Although I Mean It, and Project the Meaning As Hard As I Can Into Its Brushed-Metal Surface, It Cannot, in This Deteriorating Climate, Pick Up Where I Leave Off
This weekend we're scheduled to get sixteen feet of snow followed by seven inches of ice which will cause power outages lasting until April (until which daily high temperatures will not break -50), apt for this, my shittiest winter ever in all but two facets of my life, all caused by my moving from watercolor paper to hardboard treated canvases that don't warp, what a world, this is all my fault, my apologies Maybe a good thing, not the canvases, my being cut-off from contact with the outside world until April Fools Day: I'm not only incapable of doing it voluntarily I'm incapable of not documenting the all-encompassing and constantly expanding clusterfuck, perhaps you've noticed. I no longer play the "if I was offered a free month in hiking and disc golf course paradise in perfect weather with gorgeous sunsets and primo sativa and fresh crisp bright local pilsners from the deck of a mountain top cottage on the condition I have no contact with the outside world would I?" game, because why play? it will never be offered and I'd never accept it if it was. If you don't believe me please buy me (and L) that vacation, I'd love to be wrong: just found my Renaldo and the Loaf CD stash, perhaps I'd choose to listen to some on that deck watching the sunset, unclusterfucking, I just might be willing to risk it. The test, and the rest, depends on you
Today's duh: Behind Trump’s Meltdown Over Greenland
"After sponsoring genocide in Gaza, welcoming the kidnapping of Maduro, cheering the bombing of Iran, backing assaults on Lebanon, applauding assassinations, liberal European leaders have discovered international law just in time for the US invasion of Greenland"
Couple of days ago I was thinking poobah Democrats must have told Wes Moore to cool his jets in the interest of his own career so guess what cynical me's first thought was when I first saw this
Zionist 2028 Dem potus candidate resents being asked and thinks it's antisemitic he was asked if he was a Mossad agent when he was vetted (and not chosen) for vpotus in 2024
Although I mean it, and project the meaning As hard as I can into its brushed-metal surface, It cannot, in this deteriorating climate, pick up Where I leave off. It sees the Japanese text As among the most massive secretions of the human spirit. Its part is in the shade, beyond the iron spikes of the fence, Mixing red with blue. As the day wears on Those who come to seem reasonable are shouted down (Why you old goat! Look who’s talkin’. Let’s see you Climb off that tower — the waterworks architecture, both stupid and Grandly humorous at the same time, is a kind of mask for him, Like a seal’s face. Time and the weather Don’t always go hand in hand, as here: sometimes One is slanted sideways, disappears for awhile. Then later it’s forget-me-not time, and rapturous Clouds appear above the lawn, and the rose tells The old old story, the pearl of the orient, occluded And still apt to rise at times.) A few black smudges On the outer boulevards, like squashed midges And the truth becomes a hole, something one has always known, A heaviness in the trees, and no one can say Where it comes from, or how long it will stay —
it was interesting to see the list by age of rivers
congo was not on it - wikipedia informs us
"The current course of the Congo River formed between 1.5 and 2 million years BP, during the Pleistocene"
and goes on to say
"The Congo's formation may have led to the allopatric speciation of the bonobo and the common chimpanzee from their most recent common ancestor"
elsewhere, it has been said
Real River Talk
River lists ain't have Congo on there, Had me confused, like that ain't fair. Wikipedia said it's two million years old, Pleistocene era—now the story's told. But yo, it did more than just flow through, Split the chimps up, now we got two. River made a divide, nature did its thing, That's how bonobos got their own wing.
responding to a request to make the implicit silver lining more obvious, even if one has to vastly expand the timeline, an east asian associate responded:
Aight, listen here , let me lay it down real slow, 'bout rocks and rivers and life from long ago. Way 'fore folks was walkin', the Earth was doin' its thing, Mountains shiftin', rivers cuttin', new species takin' wing.
That Congo? Just one move in the planet's ancient game, Split the land, changed the chimps, ain't nothin' stayed the same. Now they call that force the "Universal Will to Become," A raw, deep drive that keeps the whole world hummin'.
So when we gone, the planet's work ain't through, That will to change? It'll make somethin' new. The trees, the birds, the beasts upon the land— Life itself gon' shift and recombine its hand.
1/somehow, from my own musings and the collective unconscious as instantiated in large buildings that use a LOT of electricity, the following rhyme emerged - submitted for your consideration:
In the land of the limbs where the bendy parts play, Live two jolly joints that get wiggly each day. There’s Elbow on top, and there’s Knee down below, They both love to bend, but oh boy, don’t you know!
Elbow lives high in the arm of the crowd, He waves and he flaps and he greets things out loud. He helps you throw balls, he helps you hug tight, He’s pointy and pokey and ready to fight!
But Knee lives down low in the leg neighborhood, He bounces and springs like a good joint should. He helps you to jump, he helps you to run, He’s rounder and sturdier, built for big fun!
Elbow can twist in a circle-ish way, While Knee only bends forward—one direction each day. Elbow’s got cousins called wrists and called shoulders, Knee’s got the ankles and hips—much bolder!
They’re both made of hinges with cartilage cushions, They creak and they crack with the silliest pushins. But Elbow wears sleeves, and Knee wears the pants, One waves at the sky, one stomps when you dance!
Now listen, dear friends, to a tale that is true, Of a fellow named Les Paul, who bent like they do. He picked and he strummed on a guitar so grand, Invented new sounds with the wave of his hand!
He built the first solid-body axe that would rock, Recorded eight tracks without missing a tick-tock. With Mary Ford singing, their hits filled the air, Overdubbing magic—pure joy everywhere!
But one icy night in nineteen forty-eight, His car took a tumble—oh, terrible fate! His right arm was shattered, his elbow a mess, The doctors all whispered, “This arm’s in distress.”
They wanted to cut it, to take it away, But Les Paul said, “NO! Set it so I can play!” “Fix it at ninety degrees, nice and neat, So my hand can reach strings and still tap out the beat!”
They listened to Les, and they set it just so, His elbow stayed crooked, but on with the show! He picked and he grinned through the pain and the strife, And rocked the whole world for the rest of his life.
So here’s to the Elbow, and here’s to the Knee, Two bendy old pals that help you and me. And here’s to old Les, who refused to give in— When life broke his elbow, he taught it to grin!
Speaking of artistic pioneers and thought leaders with joint surgery, whose careers were intimately involved with electricity one way or another - one whose name lives on, and the other who is famous to a few - Nate Hagens, using his Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, analyzes the "polycrisis" as a tangled web of energy depletion, ecological breakdown, and financial instability that stems from humanity acting as a "Superorganism" driven by short-term growth. Through his podcast, The Great Simplification, he focuses on building systemic "islands of coherence" to help society navigate the inevitable transition toward a lower-energy, less complex future. Hagens has recently had a total knee replacement.
He discussed the procedure in several episodes and transcripts throughout late 2025 and January 2026:
The Plan: In December 2025, Nate mentioned he was scheduled for "total knee surgery" in about a month, noting that while he was apprehensive, he felt it was the right choice for his long-term mobility.
The Surgery: By mid-January 2026, he was in the recovery phase, with listeners and fans sending well-wishes for his recuperation.
The Reflection: In his episode titled "The Creature in the Machine" (published in late January 2026), he reflected on the experience of being a "biological creature" integrated with modern technology—referring to himself as a bit of a "cyborg" due to the new implant.
He has touched on this irony—acknowledging the personal privilege of receiving a high-tech medical fix while theorizing about a future where such complex supply chains might no longer exist.
I don't consider the Elbow, ordinarily, though it's as plain as a nose, a face, that there is nothing ordinary about the Elbow.
ReplyDeleteit was interesting to see the list by age of rivers
ReplyDeletecongo was not on it - wikipedia informs us
"The current course of the Congo River formed between 1.5 and 2 million years BP, during the Pleistocene"
and goes on to say
"The Congo's formation may have led to the allopatric speciation of the bonobo and the common chimpanzee from their most recent common ancestor"
elsewhere, it has been said
Real River Talk
River lists ain't have Congo on there,
Had me confused, like that ain't fair.
Wikipedia said it's two million years old,
Pleistocene era—now the story's told.
But yo, it did more than just flow through,
Split the chimps up, now we got two.
River made a divide, nature did its thing,
That's how bonobos got their own wing.
responding to a request to make the implicit silver lining more obvious, even if one has to vastly expand the timeline, an east asian associate responded:
DeleteAight, listen here , let me lay it down real slow,
'bout rocks and rivers and life from long ago.
Way 'fore folks was walkin', the Earth was doin' its thing,
Mountains shiftin', rivers cuttin', new species takin' wing.
That Congo? Just one move in the planet's ancient game,
Split the land, changed the chimps, ain't nothin' stayed the same.
Now they call that force the "Universal Will to Become,"
A raw, deep drive that keeps the whole world hummin'.
So when we gone, the planet's work ain't through,
That will to change? It'll make somethin' new.
The trees, the birds, the beasts upon the land—
Life itself gon' shift and recombine its hand.
1/somehow, from my own musings and the collective unconscious as instantiated in large buildings that use a LOT of electricity, the following rhyme emerged - submitted for your consideration:
ReplyDeleteIn the land of the limbs where the bendy parts play,
Live two jolly joints that get wiggly each day.
There’s Elbow on top, and there’s Knee down below,
They both love to bend, but oh boy, don’t you know!
Elbow lives high in the arm of the crowd,
He waves and he flaps and he greets things out loud.
He helps you throw balls, he helps you hug tight,
He’s pointy and pokey and ready to fight!
But Knee lives down low in the leg neighborhood,
He bounces and springs like a good joint should.
He helps you to jump, he helps you to run,
He’s rounder and sturdier, built for big fun!
Elbow can twist in a circle-ish way,
While Knee only bends forward—one direction each day.
Elbow’s got cousins called wrists and called shoulders,
Knee’s got the ankles and hips—much bolder!
They’re both made of hinges with cartilage cushions,
They creak and they crack with the silliest pushins.
But Elbow wears sleeves, and Knee wears the pants,
One waves at the sky, one stomps when you dance!
Now listen, dear friends, to a tale that is true,
Of a fellow named Les Paul, who bent like they do.
He picked and he strummed on a guitar so grand,
Invented new sounds with the wave of his hand!
He built the first solid-body axe that would rock,
Recorded eight tracks without missing a tick-tock.
With Mary Ford singing, their hits filled the air,
Overdubbing magic—pure joy everywhere!
But one icy night in nineteen forty-eight,
His car took a tumble—oh, terrible fate!
His right arm was shattered, his elbow a mess,
The doctors all whispered, “This arm’s in distress.”
They wanted to cut it, to take it away,
But Les Paul said, “NO! Set it so I can play!”
“Fix it at ninety degrees, nice and neat,
So my hand can reach strings and still tap out the beat!”
They listened to Les, and they set it just so,
His elbow stayed crooked, but on with the show!
He picked and he grinned through the pain and the strife,
And rocked the whole world for the rest of his life.
So here’s to the Elbow, and here’s to the Knee,
Two bendy old pals that help you and me.
And here’s to old Les, who refused to give in—
When life broke his elbow, he taught it to grin!
Speaking of artistic pioneers and thought leaders with joint surgery, whose careers were intimately involved with electricity one way or another - one whose name lives on, and the other who is famous to a few - Nate Hagens, using his Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, analyzes the "polycrisis" as a tangled web of energy depletion, ecological breakdown, and financial instability that stems from humanity acting as a "Superorganism" driven by short-term growth. Through his podcast, The Great Simplification, he focuses on building systemic "islands of coherence" to help society navigate the inevitable transition toward a lower-energy, less complex future. Hagens has recently had a total knee replacement.
ReplyDeleteHe discussed the procedure in several episodes and transcripts throughout late 2025 and January 2026:
The Plan: In December 2025, Nate mentioned he was scheduled for "total knee surgery" in about a month, noting that while he was apprehensive, he felt it was the right choice for his long-term mobility.
The Surgery: By mid-January 2026, he was in the recovery phase, with listeners and fans sending well-wishes for his recuperation.
The Reflection: In his episode titled "The Creature in the Machine" (published in late January 2026), he reflected on the experience of being a "biological creature" integrated with modern technology—referring to himself as a bit of a "cyborg" due to the new implant.
He has touched on this irony—acknowledging the personal privilege of receiving a high-tech medical fix while theorizing about a future where such complex supply chains might no longer exist.