Understanding the nature and beliefs of the civilization of ancient Rome is a crucial building block for understanding the modern world. This is not only because so many modern institutions trace elements of their structure to Roman institutions, but also cultural and behavioral dimensions of modern human beings do (or should) draw on the early Roman models. For the former, I'm talking about law, courts a Senate and assembly of the People, a Republic versus kings, an army drawn from the middle class (in the Republic); for the later I'm referring to honor, duty, integrity, rhetoric, family.
From Roman examples we learn about greatness and honor in real people: Julius and Augustus Caesar for the former; and Cato and Cicero for the latter.
From Rome we also learn about tyranny and depravity: Sulla and Caligula.
Stories one reads learning Latin are very uplifting. The language brings this out with its simple, inflected forms and sparsity of fluff and adjectives. A Latin epigram or proverb is beautifully precise. Of course, few people learn Latin nowadays. I'm re-learning Latin and am enjoying it immensely, but if you didn't have it in high school, I can't recommend that path to learn from Rome.
Instead, I recommend the combination of books and CD courses.
From antiquity: Plutarch, Lives, and Suetonius, Twelve Caesars, Julius Caesar, Gallic Wars (aka Commentaries).
The Teaching Company courses on Rome: Famous Romans, History of Ancient Rome.
And now I can recommend a historical novel as a Book of the Week: The First Man in Rome, by Colleen McCullough. This is a fine book, very well researched. The author builds from a foundations of facts about Rome and its culture, then adds the human side in dialog and thoughts very, very plausibly. I started reading it on Saturday and am enjoying it immensely. Nothing yet contradicts my own understanding of Roman culture and history. The book through its characters is an excellent learning tool for one to better understand Rome and the Romans.
NOTE: The First Man in Rome is a first of a series of seven books which were well received by the public and critics. I plan to read the first two, then perhaps over time more.
MORE: The book is pleasantly written in a fine style and includes a few $10 words; it's definitely not dumbed down. I've found four good $10 words already - three new ones and one old one in the file I had forgotten.
Word of the Day
"Ken" - noun and verb [$10] from The First Man in Rome. Not Barbie's boyfriend !
Ken means (noun) a range of sight or knowledge (it's beyond my ken); (verb) 1. recognize at sight; 2. know [past & participle: kenning; kenned or kent]
Sentence: One's ken expands greatly with more understanding of Rome and the Romans.
Showing posts with label modern life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label modern life. Show all posts
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, September 25, 2009
Life as an Anachronism
G20: 20x garbage in, garbage out. What a contrived media event ! Boob bait for the bubbas. L'appât ballot des nigauds ... L'appât nigaud des ballots ... L'appât bête des imbéciles. I need to work out how to say that in other languages.
I am a Luddite. I don't Twitter, I don't do text messages. I don't accept cell phone calls (unless pre-arranged). I cook food. I fix things myself. I know how to use tools, and do use them. I prefer paying cash for anything under $100. I don't go to the movie theater. I drink hard liquor on ice, red wine and real beer - no sweetened, "light" beverages.
I like fried eggs, Spam, Valveeta cheese, McDonald's food, big, rare steaks, homemade apple pie, hardtack with peanut butter & jelly, MREs, and turnips.
I read books - physical books, not electronic. I read newspapers - both physical and online. I read magazines - in paper. Mostly I read non-fiction, but lately I've been reading well-known classic works of fiction.
I'm trying to learn a foreign language as an adult - six, actually: French, German, Polish, Italian, Spanish and Latin. So far it's working. The human mind is the greatest tool by far.
I lift weights - the real, iron weights; practice boxing and knife fighting; and shooting all types of firearms.
I don't watch much TV. Everything I know about 21st century "new modernity" comes from South Park.
I have four dogs as pets - and I treat them as important parts of the family, not as stuffed animals or slaves.
I think the controlling ruling classes is the principal political problem to be solved. I want maximal freedom for the common man, and tight controls on antics of the rich & powerful - the ruling classes. I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I am a Populist Libertarian.
Modern life hasn't changed much in its large scale structures since 1925. Read "Main Street" by Sinclair Lewis. Watch "Thoroughly Modern Millie". The social issues facing people aren't much different.
With a few exceptions, no good music has been written since December 31, 1947 and no truly good recording has been made December 31, 1954.
I walk through a mall perhaps once a year and see so much crap I can't imagine ever wanting to buy.
I like movies with happy endings.
Fine, call me an anachronism. I admit it. I like the old ways better.
PS: Mrs. B points out correctly that I am using a computer to proclaim myself as a Luddite - a bit of inconsistency. I am modernizing the use to mean a rejection of superfluous equipment, machinery and software that mostly distracts from real, physical life: nintendo, video games, gameboys, wii, cell phones, Twittering, texting, on and on and on.
Actions
It's good I listened to my fears and the warning of an astute commentor by selling RIMM. It got crushed last evening after reporting disappointing numbers, particularly its gross margins. That probably reflects the high defect and return rate. Not good - that makes for poor word of mouth as consumers do talk.
Otherwise I am sitting and waiting. No changes in my thinking ... yet.
Word of the Day
"Dolorous" - adjective [$10] literary or jocular
Dolorous means 1. distressing, painful; doleful, dismal; 2. distressed, sad.
Sentence: Looking across the human landscape of the world, I feel dolorous that so much human capital is being wasted on so much nonsense.
I am a Luddite. I don't Twitter, I don't do text messages. I don't accept cell phone calls (unless pre-arranged). I cook food. I fix things myself. I know how to use tools, and do use them. I prefer paying cash for anything under $100. I don't go to the movie theater. I drink hard liquor on ice, red wine and real beer - no sweetened, "light" beverages.
I like fried eggs, Spam, Valveeta cheese, McDonald's food, big, rare steaks, homemade apple pie, hardtack with peanut butter & jelly, MREs, and turnips.
I read books - physical books, not electronic. I read newspapers - both physical and online. I read magazines - in paper. Mostly I read non-fiction, but lately I've been reading well-known classic works of fiction.
I'm trying to learn a foreign language as an adult - six, actually: French, German, Polish, Italian, Spanish and Latin. So far it's working. The human mind is the greatest tool by far.
I lift weights - the real, iron weights; practice boxing and knife fighting; and shooting all types of firearms.
I don't watch much TV. Everything I know about 21st century "new modernity" comes from South Park.
I have four dogs as pets - and I treat them as important parts of the family, not as stuffed animals or slaves.
I think the controlling ruling classes is the principal political problem to be solved. I want maximal freedom for the common man, and tight controls on antics of the rich & powerful - the ruling classes. I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I am a Populist Libertarian.
Modern life hasn't changed much in its large scale structures since 1925. Read "Main Street" by Sinclair Lewis. Watch "Thoroughly Modern Millie". The social issues facing people aren't much different.
With a few exceptions, no good music has been written since December 31, 1947 and no truly good recording has been made December 31, 1954.
I walk through a mall perhaps once a year and see so much crap I can't imagine ever wanting to buy.
I like movies with happy endings.
Fine, call me an anachronism. I admit it. I like the old ways better.
PS: Mrs. B points out correctly that I am using a computer to proclaim myself as a Luddite - a bit of inconsistency. I am modernizing the use to mean a rejection of superfluous equipment, machinery and software that mostly distracts from real, physical life: nintendo, video games, gameboys, wii, cell phones, Twittering, texting, on and on and on.
Actions
It's good I listened to my fears and the warning of an astute commentor by selling RIMM. It got crushed last evening after reporting disappointing numbers, particularly its gross margins. That probably reflects the high defect and return rate. Not good - that makes for poor word of mouth as consumers do talk.
Otherwise I am sitting and waiting. No changes in my thinking ... yet.
Word of the Day
"Dolorous" - adjective [$10] literary or jocular
Dolorous means 1. distressing, painful; doleful, dismal; 2. distressed, sad.
Sentence: Looking across the human landscape of the world, I feel dolorous that so much human capital is being wasted on so much nonsense.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Return to the 1920s
I am not writing about 1920s stock manipulation in this post. That exists now thanks to big money pools - aka hedge funds - and the knaves/fools at the SEC, but it is just one element of modern life that derives from the modern American society that was created post World War I by our grandparents and great grandparents. By that time, electricity was nationwide, as was phone service and the automobile; movies and radio existed. Modern American culture began then and in its major structures still exist in those forms. One can see this in books and movies and writings of widely read editorial writiers such as Walter Lippman and H. L. Mencken.
Here is an illustrative quote from H. L. Mencken from January 9, 1922.
"The other day a strange thing happened. I sat down to dinner in my own house without any impertinent and imbecile jackass summoning me from the table to the telephone. The thing, indeed, seemed almost miraculous; you will never convince me that it could have been possible without divine intervention. There, for the first time in years, I wallowed in the luxury of a meal eaten in peace, with no abominable shrilling of a bell to interrupt my engulfing of my victuals, and no choleric conversation with a moron to paralyze my digestion."
Amazing ... and even with the "National Do Not Call Register", 85 years later we are still pestered by those groups that were able to bribe Congress to gain exemptions, viz., pollsters, charities and marketing surveys.
Markets
Momentum beefers bailed from many financials yesterday and perhaps some beefers have secured real shares to re-short. The media says the drop was due to "disappointing" existing home sales data. With their chronic search for headlines of doom to trumpet, the media blared the year-over-year price data and the seasonally adjusted sales data. In times of major change, one must be wary of seasonal adjustment formulae.
So Bunkerman did a bit of forensic work to ferret out "real" data.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $215,100 in June.
For Q4 2007 in the US, that number was 205,700 on average. For Q1 2008, the number was $196,300. For March, $200,700; For April, that number was $202,300., May was 208,300.
Does anyone notice a monthly trend in median prices resembling a bottom?
There's more: Inventory: April – 4.55 million May – 4.49 million; June – 4.49 million.
That looks like a flat inventory for about three months. No increases. Isn't that a sign of a clearing market ?
Politics
Does anyone else think it odd that a US Presidential candidate draws a crowd of 200,000 people in a European nation ? Or any nation other than the US itself ? I cannot remember a similar occurence in the past. I wonder what this means ?
More
PS: Check out http://bankstocks.com/. Lots of good info is there. Maybe he reads this blog ;-)
PPS: I just bought some BA, IR, ITW as I want some industrials with export exposure. Just small starter positions - I'm not sure to which of these I will add shares over time. For now I consider them one composite position.
Words of the Day
All three of these $10 words were in a single, later paragraph of the article by H. L. Mencken from which I drew the paragraph above. This article was published in a daily newspaper - the Baltimore Evening Sun. Oh, woe is the state of modern education !
"Brummagem" - adjective or noun [$10] (accent on first syllable - brum - and the "g" is prounouced as "j" as in Jim.)
Brummagem means (adjective) showy, cheap; (noun) something cheap or inferior.
Sentence: Since 1968, US political conventions have been steadily degraded into brummagem pep rallies with little intellectual content or debate.
"Puerile" - adjective [$10]
Puerile means 1. trivial, childish, immature; 2. of or llike a child.
Sentence: Nearly all modern media reporting has both puerile content and vocabulary.
"Simian" - adjective or noun[$10]
Simian means (adjective) relating to, characteristic of, or resembling an ape or a monkey; (noun) an ape or monkey.
Sentence: Some sculpture critics describe numerous Roman works as simian products derived from Greek originals.
Here is an illustrative quote from H. L. Mencken from January 9, 1922.
"The other day a strange thing happened. I sat down to dinner in my own house without any impertinent and imbecile jackass summoning me from the table to the telephone. The thing, indeed, seemed almost miraculous; you will never convince me that it could have been possible without divine intervention. There, for the first time in years, I wallowed in the luxury of a meal eaten in peace, with no abominable shrilling of a bell to interrupt my engulfing of my victuals, and no choleric conversation with a moron to paralyze my digestion."
Amazing ... and even with the "National Do Not Call Register", 85 years later we are still pestered by those groups that were able to bribe Congress to gain exemptions, viz., pollsters, charities and marketing surveys.
Markets
Momentum beefers bailed from many financials yesterday and perhaps some beefers have secured real shares to re-short. The media says the drop was due to "disappointing" existing home sales data. With their chronic search for headlines of doom to trumpet, the media blared the year-over-year price data and the seasonally adjusted sales data. In times of major change, one must be wary of seasonal adjustment formulae.
So Bunkerman did a bit of forensic work to ferret out "real" data.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $215,100 in June.
For Q4 2007 in the US, that number was 205,700 on average. For Q1 2008, the number was $196,300. For March, $200,700; For April, that number was $202,300., May was 208,300.
Does anyone notice a monthly trend in median prices resembling a bottom?
There's more: Inventory: April – 4.55 million May – 4.49 million; June – 4.49 million.
That looks like a flat inventory for about three months. No increases. Isn't that a sign of a clearing market ?
Politics
Does anyone else think it odd that a US Presidential candidate draws a crowd of 200,000 people in a European nation ? Or any nation other than the US itself ? I cannot remember a similar occurence in the past. I wonder what this means ?
More
PS: Check out http://bankstocks.com/. Lots of good info is there. Maybe he reads this blog ;-)
PPS: I just bought some BA, IR, ITW as I want some industrials with export exposure. Just small starter positions - I'm not sure to which of these I will add shares over time. For now I consider them one composite position.
Words of the Day
All three of these $10 words were in a single, later paragraph of the article by H. L. Mencken from which I drew the paragraph above. This article was published in a daily newspaper - the Baltimore Evening Sun. Oh, woe is the state of modern education !
"Brummagem" - adjective or noun [$10] (accent on first syllable - brum - and the "g" is prounouced as "j" as in Jim.)
Brummagem means (adjective) showy, cheap; (noun) something cheap or inferior.
Sentence: Since 1968, US political conventions have been steadily degraded into brummagem pep rallies with little intellectual content or debate.
"Puerile" - adjective [$10]
Puerile means 1. trivial, childish, immature; 2. of or llike a child.
Sentence: Nearly all modern media reporting has both puerile content and vocabulary.
"Simian" - adjective or noun[$10]
Simian means (adjective) relating to, characteristic of, or resembling an ape or a monkey; (noun) an ape or monkey.
Sentence: Some sculpture critics describe numerous Roman works as simian products derived from Greek originals.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
The End of Good Music II
Last evening, I was reminded of my post of July 3, 2007 in which I proved that no significant amount of good music is currently produced, or has been produced for decades. That proof has so far not been refuted. [See that post for details.]
I watched the fine movie, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" staring Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche and Ethel Merman. The movie was made in 1938 - long ago, naturally, see my proof. The songs were written by the incomparable genius of Irving Berlin and peformed with great beauty and emotion by Alice Faye and Ethel Merman. The combination of great talents in individual skills produced the superb totality of the performed song. Very little made in modern times reaches that level of total quality.
I think we can go further. The irrational insistence that a performer must write and perform his/her own music to be "great" is simply nonsense and has led to cultlike atmosphere where great singers alone cannot get favorable employment. Since the retirement of Julie Andrews, there is simple not a single female vocalist that can compare to anyone of the great singers of the pre-1960 era.
Barbara Streisand is not in the same level of quality as Julie Andrwews or Judy Garland, Alice Faye, Ethel Merman, or the other great female vocalists of the past. No current male singer can be compared with Vaughn Monroe, Howard Keel, Frank Sinatra, or other pre-1955 male singers. I think this is caused by the cult of the performer-writer. Too bad, lots of great talent is not being developed.
I watched the fine movie, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" staring Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche and Ethel Merman. The movie was made in 1938 - long ago, naturally, see my proof. The songs were written by the incomparable genius of Irving Berlin and peformed with great beauty and emotion by Alice Faye and Ethel Merman. The combination of great talents in individual skills produced the superb totality of the performed song. Very little made in modern times reaches that level of total quality.
I think we can go further. The irrational insistence that a performer must write and perform his/her own music to be "great" is simply nonsense and has led to cultlike atmosphere where great singers alone cannot get favorable employment. Since the retirement of Julie Andrews, there is simple not a single female vocalist that can compare to anyone of the great singers of the pre-1960 era.
Barbara Streisand is not in the same level of quality as Julie Andrwews or Judy Garland, Alice Faye, Ethel Merman, or the other great female vocalists of the past. No current male singer can be compared with Vaughn Monroe, Howard Keel, Frank Sinatra, or other pre-1955 male singers. I think this is caused by the cult of the performer-writer. Too bad, lots of great talent is not being developed.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
The End of Good Music
I might as well start some trouble ;-)
Here are three postulates about the quality of recorded music.
1. No excellent music has been written since December 31, 1947.
2. No excellent music has been recorded since December 31, 1954.
3. The principal class of exceptions to Rules #1 and #2 is for Broadway productions and Classical Music.
For now, Rule #1 is an axiom based on the general level of complexity and taste. I'm working on a proof. ;-) I'm going to sketch out the proofs for #2 and #2 now.
I think I can "prove" the postulates #2 and #3 for the whole class of recorded music [in the US] considered as an ensemble. Perhaps there are a "few" exceptions, but these are mere outliers - singularities - and don't represent any substantial class.
Consider the widely accepted and empirically proven economic principal of "division of labor" in creating a complex good. Recorded music is a complex good, requiring skilled labor in four different skills: writing music, lyrics, instrumentals and singing. Few individual people have all four skills at any high level, even when an entire population is the source.
Assume the quality "Q" of any recorded music can be represented as the product of a normalized "skill" number [cf. an "IQ" in the skill] of the contributor in each skill, which are symbolized by M, L, I, and S for skills in music, lyrics, instrumentals and singing.
Q = M x L x I x S
The quality of "written music with lyrics" is M x L as each skill is required. For a big band jazz, lyrics are not required, BUT the performance requires many individual performances - at least 10 for a "big band". Hence its Q included I^n where n is at least 10. A "band" would require more than one I - perhaps 3 or 4.
Now assuming the likelihood of each skill being present in any single individual is independent, clearly the highest Q can be reached by selecting four individuals [more for bands]: one each with high M, L, I and S. And just as clearly, if we are required to choose only one individual, the probability of a large product of the single person's levels of M, L, I and S is exceedingly small. I think I could prove this mathematically, but I haven't done much applied math for a few years. But it does seem evident visualizing the distributions.
In 1947, Les Paul and Capital Records created the first multi-track recording where Les Paul played each of eight tracks with his electric guitar. This invention broke the requirement for the selection of many individual performers to create the sound of a "band" on a recording.
In the early 1950s, Les Paul and Mary Ford created revolutionary recordings where Paul's multi-track guitar playing was combined with Mary Ford's singing and rhythm guitar playing were records on separate track and overdubbing. This invention broke the requirement for separate performers for I and S.
In 1954, the eight track tape recorder was developed, which was the core technology for multi-track recording for the next 30 years until the digital age commence. This invention broke the requirement for the selection of many individual performers to create the sound of a "band" on a recording. This invention massively reduced the time and cost for creating complex sounds from very few performers.
In 1953-4, the rock & roll era began, producing growing demand for a performer to write his/her own music and lyrics - for some unknown reason, perhaps part of the "idol" phenomena. This greatly reduced the likelihood of high M and L numbers in a recorded performance.
So by 1955, the economics of creating recorded music at low cost [necessary to maximize profit] required finding a few artists of simply above average skills and using technology to create complex sounds for a band and a song. No longer were separate EXCELLENT performers combined, but merely "GOOD" performances were combined from a few people. Almost no one was excellent in all the required skills necessary for recorded music. Combining several "good" quality skills of a person with perhaps one "excellent skill of those persons creates merely a slightly above average "good" recording.
Hence nothing excellent has been recorded since December 31, 1954. QED ;-)
Rule #3 follows immediately when the distinctions of the economic of Broadway are considered. A relatively few number of very high priced tickets are sold. And all the artists MUST perform separately live. There is NO value added for having the same person write the musics and lyrics. All performers are excellent and all music and lyrics are selected from the best available. So this class of music is a clear exception to Rule #2.
Similarly, recordings produced by orchestras of classical music have no division of labor loss of quality.
That proves Rule #3. QED ;-)
So a Julie Andrews performance of a Broadway hit show is still excellent.
But a Bob Dylan performance of a song is merely good. The lyrics might be good, but the singing is ... horrible. ;-)
hehehehehehehehehe - that should start some trouble :-)))))))
PS: The coming 4th of July reminds me of George M. Cohan of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" fame - that's a great movie. And although he wrote the lyrics and musics and danced, not even such a star deigned to perform the instruments for the orchestra of the productions.
PPS: I've been thinking about this for quite awhile. Some of the dates were chosen with the help of my father-in-law, who was listening to music during the key dates. I figured I needed to post this on the Internet to claim "precedence" for my proof ;-)
Here are three postulates about the quality of recorded music.
1. No excellent music has been written since December 31, 1947.
2. No excellent music has been recorded since December 31, 1954.
3. The principal class of exceptions to Rules #1 and #2 is for Broadway productions and Classical Music.
For now, Rule #1 is an axiom based on the general level of complexity and taste. I'm working on a proof. ;-) I'm going to sketch out the proofs for #2 and #2 now.
I think I can "prove" the postulates #2 and #3 for the whole class of recorded music [in the US] considered as an ensemble. Perhaps there are a "few" exceptions, but these are mere outliers - singularities - and don't represent any substantial class.
Consider the widely accepted and empirically proven economic principal of "division of labor" in creating a complex good. Recorded music is a complex good, requiring skilled labor in four different skills: writing music, lyrics, instrumentals and singing. Few individual people have all four skills at any high level, even when an entire population is the source.
Assume the quality "Q" of any recorded music can be represented as the product of a normalized "skill" number [cf. an "IQ" in the skill] of the contributor in each skill, which are symbolized by M, L, I, and S for skills in music, lyrics, instrumentals and singing.
Q = M x L x I x S
The quality of "written music with lyrics" is M x L as each skill is required. For a big band jazz, lyrics are not required, BUT the performance requires many individual performances - at least 10 for a "big band". Hence its Q included I^n where n is at least 10. A "band" would require more than one I - perhaps 3 or 4.
Now assuming the likelihood of each skill being present in any single individual is independent, clearly the highest Q can be reached by selecting four individuals [more for bands]: one each with high M, L, I and S. And just as clearly, if we are required to choose only one individual, the probability of a large product of the single person's levels of M, L, I and S is exceedingly small. I think I could prove this mathematically, but I haven't done much applied math for a few years. But it does seem evident visualizing the distributions.
In 1947, Les Paul and Capital Records created the first multi-track recording where Les Paul played each of eight tracks with his electric guitar. This invention broke the requirement for the selection of many individual performers to create the sound of a "band" on a recording.
In the early 1950s, Les Paul and Mary Ford created revolutionary recordings where Paul's multi-track guitar playing was combined with Mary Ford's singing and rhythm guitar playing were records on separate track and overdubbing. This invention broke the requirement for separate performers for I and S.
In 1954, the eight track tape recorder was developed, which was the core technology for multi-track recording for the next 30 years until the digital age commence. This invention broke the requirement for the selection of many individual performers to create the sound of a "band" on a recording. This invention massively reduced the time and cost for creating complex sounds from very few performers.
In 1953-4, the rock & roll era began, producing growing demand for a performer to write his/her own music and lyrics - for some unknown reason, perhaps part of the "idol" phenomena. This greatly reduced the likelihood of high M and L numbers in a recorded performance.
So by 1955, the economics of creating recorded music at low cost [necessary to maximize profit] required finding a few artists of simply above average skills and using technology to create complex sounds for a band and a song. No longer were separate EXCELLENT performers combined, but merely "GOOD" performances were combined from a few people. Almost no one was excellent in all the required skills necessary for recorded music. Combining several "good" quality skills of a person with perhaps one "excellent skill of those persons creates merely a slightly above average "good" recording.
Hence nothing excellent has been recorded since December 31, 1954. QED ;-)
Rule #3 follows immediately when the distinctions of the economic of Broadway are considered. A relatively few number of very high priced tickets are sold. And all the artists MUST perform separately live. There is NO value added for having the same person write the musics and lyrics. All performers are excellent and all music and lyrics are selected from the best available. So this class of music is a clear exception to Rule #2.
Similarly, recordings produced by orchestras of classical music have no division of labor loss of quality.
That proves Rule #3. QED ;-)
So a Julie Andrews performance of a Broadway hit show is still excellent.
But a Bob Dylan performance of a song is merely good. The lyrics might be good, but the singing is ... horrible. ;-)
hehehehehehehehehe - that should start some trouble :-)))))))
PS: The coming 4th of July reminds me of George M. Cohan of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" fame - that's a great movie. And although he wrote the lyrics and musics and danced, not even such a star deigned to perform the instruments for the orchestra of the productions.
PPS: I've been thinking about this for quite awhile. Some of the dates were chosen with the help of my father-in-law, who was listening to music during the key dates. I figured I needed to post this on the Internet to claim "precedence" for my proof ;-)
Sunday, April 29, 2007
I Hate Cellphones!
Cellphones are a pestilence on modern life. They are a scourge on QUIETLY enjoying life. They are the bane of civility. As an instrument of bad behavior, they excel. Here are some examples.
Walking through the grocery store today, buying some fruit & a roast, some women is blabbing endlessly up & down the aisles. How often is a serious meeting interrupted by some nincompoop's cell phone going off? And how often is an otherwise enjoyable dinner out disturbed by some jerk or jerkette at a nearby table prattling away? And how many near-accidents occur because some dopey woman in an SUV is gossiping instead of driving?
Why do men wear them around like a symbol of their manhood? Tool-hood is more like it. A sign of importance - hardly, they are a sign you're on call by your masters: a badge of serfdom.
There is only one way to use a cell phone: turn it OFF! Carry it only for emergencies.
[OK, I admit one COULD carry one for business IFF expecting or needing to make an IMPORTANT call. ]
PS: [for fun] You do know that cellphones have a transponder in them? And that "they" can track you? How do you really know that it doesn't send a little "beep" out every few minutes EVEN when off? We saw the latest James Bond movie and Bond used the bad guy's cell phone to track him. Hmmmmm. I'm not going to carry a transponder on me. No way. ;-)
Walking through the grocery store today, buying some fruit & a roast, some women is blabbing endlessly up & down the aisles. How often is a serious meeting interrupted by some nincompoop's cell phone going off? And how often is an otherwise enjoyable dinner out disturbed by some jerk or jerkette at a nearby table prattling away? And how many near-accidents occur because some dopey woman in an SUV is gossiping instead of driving?
Why do men wear them around like a symbol of their manhood? Tool-hood is more like it. A sign of importance - hardly, they are a sign you're on call by your masters: a badge of serfdom.
There is only one way to use a cell phone: turn it OFF! Carry it only for emergencies.
[OK, I admit one COULD carry one for business IFF expecting or needing to make an IMPORTANT call. ]
PS: [for fun] You do know that cellphones have a transponder in them? And that "they" can track you? How do you really know that it doesn't send a little "beep" out every few minutes EVEN when off? We saw the latest James Bond movie and Bond used the bad guy's cell phone to track him. Hmmmmm. I'm not going to carry a transponder on me. No way. ;-)
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