Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Ramblings

It's a pity gals come with price tags.

Nothing deep tonight but bring me deep sleep - NOT. The fool stays awake trying to manufacture something deep.

'Twas my turn to be cryptic!

I was going to say something...what was it?

Oh, yes, now I remember: 'On this Earth, who is well? Who is sound and untroubled in body, mind and spirit? No one, for very long, is at peace. All are like the hungry ghosts of Eastern lore. To be human is to be deeply unhappy.'

But don't let the above get you down, matey! : )


2 poems of Sappho:

"The moon has set, and the Pleiades; it is midnight, the time is going by and I recline alone.
The sinking moon has left the sky,
The Pleiades have also gone.
Midnight comes--and goes, the hours fly
And solitary still, I lie.
The Moon has left the sky,
Lost is the Pleiads' light;
     It is midnight,
     And time slips by,
But on my couch alone I lie.
             J. A. Symonds, 1883.
This singularly beautiful fragment is quoted by Hephaestion as an example of metre. With the "Hymn to Aphrodite" it was the first portion of the Poems of Sappho to be printed in 1554."

&

"Happy bridegroom! Now has come thy wedding as thou wished, and thou hast the maiden of thy desire.
Thou happy bridegroom! Now has dawned
  That day of days supreme,
When in thine arms thou'lt hold at last
  The maiden of thy dream.
From Hephaestion."

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Full speed ahead!

I've finally decided not to buy any more lottery tickets (i.e. no more gambling 'cos that's what it is).

'The only way to win at gambling is not to gamble.' RW copyright 2014.

Gambling is referred to euphemistically as 'gaming'; usually with the accompanying slogan 'winners know when to quit.' I think winners know when not to start! How many lives have been devastated by gambling!

Every now and again I receive an e-mail from an online dating service - I'll not name names - inviting me for yet another brief free trial. I unsubscribed months ago but yet I still receive their pesky lures. No thanks! I say. It simply doesn't work for me. It's a disheartening business.

It's time to stop doing the wrong things and start doing the right things. I have yet to say: 'No more drinking alcohol.' That's a tough one 'cos sometimes a beer goes down well but if truth be told beer tastes horrible. Most fruit juices easily top the taste of beer, most sodas too; so why choose beer? I reckon it must have something to do with the slight 'buzz' you get. Alcohol is an addictive drug. It forms tolerance in you which means you need to drink more alcohol to produce the same 'buzz'. I can thank my lucky stars I don't do the hard alcohol (high alcohol content drinks like whiskey, for example).

So, no more gambling, no more online dating - full speed ahead! : )

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

A good article




In the article, mention is made as follows from the section entitled ‘Reality and Meaning’: “First, the person must perceive that certain aspects of reality exist. Second, the person's mind or emotions must somehow create significant meaning from this reality. The reality is "out there" but meaning and purpose are then added by us individually and collectively. With the possible exceptions of God and advanced extraterrestrials, no aspect of reality directly tells us the meaning and purpose of the universe; instead we have to interpret or create the meaning ourselves.”

From our normal point of view this holds true. However, zen and other perspectives on the perennial philosophy (see Aldous Huxley’s book The Perennial Philosophy) insist that a flower, or anything or everything points directly to its own transcendence (replete with the full meaning and purpose of the Universe or Multiverse, and ourselves), which can be experienced in the eternal now or in eternity, in our everyday experience as embodied beings.

For those seeking ultimate meaning it’s really that simple and that difficult. Is that my personal belief? I say it isn’t because it’s beyond belief : )

On a related but not-so-mystical note:
‘Where you are now (your actual physical location, no matter how drab) is as important as any other place in this Universe, and no less mysterious.’ That’s one of my beliefs, anyhoo.

(I may have mentioned this elsewhere in this blog.)

And that’s about all I have to say on that : )


Sunday, August 17, 2014

Some of my favourite cinematic moments



These are moments that have to be seen to be appreciated. Here are the films and a brief description of the scene.

For Your Eyes Only (1981)


My recollection:
Bond tosses the ATAC device down the sheer cliff-drop where it is destroyed far below. Bond says, ‘You don’t have it and we don’t have it.’ The Russian soldier motions to shoot with his machine gun but General Gogol cries out, ‘Niet!’ and stays the soldier’s hand. The general smiles and makes an approving gesture at Bond with his hands. This is an awesome scene hard to describe. It is greatness personified.

Obtained from wiki above:
Gogol arrives and genially asks for the ATAC; Bond suddenly throws it over the side of the mountain where it shatters hundreds of feet below. Gogol is visibly shocked at first but Bond replies "Detente, Comrade! You don't have it, I don't have it." Gogol suddenly smiles and leaves, obviously humored.

Octopussy (1983)

A desperate Bond in his clown suit appeals to the US Base Commander about the hidden Atom bomb. This scene is noteworthy because it showed us Bond’s humanity.


Obtained from Octopussy wiki above:
Bond has trouble getting into the American military base, and gets into the circus disguised as a clown. The American guards let him go after he is identified by Octopussy, and he manages to defuse the bomb just in time.

The Mummy Returns (2001)

Towards the end of the movie, Brendan Fraser’s character and Arnold Vosloo’s character are both hanging on, the pit of hell yawns beneath them. Fraser exhorts Rachel Weisz’s character to get away and save herself but she doesn’t and instead rescues him. The mummy (Vosloo) exhorts Anck-Su-Namun (pronounced Anak-su-namun) to come and help him but she runs away. How Vosloo reacts and what he does next is what makes this such a great scene.


I will add to this if I remember more great cinematic moments.

Where I found info on the Bond films starring Roger Moore:

Idea for a Bond movie:

How about a Bond movie starring Roger Moore as a retired agent who is now a grandfather? His granddaughter is spending the weekend with him. One of his old enemies has tracked him down and invades his country home with a bunch of other thugs. Bond becomes aware of the armed intruders and hides his granddaughter in a safe place (a concealed space prepared years before). He confronts the thugs, perhaps eliminating 2 or 3 of them but he is old now and not as fast as he used to be and is overpowered and disarmed of his Walther PPK. His nemesis appears: it is Drax! It turns out that the one he killed and vented into space (in Moonraker) was a twin brother (or this one seeking revenge is a clone). Bond makes a final witty remark and then the screen goes black for a few moments. Bond was shot and is now dead. His granddaughter survives. Hugh Grant plays the man who married Bond’s daughter, and who finds himself becoming an unwilling participant in the spy game, and who is eventually pitted against Drax-2 who killed his father-in-law, Sir James Bond (knighted due to his years of faithful service).

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

R.W. dies

Wherever Robin Williams is now he is surely making them laugh!

Exploding into that other realm with his customary exuberance: Hi God! Long time no see!

: )