Anonymoses TV : Week of March 20, 2006

Juggle with the Beatles

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BLOGGING
What is a blog? - Robert Scoble
What is a blog? - David Sifry
What is a blog? - Chris Pirillo - Money with blogs
What is a blog? - Howard Rheingold
Dutch Bloggies 2006

POLITICS
Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the American People
PNAC and the NEOCONs: wanted a new Pearl Harbor
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War
George Lakoff on Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think
"Stick It" from Boston Legal (James Spader)
The Boat and the Bomb : 20th Anniversary of the Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
Iraq War - Chomsky
Election 2004: Republican Terror Manipulations, How They Work and Why
Al Franken, The Truth (with Jokes)
Being Opinionated in America: Maureen Dowd & Thomas Friedman
George Soros - The Bubble of American Supremacy
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: 20th Annual Evening for Peace - Jonathan Schell and Harry Belafonte
Journalists Under Fire: Vietnam & Iraq
Iraq War - Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey - Killing Civillians in Iraq
The Illuminati Families who Rule the World
Charlie Rose - Gore Vidal / Pierre Salinger
Frank Zappa on CNN's Crossfire (1986)
Clip from Manufacturing Consent
John and Yoko's Year of Peace
Cornel West - Democracy Matters
The Secret Government - Bill Moyers
John Edwards campaign speech
Speech by Al Gore on January 16th on Domestic Spying
A Conversation with William J. Clinton

HUMOR
Problems of Right-wing activists
Ed Thompson's Trumpet Duet
Long John Johnson, all the livelong day - Cat talking
Choco Party - Japanese Commercial
The Fartlighter
Chris Bliss - live comedy performance
Chris Bliss - television appearances
Monty Pythons the Knights and the Holy Grail
Farting Preacher
Titanic reenacted in 50 seconds

SPIRITUALITY
God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It
His Holiness - The XIV Dalai Lama
Krishnamurti with Trungpa Rimpoche
Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark - Laurence Gardner
RUMI: POET OF THE HEART

FILM
Ritual In Transfigured Time - Maya Deren
Le voyage dans la lune - Melies
les francais au travail - Lumiere
Metropolis [1927] - Fritz Lang
un chien andalou - Luis Bunuel & Salvadore Dali
Man Ray Avant Garde Collection - Surrealist masterpieces
L'AGE D'OR [1930] - Luis Bunuel
Zero De Conduite 1933 - Jean Vigo
Battleship Potemkin - Eisenstein
Rhythm 21 - Hans Richter
Ballet mecanique - Fernand Leger
Nosferatu [1922]
His Girl Friday
My Man Godfrey $$

MUSIC
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Josh Groban
I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
The Beatles - I'm Down - Live at Shea Stadium 1965
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Music Video by The Beatles
John Coltrane - Naima Live 1965
John Coltrane - Live 1963
SummerFest 2004: Chick Corea: Rehearsal
The Kinks "Well Respected Man" on Beat Beat Beat!
Ten Years After - I'm going home (live woodstock)
Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead Tribute
Dave Clark Five - "Catch Us If You Can"
dead can dance - milan 2005
Jon Anderson - tour of the universe tour
Enya Tribute to WTC 9/11
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds "Nature Boy" Music Video

CULTURE
Tim Leary before leaving us
Robert Anton Wilson, Part One
Robert Anton Wilson, Part Two
County Sligo, Ireland
Gurdjieff inParis (1949)
Gurdjieff & Friends tour France (1949)
Concert of Sacred Music by Gurdjieff
NASA - Hubble view of the universe
Life Beyond Earth and the Mind of Man 1975 - Ashley Montagu
African American Lives - Henry Louis Gates III
Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are"
ArtsPass: John Singer Sargent 1856-1925
UNC vs Duke - Matt jumping over Bonfires
Andy Griffith Show: Andy Discovers America
The Biltmore Estate - Asheville, North Carolina

Samara and Samara and Samara

The lucky west gets their civil war.

Here's a post I did on Feb, 2004...

Sparks fly between Sunnites and Shiites

Insurgents Attempting to Ferment 'Civil War' in Iraq Sought Al Qaeda Help (washingtonpost.com)Terrorists spark fear of civil war in Iraq as 50 die in car bomb

See Gurdjieff quote on psychic hatred and organic hatred...

"These two schools of the Mohammedan religion are called there the "Sunnite" and the "Shiite".It is very interesting to note that the psychic hatred of each other formed in the psyche of the beings who belong to these two independent schools of one and the same religion has, on account of their frequent clashes, now been transformed completely into an organic hate.

Beings of certain European communities have during recent centuries greatly contributed to their incitement to the rise of this particular transformation on that strange being-function.

And they have employed and continue to employ this incitement in order that the animosity between the beings who follow these two independent schools of one and the same religion, should increase and that they should never unite, since if that were to happen, there might soon be an end there for those European communities.

...And hence it is that accidentally arisen "newly baked" communities always rub their hands and rejoice when sparks fly between these Sunnites and Shiites, because they then count on a long and secure existence for themselves."
-G. Gurdjieff, "Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson" circa 1950

King Crimson Slips Silently into Queen City

King Crimson

You'd think that when a King came to the Queen City, there would be trumpets and sackbuts ablare. But fanfare, courtesy and honoring sustained achievement are not what nouveau-riche Charlotte is much good at. In its stead we see American Idols who bodies of work lie before them, and we cheer them on, in hopes that they too may become Clay Aiken, and bring fifteen more minutes to this fame-starved metropolis.

The new is seldom good, as it has yet to to be time-whittled. And so, like Goodwill itself, much dreck has to be touched before a diamond emerges.

Like today. The King is coming, with decades of gold in his crown, and the Queen is still sifting for Clay.

Nothing wrong with Clay. A very nice boy. Used to cut my grass. But Robert Fripp never cut my grass, and I would be very hesitant to ask him. Perhaps I could convince him that it was part of "the work".



Maybe not. At any rate, if you are interested in seeing a musical legend in an intimate setting, you could do worse than appear at tonight's concurrence.

Concert Tonight!
8PM
Neighborhood Theater
511 E. 36th St.Charlotte, NC 28205
704-358-9298


I have a long history with the King, and have enjoyed his music and philosophy since the first album, and his prior work with Giles. Over the decades, I have had a number of favorites. Starless, Lizard, Poseidon, and Heavenly Music Corporation jump out from the early days. For some reason, I thought that I could woo women by reciting "In the Wake of Poseidon". It had a modicum of success I suppose. Certainly better than "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" or "D.O.A.".

King Crimson and I share birthdays with Gurdjieff, with whom Fripp had a protracted involvement, and about which I'd like to inquire, should we have a moment.

I realize I will have to miss American Idol's showcase of the men, but somehow I think I will survive. One can take only so much devolution.

BACK TO ANONYMOSES' HOMEPAGE

January 13th through history

January 13th was the day James Joyce died and the day GI Gurdjieff was born. King Crimson was also born on January 13. So was Anonymoses. It is also the day George W. Bush fainted allegedly after choking on a pretzel. January 13th is the Ace of Spade.

Births
1334 - King Henry II of Castile (d. 1379)
1832 - Horatio Alger, Jr., American minister and author (d. 1899)
1925 - Gwen Verdon, American actress and dancer (d. 2000)
1948 - Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
1949 - Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive (d. 1997)
1954 - Trevor Rabin, South African musician (Yes)
1955 - Jay McInerney, American writer
1961 - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress
1964 - Penelope Ann Miller, American actress
1966 - Patrick Dempsey, American actor
1977 - Orlando Bloom, English actor
1983 - William Hung, Hong Kong-born singer

Deaths
858 - King Ethelwulf of Wessex
1330 - Duke Frederick I of Austria (b. 1286)
1766 - King Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1723)
1864 - Stephen Foster, American composer (b. 1826)
1941 - James Joyce, Irish writer (b. 1882)
1962 - Ernie Kovacs, American actor and comedian (b. 1919)

Events
888 - Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks.
1328 - Edward III of England marries Philippa, daughter of the Count of Hainault.
1559 - Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey.
1625 - John Milton, 16, is admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge.
1733 - James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston, South Carolina.
1830 - Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana begins.
1854 - The accordion is patented by Anthony Faas.
1869 - National convention of black leaders meets in Washington D.C..
1898 - Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.
1990 - L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.



"I was driving at sunrise this morning in southern South Carolina. It was foggy, the light was incredible. I had to stop and take some photos. The first one may be the most beautiful picture I've ever taken." - Dave Winer (January 13, 2005)

A beautiful shot indeed!

I''ll be hosting this week's Tarheel Tavern

I'm thinking about making this week's Tavern..."The Cross-posted Edition". By this I mean that I hope to cross-post it at other venues, such as Blogcritics, Daily Kos, American Street, or other such places as would draw yet more eyeballs to each participant. And being a kindly old soul, I would like to extend my generosity by saying that you can write pretty much what you damn well please, and I will sift through and pick out what I need for my little scheme.

If there is something you would particularly want me to use, either mark it as such, or write to me at baruchthescribe at yahoo dot com whereupon I might light upon your suggestion with greater felicity and huffman. Sooner is better.

Jane at Pratie Place has already jumped in, with a piece called:
Christmas in the schools: music educators weigh in

She plays the role of "J.P.", and does a splendid job of it too. I want to invite you to participate in her discussion, which really should be our discussion, and so I am going to suggest that you weigh in. Comments are blogs, according to some, and so I may use your comment as your submission on The Tavern, and link it back to your homeblogsitethingimapoo, as the Germans say. You may also post a comment here, and alert me to the bostpost you would like for me to use.

As a Liberal Christian, or liberal christian, or progressive TAOIST, or practicefailing bUdDhIsT, or Presbyunitarian, or sufijudaistical mystic, or whateverrrr, one, which is to say I, agree with her on the subtle and blatant atavism that we bring forward, to a changed world, a changed demographic, and expect the people to adapt to the products, rather than have the products adapt to the people. I mean...who is boss here?

And while some may incorrectly guess "God", the real answer is that the onus rests on the slumponixonian shoulders of Mammon, and his gathering. Not a smattering, but a splattering hath this throwback foisted forth upon "we, the future", who should have known better, but who, in the meantime, are too busy rifling through carseats for change, as it is nowhere else to be found in our stay the course parade off lemming heathcliff. I mean Montgomery Clift. Mount Gomer.
(Pinterian pause)


As so it was that the Tarheel Tavern hath stepped proudly forth into this new realm beyond the yesterday, where songs needn't words, not words salads, nor salads breads, nor breads spoons, nor spoons nightmares, nor nightmares daze. These things I quoff into my hank gurdjieff, eternal footman, and butling, mathatma choate, all to lay before you, the treasures we all share, lest we not be here at all. As we are scarce as the breeze which cloaks all in her brief chancely dance, gasped as eternal. Fickle fackel tea.

So go. Rrrrrrrrrrrite!

Conservatives vs Progressives

Over at the Principles Project, there is a discussion on the difference between Progressives and Conservatives.

Here were my general observations:

1. Lakoff is spot on when he locates one major difference between the two POVs in each's image of God, and their imitation thereof.Conservatives tend to think of a Strict Father, Liberals and Progressives tend to think of a Nurturing Parent -- certainly less sexist right from the start. And their umbrella metaphor covers nearly aspect of each's worldview.
2. A second distinction cuts across the egoism/ego-transcendence spectrum, or egoism/altrusm. It has been my experience that people who are involved in, or who have transcended the Ego...tend toward the Progressive side of the dial. Same with altruists.
3. Creative vs Reactive. Bob Fritz wrote eloquently about these competing worldviews. Artists and other creative types tend to be progressives, while those who react against their creations are the Conservatives.
4. Conscious vs Mechanical. As DH Lawrence says, "Death is not evil, Evil is mechanical." Well so is War and so much else. As Gurdjieff says, humans are asleep. Mechanical automatons in the main. Consciousness is the way out. Progressives are not afraid of being conscious, living life authentically, not mechanically nodding the head to every bloviation that comes their way.
5. Fear vs Love. Conservatives are moved and motivated by fear, Progressives by love, its antonym.
6. Visionary vs Rote. Progressives dare to dream big, GOOD dreams. Not PNAC-grade malevolence. We know that vision is a reality, so to speak, and that visionaries, not just echatologistic armageddonists are to be valued and heard.
7. The world is our oyster. Progressives can draw from the wisdom of the ancients and the east, or wherever it is to be found. Conservatives tend to shun universities, professors, yogis, gurus, sages, seers...if they don't fit into their little box of acceptable reading. We can read Darwin AND the Bible...AND the Bhagavad-Gita, AND the Tao te Ching...
8. When money is no longer the summom bonum, and human capital, wisdom, intellect, creativity, goodness make their overdue rise...tides will turn, tipping points will be reached, and bright outcomes can once again be anticipated.
9. Racism. At least down here in the South, there is the racial component which cannot be underestimated. Some folks are Conservatives just to be among white folk, and many Progressives are so in order to stand in solidarity with non-whites, knowing among other things, that there is still gross inequities and injustices that need addressing.
10. Deference vs Autonomy. Conservatives tend to toe the party line, and defer to those they perceive as more powerful. Progressives are less likely to do this, especially when facing untruths or bad behavior.
11. Competition vs Cooperation. Consider the relationship between sports and competition, sports and war, war and competition. They are interrelated. Libs and Progressives tend more toward diplomacy, cooperation. And speaking of which...every Progressive should read "The Evolution of Cooperation", as it will will help build a better organization, society and citizenry.
Not comprehensive, but a start...


So...which is the most important distinction? Take the poll!

Greensboro, NC: When John Lennon Was Killed

On the anniversary of John Lennon's tragic murder, we reflect on Greensboro: December 1980. The "Greensboro Massacre" is just one year old.
Lennon Era Comes to an end as the Reagan Era is born

On December 8, 1980 John Lennon died, killed by the bullet of a madman. It was the year Ronald Reagan became President of the United States. Hard to say which event brought more grief...
With the election of Reagan, suddenly there was a whole new breed of hominid strutting about, cocks-of-the-walk, in alligator shirts, lime slacks, hingeheads. The square was back, the 50s were once again upon us. And the hip world went back underground.

I was living in a house on Friendly Avenue right next to the greenway with David Grogan and Chuck Newman, and dating Lucy of Charlotte. She was talking classes at the university, whereas I was only auditing classes. Buddhism, Ballet and the Electronics Music lab. I was also helping Bil (sic) Poole entertain dance classes by playing piano, and occasionally other instruments. I can think of worse jobs.

Greensboro was a hub of creative and intellectual activity, just as it is now, only now it is centered around the illustrious embarrassment of riches, in the form of bloggers. And a good number of the remarkables were students and teachers at UNC-Greensboro, formerly a women's college. The predominance of women in the University area provided the proverbial seedbed for creative activity, and, as in all times when the world turns upside-down and mediocrity is given its turn, the creatives and progressives find one another and pour their suffering into more creative outlets.

John Jones was arguably the best host for serious gatherings. There, he and his friend, Maria Robbins, would host parties for Grogan, Newman, Lucy, Dayna, Chance, Eric, Jonathan Franzel, Fred and Stan, John Pope, and a few other worthies. John would cook up a mahvelous meal in his wok, and allow us to dig through his wondrous library of books and music. John got me up to speed on Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies cards" in a van trip to Atlanta to see Genesis at the Fox Theatre, and his music was along that line of European avant-garde eclecticism, although he did have Americans Steve Reich and Phillip Glass among his collection. Everyone had the great Nonesuch offerings. Bil Poole was also an audiophile, and yet his collection was more heavily leaning toward the jazz side of the ECM label, where one could find folks like Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber , Egberto Gismonti, and even George I. Gurdjieff, who really wasn't all that jazzy. Speaking of Gurdjieff, Eric (I forget his last name) was reading Gurdjieff's "Beelzebub" at my prodding, and even read it the requisite 3 times. We were all probably a little to young and inexperienced to get much out of it, but it was a moment. What can I say?

I sat in on Paul Courtwright's Buddhism class, who, one day, packed into cars and drove to Duke University where Edward Said was speaking on Orientalism, after which Paul treated us to dinner at an Indian restaurant, where he taught us the proper form. It was my chance to see the beautiful Duke University, or Mister Said, who sadly died last year. And sadly, some in our circle have since died, namely John Pope and Fred. May their memories live on...

At night, we could often be found on Tate Street, at Rosewaters, New York Pizza, or Aycock...where such great performances as the Beijing Opera would play. Tashi, a wondrous ensemble with Ida Kafavian, Peter Serkin, Fred Sherry and Richard Stoltzman, came that year, and I can still hear the final strains of Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" playing in my head. Local favorites were F-Art Ensemble and Glenn Phillips.

One of the fellers, and Lord help me with his name, started up a film class, which showed, among other things Bergman's "Persona", Renoir's "The Grand Illusion" and the avant-garde works of Stan VanDerBeek...who came and gave a talk.

While all this creative activity was going on, there were also seminars and discussions on the KKK-Communist "Greensboro Massacre", which has happened in Greensboro the previous year...strangely. Around the University one could hadly image even a fistfight. Rocky Horror, RocknRoll High School and the Life of Brian were more on the minds than violence.

It was a heady time. It was also the year that I found a big colorful oak tree on the campus, plopped down one fall day and read the whole of the Bhagavad-Gita. A day my life changed. Just like when Lennon died.

The morning John Lennon died, I was awakened to a decidedly 9/8 rhythm pattern, with which I immediately fell in love. Chuck was playing Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk", and it was my first taste of 9/8. So my day started off with a musical theme. By nightfall music would have a very different role. It will die.

And so, as I painted the bare walls of my little room on Friendly Avenue, lost in reverie, smelling the curry onion eggs Grogan was cooking up, I heard the words come out over the radio..."John Lennon has been shot". And with news of his death, spontaneously, people gathered for a candlelight vigil at the University.

The Reagan era had begun. The Peacenik-in-chief had been silenced. No more giving peace a chance, it was a time for greed and mediocrity and John Wayne.

Within months I would pack my backs and move up to Cambridge, where a lot of other folks also found refuge from the brutal Godzilla.

Greensboro Today

Those days in Greensboro are still among my favorite, and I am so happy to once again connect to the city, through such creative souls as Ed Cone, David ("Get outta here!) Hoggard, Matt Gross and Billy the Blogging Poet, as well as the other great bloggers working there, including Ruby Sinreich, Dan Romuald, Jay Ovittore, Ross Myers, Tara Sue, and many other great folks.

I often wonder if any of the old gang of '80 and the bloggers of '04 know one another, as I know they would find kindred spirits. Or if any of the bloggers remember any of the events I have described. If so...please comment profusely!

Lastly, in today's Charlotte Observer, I wrote a graf on Greensboro and the blogosphere, which went like this:

View from blogosphere: Charlotte behind curve
Blogs are the cutting edge of democracy, giving everyone with access to a computer the ability to publish, free of charge and without space restrictions. "Blog" was also the most popular new word this year and is now to be found in major dictionaries.Greensboro and the Triangle seem to have a better grasp of blogging's importance than we do in Charlotte -- hosting conferences and tying in with newspapers and universities.
The Observer might do well to team up with local bloggers in order to help empower the community with this important new skill. North Carolina has a strong presence in the blogosphere, but it can be made stronger still. The best way to predict the future is to create it.
-Dave Beckwith

Please also feel free to comment to the Observer about your own observations...

Bush Considered "Arrogant". So what is Arrogance?

From ABC News
AP Poll: Voters See President Bush As Decisive and Arrogant; More See John Kerry As Intelligent

Of course, the headlines all say "Decisive" not "Arrogant"...although none seem to think arrogance is all that negative. They are wrong. Dead wrong...

Here's why:

Reprinted from Anonymoses 11/26/2003.

The Yin and Yang of Conservatism
The 7 States of Sickness

(from "Natural Healing Through Macrobiotics" by Michio Kushi)

1. Fatigue or Tiredness
2. Aches and Pains
3. Blood Diseases
4. Emotional Disorders
5. Organ Diseases
6. Nerve Diseases
7. Arrogance


FURTHER EXPLANATION

1. Fatigue or Tiredness - The major causes are lack of physical exercise plus over-eating and over-drinking, particularly meat and sugar.
2. Aches and Pains - The nervous system starts to weaken.
3. Blood Diseases - Thought incurable, these can often be cured by proper diet.
4. Emotional Disorders - This category includes problems such as irritability, impatience, upset, anger, anxiety, worry, fear, and uneasiness. A healthy person is not bothered by negative emotional states. If we become angry even once a year, we are not completely healthy. Ideally, we should not become angry even once during an entire lifetime.
(This was written before The Great Dewakening; The Current Unpleasantness. It could be argued that anger,as a defense mechanism, should be reserved for such times as these...although I much prefer Gandhean Satyagraha to vehemence and anger. Besides, there is always the Butterfly Effect to consider, as well as the even more subtle Taoist notion that one need not lift a finger, or make any ripple in the material world. A vision, well-wrought, can change minds and worlds effortlessly, internally. I digress...)
5. Organ Diseases - Organs begin to degenerate.
6. Nerve Diseases - Dullness, forgetfulness, social crimes.
7. Arrogance - This occurs when we try to separate ourselves from nature and the universe, and happens in one of two ways. The first is yang arrogance, and it appears in the form of a domineering, conquering, or self-insistent personality which tends to drive others away.
This yang arrogance is what George W. Bush, and many on the flagrant right-conservative site of the dial, have digested...although it occasionally takes root among those left of center...at which point they become neo-cons, after having passed through Dennis Miller.

"The yin type of arrogance shows itself in the form of withdrawal or a refusal to listen. Many of the elderly and and those who consider themselves devout or religious suffer from this form of arrogance. This type of person is usually not open to the opinions or suggestions of others."

Kushi continues: " Arrogance is actually the underlying cause of all human sickness and unhappiness and is at the same time the end point of the first six stages. Ultimately, all people who suffer from arrogance commit suicide by dying an unnatural death, either through sickness, war, accident, or other causes. The basic purpose of macrobiotic healing is to cure arrogance."

So here we have it. The explanation of what is today called "Conservatism"...although the only thing these folks are concerned about conserving is their ego; their arrogance -- whether it be in the form of Bush-style brashness, or the quieter, more obscurantistic hard-headed self-righteousness exhibited by the more reposed.

Arrogance is a killer...of self and others. It incorrectly places the ego where God, the Tao, the spirit, Stewardship, Magnanimity, or whatever name you call it, should be.

An image came to me last night which made me laugh. It was of a party where the brashest, most arrogant person arrives first...and every succeeding person had to one-up every preceding person. Imagine a Foghorn Leghorn, an Ahnold...followed by increasing degrees of Ahnoldness or Fogginess, if you will. How obnoxious can one party get?
Could such a party bear any fruit? Would any come out alive?

Arrogance is a perennial problem among those in power. We see it in the upper chambers of government and business...and we see the rotten fruit.

Arrogance is not to be confused with confidence. Post-docs are confident. Those with lesser degrees are arrogant...if I were to draw an analogy from the Academy. Those with a little education tend to be the know-it-alls, while the truly educated...continue learning. No room for arrogance when one is so outwardly focused.

arrogance and posterity

There is, I believe, a type of arrogance which might not be unhealthy, and it was discussed in Schoenhauer's essay, "On Genius". Here Schopenhauer talks about the "arrogance" of the writer or artist whose work is intended for posterity...or as some have said...that for whom one writes after having been rejected by the commercial presses. The "genius", as Schopenhauer says, may try to adjust himself to his times, and to the "artists" and critics of the day...but he will never attain greatness for having done so. His or her "arrogance" allows this de-gravitation, so to speak, from the chauvinism of contemporaneity.

Such folks are not in competition with one's regulars, but are rather in league with the guiding lights of the ages. Fixed stars, not shooting stars.

If one must be arrogant, let it be the kind of arrogance borne of having moved beyond one's own mere life or lifetime. The Mr. Creasotes of the world will eventually eat themselves to death. Not our concern.

I'll end with a quote that could well describe most liberals. It is from a book called, "How to be a Gentleman", by John Bridges.

"A gentleman never makes himself the center of attention. His goal is to make life easier, not just for himself, but for his friends, his acquaintences, and the world at large."

While a Conservative may succeed in getting to the point where friends and acquaintences are included within their sphere of concern...they always, always, fall flat on the last point. It is this point where Liberals go far beyond the current crop of Conservatives...at least among the more outspoken of them (there are always exceptions, of course) and shine as the true gentlemen and gentlewomen of our age, and, at times, all ages.

So rather than try and out-arrogate the RepCons...we can simply continue being the worldly gentlemen and women we are. Win or lose, we set the example, and live it. Simply living it will make for a better world. Is this not a worthy goal? Need we really be in some public driver's seat? The driver's seat is overrated...

The "Driver's Seat" is Overrated

At the end of "Beelezebub's Tales to his Grandson", Gurdjieff makes the following analogy of who and what we are:

Picture a Stagecoach. It is the body, and optimally we will keep it in good working condition...but this is not who we are. Sorry Ahnold!

There is also a Horse which moves the Coach forward. The Horse is our Will and Emotions. But it is not who we are. Sorry Adolph and George!

Then there is the Driver. He tells the Horse where to take the Coach.
The Driver is our brain. But it is not who we are. Sorry, Mr. Roverer!

Say what? We are not our brains either?? What gives?

The West, according to Mr. Gurdjieff -- who, after all had at least a double-digit IQ -- has forgotten the Passenger: The one who tells the Driver where to take him. When the Passenger gets to his destination...he gets out. And we mourn the carriage!

But there will be more carriages. Count on it. SUVs even...especially here in The United States of Biggie-Size-it. But we are not our cars, our carriages, our horses, or our brains. We are, as they say, souls who happen to have a body...not the other way around. For these few...when they die...they really die. But we are the animation; the passenger. And it is here where we all meet and interpenetrate within the supraphenomenal goo; the Eternal Thou; Ethernal Tao; Jones.

The passenger knows no arrogance. Arrogance is reserved for the carriage, the horse and the driver. Drive Miss Lazy! Time is but a material concern.

The Day After Tomorrow - seeing the pictures makes it more real

The Day After Tomorrow

"Everyone knew this was happening...seeing the pictures simply made it all more real and tangible somehow." - Donald Rumsfeld

"From the scientific point of view it is now very likely that there will be again another Ice Age, quite soon, in the world, that we shall have the north part of the world all frozen like it used to be, and we're beginning to have natural disasters, from the scientists' study it seems likely that we should soon begin to have these great changes in the earth's climate so people will not be able to live where they have, and the oceans will rise, and many cities will be flooded, like London, and Calcutta, and so on. These things, they say, will happen, according to scientific theory, in about forty years at the most, but maybe even quicker." - J.G. Bennett

This fragment of a speech by Gurdjieff protege, J.G. Bennett was included on an album by Robert Fripp, "Exposure" back in the '70s. To many of us, this is nothing new...

Air America Radio & The O'Franken Factor make Limbaugh look Fat

O'Franken makes Limbaugh look Fat


Liberal genius, Al Franken

Today was historic. A bone fide Liberal radio show made its debut, and while it was rocky for some internet listeners, it was certainly a far cry from the hyperventilative bloviance that has become the earmark, so to speak, of Reich Wing Radio.
Soft-spoken, genteel, aristocratic, Mr. Franken shows why he, and not Mr. Limbaugh, gets to go to Harvard.

But the difference goes beyond style. It is even more obvious in content. Rush has to say what his trainers and sugardaddies tell him to say. Mr. Franken can say anything he wants, being true to Harvard's dedication to free inquiry, free expression, free...dom.

Rush and the Reich are not so freethinking. Nor has Rush had the wondrous opportunities to learn from the greatest minds of his generation. Franken has used his mind well, and has the added benefit of also having a good heart. Rush, a druggie, is not safe for your children. Al Franken is. And he will, daily, show why he is the better role model, and more to be trusted.

Stay tuned. I will. I love to learn. Mere emotionality does not impress, no matter how loudly one proclaims it.


FUTURE SHOWS

Just like hollywood's Bob Roberts, so too does Rush Limbaugh, the fat man's messiah, usurp badges of the young and cool, like rock music...and plays it on his show, as if he too is cool by extension. Well, Al Franken needn't usurp. He already has the great musicians and songs on his side...from CSY to Beatles to Radiohead to Talking Heads. And I think it would be great if he were to use music to help convey the message. Buffalo Springfield, Patti Smith, Peter Gabriel...and on and on and on. Take the music back! Maybe have live performances, or host benefit concerts...

And what about guests? Of course there will be comedic greats, as well as political and philosophical greats. And Mr. Franken should not hestitate to make use of the Harvard Lampoon staff and alumnae. Conan did, and look at him! Delight and instruct! Bring your education to bear, and don't shy away from your superior education and connections. For years you have serves us with great good cheer. We will repay you with ears and mouths.

Do what the Limbaughs of the world are afraid to do: Let others speak. And reach high and low. Have Nobel prize winners and laureates as well as the word from the street. Do you think Desmond Tutu would ever appear on the EIB network? Fat chance! Tutu has taste and refinement. And no reason to overstate. Rush is the Head Overstater in charge of breeding an army of overstaters.

Learn from Conan and Letterman. There is never a dull moment on either show. And both relentlessly work at making each show better than the last. And it shows. This, along with an impressive guestlist...along with your natural wit, will endear listeners to return. The alternative is obsolescent, vacuous and atavistic. A backwards-running watch.

I expect the O'Franken Show to, one day, be as good or better than Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. You're off to a good start. Carpe Millennium!


ANONYMOSES SUGGESTS...

We, or rather, I, at The Mose, would like to make a few suggestions for future guests. I'll just brainstorm a few...
former SNL members, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Walter Cronkhite, Jon Stewart, Sting, Robert Fripp, Ian Anderson, Jon Anderson, Elton John, Joan Baez, Joan Shenendoah, Norah Jones, Phillip Glass, Peter Gabriel, Gore Vidal, Alexander Theroux, Jesus, Peter Gomes, Arthur Kleinman, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Martin Sheen, Aaron Sorkin, Peter Serkin, Andy Griffith, Maya Angelou, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Tom Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Iddybud, Flipper, Lassie, Robert Wilson, Robert Anton Wilson, Thom Yorke, Oprah Winfrey, Steven VW Beckwith, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Robert Borosage, Joe Conason, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Cher, Barbra, Monica even... Surely most would donate their time for a good cause.


TESTIMONIALS

Man! He ossum!
- Hank Gurdjieff

Air America is to the EIB Network what Albert Einstein was to Albert Spier.
- Prince Albert Gore Vidal Sassoon

Beyond the proverbial beyond. Even beyond that.
- Osama ben Franklin Roosevelt Greer Garson Kanin Abel

AM once again brings sunlight.
- Surreal McCoy

What do Frankenstein and Frankenchrist have in common?
- Nickle-Eye Rimsky-Corncob

Ya botha me.
- Debussy Fields


WHAT THE MEDIA ARE SAYING

Air America is new view in radio
Yale Daily News

Air America
NPR (audio), United States

Local Air America deal fails
Raleigh News, NC

Franken's Air America debuts
- Atlanta Journal Constitution

Air Apparent: New Radio Network Sees Profit in Liberal Views
Media Channel, United States

Anonymoses Presents: People I think I'd like.

Anonymoses Presents: People I think I'd like.

This will be an exercise in free association...

Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard, John Malkovich, Gary Sinese, Beck, Jeff Beck, David Beckham, Colin Firth, Peter Gabriel, Peter Brook, Peter Pan, Patty Pan, Patter Poon, Prune Tang (no, that's a drink I'd like to see), Gary Tang, Mel Brooks, Louise Brooks, David Brooks, Clara Bow, David Bowie, David Boies, David Byrne, David Brancaccio, David Bianculli, Spalding Gray, Chadwick Gray, Wilson!, Robert Wilson, Robert Anton Wilson, Phillip Glass, Tim Robbins, Ton Robbins, Kurt Vonnegut, Gore Vidal, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Jim Leach, Cary Grant, Grant Tinker, Tinker Bell, Lee Grant, Robert E. Lee, Lao T'se, Gautama, Jesus, Mohammed, Mohammed Ali, Socrates, King Wen, The Duke of Chou, Paramahansa Yogananda, Jon Anderson, Robert Fripp, Gurdjieff, Simone Weil, Martin Buber, Idries Shah, Jallaluddin Rumi, Coleman Barks, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Rep. Lincoln Chaffee, Senator John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Howard Dean, John Kerry, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Truthaddict Louis, Zhoodah, Zarah, Zarathustra, Neitzsche, Schopenhauer, Willard Quine, Sophie Freud Lowenstein, Alexander Theroux, Olivia DeHaviland, Audrey Hepburn, Juliet Binoche, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Whoopie Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Jim Beckwourth, Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Jerry Brown, Linda Ronstadt, Roberta Flack, Joan Armatrading, Joan Shenendoah, Norah Jones, Woody Allen, Ravi Shankar, Steve Reich, Robert Reich, Jeremiah, Baruch, Tia Tephi, William Shakespeare, Taliesin, Mary Magdalene, Mary Tyler Moore, Sherri Lewis, Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, Orson Welles, Orson Bean, Mr. Bean, Dziga Vertov, Tristan Tsara, Salvadore Dali, Marcel Duchamp, James Joyce, Sergei Eisenstein, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Baruch Spinoza, Henri Bergson, Fyodor Dostoyevskii, Yevtushenko, Steven Biko, Desmond Tutu, Kafe Annan, Dag Hamerskold, John, John-John, Jackie Kennedy, Robert Benchley, Red Skelton, Drew Barrymore, John Barrymore, The Beatles, Diane Rehm, Jim Lehrer, Bill Moyers, Daniel Schorr, Howard Rheingold, Stewart Brand, David Holtzman, Bob Dobbs, Moby K. Dick, Martha Loofa, Martha Graham, Twyla Tharp, John Cage, Bucky Fuller, Thom Yorke, Clare Short, Mayor Livingston, Tamara Beckwith, John Barth, T.C. Boyle, Pagan Kennedy, Johnny Depp, Walter Cronkhite, Edward R. Murrow

January the 13th: The Day the Earth was Spared

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Earth almost put on impact alert

January the 13th! The sound rolls off the tongue like pomegranate nectar off the lips of a nymph! The birthdate of Gurdjieff, King Crimson, Orlando Bloom and the great Anonymoses. And the death date of James Joyce, the other Bloom.

But now we find out that January the 13th was also almost the day the world ended. Or at least got a good whacking.

Should we let this taint our day? I say no...since, alas, it missed us.
(By "it" I mean an asteroid that came darned close.)

January the 13th. The day the earth was spared...

Oh yes. And also the day George W. "choked on a pretzel".

Sparks fly between Sunnites and Shiites

Insurgents Attempting to Ferment 'Civil War' in Iraq Sought Al Qaeda Help (washingtonpost.com)
Terrorists spark fear of civil war in Iraq as 50 die in car bomb

See Gurdjieff quote on psychic hatred and organic hatred...

"These two schools of the Mohammedan religion are called there the "Sunnite" and the "Shiite".
It is very interesting to note that the psychic hatred of each other formed in the psyche of the beings who belong to these two independent schools of one and the same religion has, on account of their frequent clashes, now been transformed completely into an organic hate.
Beings of certain European communities have during recent centuries greatly contributed to their incitement to the rise of this particular transformation on that strange being-function.
And they have employed and continue to employ this incitement in order that the animosity between the beings who follow these two independent schools of one and the same religion, should increase and that they should never unite, since if that were to happen, there might soon be an end there for those European communities.
...
And hence it is that accidentally arisen "newly baked" communities always rub their hands and rejoice when sparks fly between these Sunnites and Shiites, because they then count on a long and secure existence for themselves."
-G. Gurdjieff, "Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson" circa 1950

Arrogance is a Disease that often leads to War

The Yin and Yang of Conservatism

The 7 States of Sickness
(from "Natural Healing Through Macrobiotics" by Michio Kushi)

1. Fatigue or Tiredness
2. Aches and Pains
3. Blood Diseases
4. Emotional Disorders
5. Organ Diseases
6. Nerve Diseases
7. Arrogance


FURTHER EXPLANATION

1. Fatigue or Tiredness - The major causes are lack of physical exercise plus over-eating and over-drinking, particularly meat and sugar.
2. Aches and Pains - The nervous system starts to weaken.
3. Blood Diseases - Thought incurable, these can often be cured by proper diet.
4. Emotional Disorders - This category includes problems such as irritability, impatience, upset, anger, anxiety, worry, fear, and uneasiness. A healthy person is not bothered by negative emotional states. If we become angry even once a year, we are not completely healthy. Ideally, we should not become angry even once during an entire lifetime.
(This was written before The Great Dewakening; The Current Unpleasantness. It could be argued that anger,as a defense mechanism, should be reserved for such times as these...although I much prefer Gandhean Satyagraha to vehemence and anger. Besides, there is always the Butterfly Effect to consider, as well as the even more subtle Taoist notion that one need not lift a finger, or make any ripple in the material world. A vision, well-wrought, can change minds and worlds effortlessly, internally. I digress...)
5. Organ Diseases - Organs begin to degenerate.
6. Nerve Diseases - Dullness, forgetfulness, social crimes.
7. Arrogance - This occurs when we try to separate ourselves from nature and the universe, and happens in one of two ways. The first is yang arrogance, and it appears in the form of a domineering, conquering, or self-insistent personality which tends to drive others away.
This yang arrogance is what George W. Bush, and many on the flagrant right-conservative site of the dial, have digested...although it occasionally takes root among those left of center...at which point they become neo-cons, after having passed through Dennis Miller.

"The yin type of arrogance shows itself in the form of withdrawal or a refusal to listen. Many of the elderly and and those who consider themselves devout or religious suffer from this form of arrogance. This type of person is usually not open to the opinions or suggestions of others."

Kushi continues: " Arrogance is actually the underlying cause of all human sickness and unhappiness and is at the same time the end point of the first six stages. Ultimately, all people who suffer from arrogance commit suicide by dying an unnatural death, either through sickness, war, accident, or other causes. The basic purpose of macrobiotic healing is to cure arrogance."

So here we have it. The explanation of what is today called "Conservatism"...although the only thing these folks are concerned about conserving is their ego; their arrogance -- whether it be in the form of Bush-style brashness, or the quieter, more obscurantistic hard-headed self-righteousness exhibited by the more reposed.

Arrogance is a killer...of self and others. It incorrectly places the ego where God, the Tao, the spirit, Stewardship, Magnanimity, or whatever name you call it, should be.

An image came to me last night which made me laugh. It was of a party where the brashest, most arrogant person arrives first...and every succeeding person had to one-up every preceding person. Imagine a Foghorn Leghorn, an Ahnold...followed by increasing degrees of Ahnoldness or Fogginess, if you will. How obnoxious can one party get?
Could such a party bear any fruit? Would any come out alive?

Arrogance is a perennial problem among those in power. We see it in the upper chambers of government and business...and we see the rotten fruit.

Arrogance is not to be confused with confidence. Post-docs are confident. Those with lesser degrees are arrogant...if I were to draw an analogy from the Academy. Those with a little education tend to be the know-it-alls, while the truly educated...continue learning. No room for arrogance when one is so outwardly focused.

arrogance and posterity

There is, I believe, a type of arrogance which might not be unhealthy, and it was discussed in Schoenhauer's essay, "On Genius". Here Schopenhauer talks about the "arrogance" of the writer or artist whose work is intended for posterity...or as some have said...that for whom one writes after having been rejected by the commercial presses. The "genius", as Schopenhauer says, may try to adjust himself to his times, and to the "artists" and critics of the day...but he will never attain greatness for having done so. His or her "arrogance" allows this de-gravitation, so to speak, from the chauvinism of contemporaneity.

Such folks are not in competition with one's regulars, but are rather in league with the guiding lights of the ages. Fixed stars, not shooting stars.

If one must be arrogant, let it be the kind of arrogance borne of having moved beyond one's own mere life or lifetime. The Mr. Creasotes of the world will eventually eat themselves to death. Not our concern.

I'll end with a quote that could well describe most liberals. It is from a book called, "How to be a Gentleman", by John Bridges.

"A gentleman never makes himself the center of attention. His goal is to make life easier, not just for himself, but for his friends, his acquaintences, and the world at large."

While a Conservative may succeed in getting to the point where friends and acquaintences are included within their sphere of concern...they always, always, fall flat on the last point. It is this point where Liberals go far beyond the current crop of Conservatives...at least among the more outspoken of them (there are always exceptions, of course) and shine as the true gentlemen and gentlewomen of our age, and, at times, all ages.

So rather than try and out-arrogate the RepCons...we can simply continue being the worldly gentlemen and women we are. Win or lose, we set the example, and live it. Simply living it will make for a better world. Is this not a worthy goal? Need we really be in some public driver's seat? The driver's seat is overrated...

The "Driver's Seat" is Overrated

At the end of "Beelezebub's Tales to his Grandson", Gurdjieff makes the following analogy of who and what we are:

Picture a Stagecoach. It is the body, and optimally we will keep it in good working condition...but this is not who we are. Sorry Ahnold!

There is also a Horse which moves the Coach forward. The Horse is our Will and Emotions. But it is not who we are. Sorry Adolph and George!

Then there is the Driver. He tells the Horse where to take the Coach.
The Driver is our brain. But it is not who we are. Sorry, Mr. Roverer!

Say what? We are not our brains either?? What gives?

The West, according to Mr. Gurdjieff -- who, after all had at least a double-digit IQ -- has forgotten the Passenger: The one who tells the Driver where to take him. When the Passenger gets to his destination...he gets out. And we mourn the carriage!

But there will be more carriages. Count on it. SUVs even...especially here in The United States of Biggie-Size-it. But we are not our cars, our carriages, our horses, or our brains. We are, as they say, souls who happen to have a body...not the other way around. For these few...when they die...they really die. But we are the animation; the passenger. And it is here where we all meet and interpenetrate within the supraphenomenal goo; the Eternal Thou; Ethernal Tao; Jones.

The passenger knows no arrogance. Arrogance is reserved for the carriage, the horse and the driver. Drive Miss Lazy! Time is but a material concern.

FEAR: The New Slavery

"The crowd neither wants nor seeks knowledge, and the leaders of the crowd, in their own interests, try to strengthen its fear and dislike of everything new and unknown. The slavery in which mankind lives is based upon this fear."

- G. Gurdjieff

[aside: The pig-looking Rush Limbaugh, when confronted by the news that The Bush Administration has grown the biggest government in history, diverts and says..."and the Liberals are upset! And they wanted it!"
I don't know whether to say "thanks", or say "I knew you were lying..."]


"Death is not evil. Evil is mechanical."

- D.H. Lawrence

"'Progress' and 'Civilization', in the real meaning of these words, can appear only as a result of conscious efforts.
They cannot appear as the result of unconscious mechanical actions."- G. Gurdjieff

"Imagine that we are sitting here talking of religions and that the maid Masha hears our conversation. She, of course, understands it in her own way and she repeats what she has understood to the porter Ivan. The porter Ivan again understands it in his own way and he repeats what he has understood to the coachman Peter next door. The coachman Peter goes to the country and recounts in the village what the gentry talk about in town. Do you think that what he recounts will at all resemble what we said? This is precisely the relation between existing religions and that which was their basis. You get teachings, traditions, prayers, rites, not at fifth but at twenty-fifth hand, and, of course, almost everything has been distorted beyond recognition and everything essential forgotten long ago."
- G. Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff Video Trilogy

http://www.gurdjieff-legacy.org/30books/videos.htm

The DuVersity; Gurdjieff, Bennett, Systematics and the Enneagram - Solioonensius Talk - NY 1995

Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line. -Benoit Mandelbrot

Everything you've learned in school as 'obvious' becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines. -Buckminster Fuller


As above, so below

Thursday, August 15, 2002 -- Charlotte, NC
My life is fractal.
And, true to Mandelbrot's words, clouds are indeed not spheres, mountains are certainly not cones, coastlines are by no means circles, bark is nowhere near smooth, and lightning, well, lightning... Lightning, my friends, traveleth not in any straight line...unless, that is, it happens to be in searchez of moi, your author and companion on this fractal path which has been the cruel circumcisionstance of my risible existence -- plagued, as it has been, with lightning curses, dreams of flying, and the strange events surrounding my rendez-vous with 9/11, that horrific day in Manhattan all those many weeks ago...


You have got lots of good, clean yogurt. Just thought I'd say that. What I really wanted to say was that I think I may have figured out where I want to go with this writing thing, this albatross, this, this self-indictment. And it may or may not have anything to do with yogurt. Some things, you see, are beyond my control.
You see, my dear readers, the is a perfect metaphor for life in these peculiar times, if not, indeed, life at all times. But how freakin' lucky to have had it presented to us in this lifetime! Although scattered and seemingly chaotic...there is still an underlying design, architecture, which, when seen in the right light, shows itself to have a certain beauty, and a beauty which contains seeds of other beauties, and on and on, ad pukeum. As above so befuckinglow. So is it with life, so it is with this tome. Or so I would hope...


I sometimes think that the reason I attract lightning is that I am really the Acid Rainman, sprung full-dazzled from the head of the allmytighty hermself, asabovin' the sobaloney. But I may be wrong, as I was that onanother Tyme. Joyce infection! Joy sinfexion!

I have to apologize for my interior monologue. Like most people I have an inner and an outer self. And frankly my inner life is more richly splathered than my outer miserabilia, in nearly every way, save friends, family, music, words. So far be it for me to exclude my interiority from the record. I should, however, forewarn the editor that my interior voice likes to fuck with tools given it to convey its message, and as such, at least as far as I have noticed, it, like Joyce above it, relishes the tinkerage of langerage, I should say, to convey, by example, the meaning, I wish to convey.
Be that as it may, whatever that may mean, there still stands before us the words by the sagely Laurence Sterne, who says of his masterwork, which Schopenhauer hailed as being among the very best of all time, for its interiority I might add, that:

"[digression quote]"

And indeed, it was the great stony-headed Schopenhauer, in his "Art of Literature", who said that "a novel is great to the extent that it treats of interior things rather than exterior things". Thoughts over reportage.

I don't know, at this point, whether this story will wind up being tilted toward the one or the other. These are such interesting times Lord only knows what sort of fun will present itself as I piece together this time capsule for future lamperkins.

Among the recent events that have already occurred over the past few months what some have called the theft of the Presidency, the 9-11 attack on New York (which I happened, by fate of a cancelled flight, to have witnessed), the global warming floods of prophesy, too much water, too little water, the privatization of the world's water and next, air, the melting of the polar ice caps, the Middle East war, war with Iraq, the market collapse, a thriving eBay and still functioning Salon, yet a moribund Enron and WorldCom, the proliferation of the use of fear as a political tool -- i.e. home-spun terrorism launched on our own people, the death of impartiality, and pink has become the new black. I take my coffee pink. Not really. I just said I did.

In other words, the entire world may change dramatically while I'm talking to you, and you can bet that I will do my best to do my duty to my audience (you three) and report AND think, as best I know how, the goings on, as I, again, piece together these catechisms and catacombs of thought, knowledge, wisdom, dross, lists, and so on, necessary to complete the architecture that waits to be assembled around your mind as further on you read.

My promise to you is that that you will gain valuable, hard-won knowledge from having read this work the requisite three times. Indeed, I will even grant that one reading will give you more tools for daily living than a dozen novels you could find at B. Daltons or Waldenbooks...two places I never have to worry about carrying this work, I might add, nay, subtract.


Useful Pleasantries

Friday, August 16, 2002
I like to collect wisdom. And granted, the quality of one's knowledge is relative to the quality of one's being, and I haven't been the most disciplined evolver of my own being known to Man, OR Dog, and as such some of the knowledge which I have collected, in more evolved beings, might well manifest as wisdom or some simulacrum thereof, whereas in my case, it usually only registers as knowledge or information or nothing at all. A palimpsest maybe. Smoke signals. Bongo Death. One or two slip through though, and these are what sustain me in whacked out times such as these we are now sloshing through.

One of the bits I recently ran across, for example, is that of "useful pleasantries". Or as Gurdjieff, the peregrinative dehypnotist, put it: "Do what is simultaneously useful for others and pleasing to one's self". In that spirit, I will try to construct this work you are now reading. And I hope you find it useful, and that I find a degree of pleasantness in writing it...for God knows I have grown weary of living foot to mouth. My feet aren't as olfactively neutral as I once knew them.



Take the Low Road

"You take the high road and I'll take the low road
And I'll get to Scotland before ye..."
- Loch Lomond (Traditional Scottish ballad)


There is a piece of software over 5000 years old which still works fine, even on today's machines. It is basically an "expert system" which, when used properly, produces, among other things, impartial answers to your questions. The "I Ching" (Book of Changes) is that software. And it has and will have a greater shelflife that any Microsoft can muster.



Compensation

"Why do you think they call it compensation?"
- Surreal McCoy


We've got a problem here. Compensation is its name. It comes in many guises, but it is always a stand-in, an invisible man, for something else. You are a shorty or you have a microshnitzel, so you compensate by buying an SUV or some hotrod or maybe you dedicate your life to compensation, and become an expert at pulling it down, since, in this case, you are so rarely asked to pull down your pants, unless it is for a laugh or to please the schadenfreudists.



The Schadenfreudists

schadenfreude: pleasure at the misfortune of others. (ex: Reckless caccinations when someone trips on a banana, but not by smoking it.)