Googol perplexity

Ever wonder where the word ‘Google’ came from ?  It’s a misspelling of the word Googol, which refers to a number: a 1 followed by one hundred zeroes.  Meant as a pun on the amount of information that is available on the internet.  (An even larger number is Googolplex)   Random Google surfing is like bumpy black slope skiing: you have a general idea where you want to go, but you always take a different path than planned, and you end up off course and glad you made it in one piece, without being distracted too much by strangeness like alien chicks on snow beasts. 

Yes, if there’s anything omnipresent on the internet it’s our generation’s Star Wars Fetish.  It will pass.  My sons being Alien vs predator fans (movie, games, stealth attacks on our staircase, the works), I couldn’t help noticing the resemblance to a well known brand of pregnancy test.  In a Freudian analysis, this movie would be linked to the fear of unwanted pregnancy:  “Alien vs Predictor” All this as an introduction to some internet archeology: the famous

“Alien vs predator” shower scene.

Equally hazardous as showering in the apartment of your mortal enemy, is public speaking.  Because a Freudian slip up these days will render you immortal on YouTube.  Unless you really believe in yourself,  this new trend of remixing the speeches into musical versions is especially troublesome.  So far they mostly seem to target people that have a tendency to talk melodically, like the specimen that my good blog buddy IzaakMak  fished out of the pond.   Of course it’s just a harmless parody, because I do applaud what this Jacob Isom did.  It’s indeed an unnecessary provocation to disrespect symbols.   But let’s not forget that religious fundamentalists usually also disrespect freedom of choice.  So politically active skaters might want to take it one step further, and snatch away from fanatics as many Bibles, Qur’ans, Torahs, Tripitaka’s, … as possible, everywhere.  The books can then be kept in a safe place, to prevent them being misinterpreted for power-trip purposes. 

OPM “Heaven is a halfpipe”

Some more browsing taught me that social awareness and humour have gone hand in hand before.  And as often, somewhat outdated texts can prove to be surprisingly relevant in present day contexts.

( Charlie Chaplin and Mahatma Ghandi together in 1931. )

 

“We the people“, Charlie Chaplin speech remix.

Much ado about nothing

So this lady at the office was explaining how she was looking forward to being able to start work again, after her holiday.  Because she so enjoys her profession, it’s more of a calling really.   And I nodded, with what I think was a reasonably believable approximation of an appreciative smile.  And I added some personal comment about an admirable attitude (which in a way I really meant).  But I was also thinking about strangling her, as euthanasia.  Then later, during what must have been Brown Noser day, another guy was explaining his theory about how sad it must be for people to go to work every day, performing jobs they didn’t really like – nay love – to do.  He too tended to look forward eagerly to the end of his vacation.  

Personally, I don’t suffer from this deformation.  I can’t think of a feasible job that I would enjoy doing for the rest of my days.  I think a work-life balance is the only obtainable practical solution.  For me, life starts the minute I walk out the door.   As counterweight for unpleasant duty performance.

In general, the longer you are able to stay away – without the risk that at some point your car will be towed away – the more you will enjoy yourself.  And I can even imagine being completely happy with much less, if my household situation was different.

We’re not meant to sit through endless meetings and to spend most of our lives writing down – in as structured a fashion as possible – an eternal stream of everyday petty problems, risk evaluations and irritating inefficiencies, having to repeat them over and over, in an infinite series of formats and schedules.  The communication versus action ratio in any given organization is absurdly disproportionate, so most of the time no progress is ever made.  You can only hope that the core business doesn’t get damaged too much in the process.  

Reorganization strategies are farces, when everyone is trying to dance to 20 different tunes at the same time.  With theoretical plan upon plan being stacked sky-high, until the stacks topple over and absolute chaos is the only thing that remains crystal-clear.   Upon which time the sorting out can start over again.  Like the unchanging tide.   (Started out this post with some other ideas, … but re-reading I guess I had to get this rant off of my chest first.)  It’s a rat race in a paper mill.

Work with me YouTube

The “embedding impossible on request” message is getting to be quite a drag.   What’s with all these artists demanding to get paid for what they do these days.   Have they forgotten altruism all together ?  Didn’t they used to give it away for free on the streets, just to make the day a little bit brighter for passers-by ?  Back then they were even offering free coins for people who needed change for a telephone call and such.  

I expected a little bit more from agreeable people like Noah and the Whale.

I was also looking for a particular song, from the nineties, but I have no useful information what so ever.  Except for the intro, which sounds a bit like the Bee Gee’s in a trance state, singing something in Morse code.  My attempt to reproduce it by going “doo do do do  doo do do do” doesn’t seem to ring a bell for most people.  Except my spouse, who thinks it’s a Belgian band.  Which doesn’t get me any further.   And I’m not singing it into a microphone on one of those song recognition sites.  Too much of a risk of getting filmed by my son with his cellular while at it, and winding up on YouTube myself.

Let’s try this one to perk up the atmosphere: The Breeders with ‘CannonBall’

Public apology

By court order, I have been instructed to offer a public apology to my neighbor, Stan Ockers, retired cyclist.  As a reaction to my interview in the local newspaper “The League of Pigeon Fanciers”, in which I stated that this accident was entirely his own fault. 

Yes, I understand that the postmodern evolution of Feng Shui is lost on pensioners, but to my defense, that doesn’t mean that he can’t try to keep an open mind.  If he had given me permission to let the grab crane drive through his yard, we wouldn’t have had to try and lift the 3 ton Tibetan Salmon Color Granite over his roof, to get it in my Japanese rock & bonsai Garden.

I also realize – which the claimant’s attorney repeated over and over – the irony of the fact that according to Feng Shui, the external changes in your environment are supposed to bring about more happiness, not less.   Being held in contempt of court, for pointing out that this could still prove to be the case, because Stan did argue with his wife a lot, and she is still missing, … was a deplorable consequence.