidden fruit.
Myths are wonderful things. They are the stories the human race has invented to explain the unexplainable. There are myths all over the world in every culture and language, some are ancient and some are recent.
There are myths dwelling in the halls of Science as well as the tents of nomads. The difference is that those myths are exploded when they are replaced with facts, discoveries and the logic of clear headed thought.
I like myths. All the plays I've ever acted in were myths, all the characters I played were mythological creatures, some larger than life, some smaller. But each of them had the duty of expressing truths and posing the questions that would not be heard outside of the fiction. Shakespeare's King Henry the Fifth asks "Can the king who commands the beggars knee command the health of it?"
The apple fell from the tree until Newton discovered the Law of Gravity and determined that it was pulled instead. Is the Law of Gravity a myth? Most likely so. But, as with any myth, it's real meaning must be discovered and determined before we can take the next grand step into the kingdom of reality.
DB - The Real 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. 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 13 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
John F. Kennedy
***********************
Hooray! Someone has found the Garden of Eden. But due to the movement of the Earth's crust it's currently at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. No problem. Divers are going down hoping to find the Tree of Life and bring up some of the pods and seeds to plant so that the wealthy can live forever, those being the only ones rich enough to afford the exorbitant prices the finders will demand. There will be a black market, I suppose, but that's no guarantee of a cheaper price.
Meanwhile others are exploring the mountains of the Near East to find the planks of the original Noah's Ark while others are combing the desert of Iraq looking for bricks from the Tower of Babel.
It is an amazing thing that there are still unfortunate people who believe that creation literally started with a man made out of mud, a woman ripped from his side and that evil began with a talking snake and a bite of forbidden fruit.
Myths are wonderful things. They are the stories the human race has invented to explain the unexplainable. There are myths all over the world in every culture and language, some are ancient and some are recent.
There are myths dwelling in the halls of Science as well as the tents of nomads. The difference is that those myths are exploded when they are replaced with facts, discoveries and the logic of clear headed thought.
I like myths. All the plays I've ever acted in were myths, all the characters I played were mythological creatures, some larger than life, some smaller. But each of them had the duty of expressing truths and posing the questions that would not be heard outside of the fiction. Shakespeare's King Henry the Fifth asks "Can the king who commands the beggars knee command the health of it?"
The apple fell from the tree until Newton discovered the Law of Gravity and determined that it was pulled instead. Is the Law of Gravity a myth? Most likely so. But, as with any myth, it's real meaning must be discovered and determined before we can take the next grand step into the kingdom of reality.
DB - The Real 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. 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 13 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Culture War
When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.
John F. Kennedy
*********************
A few years ago a new CEO of a major international company was quoted as saying he never gives money to cultural causes and he's proud of it. Imagine the Chief Executive Officer of a large corporation not liking cultural events of any kind.
Well now, let's think about it. We would certainly save a lot if we dispensed with the symphony orchestras, opera houses and ballet companies in the country. They cost a lot of money to maintain and they certainly don't pay for themselves. Not only that but a lot of the time orchestra musicians sit around and do nothing. A dead waste of labor.
The publishers send out stacks of poetry and novels. Poetry is just a waste of time. Nobody reads that gunk and novels are just fiction, stories that have no value to real life whatsoever. Let's close down those glorified printing houses if they can't do better.
What's next? Well how about all those university and college departments: fine arts, music and drama (which are the devils workshops). Do you know there are classes where a person, usually a young good looking girl, maybe even your daughter. stands in the middle of the room absolutely stark naked while other people sit around and pretend to draw while they gawk and ogle. Disgusting!. Let's close down those nests of sin.
Art museums are another thing. What a waste of space. Nobody ever goes in them. Some of them are so big they could easily be converted into a sports arena or a factory warehouse.
Now about ballet. Have you ever been to a ballet dance. The boys all prance around with their bulges showing while the girls have skirts so short you can practically see everything. And modern dance? You never can tell what's going to happen with one of those. Those dancers are all homos anyway.
And actors? Don't get me started. They all just want to show off, sometimes with their clothes on, sometimes not. And those theatre companies all over the place are eating into our tax dollars something fierce. Films are the only things that actually make money and look at the junk Hollywood turns out. We should close down some of those studios, pronto.
Jazz, there's another waste of time and money. Who wants to listen to all that honking and rattling. Then there are the folk and pop singers. I say, if someone wants to play his guitar and sing let him sing gospel music and stop wasting my time.
And speaking of works of the devil, it's past time that we rid this hallowed land of the worst garbage that has ever been strewn on our pure paths. I'm speaking of that ear splitting, dope selling, promiscuity breeding, rebellion making, gang forming, dementia causing outrage know as rock and roll. If there ever was a reason to put our national foot down on the freedom of expression, those rock and roll (I hesitate to call them) musicians have sure provided us with more justification than we need.
No, I want to jog down the street in quiet and when I go to the football game I want to hear the high school band play Stars and Stripes. Now that's culture.
DB
****************
I'm glad to say that "Buffalo Gap" Part Two of Brian and Christine is now finished and posted on The Brian Saga, http://thebriansaga.blogspot.com/ I love my story.
*******************
Only one winner of the Weekend Contest
Paula of the Email Lions wins the autographed map of the world beach ball. for guessing the Secretaries General Of the United Nations.
1. T___ L___ Trygve Lie
2. D___ H___ Dag Hammarsjold
3. U T___ U Thant
4. Kurt W___ Kurt Waldheim
5. J___ P___ d___ C___ Javier Perez de Cuellar
6. B___ B___-G___ Boutros Boutros-Ghali
7. K___ A___ Kofi Annan
8. B___ K___-m___ Ban Ki-moon
Better luck next time. If there is one.
***********************
John F. Kennedy
*********************
A few years ago a new CEO of a major international company was quoted as saying he never gives money to cultural causes and he's proud of it. Imagine the Chief Executive Officer of a large corporation not liking cultural events of any kind.
Well now, let's think about it. We would certainly save a lot if we dispensed with the symphony orchestras, opera houses and ballet companies in the country. They cost a lot of money to maintain and they certainly don't pay for themselves. Not only that but a lot of the time orchestra musicians sit around and do nothing. A dead waste of labor.
The publishers send out stacks of poetry and novels. Poetry is just a waste of time. Nobody reads that gunk and novels are just fiction, stories that have no value to real life whatsoever. Let's close down those glorified printing houses if they can't do better.
What's next? Well how about all those university and college departments: fine arts, music and drama (which are the devils workshops). Do you know there are classes where a person, usually a young good looking girl, maybe even your daughter. stands in the middle of the room absolutely stark naked while other people sit around and pretend to draw while they gawk and ogle. Disgusting!. Let's close down those nests of sin.
Art museums are another thing. What a waste of space. Nobody ever goes in them. Some of them are so big they could easily be converted into a sports arena or a factory warehouse.
Now about ballet. Have you ever been to a ballet dance. The boys all prance around with their bulges showing while the girls have skirts so short you can practically see everything. And modern dance? You never can tell what's going to happen with one of those. Those dancers are all homos anyway.
And actors? Don't get me started. They all just want to show off, sometimes with their clothes on, sometimes not. And those theatre companies all over the place are eating into our tax dollars something fierce. Films are the only things that actually make money and look at the junk Hollywood turns out. We should close down some of those studios, pronto.
Jazz, there's another waste of time and money. Who wants to listen to all that honking and rattling. Then there are the folk and pop singers. I say, if someone wants to play his guitar and sing let him sing gospel music and stop wasting my time.
And speaking of works of the devil, it's past time that we rid this hallowed land of the worst garbage that has ever been strewn on our pure paths. I'm speaking of that ear splitting, dope selling, promiscuity breeding, rebellion making, gang forming, dementia causing outrage know as rock and roll. If there ever was a reason to put our national foot down on the freedom of expression, those rock and roll (I hesitate to call them) musicians have sure provided us with more justification than we need.
No, I want to jog down the street in quiet and when I go to the football game I want to hear the high school band play Stars and Stripes. Now that's culture.
DB
****************
I'm glad to say that "Buffalo Gap" Part Two of Brian and Christine is now finished and posted on The Brian Saga, http://thebriansaga.blogspot.com/ I love my story.
*******************
Only one winner of the Weekend Contest
Paula of the Email Lions wins the autographed map of the world beach ball. for guessing the Secretaries General Of the United Nations.
1. T___ L___ Trygve Lie
2. D___ H___ Dag Hammarsjold
3. U T___ U Thant
4. Kurt W___ Kurt Waldheim
5. J___ P___ d___ C___ Javier Perez de Cuellar
6. B___ B___-G___ Boutros Boutros-Ghali
7. K___ A___ Kofi Annan
8. B___ K___-m___ Ban Ki-moon
Better luck next time. If there is one.
***********************
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