tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post5414557662232757618..comments2024-03-17T03:42:21.277-05:00Comments on LEARNING CURVE ON THE ECLIPTIC: That Darned Elusive Funny SideTwilighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-14427048945590693432013-09-08T08:15:08.054-05:002013-09-08T08:15:08.054-05:00mike ~ That's an unusual take of yours on it ...mike ~ That's an unusual take of yours on it all, but, I guess, no more so than a few others out there. The pity is that once we find out the truth we'll not be in any position to pass on the knowledge. :-(<br /><br />I haven't read anything by Gore Vidal, no. Oh my! That's another unusual and imaginative take on life then - that we shall forever be actors in dramas of some kind, for the entertainment of others. :-)<br /><br />I'll see your Gore Vidal and raise you William Shakespeare (I don't know poker by the way but it sounds good!)<br /><br /><i><b>All the World's a Stage</b><br /><br />All the world's a stage,<br />And all the men and women merely players;<br />They have their exits and their entrances,<br />And one man in his time plays many parts,<br />His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,<br />Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.<br />Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel<br />And shining morning face, creeping like snail<br />Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,<br />Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad<br />Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,<br />Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,<br />Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,<br />Seeking the bubble reputation<br />Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,<br />In fair round belly with good capon lined,<br />With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,<br />Full of wise saws and modern instances;<br />And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts<br />Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,<br />With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;<br />His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide<br />For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,<br />Turning again toward childish treble, pipes<br />And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,<br />That ends this strange eventful history,<br />Is second childishness and mere oblivion,<br />Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.<br /> </i>Twilighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-29488648827040817432013-09-07T20:42:11.050-05:002013-09-07T20:42:11.050-05:00Twilight, I've never put much stock in this &q...Twilight, I've never put much stock in this "life". It sure feels, tastes, looks, and seems real, but I've never been convinced of its authenticity. I take it seriously, but I can't help feel that it's ersatz fluff. A cosmic joke that I won't understand until I'm off this plane of existence.<br /><br />Have you read any of Gore Vidal's novels? He touches on this (as many other authors, too) particularly in his novel, "Duluth":<br /><br />One of the experimental texts Vidal refers to as his "inventions", Duluth describes both a novel written about Duluth (that, bordered on one side by Minneapolis and on the other by Michigan, bears scant resemblance to the real city) and a television series of the same name; when residents of the city die, they end up as characters in the TV show, who can in some cases continue interacting with the living through the TV screen. When members of the cast of Duluth, the TV show, die, they become characters in Rogue Duke, a romance novel serialized in the pages of Redbook, the popular women's magazine.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_%28novel%29mike (again)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-84375559735776156672013-09-07T15:30:05.816-05:002013-09-07T15:30:05.816-05:00mike ~ Humour is a funny thing - hmmm....
Humour ...mike ~ Humour is a funny thing - hmmm....<br /><br />Humour comes in several flavours, not all make me laugh, or even smile, but I can acknowledge there's humour involved. Ted Rall's cartoon was one of those which made me think rather than laugh - it presents a very serious point in a comical way.<br />But I couldn't laugh, though I do appreciate it.<br /><br />I prefer harmless humour, clean or dirty, for laughing out loud, as long as it's harmless, not cruel to anyone.<br /><br />Maybe I'm a bit of a puritan or bleeding heart left-winger in this respect, can't help it. Don't like nasty jokes about women, minorities, people with disabilities, etc.<br /><br />George Carlin was a favourite of mine, both his early weatherman madness and later crankiness. So clever and insightful, yet funny at the same time. Robin Williams makes me laugh. Most English comedians I loved have shuffled off long ago, sad to say.<br /><br />Seeing the funny side of dark stuff - not easy for me, at least until long after the darkness has past - then I can laugh at it.<br /><br />Osho may be right. God or the gods certainly had a sense of humour - and not a particularly kindly one!<br /><br /><br /><br />Twilighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-13391773810532521382013-09-07T10:44:51.400-05:002013-09-07T10:44:51.400-05:00Well, Twilight, I certainly found humor in the Ted...Well, Twilight, I certainly found humor in the Ted Rall cartoon you linked yesterday! I'm sure some would find the humor dark and offensive.<br /><br />Humor takes two...the presenter and the listener. Humor is in the ear or eyes of the beholder.<br /><br />I've known a number of Sun-in-Leo people and they have never failed to entertain me...they love their audience's adulation. Generally speaking, of course.<br /><br />A friend of mine that had too many problems at times always saw the sunny side and was full of anecdotal observations that brought-out the laughter in everyone. I asked him about his gift of positive outlook and humor. His response was: suppose there are 1000 attributes all humans share as important and distinctive in our lives. Most people focus on the five current attributes that are NOT operating correctly...these attributes are in flux and change daily or monthly. He said that he tries to always focus on the 995 attributes that are not requiring his attention.<br /><br /> “One just needs a little alertness to see and find out: Life is really a great cosmic laughter.” <br />Oshomikenoreply@blogger.com