Monthly Archives: May 2015

Books, Discworld, Terry Pratchett

The Terry Pratchett Experience

I’ve been listening to the audiobooks of Discworld recently. I’m nearly finished with the third of what looks to be forty-one in total, according to Wikipedia. I started out of order, just because I wanted a taste. I think after I finish this one, I’m going to start in order and go through the whole set.

I’m already starting to see people as otherworldly creatures. Imagine how much stronger this will be after finishing the entire set.

If you follow the series, I started with “I Shall Wear Midnight,” then “Making Money,” and am now finishing up with “Snuff.” Thankfully, so far it seems that he’s one of those authors that writes in a way that you can jump in any time and get to know the aspects of the characters being presented in that particular volume, and learn more later, and so far, they mesh well.

Malware, Tech

Top Shelf Software Cynicism

Adobe Flash Player, which I’m sure we can all agree is rather ubiquitous at this point…

During an UPGRADE, mind you, not a fresh install…

Sneaks an install past the end user of a limited version of McAfee Security Scan.

1) McAfee products haven’t been considered viable players on the security market for YEARS.

2) Something offered as a bundled product which you CHOSE not to install before should not be again snuck in during an upgrade. Especially something that doesn’t play well with other products.

3) I can’t honestly remember the last time McAfee caught anything in terms of malware.

4) The sole purpose of THIS McAfee product seems to be to sell you a beefier product — which ALSO SUCKS.

5) Ubiquitous software, which is installed on just about every desktop and powers some of the most frequently-accessed pages on the internet should ABSOLUTELY not bundle SHITware along with it. You really want to tie your reputation to that of McAfee, Adobe Some of us are paying attention.

Freemasonry, Illuminati

Three Little Bops — Masonic/Illuminati Propaganda?

I recently noticed a few interesting things in the Three Little Bops, my all-time favorite Looney Tunes cartoon.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x57z8c_the-three-little-bops_music

  • First, this is a Warner Bros. / Looney Tunes cartoon. Jack Warner of Warner Bros.  was a Freemason.
  • Mel Blanc was a Freemason as well, although he didn’t do any of the voices in this particular cartoon. In fact, this is the ONLY Warner Bros. cartoon to NOT feature Mel Blanc. Conspicuous coincidence?
  • The number three figures quite prominently in Freemasonry. http://freemasonry101.blogspot.com/2009/10/significance-of-number-three-in.html
  • Shorty Rogers, the jazz trumpeter who composed the tune, also made an appearance in the Frank Capra film Alphabet Conspiracy, a story of the science of language and linguistics centered around plot to destroy the alphabet and all language. Frank Capra was a member of the Knights of Malta.
  • After destroying the first two houses of straw and sticks, the pigs take up residence in the house of bricks (“Sturdy place, this house of bricks, built in 1776”). The camera pans to the cornerstone which is dated May 1, 1776. This the date that Adam Weishaupt founded (or resurrected, depending on which story you subscribe to) the Bavarian Illuminati.

may11776

  • The wolf attempts to disguise himself to enter the house. In Masonic lore, a Mason must be “properly clothed” to enter the Lodge. This entails the wearing of the apron, which is made of lambskin. Wolf in sheep’s clothing?
  • The wolf’s ultimate demise, by accidentally blowing himself up, and the following rebirth as a cool jazz player, symbolizes the symbolic death and rebirth inherent in all occult ritual.
General Musings

Random and Mostly Inoffensive Thoughts…

I enjoy laying around and reading.

I’m  not a heavy or regular smoker, but I wish it was possible to occasionally having a smoke while laying around and reading, without making your house smell like smoke.

My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, but I’ve still got my hair and teeth. No cancer that I’m aware of, so far, and my junk still functions as intended with no chemical additives. So I guess I’m aging fairly well, and don’t have much to complain about. I suppose if I could change anything cosmetically, I’d opt for slightly smaller balls. They just seem unnecessarily large. I don’t know how we walk around with these things.

(I hope you weren’t expecting a photo. I’m an oversharer by nature, but that’s crossing a line on a blog.)

Aleister Crowley, Books

Household Gods (Crowley)

Found this one in a folder full of Crowley texts. It’s an obscure little play about a man and his servant girl… It opens with the man at an alter bemoaning the fact that his wife has abandoned him to play in the woods with entities unknown. The servant girl comes in to console him, and one thing leads to another.

It’s a very short play, and serves only to demonstrate the lure and power of sexuality over man, and what we are willing to do if the conditions are ripe…

It did have a line near the beginning that conjured up Nick Cave lyrics for me… Don’t know if there’s a relation or not. As he’s poring over the alter in the beginning…

Ye household gods!
By these male tears I swear
That ye shall grant this prayer.
All things at odds

Shall be put straight–
Harmonized, reconciled
By some appointed child
Of some far Fate!

It made me think of Nick Cave’s Do You Love Me, specifically the line “She was given to me to put things right…”

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