Coming soon to an Amazon near you!
Yesterday 15 September 2015 just may go down in history as the beginning of the New Dark Ages…
…for this is the day when Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, Inc, announced that from here on out…
…soon to be revealed…
…in addition to the iconic ubiquitous ‘Like’ symbol for comments, there will also be a ‘Dislike’ symbol…
The fact that this was breaking news on national TV in the year 2015 says more than I could ever say. The end is near…
Be afraid. Be very afraid…
Vladimir Putin
I don’t know why the US is harassing Russia and neighboring states about Russia’s entry into the Syrian conflict. In fact, I’d say they should be welcomed as potential saviors, if not suitors.
That means that not only can we America GTF outta’ there, but they might even come up with a reasonable solution, albeit with Assad’s chinless presence still presiding over the former and current war zone. Do you prefer ISIL?
Those are the two options, and Russia’s sponsorship of Assad means that we don’t have to do it, thus saving face…
But Russia is neither as altruistic nor as sneaky as it might sound. Look at the map. The Russian border is closer to Syria than Istanbul. If there’s one thing that Russia doesn’t want in their Caucasus region, it’s a half-million Muslims with nothing to do. Remember Dagestan? Do the math…
Buddhist shrine in Sri Lanka
I hate to get all holier-than-thou, but I may just be getting all holier-than-me, my transient former self, at least. It’s scary. I think maybe I’ve had an epiphany, a revelation, a religious whatchamacallit, in which I may have actually enhanced my status as a spiritual being, while hopefully not sacrificing too much as a human in this material world.
That is: I’m finding it difficult to talk sh*t on people, this in a social-media era in which to tell-all is a paramount virtue, often the nastier the better, and in intimate detail—what you were wearing when you said what you said as you did something else in the middle of the Event Horizon. There’s only one problem: I can’t do it. (More …)
…is that not only is Carly Fiorina cute, but she might be TOO cute. Cuteness does NOT imply belligerence, and that is currency for the Donald, his Trump card, if you will. Margaret Thatcher wasn’t cute, ditto Indira Gandhi. Angela (pronounced with a hard ‘G’–NOT soft) Merkel is not cute. Corazon Aquino was only slightly cute, age appropriate, and Hillary–meh, not so much any more. The ex-PM of Thailand, Yinglak Shinawatra, little sister of another banished former PM, Big Bro Taksin–now SHE was cute, and popular. Maybe that’s what Donald fears. So iCarly is basically being punished for being attractive…
What he didn’t say is that she’s not only cute, but she’s Italian Mouse cute, as in Topo Gigio of another era. Some of us even find it hard not to flash on little Topo every time we see iCarly, with her prominent upturned nose and lopsided grin. Italian mice don’t run countries. Italian mice cower in fear at the over-sized chin of Ed Sullivan. The irony, of course, is that Fiorina is her surname by marriage, nee Sneed; doesn’t sound very Italian to me…
What Trump didn’t say is that he has women issues, and his own nude-model wife only underscores that. To use his own words, substituting FLOTUS for POTUS: “Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next (fill in the blank)…?” I think we can all agree that the Donald goes too far in his insulting behavior. But what did iCarly herself mean when she told Megyn Kelley, “Honestly, Megyn, I’m not going to spend a single cycle wondering what Donald Trump means.” I mean: what kind of cycle are we talking about here? Nevertheless, I vote No-Trump…
(The preceding is intended as satire and comedy ONLY; please don’t sue me. I’m broke.)
DNA as word as DNA as word as DNA as word as DNA as word as DNA as word as DNA as word as DNA
Isn’t it lovely and wonderful how language works: spinning out new words that reflect our life and times, just like ringing a bell, just like speed-dialing GMO’s? A prominent scientist once remarked that language evolution works ‘just like DNA, for no special reason; it just does.’ That includes the creation of high-tech-related words like ‘google, crowdfund, declutter, photobomb, sext, retweet,’ etc., all newly minted in the OED, and still many others, not so high-tech, and maybe not yet ready for prime-time, like ‘twerk, bitch-slap, slut-shame, shit-show, and one I just read up on about the lovely Miss Minaj: ‘tone-police’.
What does this say about us as a people? I’m not sure that I want to know. Then there are many new words which merely reflect the evolving structure of language itself, in which grammatical inflections are deemphasized from their original purposes, and nouns are recast as verbs, adjectives, etc. and vice-versa, hence: decisioning, decidualize, Christianist, etc. Isn’t it great? They say SAT scores are at their lowest point in a decade; I wonder why. Riffing on that scientist’s previous point of language imitating life, maybe it’s time to discuss the law of entropy as it pertains to language…
Christian God
But first my Sunday confession, Father: I’ve been called Communist and I’ve been called Jihadi. Liberals call me a Conservative. Conservatives call me a Liberal. It’s all true. I’m a contrary son-of-a-b*tch, known to act as the devil’s avocado, barely ripe, slippery when wet, but not merely for the sake of argument, I swear, but to try to reach some higher truth, later if not sooner, and for all our sakes, not just my own. When I lived in Berkeley I WAS conservative. When I lived in Mississippi I WAS liberal. Doctrines are there to be challenged, and dogma is there to be run over by karma…
Now we all know how stupid are the tea-party wing of America’s Republican political party, but that doesn’t mean that Democrats are all geniuses (genii?). The difference between conservatives and liberals, or republicans and democrats, which basically defines the power relationships in the world, is basically the difference between the two types of people in the world: those who save their money—or resources—and those who don’t. Please note, Republicans, that I didn’t use the word ‘lazy’ and I don’t intend to, as I don’t think that is the fundamental issue. (More …)
I mean, do I have to be the one to say: “Miley, could you please put some clothes on, because 1) You’re embarrassing yourself; and all the rest of us, 2); and 3) ISIL is threatening to hold hostages until you do? We got the gist of it, you know, your point, both of them: the inverse proportions between fame and clothing, twerking and working, etc., but you can give it a rest now; you’re getting older; and there are other people in the world, also, who shouldn’t necessarily be subjected to your bad taste, without going into the question of your right to do it. Your ‘fluid’ sexuality will be intact, and we’ll even throw in a box of M&M’s…
It’s hard to admit that our culture has lost its way, gone wrong, horribly wrong, but how can you look at Miley Cyrus’s recent appearances on TV and disagree? Should we really be in a constant state of sexual titillation…or disgust? Liberal permissiveness should have limits, too, sorry. And there was no better example of liberal **ow jobs than the response to Chrissie Hynde’s second thoughts on a previous case of rape in which she reflected on her own behavior on that one fateful night, wishing she had done things differently. Keep in mind that only she knows exactly what happened as only she was there… (More …)
I figure that language is our DNA, the DNA of our culture. Nothing is more exciting than a new piece of language or a well-turned phrase, BUT… nothing is staler than yesterday’s cornflakes or over-used clichés. Given our feverish climate of social media and anti-social behavior, this can happen with startling rapidity these days. By the time you’re really starting to get a kick out of saying that new phrase ‘that all the kids are saying’–it’s too late. The vacuum seal has been broken. Mold is accumulating on the outer surface and the sweet sickly smell of decay is beginning to infect, then pervade. These are prime current candidates for removal from our daily vocabulary:
1) Anything ‘best ever’–STOPPPPP!!!!!
2) Anything that you just ‘love love love’ in triplicate. One ‘love’ is enough. Twice loved=thrice shy…
3) Anything that’s ‘Just wow!’… I mean: really? Is that the best you can do? Just sayin’…
Hey, that’s another one! (yes, I’m one of the worst offenders; sometimes it seems like my whole life is one big cliché)…
4) “Just sayin”…
The good thing is that sometimes after a long absence, bringing old phrases back into current use can be good fun. For example: when’s the last time you used the word ‘groovy’? Try it! The basic idea is to keep it fresh and unexpected. That’s all that really matters. You gotta’ love it… WAIT!
5) “Gotta love it”…
Of course, to intentionally used clichés to make a point about clichés is a special use–reported speech, i.e.feedback–protected by law and copyright conventions…
We’ll be back after a break for station identification. Stay tuned for more!
Statue of Buddha in Kandy, Sri Lanka
First Noble (Aryan, Civilized, Precious) Truth (Reality, Faith, Fact, etc.): “Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.”
In other words: Life is suffering. If you don’t understand that, then you’ll never really understand Buddhism. Many modern proselytizing Buddhist priests from foreign ports, and their local converts and adherents, try to downplay this fact for their shiny happy American audiences, ultimately doing a disservice to both: weakening the philosophy and misleading the Homies. No, there is no mistranslation, nor any misunderstanding. That’s what he said and that’s what he meant. Our lives as Americans are a lie, shiny and happy with mouth wide open. There’s a word for that: Christian; not Buddhist.
Second Truth: “Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to re-becoming, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for becoming, craving for dis-becoming.”
In other words: There is a cause for this suffering—desire. Sorry, Homies, but Buddhism is not about ‘following your passion.’ ‘Following your passion’ is verrrry Christian. This is Buddhism. Get over it. (More …)
It was with some lack of luster that I signed on to the concept of seeing (and hearing) Jefferson Starship in concert at the Twilight Concert Series at Santa Monica Beach the other night. In fact I probably wouldn’t have, but for the beach itself, and my wife’s love of it. I mean, I’m no huge fan of their biggest commercial hits: “We Built this City,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” etc., and a much much bigger fan of their earlier incarnation as the Jefferson Airplane…
Of course much of the problem is their third incarnation, or rather ‘spin-off’, as plain white ‘Starship’, which has more in common with Foreigner and Aha! than the Airplane, which pretty much defined ‘acid rock’. Still I showed up, hoping for the best—and was rewarded. Now I’m also no great fan of dino-rock in general, BUT… the Airplane was pretty special, and political, which seems very appropriate in this day and age. The current tour pays ample homage to the old days and ways and plays, while delivering quite acceptable renditions of the tunes themselves. (More …)
Perceptive post, will follow your site. You might like my post on the Airplane in their heyday, with soundclips & personal comment, on https://davekingsbury.wordpress.com
Welcome, will check your stuff, also should mention that I listen to a lot of new music, too, song-a-day club: http://thailand-to-timbuktu.blogspot.com/
streaming consciousness... 
Reply