Older blog entries for badvogato (starting at number 164)

"Fusion: The Search For Endless Energy" Robin Herman 1990 
p75.
Further, who was working for Teller at the time at Livermore,
could not resist. He was 26 when he filed this poem, "Perils
of Modern Living," published in 1956 by the New Yorker
magazine:

Well up beyond the tropostrata
There is a region stark and stellar
Where, on a streak of anti-matter,
Lived Dr. Edward Anti-Teller.

Remote from Fusion's origin,
He lived unguessed and unawares
With all his anti-kith and kin,
And kept macassars on his chairs.

One morning, idling by the sea,
He spied a tin of monstrous girth
That bore three letters: A.E.C.
Out stepped a visitor from Earth.

Then, shouting gladly o'er the sands,
Met two who in their alien ways
Were like as lentils. Their right hands
Clasped, and the rest was gamma rays.

discussions on article "Saying Thanks in the Gift Culture" (Dec 2003) reminded me of watching this long 4 parts videorecording "Longitude"'s interweaving two stories: John Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer; and naval officer Rupert Gould who, two hundred years later, stumbles across Harrison's forgotten chromometers and devotes himself to restoring Harrison's long-neglected mechanical masterpieces. Only divine grace can lend a helping hand in man's struggle with world order at times seems unsurmountable...

i found this review on Elaine Pagels "Beyond belief: The secret Gospel of Thomas" quite helpful:

" I think both the Old and New Testaments overwhelmingly affirm man's sinfulness and their need of divine intervention and grace. Where the gnostics and orthodox would divulge can be summed up very simply: The gnostics see Jesus as a spiritual example to help them in their journey to uncover the divine within them while the orthodox see Jesus as a savior who saves them from their sins and radically transforms their lives and releases them from the power of sin. One view preaches what practically every religion teaches, thus the gnostics are really nothing more than Christian Buddhists or Hindus, while the orthodox claim is wholly unique and to my satisfaction makes the most sense out of the Scriptures, both old and new Testaments."

"The Fallen Leaves"

 Oh, I so want you to remember
Those happy days when we were friends
Life was sweeter then
And the sun stronger than now
They're gathering up the fallen leaves in shovels
You see, I haven't forgotten
They're gathering up the fallen leaves in shovels
Along with the memories, the regrets
And the north wind is carrying them
Into the cold night of forgetfulness
You see, I haven't forgotten
The song you would write for me
It's a song that's just like us
You loved world, and I loved you
We laughed, the two of us together
You who loved this brave world, I who loved that timid you
But life comes between those who love
Very gently, noiselessly
And the sea washes away 
The footprints of separated lovers
From the sand.

>
> I am not sure if technology is the cure for my problem....
>                       Tom
>
promoting technology by design instead of letting reactive
 technology feuled by the stupidity of market demands take 
the dominating role is one step closer to solve our 
problem...

i just learned Bill Joy left Sun Microsystem, saying his
technician has come to his house and unplugged all networks
in his house. Bill Joy also was very pessimistic about the
high hopes market has heaped upon technology. 

PC industry has been a disaster but luckily Apple survived. I recorded a
documentary film about  Chartres Cathederal in France on my iMac. It's
amazing how people at that time built something like that when they don't
even have printing and papers! A tourist guide and author at Chartres for some 38 years said something
funny to a group of visitors:

In the middle age, art is for God's sake.
During the Renaissance, art is for man's sake.
After that, art is for art sake.
In 20th century, NO ART! for God's sake.

another monologue from the film:
"i now spend long hours in the Cathederal and watch people. 
What Chartres means to me is that it opens you up if you 
simply allow it to work its magic. But i see a lot of people 
put up barriers when they come in. The sort of barriers, 
that i observed, is the need to be busy, the need to stuck 
their nose deep in the tour guide, the need to have their 
eyes behind the viewfinders on their camcorders most of the 
time, etc. On the other hand, it is all very human for that 
kind of resistence..."
 

duplicates of the last entry

The rise and marching on of the common men? Terminators are here to stay.

"In the course of governing, Government should not compete 
with its citizens." - current federal policy, as outlined 
in Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76.

Most interesting finding of the day from  ccianet.org  

two thumbs + two toes up 4 maslicke's colorForth page ...

sing, sing a song. make it simple to last a whole life long 

That Old Forth Religion 

4 God is watching us, god is watching us, from a distance...

i need to make a move before middle age paralyzes me...