Preternatural Delusions

2007-04-19T21:26:00.000+03:00

2007-02-02T13:22:00.000+02:00

Melodia momentului. ;)

2007-02-01T09:51:00.000+02:00

Sub mormanul însemnat de cărţi se află patul meu. Dacă se întîmpla să fiu în pat în momentul în care cărţile s-au prăbuşit (alături de plăcile pe care stăteau şi de scheletul care susţinea tot), nu ştiu dacă mai apucam să postez asta acum. :)

2007-02-01T09:39:00.000+02:00

Barcelona e frumoasă. Treaba din imagine se numeşte Fântâna Magică, situată la 100 de metri de Placa Espana.

2007-01-18T12:25:00.000+02:00

2004-08-29T12:21:00.000+03:00

Înţelepciune japoneză

Un citat excelent din Tsurezuregusa, cartea scrisă de Yoshida Kenko pe la 1330-1332:

If, for example, a certain man invents falsehoods and spreads them with the intent of deceit, some people will innocently suppose that he speaks the truth and be hoodwinked by his words; others will be so deeply convinced that they will think up an annoying variety of lies to add to the original one. Still others, unimpressed by the lie, will pay it no attention. Yet others will be rather suspicious and ponder over the story, neither believing nor disbelieving. Others, though they find the lie improbable, will nevertheless decide it may be true, if only because people are spreading it, and let the matter go at that. There will be people too who make all sorts of guesses and pretend they have caught onto the truth, nodding and smiling knowingly, but who in fact understand nothing. Others will deduce the truth, and think, "I'm sure that's what happened," but hesitate, for fear they may be mistaken. Some will clap their hands and laugh, saying there is nothing new in this lie. Some too, though aware of the truth, will not reveal they have caught on, nor make comments one way or the other on what they realize is the truth, acting as if they were ignorant of the facts. Finally, there are those who, knowing from the start the purpose of the lie, do not ridicule it in any way, but on the contrary sympathize with the man who invented it, and join forces with him.

Sunt poate lucruri care iniţial par truisme, lucruri atât de self-evident încât nici nu mai simţi nevoia să le menţionezi, însă mulţi poate că nici nu se gândesc la ele, tocmai pentru par într-atât de banale.

The intelligent man, when he dies, leaves no possessions. If he has collected worthless objects, it is embarrassing to have them discovered. If the objects are of good quality, they will depress his heirs at the thought of how attached he must have been to them. It is all the more deplorable if the possessions are ornate and numerous. If a man leaves possessions, there are sure to be people who will quarrel disgracefully over them, crying, "I'm getting that one!" If you wish something to go to someone after you are dead, you should give it to him while you are still alive. Some things are probably indispensable to daily life, but as for the rest, it is best not to own anything at all.

Te învaţă şi cum să trăieşti :

The full moon does not keep its roundness even a little while; it at once begins to wane. The man indifferent to such things may not see much change in the course of a single night. The worsening of an illness too does not pause in its headlong course, until the hour of death approaches. However, as long as a man's illness is not so critical that he is actually confronted by death, he grows accustomed to the idea that life will go on much the same forever, and only after he has accomplished many things in this life will he turn to quiet practice of the Way. But when a man is suddenly taken ill and faced by death, he realizes he has accomplished not one of his plans. He helplessly regrets the years and months of laziness, and resolves that if he should recover this time and live out his full life, he will unflaggingly strive days and nights on end to accomplish this or that. The sickness in the meanwhile grows steadily worse, until he loses consciousness and, in a state of violent agitation, breathes his last. This is true of the vast majority of people. Everyone should waste no time in taking this to heart. If you imagine that once you have accomplished your ambitions you will have time to turn to the Way, you will discover that your ambitions never come to an end. In our dreamlike existence, what is there for us to accomplish? All ambitions are vain delusions. You should realize that, if desires form in your heart, false delusions are leading you astray; you should do nothing to fulfill them. Only when you abandon everything without hesitation and turn to the Way will your mind and body, unhindered and unagitated, enjoy lasting peace.

Lecţii de viaţă valabile şi după 7 secole:

A man should avoid displaying deep familiarity with any subject. Can one imagine a well-bred man talking with the air of a know-it-all, even about a matter with which he is in fact familiar? The boor who pops up on the scene from somewhere in the hinterland answers questions with an air of utter authority in every field. As a result, though the man may also possess qualities that compel our admiration, the manner in which he displays his high opinion of himself is contemptible. It is impressive when a man is always slow to speak, even on subjects he knows thoroughly, and does not speak at all unless questioned.

Iată ceva de care mă fac eu vinovat, un viciu de care sper să mă lepăd:

Nobody begrudges wasting a little time. Does this represent a reasoned judgment or merely foolishness, I wonder. If I were to address myself to those who are lazy out of foolishness, I should point out that a single copper coin is of trifling value, but an accumulation of these coins will make a rich man of a poor one. This is why a merchant so jealously hoards each coin. We may not be aware of the passing instants, but as we go on ceaselessly spending them, suddenly the term of life is on us.

Despre greşeli:

A man who was famous as a tree climber was guiding someone in climbing a tall tree. He ordered the man to cut the top branches, and during this time, when the man seemed to be in great danger, the expert said nothing. Only when the man was coming down and had reached the height of the eaves did the expert call out, "Be careful! Watch your step coming down!" I asked him, "Why did you sat that? At that height he could jump the rest of the way down if he chose." "That's the point," said the expert. "As long as the man was up at a dizzy height and the branches were threatening to break, he himself was so afraid I said nothing. Mistakes are always made when people get to the easy places."

Should we only be interested to view the cherry blossoms at their peak, or the moon when it is full? To yearn for the moon when it is raining, or to be closed up in ones room, failing to notice the passing of Spring, is far more moving. Treetops just before they break into blossom, or gardens strewn with fallen flowers are just as worthy of notice. There is much to see in them. Is it any less wonderful to say, in the preface to a poem, that it was written on viewing the cherry blossoms just after they had peaked, or that something had prevented one from seeing them altogether, than to say ?on seeing the cherry blossoms?? Of course not. Flowers fall and the moon sets, these are the cyclic things of the world, but still there are brutish people who mutter that there is nothing left worth seeing, and fail to appreciate. In all things, it is the beginnings and the endings that are the most interesting. Is the love between a man a woman to be understood only in terms of the times they are together? Feel the pain of a relationship that has ended, decry the futility of a brief encounter, spend a long night awake and alone, think fondly of a life beyond one, out of reach, beyond the clouds, remember a moment long ago shared in a thatched hut; that is LOVE.

There is a much deeper appreciation in waiting for the moon to appear just before dawn than in seeing it full and unobstructed for as far as the eye can see. There can be no finer or more poignant moment than to see it appear among the newly budding branches of a mountain cedar, or its light falling between trees, or to see it when it slides in an out of clouds laden with rain. I shiver when I see the moonlight glimmering on the dew laden leaves of the pasania and the oak, so beautiful that I yearn for a friend from

Kyoto who would feel the same.

Above all else, are we to see the moon and the cherry blossoms with our eyes alone? It is indeed amusing, even marvelous, to stay at home in the Spring, thinking about a moonlit night from the confines of ones room. People of class never seem totally absorbed in their loves, nor in their pastimes. Country people think only of the gaudiest of pleasures. They sidle up to blossoming cherry trees, hoarding their vantage point, drinking sake, writing linked poetry until, at the end, they viciously break big branches. They have no feelings. They stick their hands and feet into natural springs, leave their footprints in the snow, leave nothing sacred and untouched in this world.

And these people! When they come to see the Kamo Festival in Kyoto, they claim there is not enough to see from the viewing stands, and so they take themselves off to the stalls behind to drink sake, stuff themselves, play Go and Sugoroku, leaving a guard on their seats. When the call is made, they proceed to rush back to the stands, seeing who can be first to see this or that in the parade, and when again there is a lull, they all rush out of their seats. Why the struggle, just to see what there is to see? The cognoscenti from the capital grow drowsy and make no attempt to catch everything. The younger people who serve them make their way in and out, never attempting to push through from behind, or brazenly trying to get a view of what is passing by.
In all this fine splendor of carriages decorated in Hollyhock boughs that have secretly nestled together in the hours just before dawn, I become curious about the high-born occupants of certain of them. Later I see that I know some of the cattle grooms and other servants. Ah, there is much that is splendid, much that is gay, much that is as varied as life. I am never bored. Along toward evening the throngs of wagons, so thick there had been no passage between them, mysteriously vanish until the din of the festival subsides. The curtains and mats are rolled up and all becomes a lonely sight. In these moments, I think I understand the vagaries of the world. The great avenues of Kyoto are made for such festivals.

Many, many people have passed in front of these stands, and many of them I know, which goes to prove that there are not as many souls in the world as I had thought. When all of them are gone, and when my time comes as well to die, it shall not be such a long wait. Fill a huge vessel with water, and one will see that even though it has small pinholes and the dripping seems minor, still it leaks inexorably and finally it is empty. Though there are many souls in Kyoto, not a day goes by without dying. Is it really only a few each day? Many are the days when the dead are seen off to Toribeno, or to Mt. Funaoka, or to some other unnamed crematory hill, and the process never stops. Caskets are made. There is no end of buyers. It never ceases. One never knows when death will come. The young and the strong are not spared. It is a strange sense of gratitude to know that one has escaped today. Can one afford to think of the world in easy terms? It is like a game of checkers with all the pieces arranged on a Suguroku board. Eventually, no matter what the count or the direction of the game, all of the pieces will be removed until only one is left. And this one cannot escape. It too will go. A warrior off to battle knows he is near to death; he forgets his home, his position. A man who chooses a grass hut and lives in retirement, in harmony with the stream and the stones of his garden, thinking that it happens elsewhere, is deluded. Even in a quiet mountain seclusion, the evil enemy, the brevity of life, will catch up with one. To look into the face of death is similar to a warrior entering the enemy camp.

2004-05-10T09:09:00.000+03:00

Uuuuu...new Blogger

Îmi place mult noul Blogger, are şi comentarii incluse. Poate aşa o să-i dedic şi eu mai mult timp blogului. Ia să vedem dacă merg comentariile.

2004-04-30T11:41:00.000+03:00

Globalizarea prostiei

Oare un sistem de imbecilizare politică în masă, pe fond religios (a la Faux News & Rush Limbaugh), va prinde vreodată în Europa ?

Înţeleg că asemenea mesaje apelează la animalicul din om, la spiritul de turmă. Poate fi chiar asimilat publicului lui Vadim şi a revistei România Mare. Diferenţa fiind că Faux News-ul are o audienţă într-atât de mare încât trebuie că o vizionează şi oameni ce pot fi descrişi drept raţionali.

Ciudat, oricum.

2004-04-05T15:54:00.000+03:00

But everyone knew I'm God

You are a GRAMMAR GOD!

If your mission in life is not already to

preserve the English tongue, it should be.

Congratulations and thank you!

How grammatically sound are you?

brought to you by Quizilla

2003-11-04T09:13:00.000+02:00

Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando

Admirabilă această frază din Eneida lui Vergiliu. De-ar fi mai mulţi care ar înţelege-o...

2003-03-15T11:35:00.000+02:00

Bin Laden Emerges In North Korea. Sought Location
Ignored By U.S.

Fugitive Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was spotted in a cafe in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang. Dipping a biscotti into his latte, the leader of the terrorist organization told a BBC reporter who approached him that he chose the country as a refuge because he knew activities there were being ignored by the United States.

"North Korea is the perfect haven for me. You can build nukes here and the U.S. government doesn't pay attention," Bid Laden said. The infamous terrorist also complained that he feels forgotten and neglected. "I was once front page news. Now I make a few threats on my cell phone and the country goes code orange but I don't even get a mention for it. Frankly I feel slighted because I'm still evil," he said.

From Bob's Fridge

2003-03-09T16:11:00.000+02:00

În stânga veţi găsi începând de astăzi un plugin ce vă va conduce către cele mai noi ştiri relevante în contextul politic internaţional.

2003-01-04T13:20:00.000+02:00

Laurie Anderson

Îmi place mult Laurie Anderson. Profund. Adânc. E... grozavă, ca să folosesc cuvântul preferat al unei amice. Muzica ei are acel mister aparte, care sperie, intrigă şi care induce o stare aparte. De exemplu, O Superman, unora le aduce aminte de World Trade Center; prietenei mele i s-a părut ciudată melodia şi a spus că nu ar mai asculta-o din nou.

Acum ascult Strange Angels, melodia de pe acelaşi album, şi încerc să-mi dau seama ce are aparte muzica ei... Pare a fi concepută într-o altă lume, nu ştiu unde, cum, undeva într-o iarnă perpetuă, într-o hrubă unde nu poţi face altceva decât să compui melodii ce penetrează precum ţurţurii de gheaţă. Nu aş putea să ascult melodiile acestea vara, pe o plajă. S-ar topi, s-ar evapora. Sunt melodii pentru Parcul Tineretului, iarna, când singurele fiinţe vivante din împrejurimi sunt câinii vagabonzi şi ţiganii gata să sară dintr-un boschet şi să-ţi fure banii.

Da, îmi place Laurie.

Strange Angels

They say that heaven is like TV
A perfect little world
that doesn't really need you
And everything there
is made of light
And the days keep going by
Here they come Here they come
Here they come.

Well it was one of those days larger than life
When your friends came to dinner
and they stayed the night
And then they cleaned out the refrigerator -
They ate everything in sight
And then they stayed up in the living room
And they cried all night

Strange angels - singing just for me
Old stories - they're haunting me
This is nothing
like I thought it would be.

Well I was out in my four door
with the top down.
And I looked up and there they were:
Millions of tiny teardrops
just sort of hanging there
And I didn't know whether to laugh or cry
And I said to myself:
What next big sky?

Strange angels - singing just for me
Their spare change falls on top of me
Rain falling Falling all over me
All over me
Strange angels - singing just for me
Old Stories - they're haunting me
Big changes are coming
Here they come
Here they come.

2003-01-02T16:07:00.000+02:00

Harper's Index - October 2002

I really enjoy the Index, so I thought about sharing it with those who do not yet know about it.

Total amount the Bush campaign paid Enron and Halliburton for use of corporate jets during the 2000 recount : $15,400

Maximum amount each of Enron's 4,500 laid-off employees would receive as part of a proposed settlement : $13,500

Average amount the company paid each of its 140 top executives last year : $5,300,000

Months that Vice President Dick Cheney has refused to release documents related to current U.S. energy policy : 16

Months since his release from prison that nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee has been looking for work : 24

Years that the National Security Agency's new head of research held the same position at Disney : 2

Number of Hollywood films released in the last two years for which Senator Orrin Hatch has co-written songs : 2

Number of teenagers enrolled last summer in Secure Corps, a "homeland security training" camp in Pennsylvania : 92

Grant given a Maryland professor last October to create an online archive of dot-com-era business plans : $300,500

Number of Japanese McDonald's that began offering broadband Internet access in May : 9

Size in acres of a billboard that a Chinese town is constructing next to its ancient giant Buddha : 10

Hours that the Empire State Building was lit "Snapple Yellow" in August : 8

Percentage of Americans who say vacationing leaves them tired : 54

Number of traffic tickets issued in July by British Columbia police officers posing as squeegee men : 90

Number of bookies arrested in India in March on charges they took bets on Hindu-Muslim riots : 101

Percentage of seats in Pakistan's parliamentary elections this month that will be reserved for women : 19

Number of Afghan refugees whose 2002 return the U.N. budgeted for in January : 800,000

Number who have returned home since then : 1,500,000

Percentage of Israeli settlers who say they would respect a government decision for them to leave the settlements : 68

Percentage who say they remain in the settlements for the quality of life : 75

Percentage of Americans who said in August that they had a clear idea of why the U.S. would consider attacking Iraq : 56

Amount of Iraq's oil revenue since 1996 spent on anything but humanitarian programs, Kuwaiti reparations, or U.N. costs : 0

Minimum annual U.S. spending on searching for missing soldiers : $100,000,000

Number of U.S. soldiers missing in action since 1945 : 88,135

Chance that one of the 264 barrios of Medellín, Colombia, is controlled by right-wing paramilitaries : 1 in 4

Estimated chance last year : 1 in 10

Number of Argentines who have applied to be on a new job-search game show since April : 6,500 (see page 20)

Percentage change in U.S. spending on border enforcement since 1995 : +200

Percentage change since then in the estimated number of illegal immigrants living in the United States : +57

Number of corrections professionals who attended a mock riot at a former West Virginia prison in May : 1,235

Minimum number of U.S. universities where Halloween celebrations last year included at least one student in blackface : 4

Rank of Richard Nixon masks among the top U.S. costumer's best-selling political masks over the last five years : 1

Number of the last six U.S. presidents who bested their opponents in the company's election-year Halloween mask sales : 6

Percentage of Americans who blame Bill Clinton's "moral failings" for the current business scandals : 51

Percentage who blame President Bush's "close ties to big corporations" : 46

Percentage of CEOs who blame CEOs for the scandals : 69

Value of the Dow Jones industrial average in 1996 when Alan Greenspan warned of investors' "irrational exuberance" : 6,437

Average number of U.S. print-media references to "our new reality" each week since September 11, 2001 : 1.4

Average number of words of MTV's The Osbournes censored per minute : 2.8

2003-01-02T11:23:00.000+02:00

Etymology of ale

I have found an interesting explanation in Linda & Roger Flavell's :

A Germanic root, alut-, gave rise to the Old English ealu, 'ale', and related words in Scandinavian languages. The Old English word beor, 'beer', also existed and sprang from an unidentified Germanic root from which German and Dutch also derived their words for beer. In medieval England the two words were synonymous, although ale was much more commonly used, beer beign reserved for more formal poetic contexts. In the Middle Ages wood sage, alecost and ground-ivy (alehoof) were used to preserve and flavour ale but in the sixteenth century Flemish immigrants introduced the practice of adding hops to malted grain and this drink was called beer to distinguish it from ale. In his Dyetary (1542) Andrew Boorde describes the brew and laments the harmful effects of its popularity : Bere is made of malte, of hoppes, and water: it is a naturall drynke for a Dutche man. And nowe of late dayes it is moche used in Englande to the detryment of many Englysshe men.
But just under a century later in John Gerard's revised Herbal (1633) beer is found to be a nourishing beverage : The manifold virtues of Hops so manifestly argue the wholesomeness of beer above ale: for the hops rather make it a physical drink to keep the body in health, than an ordinary drink for the quenching of our thirst.

In the Middle Ages and through the seventeenth century, ale was not only a drink but a term given to a festivity where ale was drunk. Sometimes this was a family occasion such as a wedding (bride ale) or funeral (dirge ale). Often an ale would be held on a saint's day or Christian festival (Whitsun ale) to benefit church funds. The congregation would donate malt, from which the church wardens brewed ale to sell back to them at the celebration. Or an ale might mark out the agricultural or working year (lamb ale, scythale). There were sometimes at the expense of the lord of the manor but often peasants were ordered to contribute malt and then forced to but the brew (L F Saltzman, English Life in the Middle Ages, 1926). Whatever the excuse for the ale, it was generally marked by revelry and drunkenness.

Quite interesting, innit ?