ratiocinations out of thin air/a blog about this that and the other thing
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I SPEND SO MUCH TIME researching the various topics that I write about, I really don’t have much time left to read others’ blogs—which is a shame, because we are living through some kind of golden age of freedom of expression of whatever the hell you wanna say and have the actual possibility of having … CONTINUE READING
I START THE DAY with my usual mug of coffee and while there’s usually too much on my mind, today it’s simple: I can’t get the song “Australia” from the Kinks’ album ARTHUR out of my mind. My head bobs up and down and my body sways to the rhythm and melody and the delightful … CONTINUE READING
BLOODY HELL, but I am fed up with the racism and the homophobia and the misogyny and all the other hate-based ‘isms’ behind an endless stream of comments posted by rightwingnuts on Facebook and in the Comments sections of otherwise decent websites. Now we have to wade through their foul comments fueled by their latest … CONTINUE READING
ON QUORA, a young man asked me to answer the burning question, “What do heavy metal music fans think about modern pop music?” my first thought was, “Wow! Did you come to the wrong person!” Then i though, “I can do this and have some fun along the way.
I’m posting my response here on … CONTINUE READING
AFTER TWO WHOLE YEARS of lollygagging, dillydallying, pussyfooting, and plain old farting around, I finally (FINALLY!) got my new blog off the ground: The Endless Sixties is up and running and waiting for readers. There are half a dozen articles already posted plus the homepage, and everyone should read the introductory homepage first, of … CONTINUE READING
BACK UP AN ARGUMENT by quoting something found on a website and, regardless of your intelligence or your research skills, you’ll likely be told, “You can’t believe anything you read on the internet.” My normal rejoinder is to point out that’s akin to saying that you can’t believe anything you read in … CONTINUE READING
BERNI CAME HOME LAST NIGHT and immediately asked me to look up a video on the internet that had everyone’s attention—at least where she worked. It was a local story that had something to do with a fox and an eagle. I went to my trusty browser and typed in “eagle fox” and there were … CONTINUE READING
IN RECENT CONVERSATIONS and in reading articles, blogs, and comments on the internet, I hear the word ‘sarcasm’ used interchangeably with ‘irony.’ I point out that irony ain’t the same as sarcasm, which requires a caustic intent. Since we are now at a time when everyone thinks themselves as right as the next guy and … CONTINUE READING
WAY BACK IN 1974, I did a favor for a friend: he was managing a small restaurant on Wyoming Avenue in Forty Fort and needed the day off. One of his responsibilities as manager was to tend the bar, which is what I did that day. This was not a drinker’s bar—the majority of drinks … CONTINUE READING
IN THE SUMMER OF 1964, I was not quite 13-years old. I was trying to stay awake in the hot, crowded, non-air-conditioned confines of St. Ann’s Chapel in Kingston, Pennsylvania. Father Devlin was performing the Mass, his sonorous voice chanting the Latin in his mildly monotonous manner which had a hypnotically soothing effect.
I was … CONTINUE READING
DID YOU GROW UP with a “normal” religion an then rejected it and all traditional religions? Atheism and agnosticism not enough? Want the marvels of science revealed to you? Ever want to know what the hell the religious right are talking about when they mention Humanism, or (shudder) Secular Humanism?
First, Humanism is a philosophy … CONTINUE READING
THE TERM ‘OCCAM’S RAZOR’ is bandied about in our culture on a regular basis in a variety of circumstances. The average joe generally uses it to mean something along the lines of “The simplest solution to a problem is the correct solution.” Say it ain’t so, joe: the definition is not entirely accurate. And so … CONTINUE READING
CHINESE CHESS PIECES? If you looked at the chess board at the top of this page and thought, “How the hell did I end up here?”—don’t worry, everything’s just fine. When I started this blog in 2013, I knew little of what I was doing: that includes what content I wanted to post and how … CONTINUE READING
WAY BACK IN 2013, I fell in love with Tazo’s Earl Grey tea. This was surprising because I had never ever liked earl grey before. I was a fairly devoted consumer of caffeine via coffee—usually a strong dark roast with lots of body and oomph! But as I got older, a little oomph went a … CONTINUE READING
I’M A WRITER and ideas come unbidden throughout the day and night. If they’re good, they can keep me staring into space while I ratiocinate my through them. I have learned to cease and desist whatever I’d doing if these ideas come at an inopportune time, like when I am doing something that could … CONTINUE READING
JUST OPENED ALTERNET and among the dirty dozen or so stories—including those on the White House, white nationalists and Stormy Davis—there was this splash of color with multiple images of Jimi Hendrix circling the Mad Hatter! It accompanied an article titled “How LSD Makes Music Profoundly Awesome” about researchers learning more about how … CONTINUE READING