#DumbDonald: Start With Hearing What You Don’t Want Said

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.
—    Peter Drucker
.
On This Day In:
2017	The Press Is NOT The Enemy
2016	It Ain’t Easy
(Leap Year 29th)	Or Try To, Anyway…
(Leap Year 29th)	Circles Within Circles
2015	A Series Of Funerals
2014	And Your Point Is?
2013	Infinitely Care
2012	In My Room
(Leap Year 29th)	Stingray – TV Series Review  (This is my most popular post since starting my blog – hands down!  It still draws hits almost every week.  The hits seem to come mostly from Central Europe.  I guess the show must be in syndication there.)
(Leap Year 29th)	A Single Thread
2011	Lyrical Mixture
	Teaching = Translating

Read Full Post »

Ethics Lesson

The Hacker Ethic
Access to computers —  and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works — should be unlimited and total.  Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!
All information should be free.
Mistrust Authority —  Promote Decentralization.
Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.
You can create art and beauty on a computer.
Computers can change your life for the better.
—    Steven Levy
From his book:  “Hackers: Heroes Of The Computer Revolution“
.
On This Day In:
2017	May I Have Some More, Please?
2016	A Little Lost
2015	This High Place
2014	Elected Madness
2013	Well Written
2012	Related Parts
2011	The King Is Oscar
	Better Reputation?

Read Full Post »

In My Room (2)

You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you.  This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be.  This is a place of creative incubation.  At first you may find that nothing happens there.  But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.
…
For them [the Plains Indians] the whole world was a sacred place.  But our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where the hell you are, or what it is you intended.  You are always doing something that is required of you.  Where is your bliss station?  You have to try to find it.  Get a phonograph and put on the music that you really love, even if it’s corny music that nobody else respects.  Or get the book you like to read.  In your sacred place you get the “thou” feeling of life that these people had for the whole world in which they lived.
—    Joseph Campbell
From the book:  “The Power Of Myth” (with Bill Moyers)
.
On This Day In:
2017	Pretending
2016	And Songs Too…
2015	On The Road To Failure
2014	Each Moment
2013	Conversation
2012	4 Down, 11 Done (At Last)
	I’m Not Afraid
2011	Who’s Risk Is It, Anyway?

Read Full Post »

I Will Love You… Forever

The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them.
—    Stephen King
.
On This Day In:
2017	Pebbles In Your Shoe?
2016	Resolute Will
2015	Absorbed And Civilized
2014	Relax And Lead
2013	Location, Location, Location
2012	Are You Really Good?
2011	Relatively Objective, Anyway

Read Full Post »

Mirror, Mirror

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.
—  President Abraham Lincoln
.
On This Day In:
2017	Keep On Keeping On
2016	Reflections
2015	Is It Time Yet?
2014	Ask Any Follower
2013	Cornered Or Surrounded?
2012	Escape
2011	Achievement
	Not Unreasonable Enough

Read Full Post »

Oh, Heaven (Too)

I do not myself believe that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment.
—    Bertrand Russell
I don’t believe in an afterlife, so I don’t have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more.  For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.
—    Isaac Asimov
.
On This Day In:
2017	Now Pausing Makes Sense
2016	Just Spicy
	Only One Part
2015	Positive Acts Of Creation
2014	One Thing Is Clear
2013	Corrections
	See Greatness
2012	Gemutlichkeit
2011	Back On The Asphalt

Read Full Post »

Oh, Hell

In hell there is no other punishment than to begin over and over again the tasks left unfinished in your lifetime.
—    André Gide
Death is for many of us the gate of hell;  but we are inside on the way out, not outside on the way in.
—    George Bernard Shaw
.
On This Day In:
2017	No Welcome Mat Here
2016	Making It Up
	A Missed Beat
2015	We Are All Explorers
2014	Still Trying To Cope
2013	Dear Diary (A good chuckle!)
2012	Conveniently Sequential
2011	King’s Speech Number Four
	Rational Probability

Read Full Post »

Wakanda Forever

Black Panther (2018)  —  movie review
Today I went to the new Marvel super-hero movie, “Black Panther“.  The movie stars Chadwick Boseman as the title character King T’Challa / Black Panther;  Michael B. Jordan as the main bad guy Erik Killmonger;  Andy Serkis as the secondary bad guy Ulysses Klaue;  Letitia Wright as Princess Shuri (T’Challa’s little sister);  Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, the King’s girlfriend / love interest;  Danai Gurira as Okoye, the general of army and the King’s personal guard;  Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, the King’s best friend and husband of general Okoye;  Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, a US CIA operative who risks his life to save Nakia;  and Winston Duke, as M’Baku, chief of the gorilla tribe.  There are also noteworthy appearances by Angela Bassett as Ramonda, the King’s mother and Forest Whitaker as Zuri, a high priest and counselor to the King.
This is a stand-alone movie within the “Extended Marvel Universe”.  As such, it is the origin story of the super-hero – “Black Panther” who comes from the fictional, Central African country of Wakanda.  Basically, there are five tribes in the country, each of which is patterned after an animal deity, but the Panther symbol is the primary one for all but the gorilla tribe.  T’Challa’s father dies and he must become king.  He is challenged by the chief of the gorilla tribe, who T’Challa defeats, but who T’Challa allows to live because his tribe needs his leadership.
Blah, blah, blah, T’Challa’s cousin (Killmonger) uses Klaue as an entry into Wakanda, and then claims the throne as his own.  Killmonger defeats T’Challa in personal combat, but fails to kill him.  Blah, blah, blah, T’Challa recovers and defeats Killmonger in personal combat (Killmonger chooses death over subservience).  Blah, blah, T’Challa announces to the United Nations that Wakanda wishes to share its technologies with the rest of the world.
So, is this a “great” movie?  Probably not.  Is it a “great” comic / super-hero movie?  Yes!  Definitely.  I would rank it up with IronMan and Wonder Woman as among the best in its genre.  It’s entertaining (action), visually striking (colorful and with great special effects), and it has a better than average story-line which transcends the typical “comic-book” genre.  In its own way, it is very political and ethics driven.  Basically, do the wealthy and advanced countries have an obligation to help those with less?  Alternatively, does military might give one country the right to subjugate the rest of the world?
Did I have any criticisms?  Yes, but they are minor.  I would have liked to see a little more development of the five tribes.  The Panther and the Gorilla tribes were introduced, but I really got no idea what was going on with the other three.  The second minor point was the two main battles were in dark environments which made it difficult to follow the martial arts.  While this is a not, strictly speaking, a martial arts movie, I like to see the actual moves.  Like a few of the “Transformer” movies, sometimes the shot was too close to see what was happening, and, sometimes it was just too dark with the combatants both in black costumes.  They did give us a bit of help by altering the color of the striping and necklace between the hero and the villain.  Again, these were minor points.
I would also like to add a side comment…  IMHO this is not a “pro” African-American film.  It is an African film.  The good part of that is that it presents people of color in roles (King, Queen, brilliant scientist and general) which are not common in American films and which can hopefully help all peoples of color start to visualize themselves in similar roles (that of good people in impactful lives).  The bad part is that the “African-American” (Killmonger) is portrayed as no better than any of the white / European colonizers whom they (he) purportedly are criticizing.  Killmonger attempts to destroy Wakandan heritage and to turn the nation into a new-age British Empire.  We must also be careful to recognize that, in the end, the hero is victorious by force of arms and combat skill and not because of enlightenment, moral superiority or any oral argument.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and give it a very highly recommended rating (if not a must see).  As I stated with the Avengers movies, we really are in a golden age of movies based on comic-book super-heroes.
.
On This Day In:
2017	In Defense Of A Free Press
2016	Lost Opportunity
2015	Are You Listening Ladies?
2014	Practice, Practice, Practice
2013	A Fist Full Of Confusion
2012	Teaching Faith
2011	The Heart Of Terror
	The Proportion Of Gravity And Probability

Read Full Post »

I’d Be Happy With Another Score (Or So)

I do not believe in personal immortality;  it seems so unnecessary.  Show me one man who deserves to live forever.
—    Edward Abbey
.
On This Day In:
2017	In Defense Of A Free Press
2016	Lost Opportunity
2015	Are You Listening Ladies?
2014	Practice, Practice, Practice
2013	A Fist Full Of Confusion
2012	Teaching Faith
2011	The Heart Of Terror
	The Proportion Of Gravity And Probability

Read Full Post »

He Found Them On-Line

The biblical account of Noah’s Ark and the Flood is perhaps the most implausible story for fundamentalists to defend.  Where, for example, while loading his ark, did Noah find penguins and polar bears in Palestine?
—    Judith Hayes
.
On This Day In:
2017	Maybe In A Future World
2016	Largely A Mystery
2015	Tools And Weapons
2014	Likes And Dislikes
2013	Pillars Of Learning
2012	Another JCoM Review
	Move It
2011	Expected Value

Read Full Post »

Know Any Christians?

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.
[And…]
In truth, there was only one christian and he died on the cross.
―    Friedrich Nietzsche
.
On This Day In:
2017	The Only Thing I Can Give…
2016	Wiser But Less Cocksure
2015	Not Today
	Wicked
2014	…Am Too
2013	Credible?
2012	Both
2011	Risking Hidden Linkage

Read Full Post »

Praise God

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.
–    Oscar Wilde
[Or what a boring world this would be…    —    KMAB]
.
On This Day In:
2017	Necessary Gaps
2016	Nor My Dogs
2015	Say What?
	I’m A Dog, Too!
	Beginnings
2014	Astonishing Choices
2013	Three Hard Tasks
2012	The Only Remains
2011	Personal Capability
	What Price Failure?
	Both Of W’s Elections
	Tea (Baggers) Anyone?

Read Full Post »

Nice To Meet You

A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.
―    Maya Angelou
.
On This Day In:
2017	All Nations & Religions
2016	Given The Choice
	Why Is He Wearing Red?
2015	Within The System
2014	None But…
2013	Obviously Longer
2012	A Childhood Poem
	Who Are You Callin’ Leather-Faced?
2011	In No Particular Order
	The Need For Proof

Read Full Post »

Wars Without Taxes

We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.
―    Aesop
.
On This Day In:
2017	Multiplication And Division
2016	I Went To The Woods…
2015	I’ve Got To Run
2014	Which Is It?
2013	Making You Stronger
2012	Sick Of Being Sick
	Greater Than Power
2011	Clear, Specific And Measurable
2010	The Runner’s High
	Into The Dark…

Read Full Post »

My Hope

I cannot live without books.
[And… ]
I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led.
―    President Thomas Jefferson
[I have always hoped to live up to this “bold” standard.    —    KMAB]
.
On This Day In:
2017	We All Lose
2016	Wants
2015	Let Us Join
2014	Feeling Kept?
	Chillin’
2013	The Lucky Few
2012	A Post-Valentine’s Day Message
2011	Risk, Lyrics, Starting Over, And My Trip To The ER
	Lucky Choice

Read Full Post »