Re I agree that strident isn't quite the right word, but I wouldn't compare
them to Muslim extremists.:
I think what turns someone into a fanatic is when their sense of identity
becomes centred on their beliefs. Once that happens they experience any
challenge to their beliefs as a personal
Have you seen this optical effect trending this week?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4QcyW-qTUg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4QcyW-qTUg
Happy Birthday is the one everyone gets trapped by, assuming it's so ancient
anyone can use it.
Warner/Chappell Music insists that one cannot sing the Happy Birthday to You
lyrics for profit without paying royalties: it's worth about $2 million a year.
Re However, the search for intelligent life . . . may take much longer since
it assumes that they will be transmitting electromagnetic signals.:
That's always been my complaint. If there is intelligent life elsewhere why
haven't we picked up transmissions of their equivalent of TV's Keeping
Total arseholes.
I've asked this before: can't the US simply cancel its (huge) debt to China
citing the aggressive propaganda coming from the top as evidence of hostile
intent? That would crash the Chinese bubble overnight.
Re The video of the bare-breasted lady was sort of funny, like some comedy
routine gone sideways.:
I know what you mean. Another difference is that the woman - typical of the
narcissistic, exhibitionist types that gravitate towards fringe protest groups
- is ALONE. That gives her a certain
Fifteen-year-old Lulu. A little girl with a big, big voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqYiUiWXM5M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqYiUiWXM5M
Judith Durham of The Seekers (Australian band) was pitch perfect with angelic,
soaring voice. They don't make music like this any more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nze8B39OB0k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nze8B39OB0k
Bhairitu, that reminds me: is whoever wrote the songs for Magic Fern still
getting royalties?
A friend of mine over here who fronted a pub covers band wrote a few original
songs; they were never released commercially but he sent recordings out to all
the local and national radio stations
I always felt sorry for George Harrison. He wrote a corker when he penned My
Sweet Lord. A real original. And yet he still got screwed by the courts over
its similarity to the song He's So Fine. Harrison claimed to have used the
out-of-copyright Oh Happy Day (listen to it and see if you don't
The Chinese sex-yoga thing also includes advice about avoiding orgasm (for
both men and women, I understand). The idea being that the enlivening effect
felt through the day more than compensates for the loss of a seconds long
firework display.
They could be on to something but it sounds
Which Chinese sex-yoga tradition would that be?
From Wiki:
Many Taoist practitioners link the loss of ejaculatory fluids to the loss of
vital life force: where excessive fluid loss results in premature aging,
disease, and general fatigue. While some Taoists contend that one should never
Re the Wiki quote about under-age virgins being a source of longevity, I said:
If you believed the following you'd be well advised to keep it as part of the
secret oral traditions!.
I was just being cute. I'm sure there is a lot in left-hand tantra and
traditional Taoist teaching that is
I said a Chinese aphrodisiac ingredient is goat penis. Let me know if that
boosts your sex life.
Judy responded That is Barry's sex life. ;-)
Richard took exception to Judy's crack but it made me smile. Now Helen Mirren
recently said English humour is harsher, more scathing, more cruel and
Re He might be pissed off to find that I'd made a crack someone had found
funny:
He doesn't strike me as an uptight character who easily takes offence.
On a related theme. Bad-taste humour is an intriguing genre. I've had lots
of belly laughs from bad-taste jokes but it does raise a
I've always respected and liked Camille Paglia. She talks so fast that you
really get value for money when she makes an appearance! What's more she always
*argues* her case rather than relying on anecdotal stories or knee-jerk PC
responses. Even when I don't agree with her (which is a lot of
There is simply nothing better than 60-s blah blah
Yes. Alan Watts, D. T. Suzuki and Krishnamurti turned the world upside down.
(At least my inner world.) And lets not forget MMY's Science of Being and Art
of Living. Though not in the same league it was an original and optimistic work.
Re Over here, there's no such thing as class privilege. If you're arrested,
you get strip searched.:
That might make sense if she was busted selling drugs in Times Square but she
was charged with submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for her
housekeeper. Is it likely this Indian
Re The problem with having sex for fun is that people will wind up doing it
all the time.:
That's a problem?!? Isn't a much bigger problem the amount of sexual
discontent and frustration in the world? Those 9-11 whack-jobs who suicided out
using the World Trade Center hated women!
Re
Re Mike Dixon's Well, the law can't show favoritism or prejudice . . . Al
Sharpton would organize some big protest . . .
Exactly! You've allowed hucksters like Sharpton to allow you to confuse
prejudice with common sense targtetting!
Re Richard's There is no class privilege over here in
Re Those suicidal terrorists convinced themselves to be above human
weaknesses, including fear of death and attraction to women.:
Totally agree. The irony, of course, is that it is *not* weak to be afraid of
death or experience sexual attraction.
Re The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, guitar) and Nick Lowe:
Now we're talking. Loved those two.
I Knew the Bride, I Hear You Knocking and Girls Talk were some of my
favourites. If you like English (OK, Edmunds is Welsh) pub rock you should like
Dr Feelgood from the same period .
And here's a British skinhead band, Sham 69, really belting it out. I saw this
band a lot back in the seventies. I don't think they ever got noticed in the
States:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GQMIXGRjaw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GQMIXGRjaw
Missed this one! Writer Colin Wilson died on December 5th so he had the
misfortune of dying on the same day as Nelson Mandela! (Like Aldous Huxley and
C S Lewis with John F Kennedy.)
I've read and enjoyed a fair few of his books. He had his own cod philosophy
which involved something he
When Colin Wilson was researching his first novel, Ritual in the Dark, about a
modern-day Jack the Ripper, his future father-in-law came across the notes
Wilson had made. He assumed they were genuine diary entries of the writer and
attacked Wilson brandishing a horsewhip and shouting: “Aha,
From The Telegraph:
Mary Mother of Christ, whose title character will be played by Odeya Rush, a
16-year-old Israeli-born actress, is one of a series of unashamedly Christian
biblical epics due to appear next year, marking an unprecedented overture by
Hollywood to America’s evangelical
It's starting to sound as though the common link joining all FFLifers is not TM
but that we've all been to American (Army-controlled) schools abroad. Were we
all unwittingly selected as part of Project MKUltra, the CIA operation
experimenting in the behavioral engineering of humans?
Just
Re While I went to Haight-Ashbury and become a peace-activist hippie :
Yep. They got to you alright. Someone whispered in your ear the trigger
expression Orange Sunshine and the post-hypnotic suggestion kicked in.
MK-Ultra were early users of LSD of course.
Re I recently *stumbled* upon
For children who can't wait for Father Christmas to arrive, the North American
Aerospace Defense Command provides a real-time check on his progress around the
globe on Christmas Eve.http://tinyurl.com/pefjeys http://tinyurl.com/pefjeys
Re Funny thing, he never mentioned LSD once:
Was that after LSD was made illegal (October 24, 1968) I wonder?
Around May or June 1967
I'd like to have been there. Were the audience sober and responding with
intelligent questions or were they under the influence of acid (as far as you
could tell)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXIoEl53T-I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXIoEl53T-I
Back in the sixties Timothy Leary and Ralph Metzner did a road show in which
they included readings from their Psychedelic Experience (a dubious co-opt of
the Tibetan Book of the Dead). The event was filmed but only the soundtrack is
now available (an amusing period piece).
I'd love to see
Re So if we're all subjects in a clandestine military psyops experiment, I say
Good job! to the experimenters. You helped to give me a remarkably fine
life.:
Well, we've not heard from Barry for a few hours now. I had assumed he was
using a Tor Browser when he posted to FFL like the rest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-r209RPsvQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-r209RPsvQ
Re I was in 7th grade and living in England at the time (1969):.
Seventh grade is an American classification isn't it? You would have been in
Year 8 or in Middle School in the UK.
Re Unfortunately I don't appear to have kept any of them.:
Yes, that is a bitch. I've discarded so
Re And, they are rich - much richer than you or I will ever be. Go figure.:
Yeah. But wouldn't you rather be dirt poor than have one of those hideous
beards?
ZZ Top have got a lot to answer for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_EFdod4YDo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_EFdod4YDo
From The Telegraph:
Alan Turing, the brilliant wartime codebreaker, has been granted a posthumous
pardon by the Queen for his criminal conviction for homosexuality.
Dr Turing, who helped Britain to win World War II, killed himself after
receiving the conviction in 1952.
He has now been
Re I went to ASL, The American School in London in St John's Wood so we went
by the US system.:
That explains it! Funnily enough, at the same age I was living in Berlin and
although British I was sent to the American school there. That's where I was
introduced to Baby Ruth bars; Sun-Maid
Re homosexuals are all products of freewill choices made in this and/or past
lives:
So what choices did they make exactly? And is having homosexual tendencies a
reward or a punishment?
The Quran is a dispiriting book. It's chock-full of passages in which Mohammed
scoffs at those who didn't pay heed to Allah's past warnings, like the
destruction of Sodom. When well-meaning people suggest to him that those
stories might just be, well, stories - legends, myths - they are roundly
Yes, it's grim.
The worst case cited in the study is Austria where . . .
. . . 73% of Muslims interviewed say Sharia law is more important than the
secular laws of the state; 79% say there is only one correct interpretation of
the Koran that should apply to all, and 65% believe Muslims
Where's Enoch Powell when you need him:
Warwick Cemetery turning in his grave.
Enoch Powell was opposed to mass immigration on *racial* grounds. He didn't
want the mass influx of non-whites: Indians, Pakistanis and blacks. It's an
interesting topic to debate but one that invariably generates more heat than
light.
What always amused me is that in the 1970s there were
Re we all alternate male and female lives. The first year when we're in a new
gender we may still have tendencies, etc. from the previous life in the other
gender. I like this theory because it's not punitive. What do you think?:
Yes, I've always liked that speculation. Although I don't
Re The Baby Boomers turned into The Man.:
Not me!
And why not me?
Did my parents instill into me the importance of free speech? Nope.
Did my teachers instill into me the importance of free speech? Nope.
Did my friends instill into me the importance of free speech? Nope.
Did
Re most gays are perfectly happy with who they are.:
All the homosexuals and lesbians I've known and worked with over the past
decades have been perfectly happy with their orientation (not sure if I like
that word). Not a single exception to that rule.
It only seems to be a worry for
Re The British . . . went all over the globe plundering everyone's natural
resources and offering only civilization in return.:
I do think that if the ideology of multiculturalism and multi-ethnicity can
overcome its many problems and finally have a happy ending then the most likely
place
Re If they don't put that caveat in:
Once you start down this road you can't get off. What happens when someone
gives an edgy opinion about a topic and the network *doesn't* issue that
caveat? The obvious implication is that in this case the views expressed *are*
endorsed by the network.
Re ducks: Camille Paglia wades in . . .
“I speak with authority here, because I was openly gay before the 'Stonewall
rebellion' when it cost you something to be so. And I personally feel as a
libertarian that people have the right to free thought and free speech. In a
democratic country,
When I started this thread I mentioned that what annoyed me most was the
statement released by the Network saying: His personal views in no way reflect
those of AE Networks. I've noticed that reaction elsewhere: an individual
says something controversial and the employer rushes in to give that
Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson has been suspended indefinitely by the AE
Network following his recent comments calling homosexuality sinful. I've not
seen or heard of this program and his remarks as reported strike me as
knee-jerk and simplistic. But what annoys me more is the statement
Maharishi advised us to go to bed early and rise with the sun. Didn't he say
something about angels waiting to escort us to dream land? If you missed their
deadline you were in for a disturbed night spent tossing and turning.
But, out there in the real world, whether you prefer to rise early
Re I'm a lark and my partners have been owls. :
Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Other nightmare scenarios include
disagreeing about how hot or warm the room should be (I like high temperatures
combined with minimum, loose-fitting clothing); what music tastes partners have
(I couldn't live
Re Which is more important: following PC or being free?:
Who wants to conform? Let freedom reign.
Richard: how come I started this thread but your post (So, lets review what
we know) now appears *first* in the list? That's a neat trick!
Re I vary between larkish and owlish as far as bedtime is concerned.:
I'm hardcore owlish and always have been. Maybe I should have been a night
worker.
It's true that when, on occasion, I've had to get up very early there is
something refreshing and enlivening about the experience (and
If this doesn't get your feet tapping you're already dead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CHjYHwNzx0amp;list=FLJad8vN225Nr5hDIzlEOYMAamp;index=22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CHjYHwNzx0amp;list=FLJad8vN225Nr5hDIzlEOYMAamp;index=22
Re I don't think the US has ever had a female quiz show MC;
You imported our Anne Robinson for The Weakest Link. Curiously, she also honed
that bossy female act.
Re S3, I remember this album really well:
First time I heard this was a Christmas Eve when a group of us dropped acid
and put the album on the turntable. A perfect combination.
I've always wondered about acid rock: did those who never partook of LSD
really *get* the music they were
Re did not think it was made in USA:
There are UK (the original) and USA versions. Here's the bitch in action on
unsuspecting Yanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oOd0TxEneI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oOd0TxEneI
Actually, I like cruel humour. My favourite US comedy show - I mean the one
that literally had me rolling on the floor clutching my sides - was Married
with Children. It was merciless. Breathtakingly merciless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asMVAYLxfrI
Joan Fontaine has died. I liked her best as the second Mrs de Winter in
Rebecca.
(It's extraordinary how long-lived her family is. Her sister Olivia de
Havilland, star of Gone with the Wind is still with us.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaMYJO-aWpU
Try as they might, Big Pharma cannot find an effective pharmaceutical
equivalent to Cannabis:
Nine years ago a UK company marketed a smoking blend called Spice. This
stuff took off big time so, although I don't smoke dope any more, my curiosity
got the better of me and I decided to sample
There are stories that film-colour trickery was used to enhance the blue of
Peter's eyes in the close-ups for Lawrence of Arabia. After seeing O'Toole in
flowing robes, Noël Coward quipped: If you'd been any prettier, it would have
been Florence of Arabia.
In the UK there's been a big push to have DAB radio coverage. The BBC want the
Government to announce a timetable for turning off all analogue coverage so
that all those old AM/FM radios will become worthless. As DAB reception can be
hopeless in some areas it's not proving a popular move. But
Re On my walks I listen to streams on my smart phone rather than AM or even FM
radio.:
I'm illiterate as far as new technology goes. Is it that you can access the
internet on a smart phone without having to rely on a local wi-fi connexion? So
you use the phone company's regular signal? If so,
Re There was a plan for hand-held digital TVs with a lower resolution sub
carrier but it seems to have gone away.:
So we're moving backwards! We now have less freedom of choice.
My hand-held TV screen (Casio) was great for when I was watching a programme
at home on my stationary TV and
Richard started this thread 100 Great Rock Artists to celebrate his favourite
musical acts. It's striking that his choices only include one band - Jefferson
Airplane - that has a woman. Now Airplane were one of my favourites; and one
vital draw was Grace Slick. She wrote those wonderfully
Only Connect is a BBC quiz show presented by dominatrix Victoria Coren
(Mitchell) in which teams compete in a tournament of finding connections
between seemingly unrelated clues. What distinguishes it from other quiz shows
is that it's essentially only winnable for those for whom *lateral
Loved it!
That I like. And kudos to the composer. But the Patsy Cline version is one of
my favourite songs.
Talking country: here in the UK and Ireland Jim Reeves was mega-huge. Probably
a bigger star than in the States. I especially liked the dub song Distant
Drums.
My favourite scene in which the star makes a *first* entrance in a movie. Rita
Hayworth in Gilda
http://tinyurl.com/p9kpcst http://tinyurl.com/p9kpcst
Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy comes in at second place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neASYyLBE9U
Re The grandson of JFK is apparently being groomed to take over legacy of his
grandfather.:
I hate shit like this. You have the Kennedy clan; the Bush family; the
Clintons . . . this keeping power in the family line is like North Korea.
(Yes, we have the Royal Family - but they are
Thanks again.
Re I don't remember Quick Joey Small:
That was an American hit but we're talking serious bubblegum here so are
moving beyond your comfort zone I suspect. I liked the way the fun side of
bubblegum laid the groundwork for glam rock which was a precursor to some
aspects of
Re I like them much better as the glam rock band you posted. :
Yes - what really appeals is that the band are so obviously enjoying
themselves (and definitely *not* taking themselves seriously) and that vibe
gets transmitted to the audience. And what is also funny watching that clip is
Re The average lifespan in the Middle Ages was 30, meaning that fewer than
half the humans born reached that age. :
Average lifespans are a dodgy statistic as in older societies with their very
high infant-mortality rates that can badly skew the figures.
Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima
Re In those days it was commonly thought that if you are in a battle with
Indians you always saved your last bullet for yourself because you dare not be
taken alive.:
Abso-bloody-lutely! The Indians weren't the cuddly ethnics the PC crowd would
have you believe.
From Wiki:
The
Almost as interesting as playing the same bill with the Airplane at a couple of
concerts and hanging out with them. ;-)
What was your band called?
Thamsanqa Jantjie, 34, who was found to have signed nonsense during the
four-hour ceremony as he stood next to a number of heads of state including US
President Barack Obama, has been treated for schizophrenia, was reportedly
charged with murder in 2003, as well as rape in 1994, theft in 1995,
Grace Slick and Marty Balin - both powerful singers.
You get 18 thumbs up and 0 thumbs down on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGQ0HiypYf4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGQ0HiypYf4
So are you aged and grey?
Magic Fern
Seattle, Washington 1966 - 1967
MembersMike Allan ~ Bass
Brian Conrad ~ Drums
Tim Cooley ~ Bass
Tom Sparks ~ Guitar
Mike Waters ~ Guitar
This worrying about the amount of posts an individual sends in a week bemuses
me. There are many conversations on FFL when you just want to give a thumbs up
to show you appreciated a particular comment. It's like saying Absolutely! or
Well said! in a real-life conversation. With post limits in
Why quote such a psuchophantic bullshitter.
Because he was a great novelist.
My favourite is The Temple of the Golden Pavilion in which a novice burns down
the temple that has obsessed him. It's based on a true-life event but is
essentially about someone desperately trying to escape from
Re Bhairitu : I forgot to add that I also liked the Maggie song. This is not
flattery as I *never* flatter anyone - even to the point of rudeness. I don't
suppose there is any film footage of your band playing?
Re the Grateful Dead discussion: I've always liked their music (though well
this
This is an old story I've only just come across - but a fun prank, pulled by
GameStation, a UK online gaming store.
It resulted in the voluntary surrender of 7,500 souls. The soul-snatching was
made possible through an immortal soul clause buried in the site's terms and
conditions. The
Re I have the heat turned down to save $$.:
If you're so smart why aren't you rich?
Sorry, just being cute. But aren't awakening experiences with their
rock-solid sort of effect that cannot be doubted more amenable to explanations
that prioritise idealism (mind is more fundamental than
Although I cited the Gnostics with approval a few posts above I have to confess
than when I read their literature there is definitely something slightly
sinister about their texts. Too much distaste for the body and sex; too much
yearning for escape. That could simply be a literary trope of
stating that he could whip any bunch of Indians
Pride before a fall. It seems to be a common failing in the military.
Another western gun that has a certain aesthetic appeal are those old
Confederate revolvers. As the South lacked the industrial capacity of the North
they made the
Aha! Thanks.
Re I first saw [Airplane] at the first Human Be-In held in Golden Gate Park
in 1967 and later at Chet Helm's Family Dog venue in San Francisco and at the
Avalon Ballroom. :
You lucky sod. I'd have loved that. There's a great clip of a pre-Slick
Airplane at the Fillmore Auditorium in 1966.
Re I stayed out of the latest tempest-in-a-pisspot discussions of the Big Bang,
and how REEEAAALLY STOOOPID some people here think those who don't believe in
it are,:
I think it was the other way around. Ie, me saying how credulous people are in
*believing* in the Big Bang ie, in
Re The current scientific discoveries in cosmology do not support your
position [Big Bang dissing].:
That's true. But modern physics has only been around for a century or so.
We're still at the baby-crawling stage. You no longer think your siblings stop
existing when they walk out the
South Africa's deaf federation has claimed that an interpreter using sign
language during the Mandela memorial was a fake. Concerns over the male
interpreter had been raised by deaf people watching the service at
Johannesburg's FNB Stadium on Tuesday. Bruno Druchen, national director of the
And another thing . . . Judy said: If Curtis were here, he would almost
certainly note that what may seem to us laypeople to be common sense is not a
reliable basis for evaluating scientific theories. After all, if it were, we
would be fully justified in immediately tossing quantum mechanics
Re I'm kinda thinking the universe is more like an endless piece of swiss
cheese.:
You were anticipated by Menocchio, an Italian miller. He was burned at the
stake in 1599, at the age of 67, on orders of Pope Clement VIII.
Wiki quotes him: I have said that, in my opinion, all was chaos,
Re this fake sign-language joker: did your US secret service suits not check
him out before the event? He was standing right next to Obama and could have
been a loony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG57ncLTCNc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG57ncLTCNc
A monk asked Joshu to teach him zen.
Joshu asked, Have you eaten your rice?
I wonder what Joshu's comeback would have been if the monk had replied: No.
I've not had a chance to eat yet. Is there any stir-fry left?
Is it just me or do these Zen koans always sound like jokes? The ones where you
don't really *get* the punchline but giggle nervously to cover your
embarrassment.
I'm really asking if satori is related to our sense of humour. Perhaps having
an awakening experience is suddenly seeing that
Re LOL , a pair of loonies!:
A wit on a comments section re this story said that Obama never has to worry
about being assassinated since he chose Joe Biden as vice-president.
I'm guessing that's an old joke that is recycled every new incumbent. It's a
good one though.
On this
A Cup of Tea is a good one! Thanks.
I've heard Zen koans that I can immediately see show us our situation
*precisely* - I mean you can see exactly how we experience the world
subjectively, ie, without preconceptions. I then feel very pleased with myself;
until I encounter my next koan which
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