Jimi Hendrix's 1968 song "Voodoo Chile". Watch it performed by Luna Lee on a Gayageum,
a traditional Korean stringed instrument. (The first Gayageum dates back to the 6th century ...)
Friday, March 29, 2013
3:52 pm
Welcome to the Easter long weekend, kiddies! Cut 'er loose!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
9:31 am
"Sometimes I think I must have a Guardian Idiot. A little invisible spirit just behind my shoulder, looking out for me...only he's an imbecile."
"Sadly, the error has grown more and more common with time, such that even journalists, advertisers, and major mass media entities have fallen prey to 'BTQ Abuse.'"
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
3:38 pm
"I have, like many other disabled veterans, come to realize that our mental and physical wounds are of no interest to you, perhaps of no
interest to any politician (emphasis mine). We were used. We were betrayed. And we have been abandoned."
This might be turning into a continuing theme, do ya think? Scroll down to March 17, 5:44 pm below. Admittedly, this IS one of the bees in my bonnet.
I'm still trying to get them to fly in formation. If I can ever accomplish that, I (we) will be formidable.
(What? Not enough yet, my conservative friends? You need more? Okay.
More.)
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
12:08 pm
Rick Mercer asks - and answers - the question, "Just how stupid do they think we are?"
"I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly
think any gentleman will deny it."
- John Stuart Mill, Letter to the Conservative MP, Sir John Pakington (March 1866)
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
4:50 pm
Remember, offense is not something that is given, it is something that is taken.
Let this be a lesson to you.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
5:44 pm
A long time ago (1979? 1980? Thereabouts ...) anyway, back in the days when being a civil servant was something to be proud of (I KNOW, right? - I mean, can you IMAGINE!?) I boarded a Hercules aircraft and,
along with a bunch of high school guidance counselors and employment counselors (of whom I was one!) went on a tour of Armed Forces bases on Vancouver Island.
We spent the first half of the week at Esquimalt at the naval base, and the remainder of the time half-way up the island at Comox - the Air Force base.
On the way out, our hosts - the Captains of the recruiting depots in Saskatoon and Regina - advised us that we would see a difference in the accommodations between the two bases,
with the naval base being, shall we say, "more spartan".
This, they explained, was typical of the Navy's attitude, which could be stated thusly:
"Were you warm? Were you dry? Then what are you bitching about?"
It was a great tour, btw, and I renewed and maybe even increased a great respect for those people - our friends, our families, our children - who put themselves at our disposal.
Who sign up and put their lives on the line for us.
"May the blessing of light be on you -
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire."
Bienvenido al fin de semana, chicas! Vamos a bailar!
Friday, March 15, 2013
7:18 am
Bertrand Russell's Ten Commandments for Living in a Healthy Democracy
1: Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2: Do not think it worthwhile to produce belief by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3: Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed.
4: When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5: Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6: Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7: Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8: Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9: Be scrupulously truthful, even when truth is inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
Now read this. Then ask yourself, "Do I live in a healthy democracy?"
Here it is again, in a different format. This is for my Conservative friends who can't read. (Okay, WON'T read - this, or anything that might cause cognitive dissonance.)
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
9:28 am
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
3:52 pm
Believe it or not, I am still trying to be a better person.
Not in the sense of "EVEN better" - heavens NO! - but in the sense of trying in the face of all evidence to the contrary for some improvement.
It was, in fact, this philosophical conundrum that occasioned my (some say premature, others say long overdue) exit from Facebook.
I know there are times when I should just take a big suck on the shutty-up-sickle. I know it. But it seems that when the devil lands on my shoulder
(he looks a LOT like Jack Nicholson, btw!) and says, "Go ahead, Mikey. Say it. You know you want to. Don't worry ... I'll back you up ..."
it seems that I am powerless to resist.
I DID resist posting this (keep reading) for 24 hours, hoping that Jack Nicholson would go away.
No.
He's still with me.
As is Angry McPointy.
As is my disgust and dismay at being represented by a bunch of ...
sorry, too many adjectives.
There are Canadian kids right now taking a razor blade to the Canadian Maple Leaf sewn on their backpacks and replacing it with the Stars and Stripes
Seriously!!! Mind blown!!! Can you explain to me what passes for thought processes in folks south of the Medicine Line? To my friends and relatives who winter among them: do YOU understand this?
Here's a thought. It might not have been so dangerous to leave -
IF YOU HADN'T GONE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!
Here's another thought:
IT'S SAFER TO STAY???
Sorry. I'm going to get that prescription refilled first thing next week.
Promise.
Friday, March 8, 2013
2:47 pm
Welcome to the weekend, kiddies.
"You got to ride baby ride"!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
2:05 pm
How I Got In The Cupboard
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
8:25 am
Monday, March 4, 2013
5:00 pm
Forget Newton and Galileo ...
Here are the real laws of nature:
1. Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.
2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.
3. Law of Probability-The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.
5. Supermarket Law- As soon as you get in the smallest line, the cashier will have to call for help.
6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now.
7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.
8. Law of Close Encounters- The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.
9. Law of the Result- When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.
10. Law of Biomechanics - The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
11. Law of the Theater & Hockey Arena - At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle, always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave
their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early,
never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies and stay to the bitter end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.
12. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.
13. Murphy's Law of Lockers - If there are only 2 people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.
14. Law of Physical Surfaces- The chances of an open-faced jam sandwich landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug.
15. Law of Logical Argument- Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
16. Brown's Law of Physical Appearance - If the clothes fit, they're ugly.
17. Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet.
18. Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy-As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.
19. Doctors' Law- If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better.. But don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick.
This has been proven over and over with taking children to the pediatrician.
Monday, March 4, 2013
4:20 pm
Sunday, March 3, 2013
5:15 pm
We take our marching orders from the U.S., it seems. And the U.S. - and US - we BOTH of us take our marching orders from Big Businesss.
