is interested only in
the most trivial success-stories
and in the most infantile of politics,
which is another reason why
democracy has failed.
Dingo the Dissident
Wednesday 31 October 2012
The musician
in Dhrupad
is no magician
but simply the trained
and inspired, ego-less connector
with death and pre-birth,
with sublime nothingness.
is no magician
but simply the trained
and inspired, ego-less connector
with death and pre-birth,
with sublime nothingness.
Tuesday 30 October 2012
I will 'go gentle
into that good night',
because I did not want
to come into the light,
of duty, obligation,
blame, responsibility,
bereavement,
hubris, despair, and all
the complicated kinds
of wrong and right
that eat into our porous minds.
Monday 29 October 2012
Generosity of spirit
has no place in sport,
business, or politics.
Which is why the world
is worse than it ever was.
business, or politics.
Which is why the world
is worse than it ever was.
Sunday 28 October 2012
After visiting
the local band of gentle brothers
who smoke dope together every day,
all day, and cook rude meals together
in companionable harmony,
I thought:What a pity Our Dear Lord
did not use cannabis or harmal -
thus saving (probably) this fragile world
from millennia of misery. Such a pity
that he instead was into religiosity.
who smoke dope together every day,
all day, and cook rude meals together
in companionable harmony,
I thought:What a pity Our Dear Lord
did not use cannabis or harmal -
thus saving (probably) this fragile world
from millennia of misery. Such a pity
that he instead was into religiosity.
Saturday 27 October 2012
Which is worse –
a dealer in dope
or a dealer in hope ?
(It depends on the dope.
It depends on the hope.)
or a dealer in hope ?
(It depends on the dope.
It depends on the hope.)
Friday 26 October 2012
Lamentation upon the Earth
becomes ever greater - but the word
lamentation
is archaic, merely Biblical -
like turning swords into ploughshares
and going forth and multiplying,
which, in propinquity of time,
will cause ever more lamentation.
In the Beginning was the Word,
and the Word was Lamentation.
lamentation
is archaic, merely Biblical -
like turning swords into ploughshares
and going forth and multiplying,
which, in propinquity of time,
will cause ever more lamentation.
In the Beginning was the Word,
and the Word was Lamentation.
Thursday 25 October 2012
"Intelligent life on a planet comes of age
when it first works out the reason for its own existence."
Comes of age ?
Reason for existence ?
I would have thought, Professor Dawkins*,
that a definition of intelligent life
would have nothing to do with a reason for existence
(which is just another form of Prime Mover, or god),
and indeed, truly intelligent life
would be way beyond the adolescent fantasy
of seeking a reason for existence.
*in The Selfish Gene, 1976.
Comes of age ?
Reason for existence ?
I would have thought, Professor Dawkins*,
that a definition of intelligent life
would have nothing to do with a reason for existence
(which is just another form of Prime Mover, or god),
and indeed, truly intelligent life
would be way beyond the adolescent fantasy
of seeking a reason for existence.
*in The Selfish Gene, 1976.
Wednesday 24 October 2012
Tuesday 23 October 2012
The creature
with the biggest brain
cannot think
what to do with it
beyond asserting its mere superiority.
cannot think
what to do with it
beyond asserting its mere superiority.
Monday 22 October 2012
Perception Management
So wrote Muamar Gadafi.
Western leaders think the opposite.
Either way, democracy is a sham.
But of course there might be other definitions,
for example:
Democracy is government by explanation,
consultation and participation -
if only that were possible.
Sunday 21 October 2012
Émile Cioran wrote:
'Write for those who have not long to live.'
But there is no guarantee that they are any wiser
or more receptive than when they left the womb.
I write for those who will never be born
- and will of course be spared a life,
a destiny, a pointless tomb.
Saturday 20 October 2012
Puzzled Outsider
I don't understand love
(except as respect or,
on the other hand,
infatuation).
I don't understand grief
(except as self-pity)
and I am incapable of
understanding wilful
insemination.
(except as respect or,
on the other hand,
infatuation).
I don't understand grief
(except as self-pity)
and I am incapable of
understanding wilful
insemination.
Friday 19 October 2012
From cruelty to animals for fun
to cruelty to children,
from dancing bears
to child pornography,
from whipping horses' eyes
to gang-raping children,
modern Man has indeed progressed.
No wonder that we're all depressed.
from dancing bears
to child pornography,
from whipping horses' eyes
to gang-raping children,
modern Man has indeed progressed.
No wonder that we're all depressed.
Thursday 18 October 2012
London,
Not yet approved by Her Majesty's
Health and Safety Executive (HaSEX)
but approved conditionally
by Her Majesty's Willy Inspectorate
and the Office of Male Sexual Regulation
(Ofcock).
Wednesday 17 October 2012
Alas! I was not always so saintly.
I don't want
more than I have
because I have
more than I want
- much more than I need.
The rest - of life - is greed.
more than I have
because I have
more than I want
- much more than I need.
The rest - of life - is greed.
Tuesday 16 October 2012
Fifty years after
the Cuban Missile Crisis
we are part of the whimper
which thinks it's
the only show in town.
We parade, we destroy,
we torture, we simper.
When will we all fall down ?
we are part of the whimper
which thinks it's
the only show in town.
We parade, we destroy,
we torture, we simper.
When will we all fall down ?
Indignation
If dignity comes
only through employment,
there is no dignity.
And what about enjoyment ?
only through employment,
there is no dignity.
And what about enjoyment ?
Monday 15 October 2012
Religion
is the recruitment
and mobilisation
of the wilfully superstitious.
Breeders need
to think wishfully.
and mobilisation
of the wilfully superstitious.
Breeders need
to think wishfully.
Isn't it disturbing
how often we need permission
to tell the truth - when, if we
had any moral sense whatever,
we should seek permission to tell lies ?
to tell the truth - when, if we
had any moral sense whatever,
we should seek permission to tell lies ?
Sunday 14 October 2012
The ancient, apparently-gormless are great survivors
and will probably outlive us by a few million years.
"Cuttlefish are arguably the most fabulous animal of the ocean,
often posing for cameras whether asked to or not." - 'Eduardo'
Millions of pink-grey-beige people
now have lives far, far better
than people had 50 years ago.
The opposite is true for pigs.
than people had 50 years ago.
The opposite is true for pigs.
Saturday 13 October 2012
Sold yesterday for over £23 million ($34 million)
Gerhard Richter: Abstract Composition (upside-down) |
Well, it's not bad - but better upside-down.
I'd give maybe £250 (€300, $350) for it.
But then I'm a painter, not an investor,
not a fool - and not a con-man.
THE MORE ARTIFACTS, THE LESS ART.
Alcohol-smuggling
costs the United Kingdom a billion pounds
($1.5 billion) every year
in lost tax-revenue.
But how often do we hear
about it ? Our 'free press'
would rather report on 20 cannabis plants
seized in suburbia, or how some parentally
deranged teenager took more than a little
too much Ecstasy - plus alcohol,
paracetamol and god-knows-what
(though of course we're not told that)
at someone else's 'party'
and ended up in hospital.
($1.5 billion) every year
in lost tax-revenue.
But how often do we hear
about it ? Our 'free press'
would rather report on 20 cannabis plants
seized in suburbia, or how some parentally
deranged teenager took more than a little
too much Ecstasy - plus alcohol,
paracetamol and god-knows-what
(though of course we're not told that)
at someone else's 'party'
and ended up in hospital.
Friday 12 October 2012
Voluntary breeders
in the overpopulated
factory of misery that is our world
are so heartless and selfish
and, let's face it, mad,
that I am aghast, agape
with outrage - and slightly glad
to be the product of a rape.
factory of misery that is our world
are so heartless and selfish
and, let's face it, mad,
that I am aghast, agape
with outrage - and slightly glad
to be the product of a rape.
Advance Directive
I, being of sounder mind than most,
wouldn't care at all
if you murdered me tomorrow
for my generous weekly pension,
my passport, my credit cards,
my free bus-pass,
my paintings, my identity -
or for no kind of worldly gain -
so long as it involved
no violence or pain.
wouldn't care at all
if you murdered me tomorrow
for my generous weekly pension,
my passport, my credit cards,
my free bus-pass,
my paintings, my identity -
or for no kind of worldly gain -
so long as it involved
no violence or pain.
Thursday 11 October 2012
'The truth shall make you free'
is a Christian* idea
inextricably enmeshed
in the belief in progress.
But how can one indefinable,
unmeasurable abstraction
produce a measurable increase in,
or a transformation of, another ?
Free from what ?
Free to what ?
Our criterion for judging religions, however,
should not be the narrow and splenetic
matter of truth and falsehood
- it should be æsthetic.
(*John VIII, 32)
inextricably enmeshed
in the belief in progress.
But how can one indefinable,
unmeasurable abstraction
produce a measurable increase in,
or a transformation of, another ?
Free from what ?
Free to what ?
Our criterion for judging religions, however,
should not be the narrow and splenetic
matter of truth and falsehood
- it should be æsthetic.
(*John VIII, 32)
My friend Al
who lives in Colorado
says that the United States
is not really a nation
or even a country -
but a nest of corporations.
says that the United States
is not really a nation
or even a country -
but a nest of corporations.
Wednesday 10 October 2012
The best news for thousands of years.
"US scientists aim to create human sperm
from stem-cells".
Now that women can control their own fertility
(despite the imams, mullahs and the Pope)
and sperm can be 'designed' by women
to produce a gentle, intelligent species
(like bright, beneficent bonobos),
a brave new world of hope
may rise from the patristic shit:
men need not be frightened of
masturbation,
and can even turn happily,
unpenetratively homosexual
to save the planet from horrific
overpopulation.
(If only!)
from stem-cells".
Now that women can control their own fertility
(despite the imams, mullahs and the Pope)
and sperm can be 'designed' by women
to produce a gentle, intelligent species
(like bright, beneficent bonobos),
a brave new world of hope
may rise from the patristic shit:
men need not be frightened of
masturbation,
and can even turn happily,
unpenetratively homosexual
to save the planet from horrific
overpopulation.
(If only!)
Tuesday 9 October 2012
Am anderen Ufer
On the other side
of those two-dimensional things
that we are urged and urged
and urged to want
is
love
- of entropy.
of those two-dimensional things
that we are urged and urged
and urged to want
is
love
- of entropy.
Monday 8 October 2012
Sunday 7 October 2012
A new theory:
Perhaps the men who control the Catholic Church
(who are only rarely Popes)
are chosen for their asexuality.
This would explain their failure to understand
the tortures of celibacy in the priesthood
and the Church's cruel perpetuation of
crimes against women.
(who are only rarely Popes)
are chosen for their asexuality.
This would explain their failure to understand
the tortures of celibacy in the priesthood
and the Church's cruel perpetuation of
crimes against women.
On the radio,
Salman Rushdie said
that because stories are untrue
they reveal truths that truth-tellers
like myself cannot get people to listen to.
But stories - love, adventure,
tragedy and strife -
are only amusement.
They rarely change lives.
Only a vision, a version
of the truth can change a life.
that because stories are untrue
they reveal truths that truth-tellers
like myself cannot get people to listen to.
But stories - love, adventure,
tragedy and strife -
are only amusement.
They rarely change lives.
Only a vision, a version
of the truth can change a life.
Saturday 6 October 2012
Why bother ?
In cultures of charge
and discharge, most men
'have sex'
simply for relief -
never mind the quality.
Silly romantics like myself
seek some sort of
'glorious mutuality'.
and discharge, most men
'have sex'
simply for relief -
never mind the quality.
Silly romantics like myself
seek some sort of
'glorious mutuality'.
Friday 5 October 2012
Silly Names for Cars
I thought that the (Toyota) Corolla
and (Nissan) Cherry were
pretty inappropriate.
But now there is the (Renault)
(Dacia) DUSTER
to wipe the road with.
Cars used to be called Minx
and Mustang, Rapier and Scimitar,
all very macho... Of course any name
is better than Avenger.
and (Nissan) Cherry were
pretty inappropriate.
But now there is the (Renault)
(Dacia) DUSTER
to wipe the road with.
Cars used to be called Minx
and Mustang, Rapier and Scimitar,
all very macho... Of course any name
is better than Avenger.
Self-education
has always been my chief source
of entertainment, so I have never understood
why mere entertainers, performing athletes,
fashion-creatures, "celebrities"
and other egotists hold the world in thrall.
The passive dumpen-bourgeoisie is now
all of us - well, almost all.
of entertainment, so I have never understood
why mere entertainers, performing athletes,
fashion-creatures, "celebrities"
and other egotists hold the world in thrall.
The passive dumpen-bourgeoisie is now
all of us - well, almost all.
Thursday 4 October 2012
Traps and Trappers.
Someone (was it Auden ?)
wrote that Childhood is a Trap -
the trap of flesh from flesh by flesh,
of being owned, directed and prevented.
To grow up, he said, is to escape
from that first, almost universal trap.
Some do - even in our infantilising culture,
which turns childhood into an insane competition
which continues until dementia.
But there are many other traps,
some set by how we coped with childhood,
most set by prejudice, by expectations
(or lack of them), by governments and customs,
or by the metallic teeth of avaricious
self-advancement.
No-one can escape them all, but the most thoughtful,
the most serious, the most fortunate amongst our billions
can choose (to an extent) the most benign amongst them.
The most important - indeed vital - to avoid
is the Trap of Traps which sets so many others
so dynastically, smothers evolution,
drags so many into the distressing human void:
parenthood.
wrote that Childhood is a Trap -
the trap of flesh from flesh by flesh,
of being owned, directed and prevented.
To grow up, he said, is to escape
from that first, almost universal trap.
Some do - even in our infantilising culture,
which turns childhood into an insane competition
which continues until dementia.
But there are many other traps,
some set by how we coped with childhood,
most set by prejudice, by expectations
(or lack of them), by governments and customs,
or by the metallic teeth of avaricious
self-advancement.
No-one can escape them all, but the most thoughtful,
the most serious, the most fortunate amongst our billions
can choose (to an extent) the most benign amongst them.
The most important - indeed vital - to avoid
is the Trap of Traps which sets so many others
so dynastically, smothers evolution,
drags so many into the distressing human void:
parenthood.
Wednesday 3 October 2012
A.I.M.L.E.S.S
proudly presents
The Association for the Introduction
of More 'Loafeing' and Ease
in the Social Set-up.
The Association has two members already.
Could we make it a sextet ?
More than that will make
Power perceive us as a threat.
The Association for the Introduction
of More 'Loafeing' and Ease
in the Social Set-up.
The Association has two members already.
Could we make it a sextet ?
More than that will make
Power perceive us as a threat.
Tuesday 2 October 2012
On opposite sides of a strip of sea
The French want no-one to be their superiors.
The English can't live without inferiors.
The English can't live without inferiors.
Grow older, shout louder!
Education-systems
are now so good
at squashing intelligence
that the old are more
subversive than the young.
are now so good
at squashing intelligence
that the old are more
subversive than the young.
Monday 1 October 2012
Click on the picture
for an analysis of the Latin motto,
which could be said to be
a very good example of totalitarian
Double-Speak.
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