Faith in Faith Is For the Faithful
Sir Peter Scott believed in the Loch Ness monster so much that he went so far as to give it a scientific name in 1975- nessiteras rhombopteryx, meaning "Ness monster with diamond-shaped fins." London newspapers pointed out that the scientific name was also an anagram of "Monster Hoax by Sir Peter S."
March 7, 2021
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I was just playing racquetball and tripped midcourt while the point was still in play. I was on my back and my opponent's return went way up in the air toward the back of the court, so all I could do was scramble like that on all fours to try to get it on time. I missed it, but do you know what this means? I'm 51 years old and for the first time in my life I just experienced a practical application of crab-walking.
March 7, 2025
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We lost Stanley Kubrick on this day in 1999. I was with my parents, driving through the middle of nowhere in Arizona, and heard the news on the radio.
"I’ve never been certain whether the moral of the Icarus story should only be, as is generally accepted, ‘don’t try to fly too high,’ or whether it might also be thought of as ‘forget the wax and feathers, and do a better job on the wings.'"
March 7, 2022
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Prescient Barbie quote from Toy Story 3.
March 7, 2022
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An existentialist message from Kubrick on the 22nd anniversary of his non-existence.
"The very meaninglessness of life forces man to create his own meaning. Children, of course, begin life with an untarnished sense of wonder, a capacity to experience total joy at something as simple as the greenness of a leaf; but as they grow older, the awareness of death and decay begins to impinge on their consciousness and subtly erode their joie de vivre, their idealism — and their assumption of immortality. As a child matures, he sees death and pain everywhere about him, and begins to lose faith in the ultimate goodness of man. But, if he’s reasonably strong — and lucky — he can emerge from this twilight of the soul into a rebirth of life’s elan. Both because of and in spite of his awareness of the meaninglessness of life, he can forge a fresh sense of purpose and affirmation. He may not recapture the same pure sense of wonder he was born with, but he can shape something far more enduring and sustaining. The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light."
March 7, 2021
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I had a dream last night that a universally beloved figure came from out of nowhere to take on Trump and win the presidential election- you guessed it, Nelson Mandela of course.
Now that I'm awake and thinking rationally, I don't think Mandela would stand much of a chance.
March 7, 2020
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My favorite Bible verse is probably, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," from Exodus 22:18.
March 7, 2015
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David sent me a pic from Fairmount
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Newsflash: Stephen Colbert just called Newt Gingrich a Cabbage Patch Adult.
March 7, 2011
Postscript- One of the all-time great insults!
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I bought a box of Boo-Berry on the way home from a burn barrel session at Leon's, and I'm sure what says about me, although I'm pretty sure it's good.
March 7, 2009
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Alexander Graham Bell patented the "telephone" on this day in 1876. And here I am right now, writing on one.
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On this day in 1965- Bloody Sunday. A group of 600 civil rights marchers were brutally attacked by state and local police in Selma, Alabama.
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March 7, 2024
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Townes Van Zandt joined us on this day in 1944.
PANCHO AND LEFTY
Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
And now you wear your skin like iron
And your breath as hard as kerosene
Weren't your mama's only boy
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams
Pancho was a bandit boy
His horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words
Ah but that's the way it goes
All the Federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows
All the Federales say
They could have had him any day
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose
The poets tell how Pancho fell
And Lefty's living in cheap hotels
The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold
And so the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers it's true
But save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do
And now he's growing old
All the Federales say
We could have had him any day
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose
A few gray Federales say
We could have had him any day
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose
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Rik Mayall joined us on this day in 1958. Damn, I really wish he was still with us. The People's Poet.
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Wanda Sykes joined us on this day in 1964, and like 40 years later she was joking about Larry David's scrounging for ass underneath the bleachers.
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Jenna Fischer was born on this day in 1974, eight days after me. She had one of the greatest lines in the history of television.
“Finally, I want to thank God because God gave me this Dundie, and I feel God in this Chili’s tonight.”
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Other notable birthdays- Bryan Cranston (1956), Rachel Weisz (1970)
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Saint Thomas Aquinas left us on this day in 1274.
"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."
Doesn't that sound like an argument against faith? He meant it as an explanation for the value of faith. Nice to know that he needed to make the argument back in the 1200's.
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Divine left us on this day in 1988, just as she was about to Star in Married... With Children, which I think would have catapulted her to widespread fame. Not sure if Al Bundy's jokes about her would have held up!
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Other notable deathdays- Cool Papa Bell (1991)
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Errol Morris's ESPN shorts.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/03/06/errol_morris_espn_shorts_on_grantland_watch_the_errol_morris_week_docs_even.html
March 7, 2015
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Does the president have improper or illegal ties to Russia? It would explain his infatuation wit Putin, but we don't really know. If a Republican led investigation concludes he doesn't, we still won't know. A special prosecutor will either clear him or incriminate him. So what's he worried about? If he wants to unite the country, he can join the majority, and be on the side of transparency.
http://hill.cm/c7yGAqH
March 7, 2017
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Politico- 8 Tricks for Defending Trump
Perhaps you'll find this list useful or interesting. I'd add one:
Blurring reality with fantasy- they state a lie as fact and when called on it they don't admit error but change it to a hypothetical. They say that if it's proven true it will be very big news, but they should have had the proof before stating it as fact.
http://politi.co/2mv2UzI
March 7, 2017
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Word Fun:
5 Syllable Grammagrams
Effeminacy- FMNC
Obediancy- OBDNC
Expediency- XPDNC
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Justin Estcourt
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Most ridiculous college football names. First I was smiling, then I was laughing, then I just kept laughing and laughing.
Dude Person?
Pig Cage?
Kool-Aid Mckinstry??
Parker Titsworth??
Storm Duck??
Phat Watts???
https://1075thefan.com/playlist/funniest-college-football-player-names-of-2023/item/9
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Rabindranath Tagore- "The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life."
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Ricky Gervais- "Can't those posh idiots who pay to kill endangered species, pay to shoot poachers instead? Harder, more justified targets. More sporting."
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Edna St. Vincent Millay- “I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.”
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Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451- "Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore."
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Steven Hawking- For centuries, it was believed that disabled people like me were living under a curse that was inflicted by God. Well, I suppose it’s possible that I’ve upset someone up there, but I prefer to think that everything can be explained another way, by the laws of nature. If you believe in science, like I do, you believe that there are certain laws that are always obeyed. If you like, you can say the laws are the work of God, but that is more a definition of God than a proof of his existence."
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Noam Chomsky- "The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate."
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Arthur Schopenhauer- "A man finds himself, to his great astonishment, suddenly existing, after thousands and thousands of years of non-existence: he lives for a little while; and then, again, comes an equally long period when he must exist no more. The heart rebels against this, and feels that it cannot be true."
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Hunter S. Thompson- I’m a word freak. I like words. I’ve always compared writing to music. That’s the way I feel about good paragraphs. When it really works, it’s like music.
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Chris Rock, hosting the 2016 Oscars- "This year things are gonna be a little different at the Oscars. This year in the “In Memoriam” package, it’s just gonna be Black people that were shot by the cops on their way to the movies."
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Errol Morris- "I love commercials, unreservedly. The haiku of the West. And I like to think of consumerism as the most effective preventative to genocide yet devised. If someone shows up at your door and asks you to hack your neighbor to death with a machete, you're less likely to do it if you have prior plans, say, to go and buy a DVD player."
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Kahnman- "Intelligence is not only the ability to reason; it is also the ability to find relevant material in memory and to deploy attention when needed."
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Hagakure- "Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige's wall there was this one: ''Matters of' great concern should be treated lightly.'' Master lttei commented, "Matters of small concern should be treated seriously." Among one's affairs there should not be more than two or three matters of what one could call great concern. If these are deliberated upon during ordinary times, they can be understood. Thinking about things previously and then handling them lightly when the time comes is what this is all about. To face an event anew solve it lightly is difficult if you are not resolved beforehand, and there will always be uncertainty in hitting your mark. However, if the foundation is laid previously, you can think of the saying, "Matters of great concern should be treated lightly," as your own basis for action."
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Mitch Hedberg- "I like to drink red wine, this girl says "Doesn't red wine give you a headache?" "Yeah, eventually. But the first and the middle part are amazing." I'm not gonna stop doing something because of what happens at the end. "Mitch, do you want an apple?" "No, eventually it'll be a core.""
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