Saturday, September 04, 2010

A Dumptruck to Unload My Head

Another shitegeyser of random barrel scrapings. I don't know if it helps anyone else, but it certainly helps me to reduce the clutter on my desk. In any event, just consider this another open thread to unload your own head.

The Incarnation: God and Man at Yule

Logorrhea, or the loquation of the word

Just as we can grasp physical things due to our opposable thumbs, we can only grasp mental and spiritual things because of our opposable brains, i.e., conscious <--> unconscious, right <--> left hemisphere, spirit <--> letter, fact <--> allegory, etc.

Ideology is not just the study of idiots, but then again perhaps it is. Atheistic ideologues, seemingly devoid of irony, try to rely solely on reason without the barest appreciation of its intrinsic limits. Always ask: what is your first principle, and how did you arrive at it? The rest is entailment and commentary.

What is The First Principle of the Unprincipled? If it is any variety of horizontality, then it is death. For them, In the beginning is the surd.

Quantitative man can never illuminate but only eliminate the individual, the unique, the non-standard, the immeasurable, the one-of-a-kind.

The free market transforms supposedly selfish impulses into social goods, while the left transforms supposedly good impulses into social chaos, self-centeredness, and evil: it is a farce multiplier. One must always read between the lyin's.

Conservatism is a method of self-rule; leftism is a method of self-indulgence or self-release which must then outsource control to the state.

Childishly angry leftists = hater tots.

Celibates follow the path of lust resistance.

Metaphysical Darwinism: as below, so above.

Religion is a further extension of mind into the mental, a scaffolding, template, or frame of reference with which to "see" religious facts that are ontologically prior to it. Without this frame, most people will miss the inexhaustible bounty of the Unseen. Just as the eye requires a mirror to see itself, so too does the soul. Revelation is this mirror.

It is important not to conflate religion with the facts it is supposed to illuminate. It is not the facts, but points to them. Our inborn gnosophilia can become saturated if we are not mindful of this. Language is to reality as moon is to sun, which is why it is so prone to lunacy.

A spiritual practice is arranging your own birth.

Come for the truth and beauty, stay for the eternity.

Anus miribalis, Latin for what an extraordinary asshole!

Speech by Obama: sound of the One's bland yapping.

Multi-slacking.

Jesus dived on the live granade.

Lao Tsunami: a celestial wave breaking on the shore of time, or (?!).

Rejected name for Log Cabin Republicans: Pink Elephants.

After November, being a statist hooligan will be uncool again.

My Unfair Lefty: Why can't a Democrat be more like a man?

Turns out that the financial backer of the NYC Islamic center is a mosqued bandit.

Do you remember the first time you kissed a book?

*******

Party's over: first day of kindergarten.





59 comments:

Alan McCann said...

Love these.

Have you ever thought of just twittering these?

It's a whole other audience who can ignore this great work ;-)

Matthew C Smallwood said...

I just got interested in your blog. It has actually helped me a great deal, appreciably in fact...

I am not sure about your reasons for resigning/restructuring, but you apparently have done a great many people a deal of good.

I'll try to purchase the Book?

BTW, a lot of those I hang with consider Left vs. Right distinctions useless (I don't agree), but I've noticed that most ex-Leftists don't agree either. It's always seemed to me that the Left is essentially materialistic.

julie said...

Matthew, I suggest diving into the archives (scroll all the way down the main page) and perusing at random. You won't be sorry.

Gagdad Bob said...

Alan:

I don't see myself tweeting, but if I did, my nick would certainly be OmTweetOm.

Tigtog said...

To Gagdad re: football season

There is one thing I am ignorant of and that is your favorite football team. Is it the 49ers?

Gagdad Bob said...

My favorite team is the Los Angeles Rams. Thus, my interest in football plummeted after the great betrayal of 1994, so I only catch the occasional regular season game plus the playoffs.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"The free market transforms supposedly selfish impulses into social goods, while the left transforms supposedly good impulses into social chaos, self-centeredness, and evil: it is a farce multiplier. One must always read between the lyin's."

LOL! That sums up leftist economics purty well, I think.

Jack said...

Listening to "Stars of the Lid" which is some oddly affecting and beautiful ambient. They cite Arvo Part as an influence but I don't really hear it except for possibly the intent. But I can't say for sure about their intent either.

Unlike more extroverted music, some ambient seems to be able to reach into places in my self that more structured, rhythmic music simply is unable to do.

I am taking a break from caffeine (particular coffee) and this is the perfect soundtrack for pristine slack (or more accurately: slack with withdrawal headaches).

Here's to the 3-day weekend honoring slack!

julie said...

David Warren on the rock-pig-squeal effect:

Conversely, I don't think I could have raised such a howl, had some part of my own name-calling not hit something. For here we come to a great secret in the art of name-calling: that the outrage increases with the accuracy of the epithets. It is why only epithets with some truth in them are likely to be banned.

Stephen Macdonald said...

julie:

Warren certainly nailed the phenomenon when it comes to gay militancy. Nothing outrages the elite faster than a barb directed at homosexuals, and nothing can destroy one's career faster than straying outside the politically correct line. (Which is a BIG part of the reason I create my own organizations, and never, ever work directly for big business or government -- well for the past 20 years or so).

David Warren is one of my favorites along with Sowell and Prager when it comes to solid spiritually-grounded wisdom. He doesn't pull punches in a country (Canada) where unlike the relatively free US, one can be tried and convicted (losing your house and assets, although not imprisoned - yet) simply for uttering the wrong words about a secular "sacred" group. Mark Steyn has also been on the business end of this fascist/leftist "Human Rights Tribunal".

Make no mistake, American leftists would institute such "tribunals" in a heartbeat should they ever truly get their way.

Tigtog said...

To Gagdad re:

"Thus, my interest in football plummeted after the great betrayal of 1994, so I only catch the occasional regular season game plus the playoffs."

Is the great betrayal of LA equal to great betrayal of Cleiveland and soon to be betrayal of St. Louis? They may be coming back to you. I never understood why they went from blue and white to blue and yellow. I personally liked them better in the old blue and white. In the meantime you are welcome to follow the Redskins. Doing so will further develop your spiritual growth, since rooting for them requires a deep belief. Further, being a Redskins fan always offers the pinheads an opportunity to preach to you about the sins of "racism". Its always fun to play with such twits. Its always fun to point out to them that our logo came from the U.S. nickel.

Gagdad Bob said...

That was a great essay by Warren.

Tig:

"Is the great betrayal of LA equal to great betrayal of Cleveland and soon to be betrayal of St. Louis?"

No, because God obviously intended the Rams to be in Los Angeles, just as the Dodgers and Lakers. (BTW, I'm pretty sure that Georgia Frontiere murdered Carroll Rosenbloom in order to carry out her foul deed, but that's another story.)

Conversely, the Clippers and Angels never belonged here, to say nothing of the Raiders.

And I do hold a place in my heart for any team that fends off political correctness, e.g., Braves, Indians, Redskins, etc. Why aren't Catholics offended by the Padres, or communists by the Reds, or people with glandular disorders the Giants?

To this day, my middle school's team name is still the Spartans. One wonders why they haven't preemptively caved in to imaginary Greek activists.

julie said...

Tigtog,

Doing so will further develop your spiritual growth, since rooting for them requires a deep belief.

Following the Cardinals is similarly effective...

Anonymous said...

The first time I kissed a book huh? I think that must have been in 3rd grade when I was reading the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes. So unless my parents tried to smother me w/ the Chronicles of Narnia as an infant then SAC Doyle was definitely my first.

julie said...

The genius of Shatner:

“A pro takes the job knowing it’s not a great role, just a paying job. But every word has music in it. My satisfaction is trying to reach that music.”

Tigtog said...

To Gagdad re:

"To this day, my middle school's team name is still the Spartans."

I don;t think you will have to worry about that team name, everyone knows Spartans were gay. Its protected.

You will see the Rams back in LA in the near future.

Gagdad Bob said...

Good meditation by David Warren on work and slack.

Stephen Macdonald said...

David Warren is definitely a coonish sort of fellow, through and through -- right down to the weekly insultainment at the expense of leftists. A few years ago he converted to Catholicism because the Anglican (Episcopalian) church was becoming far too liberal.

julie said...

"Work is not rabbit."

I like that.

I see Joseph convinced you to try the Sertillanges. It did look like a good book, from the bits I read via the "search inside" button. You'll have to let us know if its worth the namaste.

Gagdad Bob said...

Future Leader won a yo-yo at a carnival yesterday, so I was teaching him how to use it. I checked You Tube to show him some tricks, and found this freak. Yo-yo has come a long way since I was a lad. Good to know that some things are actually progressing.

Tigtog said...

The Yo Yo guy is amazing. Never saw anything like it.

Julie, thanks for the link to the Shatner article. Still laughing. The man is a magical genius. He just lets life come to him and is grateful for it all. AN. AMAZING. ROLE. MODEL.

Jack said...

Warren's article hit the perfect note for today. A good reminder.

I hope you are all enjoying some serious slack today...or better yet, some of the unserious kind.

Happy "labor" day!

ge said...

i had a bit more luck & fun with TOPS as a kid----made i think also by Duncan? they had clear sharp plastic replaceable tips and snap-off upper lids for storage; got so i could throw it not onto the ground but snapped it up in the air then caught it still spinning madly to throw it up & catch several more X b4 it stopped.
[wheee] and i recall the unique tickle created in mid-palm by those new sharp toptips spinning

julie said...

More wonders of beer.

Van Harvey said...

Gagdad said "No, because God obviously intended the Rams to be in Los Angeles, just as the Dodgers and Lakers. "

As an original Los Angelean, the Rams were also my favorite team, and when we moved to Vegas, I lost all track of football.

However... benefiting from the treachery, it was obviously the divine plan to reunite the Rams with me, and so they were, through much wonderous deeds, sent to follow me to the wilds of St. Louis.

Woo-hoo!

Unfortunately they seem to have, perhaps through a golden calf, lost their winning mojo, and so I'm cursed not with the loss of the Rams... but with gaining them.

Sigh.

"To this day, my middle school's team name is still the Spartans. One wonders why they haven't preemptively caved in to imaginary Greek activists."

As am I for our local High School, The Spartans. There was even, as late as 2004, a teacher to openly spoke in an honor society assembly, of the real remembrance of Spartans defeating Persians in defense of liberty... the '300' and so forth... it was quite a remarkable speech - I was stunned to hear it. And not surprised when he didn't return the following year.

But still the name remains the same.

Gagdad Bob said...

Surprising that they can still have a team called the "Fighting Irish." If only people had a sense of humor about themselves, we could have the Neurotic Jews, or Inscrutable Asians, or Duplicitous Arabs....

Tigtog said...

How about the "Tolerant Whities"? Could something bad be found in that name? Or one the left would love the "Oppressive Statists".

Rick said...

RE "work and slack", from the Shatner article:

"I got back into Shatner’s truck. I asked him how long he can keep up his furious pace before he retires. He snapped: “Retire! Retire! You mean go fishing in Montana? What does that mean: you hated the whole life you lived?”..."

Gagdad Bob said...

An oddly melancholy day, with the fallish weather outside matching the inside. Just saw Future Leader off to his first day of kindergarten. What an unexpectedly powerful symbol of loss!

Thank God it's a religious school, so he'll still be in a spiritually safe environment. To see him in his little school uniform was quite a spectacle. Clothes are one of the things that differentiate man from the beasts, so to say that he looked like a "little man" is fraught with ambivalence as well. My baby's all grown up!

Mrs. G dropped him off. Taking bets on whether she bursts into tears when she returns home and walks in the door.

Van Harvey said...

Gagdad said "What an unexpectedly powerful symbol of loss!"

I still remember that first day of school with each of our kids. And knowing there is a complementary balance to the event... doesn't quite penetrate to where it all feels out of balanced.

Tears... they have a purpose.

wv:deigiong
I think that one's open to interpretation.

julie said...

Re. FL - Aw, what a sweet mental picture. How did he do? Sometimes, it's just as tough for the kids as for the parents.

Give Mrs. G a hug for me. I have a while before that day comes, but I know I'll be a wreck.

Was just thinking yesterday, how the sweetest moments contain the seeds not only of joy but of sorrow. This is a perfect example.

Gagdad Bob said...

Well, I was totally wrong. Tristan handled it with aplomb, and Mrs. G was the first parent who was able to leave. And she feels fine about it. It's only me!

I think because it awakens my own traumatic memories of school. First, I always became a little depressed in September, as the return to school felt like a recapitulation of the fall from paradise.

But I also began kindergarten at only four and a-half, before I was emotionally ready. I'm sure it triggered a lot of separation anxiety and abandonment depression in me....

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

First day is tough even for dads so I can only imagine how it is for moms.

I'm bettin' FL adjusts well and makes more friends. That will soften the blow a bit.

julie said...

:)

I think there's almost always one parent who gets upset. No law that it has to be the mom, though.

JWM said...

First day of school...

Yesterday, Mary and I took the bikes out for a cruise. Perfect temperature, sweet air, and mellow golden light in the fall afternoon. We rolled past the parking lot of one of the local churches just in time to see a young dad with his two little kids, also on bikes. The boy, maybe four, was zipping around the lot yelling "I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" at the top of his little voice. Then I noticed the training wheels, unbolted from the bike, lying on the ground at the dad's feet.

Way too cool.

JWM

Gagdad Bob said...

Photos added.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Thank God it ain't a public school.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Are those gummi bears? That's where I would sit too. :^)

FL looks rather mischievious...in a good way.

julie said...

Aww, look at that grin.

Ben, I was thinking the same thing about the gummy bears - no wonder he's smiling ;)

Gagdad Bob said...

Mischievous? He's already auditioning for class clown. Just added a third photo...

Van Harvey said...

"Mrs. G was the first parent who was able to leave. And she feels fine about it. It's only me!"

Heh... same here. Wife to me:"Van, it's kindergarten. Get over it."

No traumatic memories on my end... just knowing where some of the teachers minds have been, I didn't and don't like the idea of them getting their hands in my kids head. And behind that excuse... the moment of them leaving for school... just strummed the silvered sounds.

Fall is as good a time for it as any.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

LOL! I think FL wins that position. It's a real blessing (and a pain in the butt for mom and dad). :^)

Rick said...

Nice pics. I was just going to ask if you to care to pack the whoopee cushion.

The first day was fine for us too. By us, I mean the boy. It was the first day of 1st grade that was tough. We just moved from Grandmaville at the end of that summer. The cloud of that never completely went away. He says he wants to buy our old house someday. Says it every so often. That's how he sticks it to us :-)

julie said...

When I introspect my first principle, I discover it is to achieve physical homeostasis

Oy.

I do not think those words mean what you think they mean.

***

Still waffling between imbecile and moron; this makes me think it's more the former than the latter...

ge said...

http://nevergetoutoftheboat.blogspot.com/
has Plant's new album, courtesy NPR

Tigtog said...

My boy starts school tomorrow. At nine you are more concerned with the free time Mom has versus the bittersweet parting. Looking forward to Fall Baseball. Sam is planning to make the move from shortstop to pitcher. I can't wait until he experiences successfully handling the position. While in-fielding is great, the responsibility you feel when taking the mound is completely different. It will focus your mind to a much higher degree than just reacting to a live ball. He has had a couple of outings this spring in relief, but so far has not had a successful outing as pitcher. Fall ball is the time to stretch your wings and grow. Dittos for him swinging a heavier bat.

Tigtog said...

To Anon re:

"Spartans were not gay. Well, not all of them."

Yes they were. Not that there is anything wrong with that. So were the SA, from the head down. There are many rumors that Hitler himself was a male escort before meeting Rohm and becoming such a good public speaker. You know those good public speakers make great executives.

julie said...

You know all those Star Trek scenes where the crew "crashes" around the control room during laser blasts, and you can't help wondering why nobody uses a seat belt? Here's what that sort of thing looks like in real life. Suddenly, cruises don't look so benign...

Tigtog said...

Julie, try this on an LST or Destroyer. You literally have to strap yourself into your rack and wait for it to subside. Nothing like typhoon season in WestPac.

julie said...

What really surprises me is the other video - same cruise (annoying music alert), but on one of the lower cargo decks.

How do they not have that stuff secured? And just as important, how do they even begin to clean up when all the heavy machinery is smashed up? I'm guessing that was the end of that cruise...

Tigtog said...

I wonder what their insurance policy covers and doesn't cover. I would imagine a lot of land lubbers would file suit after a ride like that. Do cruise companies have different rules that land based companies under tort law?

julie said...

Hm. Not my husband's specialty, but I think the deal is that if they're out of US waters, whatever happens is outside US law. If memory serves, there have been cases of rape and assault that happened on cruises originating from and returning to the US that have caused massive legal problems because nobody had jurisdiction, or the ship was registered in a foreign port (so subject to that port's laws when something questionable comes up). It's also why many of them have casinos, which only operate when they are out of US waters.

All that being the case, I'd imagine as a passenger it would be very difficult to claim and receive damages, unless they buy insurance specifically covering that voyage. I'm pretty sure everyone has to sign a release essentially stating that since ocean conditions are unpredictable and sometimes dangerous, they're cruising at their own risk. I think the standard MO when something goes awry is to give passengers a voucher for a free cruise in the future (as if you'd really want to go back after that...).

julie said...

Heh - new wv: maties

Yaarrh.

Stephen Macdonald said...

Today I had lunch with a smiling, zoned-out Buddhist who is also the CEO of nitro-burning biotech startup. Talk about conflicting vibes...

Leslie Godwin said...

Just saw the pix and comments. Nice to hear from other parents at various stages.

I thought I was going to cry when I saw him in his uniform, and when I left him at school the first day. I was determined not to impose my feelings on him, but it seemed like I would have a lot of feelings.

I guess I was so aware of my feelings leading up to today, that I was just really happy and calm.

The other moms' feelings ran the gamut. Some were blase...these were their second or third kids. Others were bouncing off the wall excited. But the kids were all doing great. It's just another day at school for them, and there are tons of cool toys and books and activities to explore.

The best was when all of us stood for the pledge of allegiance and all of the adults said it with the children trying to learn the words. The we crossed ourselves and the teacher said a prayer for the day. That was really touching.

ge said...

Lucy lee sex video, satellite organs secrete from no world for a hermetic photography to pain for a free hysteria

a Bosched translation?
Winnegans Fake

[i looked up the italicized words]

Sal said...

Oh, pictures! My biggest unvoiced regret of OC shutting down: no more new photos of FL.
So, thanks!

Looks like he's out to conquer the world. I'll say an Ave for his teachers...

Alas, Ben, I think those are counting bears for math work. They are cute as puddin' pie, but inedible.

julie said...

Hi Sal - that reminds me...
Could you send me an email?

Anonymous said...

What's with the young Brad Pitt kneeling and pointing behind future leader?

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