Eyeball Plus Zero Equals Eyeball

Watching that Beatles documentary was a strange mix of torture, enlightenment and everything in between. A few passing thoughts: 

-John and Yoko are the type of people who would have one Facebook profile as a couple. 

-I have no problem with Yoko, she seems like a perfectly nice person. But it's seriously creeps me out seeing her just sitting beside John day after day totally silent. And then even worse when she screams on the freakout song. My skin crawled when they said that she spoke for John at the reunification meeting at George's house. 

-Somehow equally shocking as the fact that John and George are no longer around is the fact that somehow Paul, Ringo and Yoko still are. 

-The old lady pissed off that the Beatles woke her up from her nap with the rooftop concert... I'm not going to speak ill of the certainly dead, but at least now she has an eternity to sleep without something so dreadful ever happening again. 

-Those cops who shut down the rooftop concert... they are among history's greatest villains in my book! I wonder if a few of them are still around to discuss it. 

-I saw something awesome at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum years ago. They had a special, temporary Beatles exhibit, and it included one of John's report cards. Some teacher had written something like, "If John ever decides to take things seriously instead of thinking up witty things to say, he might actually make something of himself." I like to imagine that snide remark motivated John for the rest of his life. But I have to say... many times during that documentary I commiserated with that teacher! I almost had to take a Dramamine while watching his frenetic energy. 

-You know who I really liked and who came off great- Ringo! I've always liked him. I think he might be the one I gravitate to the most. The first five hours or so he just has that blank expression, not like he's grumpy but more like he's bored, like his role in the band is just way too simple for him to the point it can barely hold his attention. I think during one of the recordings he was drumming with one hand and drinking with the other. Then what peps him up in the third act? Freaking Octopus's Garden of all things! And it really captured George's imagination too! 

-I love when Paul was talking about watching the videos of their trip to India, and how he noticed a lot of them don't seem like they are themselves in it, like they are playing roles. George's response is something along the lines of- "Maybe our personalities are the real act and the goal is to discover who we really are behind them." 25 years old at the time! That was a guy with some depth. 

-As many have already said, it was unbelievable to see Paul's creation of Get Back from a nugget into an actual song. It's hard to explain, but it wasn't even like he was creating it, it was more like he was discovering it, like it had already existed somewhere and he chiseled it out. Chiseled it out of what? I don't know! 

-Same with Don't Let Me Down. I had probably watched the YouTube video of it several hundred times over the years. Before they have the song right, you want to reach in there and shake them. 

So after barely being able to stand the first half hour or 45 minutes, now I feel like I might go back and watch the whole 8 hours again.

December 4, 2021

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George Carlin- "Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone driving faster than you is a maniac?" 

When Covid was at it's peak I was very cautious. After vaccinations kicked in and rates plummeted I became much less cautious. I had to get three rapid tests in the last few weeks. (All negative.) Today I heard the doctor tell the person in the room next to me that he's positive. I'm going to start to be really cautious again. 

Here's why I bring this up. Did you ever notice that no matter the circumstances, when you're not wearing a mask the people who are seem way overly-cautious, and when you are wearing a mask those who aren't seem not nearly cautious enough? 

Carlin really captured a universal human principal- anybody doing anything different than us must be nuts! 

I could be in the Aldi parking lot maskless thinking, "look at that idiot!" And the next second I could be inside with a mask thinking, "look at that maniac!" Once you catch yourself thinking this way you can adjust your psychology.

December 4, 2021

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Defund the Police That Shut Down the Beatles Rooftop Concert!

December 4, 2021

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If there was a catastrophic hurricane in Texas while Obama was president and running against Romney, and Obama met with the Texas governor and said congressionally mandated aid was contingent on the governor opening an investigation into Romney's shady business dealings in Texas, thus branding him a criminal... Obama would and should have been impeached. 

Notice that it doesn't even matter if Romney's shady business dealing was or wasn't true... it'd be a serious abuse of power by Obama either way, since he'd be undermining the integrity of the next election.

(Paraphrasing and twisting some of the impeachment testimony today.)

December 4, 2019

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Every once in awhile I like to remind myself there's at least one Republican who would be absolutely head-over-heels, out of his mind overjoyed if Trump would be impeached- Pence! I mean let's be honest.

December 4, 2019

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Zuzu said this the other day- "1+0=1, 2+0=2, 5+0=5, 10+0=10. Now I'm going to say something funny. Eyeball+0=Eyeball."

Only 3 and she understands the concept of variables, not bad.

December 4, 2018

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It would be wrong to say that Donald Trump is thin-skinned. There's no way his protective membrane can be categorized as skin.

December 4, 2016

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Look at Gretel's big 3-year-old muscles.

December 4, 2016

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Did you see what Hillary said about the SNL Hunt for Hill sketch about her being an elusive forest-dweller?

"Totally biased, not funny and the McKinnon impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad."

Wait, I'm sorry... that's what she would have said if she was a psycho.

December 4, 2016

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Borowitz- "I worry that Donald Trump's attacks on Saturday Night Live are distracting him from starting a war between China and Taiwan."

December 4, 2016

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Voltaire- “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”

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2016 crop planning today.

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I'd rather be killed than wear reflective clothes while running, or a bike helmet while riding bike. Irrational but true.

December 4, 2011

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On this day in 1956, the Million Dollar Quartet of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash got together at Sun Studio for the first and last time.

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Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers on this day in 1969.

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On this day in 1992, Neil Papworth, an engineer at Vodafone, sent the world's first text message to Richard Jarvis using an Orbitel 901 handset. 

The message- "Merry Christmas."

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The Roman poet, Persius, was born on this date in AD 34.

"We consume our tomorrows fretting about our yesterdays."

Wow, that was about 726,000 yesterday ago.

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English historian and philosopher, Thomas Carlyle, was born on this day in 1795.

"What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books."

"If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of it."

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Rainer Maria Rilke, was born on this day in 1875.

"Perhaps somewhere, someplace deep inside your being, you have undergone important changes while you were sad."

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Jeff Bridges joined us on this day in 1949. Some people consider today a holiday, Slackernalia.

“The Dude abides.”

“That rug really tied the room together.”

“I’m the Dude, so that’s what you call me. That or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.”

“Smokey, this is not Vietnam, this is bowling. There are rules.”

“Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

"Sooner or later you are going to have to face the fact that you’re a moron."

“Obviously, you are not a golfer.”

"I had a rough night and I hate the Eagles, man."

“Careful, man, there’s a beverage here.”

“This aggression will not stand, man.”

"Hey, I know that guy, he's a nihilist."

"At least I'm housebroken."

"Strikes and gutters, ups and downs."

"Ha hey, this is a private residence man."

"I can't be worrying about that shit. Life goes on, man."

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Omar Khayyám left us on this day in 1131.

"If you hope for eternal rest, feel the pain yourself; but don't hurt others.”

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Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, left this one to stay in 1679. His last words:

"I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap into the dark.”

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Hannah Arendt left us on this day in 1975. Huh, I shared the Earth with her for almost 2 years.

"The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil."

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Another notable deathday- Frank Zappa (1993)

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Abandon your best instincts and watch these dadgum fishing bloopers!

https://youtu.be/iK_h-2kot6s

December 4, 2009

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PBS- The 25 greatest documentaries of all time

Phenomenal list! Out of their list of 100 there are only 14 i haven't seen. The top 20 is almost exactly as i would have made it. But paris is burning? What is that? Number 2, and i've never heard of it???

http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/2012/12/the-25-greatest-documentaries-of-all-time/

December 4, 2012

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IFLScience- Magic Mushrooms Help Treat Existential Anxiety In Cancer Patients

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/magic-mushrooms-help-treat-existential-anxiety-cancer-patients/

December 4, 2016

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Forbes- Trump's election led to a surge in hate crime infographic

"The SPLC called on Trump to take responsibility for his actions and repair the damage he caused, as well as for him to denounce racism and bigotry and reconsider key appointments."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2016/11/30/report-trumps-election-led-to-a-surge-in-hate-crime-infographic

December 4, 2016

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Axios- Exclusive: Trump lawyer claims the "President cannot obstruct justice"

Forget the last 10+ months and let's start fresh today. A president asserting that they are above the law is, plain and simple, a wannabe tyrant that needs to be removed from office immediately.

https://www.axios.com/exclusive-trump-lawyer-claims-the-president-cannot-obstruct-justice-2514742663.html

December 4, 2017

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Dodgeball Legend: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1576822056099878

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Khayyam again- "Drink wine. This is life eternal. This is all that youth will give you. It is the season for wine, roses and drunken friends. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."

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Bertrand Russell, from New Hopes for a Changing World- "Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them."

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Gore Vidal- from The Best Man, "Well, as Bertrand Russell said, people in a democracy tend to think they have less to fear from a stupid man than an intelligent one. I think it's the other way around. I think it's the stupid man."

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Oscar Wilde, De Profundis- “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”

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Voltaire- "The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity."

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Jon Stewart- "The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected dangerous flaming ant epidemic. If we amplify everything we hear nothing."

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Woody Allen- "God is silent. Now if only man would shut up."

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Twain- "In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them."

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Churchill- "We can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities."

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Silverman- “When I was in high school, I went out with my father’s best friend. And that’s embarrassing... My father, having a fourteen-year-old best friend. What a loser”

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Shandling- “It's not the hair on your head that matters. It's the kind of hair you have inside.”

Addendum 

Myspace Blog

Giving Thanks to Sartre

Here's the gist of a nice Thanksgiving Day argument I had with my uncle.

For some reason I brought up the fact that there are movies that I wouldn't spend the money to see, but wouldn't mind seeing for free. I went further to say that although I wouldn't do it, I saw nothing wrong with sneaking into a theater to see one of those movies. He didn't agree, telling me that it was called "stealing."

Me- Yeah, but since nobody loses anything, and someone gains something, it can't be wrong can it?

Him- It's still stealing and stealing is wrong.

Me- Stealing is wrong because someone loses something and in this case nobody does.

Him- If you don't want to pay, you shouldn't see it.

Me- If I want to see it badly enough to pay, then morally I should pay. But I didn't want to see it that badly. Accepting that as true, nobody loses anything.

Another uncle- It's called "theft of services."

Me- It's also called "a victimless crime." And what's wrong with a victimless crime? If the theater was full and somebody who would have paid was turned away, or if they wasted electricity playing the film and heating the place just for me, then it would be morally wrong, but otherwise I don't see how it is.

Him- There aren't degrees. You're depriving the owner of money he deserves.

Me- I'm not depriving him of any money because he wouldn't have gotten any anyway.

Him- It's against the law and that's it.

Me- Hmmm.

There's nowhere to go from there so I let that be the end of the conversation. There were many more things I could say though.

I could have broken it down and asked, "If I decide that I don't want to pay to see a movie, then the theater is not going to get any money. Is that true or false?" But even after accepting that, he would have immediately reverted to pronouncements instead of arguments. "Thou shalt…" rather than "The reason thou shalt is…"

I could have asked if stealing bread to feed your family was a gray area in the morality of stealing?

And the topper- In Nazi Germany it would have been good to be against the law, right? If so, then it's not enough to say, "It's the law." We need to decide for ourselves whether a law is just or not. It's always helpful to look at extreme examples to help define morality, but most people just get upset.

Nobody ever said it would be easy to get the Christians to renounce the 10 Commandments and convert tothe self-guided morality of Existentialism.

Postscript- God, I don't miss these ridiculous debates. It's embarrassing to think about how many years I thought some of those people were capable of thinking more deeply than the surface. Now I accept it, but I shake the feeling that there's a little bit of inherent disrespect to accepting their limitations.