Random Playlist Song: Stanley Holloway - Married To A Mermaid
There was a gay young farmer,
Who liv'd on Salisbury plain;
He lov'd a rich Knight's daughter dear!
And she lov'd him again.
The Knight he was distressed,
That they should sweethearts be.
So he had the farmer soon pressed,
And sent him off to sea.
Chorus
Singing Rule Britannia,
Britannia rules the waves
Britons never, never, never shall be married
To a mermaid at the bottom of the deep blue sea
'Twas on the deep Atlantic,
Midst Equinoctial gales;
This young farmer fell overboard
Among the sharks and whales;
He disappeared so quickly,
So headlong down went he,
That he went out of sight
Like a streak of light
To the bottom of the deep blue sea.
Chorus
He said that as he went down,
Great fishes did he see;
They seemed to think as he did wink,
That he was rather free.
But down he went so quickly,
Saying, ''Tis all up with me,'
When he met a lovely mermaid
At the bottom of the deep blue sea.
Chorus
Hurrah for rare songs! Though this version's truncated and poor quality. Oh well.
***
I just realised - it's my one year anniversary today!
***
Cowboy Caleb is the latest to wonder: "is he gay? maybe not. rebonding is not a gay thing. or is it? shit shit shit…I need to go revise my gaydar detection shitlist now"
Damn, I really need to find out why I keep sending out the wrong vibes. But for now, I'll just say this:
I am not gay, so guys, don't bother sending in your picture. As a punishment for thinking I'm gay, I posted a picture of this man, named Dustin. He is in the Possibly Gay Men section. If you ever seen him, now you know he's gay! Don't send in pictures if you're a guy, or you'll face the same punishment as him!
Dustin
***
"All that remained was the scientific specialist, who knew "more and more about less and less", and the philosophical speculator, who knew less and less about more and more. The specialist put on blinders in order to shut out from his vision all the world but one little spot, to which he glued his nose. Perspective was lost. "Facts" replaced understanding; and knowledge, split into a thousand isolated fragments, no longer generated wisdom. Every science, and every branch of philosophy, developed a technical terminology intelligible only to its exclusive devotees; as men learned more about the world, they found themselves ever less capable of expressing to their educated fellow-men what it was that they had learned. The gap between life and knowledge grew wider and wider; those who governed could not understand those who thought, and those who wanted to know could not understand those who knew. In the midst of unprecedented learning popular ignorance flourished, and chose its exemplars to rule the great cities of the world; in the midst of sciences endowed and enthroned as never before, new religions were born every day, and old superstitions recaptured the ground they had lost. The common man found himself forced to choose between a scientific priesthood mumbling unintelligible pessimism, and a theological priesthood mumbling incredible hopes.
... For if knowledge becomes too great for communication it would degenerate into scholasticism, and the weak acceptance of authority; mankind would slip into a new age of faith, worshipping at a respectful distance its new priests, and civilization, which had hoped to raise itself upon education disseminated far and wide, would be left precariously based upon a technical erudition that had become the monopoly of an esoteric class monastically isolated from the world by the high birth rate of terminology...
.... Let us not, then, be ashamed of teaching the people. Those jealous ones who would guard their knowledge from the world have only themselves to blame if their exclusiveness and their barbarous terminology have led the world to seek in books, in lectures, and in adult education, the instruction which they themselves have failed to give. Let them be grateful that their halting efforts are aided by amateurs who love life enough to let it humanize their teaching."
- Will Durant, preface to the 2nd ed, Story of Philosophy
"He is disreputably intelligible, and nothing could be more damaging to a philosopher. We "Moderns" have become so acustomed to windy verbiage in philosophy that when philosohy is presented without the verbiage we can with difficulty recognize it. One must pay a penalty for having a prejudice against obscurity."
***
Since people are googling "Gabriel Seah Sarong Party Girl" anyway:
My source in Ma-laysia tells me that The Star picked up the Sarong Party Girl story. Must've been a slow news day for them. I was expecting an editorial on the decadence of immoral Singaporean girls, but apparently they just ran the original Straits Times / Asia News Network feed.
For the record, my full quote goes: "The Internet is a free society, there is no reason why anyone should not do this, because it doesn't hurt anyone. *A lot of things that used to be considered bad are now acceptable, so maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge and condemn.*" (or words to that effect)
The full quote was in the original version of the article, so I guess the editors chopped it out either because of space constraints or to avoid offending the Moral Majority (TM).
***
Dug up by Tym:
"Gaffer or chief lighting technicians are in charge of the lighting crew. Working under the director of photography, the gaffer plans, sets up, manages, and maintains the lights and lighting equipment. With all the heavy equipment and high voltage involved, this work can be dangerous, especially for the untrained.
Best boys, also called second electric, lay cable and set up lighting equipment. Best boys work under the gaffer.
Key grips prepare the set for proper lighting, arranging backdrops and drapes and other equipment, and supervise their assistants, the dolly grips and rigging grips. As instructed by the producer, director, or one of the assistant directors, key grips also move and adjust equipment and parts of the set. Key grips usually begin as dolly grips and best boys.
Dolly grips operate and maintain the dollies and cranes for the key grip."
***
He Who Must Not Be Named: have you ever read the Story of Civilization?
wouldn't a comprehensive 11-volume treatise on the history of civilisation spanning 5 decades be of appeal to you?
each vol is approx 1,000 pages
that's research
Me: I can summarise it in a few paragraphs.
"In the beginning, the Earth was without form, and void.
But the Sun shone upon the sleeping Earth and deep inside the brittle crust massive forces waited to be unleashed.
The seas parted and great continents were formed. The continents shifted, mountains arose. Earthquakes spawned massive tidal waves. Volcanoes erupted and spewed forth fiery lava and charged the atmosphere with strange gases.
Into this swirling maelstrom of Fire and Air and Water the first stirrings of Life appeared: tiny organisms, cells, and amoeba, clinging to tiny sheltered habitats.
But the seeds of Life grew, and strengthened, and spread, and diversified, and prospered, and soon every continent and climate teemed with Life.
And with Life came instinct, and specialization, natural selection, Reptiles, Dinosaurs, and Mammals and finally there evolved a species known as Man and there appeared the first faint glimmers of Intelligence.
The fruits of intelligence were many: fire, tools, and weapons, the hunt, farming, and the sharing of food, the family, the village, and the tribe. Now it required but one more ingredient: a great Leader to unite the quarreling tribes to harness the power of the land to build a legacy that would stand the test of time:
a CIVILIZATION!"
***
Star Wars Revelations .. A Panic Struck Productions Film
""Revelations" is a non-profit Star Wars fan film that was shot within the Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC Metro Area. "Revelations" is made possible through a combined effort of artists, fans and the local film industry. Everyone who has worked on "Revelations" is a volunteer. No one is paid to make this film. Panic Struck Productions set out to produce their first independent film with a very small budget and the result is "Revelations""