Cadillac Man is on the Ground in DFW on the Trail of the #Blotto

Disclaimer: this is straight-up writing of active lung cancer in me but nothing in the #Blotto set of articles has been written with thoughts of trying to shock or disturb.  I am using in-home hospice and that's the best circumstance I could hope relative to being in a hospice clinic or, worst of all, to be admitted into a hospital.


Cadillac Man texted me from only about thirteen miles from here so he's definitely got his Pilgrimage happening.  The anticipation will pend just a while yet since he will coming over here at noon tomorrow.  Meanwhile, he said he had to go to Walmart ... where Big Things happen in Texas.

He's looking a little tired from the flight but said he's feeling fine and is ready to rock.  UH!

Note:  that makes one of us, Brother Larry, but the spirit is grand.


He's got his full kit running since he has Skype and the whole package.  Through that path, we may be able to conference with Cadillac Man's daughter and her two-week old baby, Charlotte.  That should be extraordinary after I have not seen his daughter since she was, maybe, seven or eight years old. Mystery Lady painted a portrait of her back at that time and Cadillac Man displays it proudly to this day.

The Pilgrimage jam is the only game in this town this weekend and there are some background difficulties but they won't stop it.  No chance.


There's no major change to the health status and surreal is the best way to describe it.  There's no need for an extended report.  Cadillac Man has his own trips and giggles with health and what could be better than stereo health report from both of us at once.

Zen Yogi:  cruising the canals of Venice with a Zombie gondolier?

No-one would want to miss that, for sure.


Much love to you all.

#Photographs for the Unusual: Space 10/1

Pismis 24 IN NCG 6357 Nasa, ESA and IAA

This image looks like it was created in an artist’s imagination, but it was captured by the Hubble space telescope. The lower part is the vast nebula of gas and dust; the upper half shows the cluster of stars known as Pismis 24.

Photograph: Nasa, ESA and Jesús Maíz Apell

Unravelling Saturn’s rings

Using data from the Cassini spacecraft, this image has been coloured to show the size of the particles that make up Saturn’s rings. For example, purple areas are made up of particles larger than 5cm in diameter.

Photograph: NASA/JPL

Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, 2013, Yayoi Kusama

Photograph: Victoria Miro, London; Yayoi Kusama Inc

Trip To The Moon, 1969, Hammond Inc

Photograph: David Rumsey Map Collection

Fallen Astronaut, Paul van Hoeydonck

This tiny statue and plaque were left on the moon by Apollo 15 commander, David Scott, without the knowledge of Nasa. The idea was initiated by Belgian artist Van Hoeydonck. Scott agreed to take the aluminium figure and added a memorial plaque with the names of the six Soviet cosmonauts and eight US astronauts who had died during the space race. Due to the moon’s lack of atmosphere, the figure should rest undisturbed for as long as the moon survives.

Photograph: Hadley Rille, the moon, 1971

What's Hot on the Blog 9/30

Entry	Pageviews
It's a Ram a Lang a Ding Dong Trail to the #Blotto... Sep 29, 2017	89
Salisbury Cathedral Comes to Us from Almost a Mill... Sep 29, 2017	64
Racism is Supporting Obama Even When He is Wrong Jun 23, 2013	59
What's Hot on the Blog 9/29 Sep 29, 2017	53
Stonehenge in a State of Surreal with Ravens Sep 30, 2017	51
Seraphin, Specifics on Accounts Needed for Ithaka Sep 30, 2017	39
Marvelous to See You Again, Seraphin Sep 29, 2017	34
#Photography for the Unusual 9/30 Sep 29, 2017	31
Congratulations to All of You for Helping Ithaka t... Sep 30, 2017	31
Our Tax Fight | Larry Cohen, Our Resistance Sep 30, 2017	30

It's a Ram - the #Blotto report from yesterday and what a boomer

Salisbury - a single photograph from when I was there four years ago

Racism

What's Hot

Stonehenge - another single photograph as with Salisbury and from the same day

Seraphin - details about the non-Blogger files needed to drive Ithaka

Marvelous - response after Seraphin wrote to us last evening

#Photography

Congratulations - on putting Ithaka over a million reads and thanks again

Our Tax Fight - such articles are presented verbatim so there's never distortion from me

Trump's Neglect is Killing People in Puerto Rico | Shannon Jackson, Our Revolution

Alan,

Donald Trump just attacked the Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico for daring to call on more help for millions who are in dire need.

Today, three and a half million Americans are suffering without food, water, medicine, shelter, or electricity. Many people are dying. Yet ever since Hurricane Maria made landfall, Trump has made excuses and criticized those who seek to do more to alleviate the worst humanitarian crisis unfolding on American shores since Hurricane Katrina.

Contribute $3 to relief efforts. Support Carmen Yulín Cruz, Mayor of San Juan and the people of Puerto Rico from Trump's divisive attacks.

Dividing people up and blaming others are some of the worst qualities that the President of the United States can exhibit. The American people know that this is wrong, but unless we do something Trump will continue unabated while millions of people go without the aid they so desperately need.

Helping those in dire need is not about right and left—it is about right and wrong.

Contribute $3 to these organizations leading the relief effort for our fellow citizens.

We need everyone's support to show that excuses and attacks while people suffer and die will not go unchallenged. Thank you for making your voice heard at this critical time.

In solidarity,

Shannon Jackson
Executive Director
Our Revolution

CONTRIBUTE »

Seraphin, Specifics on Accounts Needed for Ithaka

Seraphin, these are the datasets or files required by Ithaka and are external to Blogger.  The article is dry and single-focused on the information.


URL:  dlvrit.com (link takes you to Hello page for starting new accounts)

Purpose:  distribution of notifications of new articles to social networks

Cost:  $10 monthly for their better and faster version

Value:  this is about the only form of advertising you have got and Google Search sends people here as well but the dlvr.it utility won't have any effect on that

Best Option:  create a new dlvr.it account under Seraphin

Need:  I consider it mandatory for a function I could not easily do otherwise.


The new account will do these things:

- you're immediately manager of it
- you choose which social networks should be targets
- your profile on Twitter, Facebook, etc is the target for your notifications

The way it works now is any notifications are sent to my Facebook wall and that doesn't serve you.  The notifications should go to your wall to do you any good toward getting them toward where your friends can see them.

After you have done the step for setting up your account, you will find one similar to this for setting up your social network targets.

In the first part of this sequence, you will have given dlvr.it the URL for Searching for Ithaka and that sets your primary account.  You can see the Add Social button to add connections to Twitter, Facebook, etc to send your notifications.

For the turnover, I'll need to take mine down so you can start yours.  In the moment, your best move is to take a look about dlvr.it to discover whether there is any problem which looks like it might be too big to surmount.  Then we can texty, texty to get it sorted.


URL:  myducksoup.com (My Duck Soup)

Purpose:  files needed for customization of Ithaka, mostly graphic, and must be accessible at all times but Blogger doesn't provide any space for that.  My Duck Soup is also commonly-used for link to Ithaca.

Cost:  $125 annually and sometimes but not often there are premium surcharges

Value:  large for the specific purpose of serving required files but otherwise it's a giant-size package of sentimental content regarding one Dream God.  There may be a better way for free somewhere else but I don't know of one.

Need:  in terms of the served files, it's high.  Otherwise the need is not so much.  It's paid up until May so there's no immediate action required but it's still best to get this decided fairly quickly and it's your call on whether to keep it.

An Idyllic Moment Before an Exceptionally Gentle Waterfall

Photographer:  Unknown


Perhaps you can feel the water since you're standing it.  Despite the relatively low light, the water is warm and it sparkles around your feet.  Over it all is the sound of falling water but there are birds singing and chirping everywhere within that great presence.  The forest is deep and life grows where it will all around.

I don't know this waterfall and have not likely ever seen it but all of us can explore it by sensing it.

Zen Yogi:  thinking is the best way to travel?

Sometimes, mate.

Ref:  The Moody Blues


Here's one for the sibs since I remember a waterfall something like this up in the Blue Mountains.  Alex must have got us to a bit of hiking and Anne wouldn't have held back.  I have no idea many of us were in the flock at that time but I'm sure we went to see waterfalls more than once and it may be a Law of Waterfalls that it's always necessary to walk back to wherever the waterfalls are so it's always in a special place separate from everywhere else.

Hopefully you remember at least one or smatterings of it.


Postings are heading toward much less pragmatism and it's all part of the same overall vibe but this is further demonstration of the good things within it.  There's one particular waterfall which I remember clearly and it looked much like this one.  I know a number of us were there but I'm sorry I don't remember which ones.  Those kinds of visuals are some of the best views I have of Oz now.  I couldn't ever find that particular place now but I know it exists.


For some photographic snobbery, I'm not so sure I would have held the shutter open for so long.  For non-photogs, keeping the shutter open overlong is a well-used trick to soften the water and give it something of a glow.  That happens because each drop of water has a greater distance to move while the shutter stays open so it blurs and produces the effect you see above.

It may be the photog had no choice for the long exposure since raising the light level artificially would distort the entire field of view and be entirely disagreeable.  So we don't have a criminal trial or want one but we do have a question of taste with no wrong answer.

Our Tax Fight | Larry Cohen, Our Resistance

Alan,

Income inequality is one of the greatest injustices in our country. Instead of working to grow our middle class and lifting people out of poverty, President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have introduced a tax plan that would slash taxes for corporations and the very wealthy while destroying services like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and education.

Our Revolution is working to fight back against Wall Street banks and greedy corporations who benefit from an unfair tax system. We can't let the billionaire class get richer while children go hungry, men and women cannot afford basic medical care, and students are burdened with thousands of dollars of debt.

There's so much work ahead of us, and your support is critical to winning this fight. Can you chip in $3 or more to help us fight against a tax giveaway to corporations and the very wealthy?

We know that despite advancements in technology and productivity, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages. The reality is that for the past 40 years, corporations have rigged the rules to redistribute wealth and income to the wealthiest and most powerful people of this country. The Trump-Ryan tax plan is more of the same.

Will you help us stand up to the Trump-Ryan tax plan? Your $3 contribution to Our Revolution helps us fight for a fair tax system that invests in public services like education, health care, and infrastructure.

It is our moral obligation to keep fighting for a country where corporations pay their fair share and everyone, regardless of race, class, or gender, can earn a living wage and make enough to take care of themselves and their family members. We won't stop fighting until we make that dream a reality.

In solidarity,

Larry Cohen
Board Chair
Our Revolution

CONTRIBUTE »

Congratulations to All of You for Helping Ithaka to Win a Million

Searching for a million reads on Ithaka has taken five years and it's not precisely true that Ithaka has the win at this moment but it only reads another forty reads and that could easily come in the next hour.  My congratulations to you regardless since the difference between the Win a Million point and this one is tiny now.

Zen Yogi:  will you be able to stay awake for it?

That's questionable, Yogi, but the game is so live.

Holy mackerel, since I just looked again and there is no hour-long wait since you already have already put Ithaka over the top for a million.  Congratulations again in the finest kind of way.  You did it after all these years.  Yahoo.

Zen Yogi:  Booboo has just gone out to find some Shriners Circus clown cars since we need those to get this all-day party started.  His talents go much beyond stealing pic-a-nic baskets, Silas

I see that now, Yogi.


Maybe we will need Cadillac Man for a proper celebration tomorrow but Booboo will get it happening soon anyway with all the clown cars he is appropriating.

Zen Yogi:  do you mean stealing?

Noooo, Yogi, since why should I be so course about it.  The clown cars are only working a temporary duty assignment and will just stay for the life of the party.

Yen Yogi:  and that party could be enormous

It has been so far, furry buddy.


Zen Yogi:  are you bummed that you didn't watch it counting down as they do with the big lighted ball they drop in Manhattan for the New Year?

Actually, I am a little disappointed but that's ok since it's happened now ... and jeepers creepers.

It would be cool to know which of you actually did it since Blogger doesn't give up information like that and it would be all kinds of jeepers creepy if it did.


Zen Yogi:  what will you do to celebrate, Silas?

Right now I shall have some spaghetti and that's for my raucous way, you know.

Stonehenge in a State of Surreal with Ravens

Photographer:  Silas - photograph was not modified for detail but the light was changed in various ways to soften the image and move it toward surreal to get away from the starkness of the Summer sunlight.  The Ravens struck me as the modern Kings and Queens.


Stonehenge is not so far away from Salisbury Cathedral and I stopped for both on the same day.  It has been a long-time dream to stand in front of Stonehenge and the feeling was as mystical as you could ever hope.  I do mean specifically you since it may not seem such an attraction relative to the exciting vibe of London but do be assured it is magical.  Stonehenge has stood since the land was rife with magic.


The photographic vignettes at Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral are nostalgic but they feel right since they're brief and get directly into the moment of it.  You're advised to give a good many moments should you ever go to try to feel the Presence of the builders over the last five thousand years.

Ithaka really started with my time in Greece but that time looked generally logical as things will likely suck without any money but the time was still marvelously revelatory.  It was after that when I struck out on Mister Toad's Wild Ride to Scotland and that's when the trips went king hell crazy but in the most extraordinary ways.  Almost all of that is covered in Ithaka in 2013 and you may enjoy that part since it was almost unpredictable for what would happen next.

"Finally Know the Way" #Poetry #Music

I'm not Lucifer, I'm not the Devil,
I'm not anything you know
I'm just listening for the music
and I want to hear the show

I'm not an Angel, I'm not Jesus
you mistake this moment's glow
In all things is the music
and that's what I would know

There's a growing cloud of smoke
There are mirrors in the streets
There are people lost in mazes
where they're all trying to meet

but once they get inside them
they can't find their way back out
and then we hear the wailing,
they're screaming, and they shout,

"Will you come to help us
We're here and we've lost our way
We don't have any guidance
and we still hope for you to play

When we hear the music
We will finally know the way
We want so much to hear the music
We want so much to find that way"

- Colonel Arbuthnot Jones


This was the first document to roll off Yevette's new printer, the Rescuer from Difficult Things.  She afforded the document great honor for that since this may have been the last poem.  She didn't mean the Last Poem as the last I will ever write but this one does look like it was the last I have written.

Remind me not to critique it since the only result from that has always been to leave the sorry mess in a bloody and broken pile on the floor.  It's not some kind of cerebral poem since it isn't religious and its only thought is the music.

We're always looking for something and the most content have found it or believe they have.  The ones most content after that are they who believe they're on the way.

Zen Yogi:  otherwise they may have got to the maze?

Too right, Yogi.

We have definitely found the way to the Great Cosmicity and it may not even be possible to find it at any other time.  I tell you it is here, mates, and it's plentiful with music often in forms you never heard previously.  I tell you it is here ... and I revel in it.

Marvelous to See You Again, Seraphin

Your duty to your Queen is being fulfilled impeccably as of course it would by one from your noble line.  It's another confirmation of that line with the visits from the Magistrates to recognize these exceptional accomplishments you have achieved.

Ithaka will keep rolling until your time comes to rise and the readers are rolling it so fast now the wheels may melt because Win a Million is down to hundreds before it will fly over the top.  That will be a continuing amusement through the evening since it's only hours now.


That was a great view of your real locus within the immensity and it comes real unless, wtf, would he paint someone else's pad like that and the answer has got to be no way.  Even in painting the vibe is strong and your jammin' enthusiasm is a marvel.  The distant abode sounds like it grows with great style there in the Mountains and through it all the sensation is exhilirating.


The tripsicallity of my vibe gets more influenced by the nefarious of the prescribed nature so a turnover with great ceremony and fanfare will come and then I will become the guest Dream God.  I will be appearing much less frequently since I have been invited to officiate and instigate the return of the Dance Frenzies from the 14th and 15th Centuries.  I'm not sure when they will ask me to begin and everything is copacetic in the meantime.

Zen Yogi:  you mean the Zombie Uprising won't be about the undead eating us and instead be dancing?

That's right, Yogi, and you don't hear about it much because there isn't any kind of a horror movie in it and therefore there is no money.


Seeing your writing adds another marvel of wonder in an exceptionally surreal panorama where everything is actually authentic.  There will be another Pilgrimage this weekend to further compound it and, from one perspective, it's the last but the view from the Rockhouse is the Pilgrimages are the always and that's whether virtual or physical.


It's all grand, mate, and have a ball with the local tactical operations when that becomes part of the overall vibe as well.

Salisbury Cathedral Comes to Us from Almost a Millennium

Photo:  Silas - It hasn't been modified for detail in any way but I did fiddle with the light to give it what I felt was more more liveness.


The Salisbury Cathedral was completed about seven hundred and fifty years ago so it has been through the darkest of historical times yet still stands today.  It was standing here during the Black Death so the history goes so deep it's almost untouchable.  Almost a millennium of souls have occupied this place and, regardless of your metaphysical beliefs, it has a deep presence.  It's awe-inspiring simply to be near it.

Throughout all that time she was watching from up here.

Sorry but I have no idea who she is and she looks magnificent to me as she sits and watches over these entrance doors.


My visit to the Cathedral was fortuitous since I had not much plan beyond fumbling my way and finding Edinburgh after working my way up from the South.  I was still traveling on Haximoto, my beloved scooter, and she was carrying more of my life's holdings than any overladen scooter ever should.  The saga of that grand trek, otherwise known as Mister Toad's Wild Ride, fills a large section of Ithaka in 2013.

Finding places like Salisbury Cathedral with the fortuity or the serendipity of it all was a marvel since I'm not a Christian but there are places all over which hold a presence of some kind and Salisbury is one of them.  I don't have any kind of a metaphysical explanation for it since that presence can be felt amid a tall stand of the ancient trees when you're deep in the forest with them.

We don't need an explanation of what it may be since our interest is in finding places like that.  It's likely no surprise that Stonehenge was another one.


Zen Yogi:  probably a lot of ghosts, Silas

Sure, Yogi, there are likely many of them all over the place.  How about coming back around here after nightfall.  That should provide plenty of psychic excitement and enrichment.

Zen Yogi:  I get all the psychic enrichment I need from KFC Chicken, mate

That works too, Yogi.

Life in the Land of Mountains

Its been an interesting week here in the Land of Mountains. Ithaka has been on a continual flow and her majesty the Queen has certainly held the castle down as I was gone.

The Raven: Phin, how can she be a queen if youre still just a Prince of Ithaka?

Seraphin: well my feathered friend that would be because she was a queen long before i met her and grows only more radiant each day.

The Raven: suckup

Seraphin: romantic, but where were we.

Ah yes, I had purchased quite a bit of paint prior to my pilgrimage and returned in time to aid with the painting of doors and see the stunning results of her majestys hard work. The walls look stunning in both her sewing room and now the hallway and living room.

My return quickly led into another adventure as we scouted for finery to adorn the newly decorated court. We found some very lovely pieces for dining, as well as living and viewing of other worlds; they shall be arriving tomorrow.

There is much excitement as her majesty did also travel these past two days two visit the Princess of Knowledge the dear Lady of Hipster. In her absence we hope to have everything arranged prior to her return on the morrow.

Now while the home front has been a whir of activity, there has not been any slacking with work either.

Harley: I thought royalty was supposed to be rich, isnt your job to he royalty and run the country.

Seraphin: I wish it were true for all dear Harls but comparatively we are a lowly kingdom so I must go to work for other kingdoms in order to further the dreams of Ithaka.

Harley: sounds pretty lowly allright

Not at all my chaos loving friend, I have found good and steady work in a neighboring land. I am of little importance there comparatively as i am new and yet learning still however exciting news came from our magistrate today that i will be meeting with the kingdoms travelling court, The Big Whigs, as they visit our locale to recognize several members for excellence in service, i happen to be one such member.

It was quite exciting news and we shall continue to work hard in order to further the dreams of her majesty the queen as well as all Ithakan dreams.

Peace be with you all, and good night for now.

It's a Ram a Lang a Ding Dong Trail to the #Blotto

Disclaimer: this is straight-up writing of active lung cancer in me but nothing in the #Blotto set of articles has been written with thoughts of trying to shock or disturb.  I am using in-home hospice and that's the best circumstance I could hope relative to being in a hospice clinic or, worst of all, to be admitted into a hospital.


There's nothing in particular to report about the #Blotto today.  There's the strangeness such as it is but the primary vibe is finding a jam beyond that and there definitely is one.  Mostly the #Blotto means I'm absolutely fuckin' wasted but that's in some dimension Cheech & Chong never saw.  Part of the trip now is recognizing it will be that way and pushing forward regardless.  The dose has not increased but more effect comes anyway for some reason.  That's the observation and the conclusion is the same to push forward which I most happily do when you're blasting Ithaka up like a NASA rocket launch.  Only about five hundred reads to pop her over the top now.  Wowzer.


The big jam is another Pilgrimmage this time by Cadillac Man.  We checked-in moments ago to ensure all the buttons are pushed for doing this.  There will be another checkpoint after he's past Love Field and checked into his roost for some days down here.  It's surprisingly close and Yevette will know it immediately.  The Pilgrimage is definitely jammin' and it's not a speculative thing since it's become a Now thing and it would be a riot to figure out a way for Zen Yogi to be represented down here after he's played so much into everything lately.

Kramer has a nutso act he performs while he talks of market performance and pushes the buttons on a sound effects device every so often to give up various soundbites.  He's crazy frenetic but I'm told his market perspectives are good.  So a controller like that one although just a wee bit more subtle would be excellent for providing Yogi's voice.  I don't think there's actually a way to pull it off with the kit now but it would be a hoot.


For something different altogether, I watched "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" from 1964 and saw it a few nights ago.  It takes a while for me to go piece by piece through a movie and the movie is not generally fast-paced anyway but it was a pleasure to watch it all despite the gloriously bad special effects.  This was an A-level movie at the time and the badness of it is much of the charm of it now.  They tried to use as much of the science at the time as they could but there was almost nothing for spaceflight in 1964 since was the time of the NASA Mercury misssions, way back.

Zen Yogi:  all part of swingin' with the vibe of it?

It is, Yogi, and that turned out to be a great swing with Robinson Crusoe.


Much love to you all and onward to the Pilgrimage this weekend.

#Photography for the Unusual 9/30

Kolkata, India

Chayanika Ganguly, seven, dressed as the goddess Durga during the Kumari Puja ritual, which worships young girls, part of the Durga Puja festival at Bholanath Dham

Photograph: Saikat Paul/Pacific Press/Barcroft Images

Who doesn't love this kid and her outfit at first sight.

Geneva, Switzerland

A child plays on the arm of a puppet before the street theatre parade The Saga of the Giants begins

Photograph: Martial Trezzini/EPA

This is not the kids show today but the composition of the picture is charming and I thought needs to be shown.

Donja Lakosnica, Serbia

A man dries bunches of peppers on the wall of his house

Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters

How about this for organic farming and doing it in this and similar manners must go back centuries.

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Pro-choice activists march through the city in support of women’s rights on abortion

Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Regardless of the political aspect, the Rockhouse loves the portrait with its passionate and demonstrative costumes.

Chengdu, China

Staff at the Chengdu research base of giant panda breeding bring out the 17 giant pandas born in 2017 for a photocall

Photograph: Imaginechina/Rex/Shutterstock

Well, they're not quite giant pandas yet.