2,913,873
Do you know why this number is significant?
Apparently its the number of days my computer can look into the future. It knows that in 2,913,873 days from now it will be Friday December 31, 9999 and we'll all be having soylent green for breakfast.
But anything I enter into Excel that makes it look at the year 10000 or beyond it just goes into a coughing fit and fills the cell with infinite # signs.
Oh well. I thought you should know. Maybe your computer is smarter than mine.
What does STI stand for?
According to Wikipedia it could mean:
I've chosen to start this whole pre-draft exercise with the cosmic stuff which creates a slant on things. I am not a space creature but a very terrestrial one, so, although it is appropriate to have an idea of what is going on out there, it is hard to glean from personal experience. And the whole nature of what I'm doing leans heavily on the solidity of personal experience; personal experience which is well observed and well reflected upon (more on all that later) so as to form the most solid dogma for use in logical extensions in cases like these. So the hitch here is that the cosmic stuff depends so heavily on logic. For that reason, the cosmic stuff was maybe a bad place to start. I did have at least one other option but it would have been less tidy.
The job of turning 90 segments that interrelate in a very busy web of connection, into a linear path so as to treat them one at a time, was achieved by separating them into 11 separate chains of related material and capturing a hierarchy of the most vital prerequisites. The Cosmos chain (actually titled "The World" in my plan) is the only chain in which no pre-requisites exist outside of its own chain. The chains were ordered in such a way that they can be completed from start to end without jumping to other chains and back again. By allowing "inter-jumps" I could have started in the "Dialogue" chain (Part 3) with the "Testimony" segment which, like the "Cosmology" segment, has no prerequisites. Well... no official pre-requisites. Every time I've said "more on that later" it reveals subtler prerequisites which I must let slide.
Why am I explaining all this? Oh yeah - because the tidiness of starting with the world-stuff means starting with the heaviest of logic-not-experience-based stuff which sets a poor impression.
In terms of the actual journey which began in my 30's, it basically started with segment 3.2 "truth and honesty" which doesn't work well as a start point here because it heavily depends on prerequisite 2.1 as well as 3.1.
Has this been a horrible long-winded explanation? I don't know if anyone should be reading this! But it helps me get my thoughts together. At some point I want a book that is readable, useful and publishable!
Okay, planets...
Given the earned reputation of scientists, and photographs and logic - and I must say that much of the logic around scientific testimony involves the inconceivable length that parties would have to go to to sell lies in the matters of science, and the inconceivable numbers of parties which would have to be involved, when you fully consider the amount of evidence available to us which support mainstream claims. Generally the plausibility for such conspiracy hovers around the tiniest fraction of a per cent mark. No honest flat-earther (in other words, discounting all the trolls and folks who are in it for the comedy) has ever processed enough logic to even just get by the implausibility of the conspiracy factor. Absolutely guaranteed they have not. You would literally need millions of people in on the conspiracy in order to sell it to the modest remainder of the population. In the final draft I might even quantify all that with as much of the math as I can muster. On top of all that I have said in this paragraph is the supporting evidence that we can glean from personal living experience such as gravity and the pattern of star "movement" available to our eye and telescope.
And on that note we can understand why planets and most cosmic features are round, oval or spheres. Planets accrete closer to spherically than any other shape because that is by far the most likely in a 3d random environment, with components coming from all directions. This is simple math within our living experience. Other components are shaped similarly for similar reasons.
Science explains why planets have a life cycle; how they are born, evolve and die in conjunction with star systems which themselves are born, evolve and die, as fuels burn low, densities intensify, etcetera. Our ongoing big bang explosion is old enough to have manifested composite little bangs along the way.
The universe is a consistent system of matter accreting, intensifying, exploding and accreting (or orbiting) again; of gravity trying to negate the bang by drawing everything together and finding success only in separate realms and tiers. On one hand you can look at this simple, almost homogenous structure of the cosmos but on the other, one tier at a time, thus the interpretation of cluster systems, galaxies, star systems, planets, moons... But it's all the same thing, flavoured by tier and by the variation of molecular structure (and is even that just another tier of gravitational bonding in a sense?)
So I think we understand why the Earth is round, how it was created and how life forming (or at least existing) here is rare as it's a matter of rare factors in terms of molecular variety and of special proximity of orbit; most prominently the presence of "land" and of water in both gaseous and (pooling) solid states per goldilocks distance from the sun.
But in concert with that proximity is the death sentence of the planet, or at least its biosphere and population. When our sun eventually blows - we're screwed, but quickly and fairly mercifully at least. Earth will be made a barren rock right quick.
Which strongly suggests a ceiling on organic life; certainly mammalian life, without migration to a safer planet; Mars being a rather convenient next stop. Peculiarly convenient, one might say. Almost suspiciously convenient! And with Elon Musk and his ilk now dabbling in the Martian endeavor, I must explore, no matter how distasteful I find it, the argument (in my mind if nowhere else) that the ungodly inhumane corrupt distribution of wealth we have perpetrated, and the atrocities committed against our biosphere, may be necessary in order to make Mars rockets possible and thus potentially remove the ceiling on human duration, albeit at the expense of tremendous human misery on those left behind (almost everyone) and drastically crunching the mortality of Earth humankind. Yes, all this requires finer explanations.
Much more on organic life, and intelligent life, to follow.
Is anyone actually reading this long-winded prattle?
Am I using the word prattle corrently?
These are the questions.
Now I must get to bed for a direly needed nap. Tonight is D&D night and we may have to go to battle with a flock of killer bunnies!
zzZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzz
Buyer beware!
There's a new yogurt variety on the shelves. It's yogurt with fibre and if you're not watching carefully it could end up in your shopping cart, and worse: in your tummy.
Is this a conscious marketing strategy where the label of the new product is designed to blend in with the original label so that people will try the new shit by mistake? For all these occasions when they need to pay their innovation staff but they don't actually have a very good new idea?
Anyway if you like the idea of yogurt that feels like gritty lawn debris and floor sweepings have been lovingly stirred in then you got nothing to worry about. Otherwise watch out for this sort of thing:
If it were up to me they'd be mandated to label in this manner:
More video perturbance I have inflicted on the YouTubes for shits and giggles:
January 8th, 2022
Hi Uncle Stan. I guess I'd better choose my words carefully since you probably don't want to waste your precious time reading a bunch of drivel; am I right? So... I'll be sincere and hopefully concise.
I don't really know, of course, how you'd like to spend your time. Please don't spare a shred of it being polite to me if you have better things to do, such as people to attend who you have seen more than three times in your life!
Right now, thanks to internet voodoo, I'm looking at your house in Parksville where you were a generous host, in more ways than one, to myself and dear friend Tyler. I've never forgotten your fine spirit and humour, nor the excellent treat it was, connecting with you at my brother's wedding. It really was grand that you made it out! Your presence was a highlight. It seems like just yesterday.
I hear scientists and geniuses suggesting that time as we know it is an illusion and I love science but time sure feels to me like one beast of a commodity right now.
I also appreciate that science has not availed all the answers as yet; such as the precise fate and function of neural activity, its info-rich electromagnetic field, the "illusion" of consciousness and the exciting possibilities derived from they and their relationships, and the places they might possibly be equipped to exist, besides in human tissues.
What I mean is: I hope that you have an adventure ahead of you. I hope that time bends for you in a way that feels eternal.
After all, this fearsome universe with all its dire forces seems to have made some spectacularly unlikely accommodations in this little corner, to offer us this brave miraculous tiny paradise of ours. Such a strange kindness! Why shouldn't it have also kicked some useful dents into the cruel structure of time while it was at it? Maybe you will discover this!
And if not, maybe that's okay? Maybe the adventures behind you are the greater treasure? I've heard some of them! You surely have lived! Memories are the counterpart to time I suppose, and better than any gold, don't you think?
I remember very specific exchanges from our few conversations. Your thoughts were entertaining and richer in profundity than most.
Though I cannot regard the passing from this life as tragedy, It surely can feel that way, and I am rather empathetic and very heavy with the emotion of it now, especially to think of Rose and the girls. I had the most excellent conversation with Michelle at our one opportunity some years back. I thought she was wonderful!
So I expect you will be appropriately popular for awhile and have many persons and interests well ahead of me on your pecking order. But if I should rate for any reason, I'd be honoured to trade notes or skype with you. I'm without a phone at this moment. That could change any day.
Otherwise I'd be thrilled to receive any offerings from you, including thoughts or stories which have been copied and pasted from your communications with others. By all means leverage your time and efforts. You're a celebrity now.
Well... I hope my tone here has conveyed the respect and gravity I feel. If I have seemed too casual I did not intend to.
Please know that I'm grateful to have shared this planet with you and I cherish the distinctive and noble mark you have contributed to my impression of our excellent family.
I wish you peace and courage.
With love, your nephew,
Cheers, Uncle
Gary O'Connor was the son of Canadian Jazz musician Billy O'Connor. Following in Pop's musical footsteps he played with bands The Synics, The Spasstiks, Cat, Liverpool, Aerial and Kid Rainbow before going solo under the name Gary O' in 1981. By 1984 he'd managed two albums, a handful of modest hits, and captured a Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist. He wrote songs for 38 Special, Molly Hatchet, Eddie Money and others. Spotify appears not to know he exists.
One of the last songs he ever wrote and performed for himself concerns the slaying of Japanese at Hiroshima. To this day I'm not sure how I feel about his approach to it, but in high school I loved this song for its sound and I still find it captivating. It's with Shades of 45 that my Spotifried playlist was born.
Just before Christmas I received an interesting and unexpected package. Contained in a rather substantial folder emblazoned with a House of Commons emblem (Canadian parliament) were a pair of government certificates signed by real life-federal politicians thanking me for twelve years of service with Commissionaires. Also present were two military type medals which one would wear on one's uniform, I presume only at special events or on special occasions.
I was impressed and touched. I felt
grateful and proud to be a Commissionaire. Of course it's all a bit dodgy as I'm sure this is an honour intended for the military veterans for whom the company was originally built to serve. I am not a veteran but have had the privilege to work for them because their client requirements exceed the availability of veteran employees. So I'm aware that the 12-year service fuss, in my case, is an indulgent courtesy. I'll take it though. I'm generally proud of the work we did. They're an excellent vendor and employer.
Then, at Christmas I received a signed holiday greeting card from them.
Two weeks later they sent me a signed birthday card.
And two days after that I received...
My letter of termination!
LOL (yes I really laughed out loud just now).
I'd long known about short-term disability and long-term disability but I didn't realize there was one more designation after that which I presume is called you're dead to us now disability.
Oh well! It's true I am currently unemployable in the security field. I'm just disappointed that after all we've been through that they had to treat me like a total stranger in the tone of the communication. But I presume that all has to do with legal liability strategies and such. Even when there are no lawyers in the room, in this society, there is always a motherfucking lawyer in the room!
But I don't care. I still choose to live as though there is not, to the endless worry of my associates who have collectively predicted a hundred and one versions of my legal demise. They don't know how to do the accounting when it comes to forms of freedom they have never experienced. Even on the very few occasions they're been right they've been wrong.
Well, I wasn't expecting that tangent!
I think it's likely that security will regain a role in my income formula post-recovery, along with a couple other things which I should soon mention. I'm hopeful Commissionaires might re-hire me if I can fully recover.
For now I'm just happy to be here!
Cheers!
The theme at Poetry Corner this month is dreams and plans. This is a song I wrote eleven or twelve years ago; a time when I was reconciling the plans I'd been pursuing, and acknowledging my outer limitations, and wondering where I was going, inwardly, if anywhere. Today I still occasionally wonder.
I edited a new video for the song, and ditched the old version from youtube.
So this Thursday Thoughts deal is meant to be a preliminary brainstorm exercise; a way to start assembling first-draft material for the book I have tried several times to begin writing before becoming a little overwhelmed by the bloody expanse of the thing. The term first draft almost feels over-reaching. I almost want to say pre-draft! After all, these pieces, per Wikipedia-speak, are really just stems.
I'm putting them into the blog for several reasons: It's the right material for the ultimate purpose I want this blog to take on, as well as for those readers I would ultimately regard the target market. Also this blog needs more material frankly. I'd like to hit the point where people know I'm posting daily and it's safe to drop in, and maybe even get to know the themes for certain days of the week and therefor know which days to personally visit or on the other hand, to skip!
I'd also like the possibility of comments being generated as I begin percolating this stuff. I'm certainly open to help!
I do hesitate though, to post these pieces because for now they can seem like little but introductions to topics. The purpose of these earliest chapters is generally to assemble basic presumptions for later use in drawing conclusions. On their own they can seem rather pointless maybe?
Right now I am finding the discipline to do this particular work as part of a greater structure where I have some accountability and this operates on a specific timetable. As a result, I ran out of time last week and so I must add a few words now on the topic of the nature of the universe: The matter of life versus death.
The only life we know of for sure is here on Earth. It's looking fairly evident we're not going to find it on the other planets of this system, and the lack of interaction with intelligent extra-terrestrials also supports the view that life is critically rare in the universe. The incredibly short duration of life for every living organism on Earth also supports its rarity in a universe billions of years old. And saying its billions of years old is a fairly safe assumption (a useful idea and not certain truth technically) because the science community; a reliable community by any human standard, are consolidated in their support for this observation, whether astronomers or paleontologists etcetera.
Claims of UFO sightings, abductions, Area 51 artifacts etcetera, in their current volume and level of evidentiary support, seem logically right where they should be in a world where none of them are valid, given the volume of misunderstandings, delusions, dreams, mental illness and outright scams that a seven-billion population of human beings are capable of producing and concocting.
If the outer space community was nearly as busy as this accumulation of stories would suggest, would the evidence not be overwhelming? And if only a fraction of the stories are true, suggesting that alien interaction is a rare commodity, then this also supports my understanding of life in the universe: that it is rare. So intensely rare it can be thought of as miraculous. Sort of like winning the lottery is miraculous; it being so unlikely. So I propose that the natural state of the universe... is dead. And life is an exception.
So there. Have I made a point, and given this little piece justification? I'm gonna hit the Publish button!
I've started a playlist which will probably not grow very large. Only one in every five hundred mainstream songs I look for on Spotify is not found. That's a 99.8 success rate! As for these rare rejects (just six so far), they are mostly Canadian one-hit-wonders.
In 1971, four dudes at Ella Middle School of North York formed a band called Ethos with three guitars and drums. Only bass guitarist Peter Alexander would survive the two name-changes and cycles of roster changes over the next fifteen years which were highlighted by Canadian talent-search winnings, an EP release, contract with CBS Records and opener tours with the likes of Burton Cummings and Level 42.
In 1986 Alexander, now on keyboards and backing vocals, with his latest mates, struck the big time with hit Flippin' to the A Side on their self-titled album and a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group (won by Glass Tiger), and were then promptly snuffed out of existence in the wake of a Sony Music Group Takeover.
I call the playlist: Spotifried. And since you obviously can't find it on Spotify, I'll see that you can find it here.
Anyone remember Cats Can Fly?
Preliminary thoughts which should one day turn into a chapter, after a lot of expansion and qualification:
Neither gravity or causality are officially considered forces by the science of the day, as far as I know, though gravity formerly was. But I would link them up with space and time as being the inescapable constraints which rule existence in this universe. We all experience space as we move around, and the passage of time. We all feel gravity's hold on us any time we care to. And as far as I know, because no one has ever made much of an effort to convince me otherwise, we all experience causality the way I do: Every observable thing or event I have ever regarded, is both an effect of multiple causes and the cause of multiple effects. I have seen no evidence in my 53 years that anything can exist or happen outside of the paradigm of causality. And a closer examination of causality in a later chapter will reveal it to be omnipotent and a web of connectedness which unites all things ever, and makes all things inevitable in essence.
We have the word random which teenagers have co-opted to replace the word arbitrary, but for those of us who remember its origin, a generation of something unpredictable, seeming without cause, we should realize that all randomness exists only within the limits of perspective, but that in reality all apparent randomization is generated through causality, but a system of causality beyond the control of the witness and without trackability. Lottery ball activity aligns strictly with forces of physics but the permutations are just too complex for anyone to conceivably control. Hence the appearance of randomness. So this concept is no threat to the reign of causality.
As for the meat of the universe; the stuff these constraints play upon, we are familiar with matter. We see and feel material everywhere, but also the evidence of energies.
Well time is literally up for today. I have commitments on my agenda. Perhaps it would be pointless to publish this. It doesn't amount to much relevance yet
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