

Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Spotted in Ashlandia on Tuesday morning, 12/17/2024.

Mood: sunsational
The weekly wheel continues its stops. Today it lands on Thursday, March 21, 2024. What’s that about spring? Why yes, it does seem to have arrived in southern Oregon. We have sunshine to sell today. At least for now. Sulky clouds are peeking in over the box valley mountain barriers. It’s 56 F with 66 F allegedly coming our way.
Caveats are required. We witnessed 66 F yesterday. Subsequent clouds dropped us to a surprisingly chilly 62 F. On the surface today is like yesterday, presenting fair warning about what we might get.
I’m in shorts, though. Once we convincingly put the 70 period reliably behind us, I pulled out my shorts, gave them a sniff (yes, they smelled and looked clean), and slid them up my pale legs. Chilly on the knees and thighs yesterday evening, though.
Thoughts about these troubled times led The Neurons to call “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” into the morning mental music stream (Trademark paperwork lost). Elvis Costello and The Attraction’s cover of the Nick Lowe song was the one playing in me head. Costello and his group released it in 1978.
When Lowe was originally writing it, he considered it a joke. This was a send up of others’ reactions to hippies and their visions of peace, love, and understanding. It eventually evolved into a serious question about why others considered peace, love, and understanding a joke.
Costello and the Attractions cover made it more of an upbeat rocker, adding sincerity and intensity. It’s since be covered by a clowder of others. (See, I consider clowder correct here. Used to designate a group of cats, I’m using it for a group of musical cats. Heh.)
But I roll with the lyrics, whoever is belting them out.
As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin’ for light in the darkness of insanity
I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside
There’s one thing I wanna know
What’s so funny ’bout peace love and understanding? Oh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love and understanding?
h/t to AZLyrics.com
Want to pause to mention, a comic strip by Iizcat.com referred to cats as ‘vessels of chaos’. I just love that description.
Stay positive, remain strong, keep leaning forward, and vote. Coffee drinking has commenced for the day. Hope it’s an excellent day for you wherever you’re at. Here’s the music. Cheers
We need to keep looking forward
while still glancing back
as we shouldn’t forget the horror
of all those wars and attacks
something better must be ahead
because look back how it was
it’s a long arc and takes time
but peace and justice for all is our cause
Mood: spirited
T’was the day before Christmas and all across the land
few people were thinking that everything was grand
those with money to spend had brought presents to no end
while those lacking food and shelter did what they could do
Yes, today is Sunday, December 24, 2023, the day before Christmas in the US. Light rain intermittently douses us in wintery 43 F temps under a dystopian dim sun stuck behind the clouds. It’s today’s high, already achieved, so we have that going for us in Ashlandia, where the Christmas decorations are average and the Kwanza and Hannukah celebrations are muted.
I found myself with the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s 2006 cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” in the morning mental music stream (Trademark gifted). Those first lyrics that include soldiers keep on warrin’ was in my mind during this holiday month, when so many people talk about peace on Earth and goodwill toward man while doing the opposite so often. Few walk the talk. They’re just depressin’ damn people, especially the faux christians who have emerged.
Let’s just call them faustians, which is really similiar to faustian, isn’t it? Interesting; those faustians (faux christians) focus on themselves, complaining about how overlooked and put upon they are, which, in their words, is terrible because they have the best religion and god. Meanwhile, faustian is an adjective to describe things often done for present gain without any thought about the future, which is exactly what the faustians (faux christians) do; they want to go back to some faux good ol’ days when women knew their place and it was in the house, and there were only two genders and one sexual orientation – male on female – and men were in charge, and all bad things like racism, bigotry, and discrimination were all swept into places where it couldn’t be seen. They didn’t want to hear about women being raped (because they probably deserved it anyway, in their minds, because of how they dressed or acted). Nor did they want to know about people born with a mix of gene sets that creates a spectrum of true and viable genders. God only created two genders, darn it, and science is bad because it teaches otherwise, so don’t trust it.
Factories were in America and all things were made in America, because it was and is and always will be the greatest nation in the world (because, god), and the houses were all the same clean cottages behind fine white picket fences, except for the wealthy but noble and pious people who lived in mansions on the hill, away from the riff raff. To achieve their goals, faustians will lie and pretend their leaders are wonderful people, overlooking or even rationalizing their crimes, and go to war to make peace, because they believe in god, and that makes everything that they do okay. Diversity is not good in the faustian world. Nor is critical thinking.
Anyway, that’s why I’m playing “Higher Ground”.
Stay pos, be strong, and keep leaning forward toward a higher ground. Coffee drinking is underway. Here’s the music. Cheers