About Wyrd Smythe
The canonical fool on the hill watching the sunset and the rotation of the planet and thinking what he imagines are large thoughts.
I confess, I’m definitely a hedonist.
I deeply believe in the credo that life is short, eat dessert first. However, somewhat paradoxically, I’m also a delayer in that I eat the cake and then the icing. In a given moment, I’m very prone to saving the best for last.
But the main thing is that, when the arc of my life ends, I want as much as possible to be able to say I enjoyed it and had fun every possible minute. There is more in the world to enjoy than anyone can in a lifetime, so you have to apply yourself!
With life’s pleasures in mind, today’s edition of Brain Bubbles is about things that are pleasurable — tasty — to me.
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4 Comments | tags: Anvil of Stars, Evangeline Lilly, furnace, Greg Bear, Hugh Jackman, molasses cookies, NCIS, nouvelle cuisine, Our Idiot Brother, Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones, Real Steel, Rosa Mexicano, The Forge of God, The Who | posted in Brain Bubble, Movies
Last week I went a few comment rounds over on the Moment Matters blog under the Breaking Prejudice on Atheists post. The post’s lead topic — that a study showed that atheists are just as caring as theists — doesn’t surprise me at all. Atheists, after all, believe that all meaning in life comes from within and that the universe is a cold, empty, uncaring vastness dotted with little sparks of life here and there.
Now, I’ve always found fanatical atheists to be just as annoying — just as wrong (in my view, obviously) — as fanatical theists. If you are incapable of acknowledging that your worldview is not factually based and therefore could be incorrect, I basically consider you to be… well, insane. That is to say that the reality inside your head does not correlate accurately with the external reality.
But what I wanted to write about today was the idea that agnostics are indecisive. As an agnostic with spiritual leanings, I think that is bullshit.
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31 Comments | tags: agnosticism, atheism, bisexual, deism, Gandhi, gnosticism, spirituality, squirrels, Stephen Hawking, theism | posted in Religion
This is the first of a series of articles that discuss something I believe is unique to humans. In fact, I think it’s one of the few things we can point to that does differentiate us from the animal kingdom. And it is something that goes deep into our past. It is our ability to use language to create and tell complex stories.
It is also one of my favorite topics. If you’ve read many of my posts, particularly those about movies and TV, you’ve seen me write about my love of stories.
There is an interesting continuum of storytelling modes. Books lie at one end, movies at the other. Plays and TV lie between. The continuum describes — in part — the experience of the audience. Here’s the deal…
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1 Comment | tags: graphic novels, plays, poetry, stories, storytelling, television, theatre | posted in Basics, Movies, Philosophy, TV
It’s bad enough now in politics (and for all I know, it has been ever thus) that one winds up so often voting for the least worst candidate. This year many of us are faced with having to vote against a candidate we feel would be real disaster for the country.
I’m speaking, of course, of the Republican contender for the Presidency, Mitt Romney. It’s hard for me to understand how someone like him got as far as he did, but the Republicans are the ones who thought Sarah Palin was a good idea.
I never imagined I would write about politics here, but the current situation seems to demand all able bodies speaking up and making their voices heard. I doubt anything I write will change anyone’s mind, and so this may be nothing more than a rant.
But apparently this is my week to rant about stuff that’s going on. I started the week ranting about NCIS, now I rant about politics.
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3 Comments | tags: Barack Obama, Between the Bridge and the River, Craig Ferguson, Election 2012, Mitt Romney, Obama-Romney debate, vote, weasel | posted in Rant
I wanted to write about the debate last night and how poorly President Obama did (what a disappointment), but the new job is sucking the energy and creative juices out of me. (My job involves designing and defining new systems, and it involves considerable writing and herding of cats.)
In the meantime, enjoy this musical interlude involving two favorite pieces of two favorite artists.
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14 Comments | tags: A Century Ends, Bob James, David Gray, Let The Truth Sting, One, Valley of the Shadows | posted in Music
Between the new position at The Company, the end of another disappointing baseball season for the Twins and the fun I’ve had blogging, I completely missed that the TV Fall Season had begun!
So last night I sat down to catch up on the first new season episodes of my usual programs (CSI, CSI:NY, NCIS: Los Angeles & NCIS). Those are basically listed in reverse order of my regard for them with the exception that I think NCIS: Los Angeles is a silly ass show mainly saved by the graces of Linda Hunt. I mostly started watching it because, hey, it’s an NCIS show, and I loved JAG, and I love NCIS. Now I’m a bit caught up in the characters, so it’s hard to look away.
But I gotta tell ya. If the season premiere of NCIS represents the quality of writing (as in total lack thereof) for the season, the love affair is over. And, as with any jilted, betrayed lover, I’m fucking angry!
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12 Comments | tags: bad script, CSI, CSI:NY, Elizabeth Shue, Linda Hunt, Marg Helgenberger, Mark Harmon, NCIS, NCIS:Los Angeles, Northern Exposure, Richard Schiff, Rob Morrow, Ted Danson | posted in Rant, TV
Today, of course, is the last day of September. For a variety of reasons, it’s always been one of my favorite months, and it’s always bugged me slightly that September — having only 30 days — is one of the short-changed months. August around here is usually hot, muggy and buggy, so I’d be fine with Congress passing a law to give one of August’s days to September.
And pity poor February! Not only stuck with being the shortest month (a month frequently dark and very cold), but saddled with the responsibility of having to keep an eye on the calendar to even know how many days it has!
Perhaps Congress could also declare February to be National February Month!
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44 Comments | tags: abacus, Bab's Dairy, beauty, German, high school, Hostess Honey Bun, jobs, milk, raw milk, work | posted in Life
I wrote in last night’s post that I had a bet riding on today’s college football game between the Minnesota Gophers and the Iowa Hawkeyes. That’s particularly weird, since: (a) I generally never gamble, especially on sports; (2) when it comes to football, I’m pretty much a “Superbowl-only” kind of guy; and (iii) I know nothing about college football [apparently a bronze pig, named Floyd, is involved somehow].
Well, weak from the week, I crashed on the couch all morning and missed most of the game. But I did wake up in time to catch the final 58 seconds (actually a rather long time in football). Final score: Minnesota 13, Iowa 31. That means my former boss and I get beer! [Yes, that’s right, I was betting on Iowa.]
Last night I mentioned it was a long story that I’d tell you later. What I didn’t mention was that it involves a great Humphrey Bogart movie, rotary phones, a prolonged discussion of point spreads and a parody of a famous quote.
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3 Comments | tags: Body Heat, college football, Florida noir, Gophers, Hawkeyes, Humphrey Bogart, Key Largo, Lauren Becall, Rachel Ward, Steve Martin | posted in Life, Movies
When I lived in Los Angeles, the usual mode was that Friday nights were for hitting the bar with work friends to shake off the work week. Saturday nights were for parties and/or date nights.
Here in the Midwest, it seems a lot of parties are held on Friday nights (although Saturday nights are still date nights). The thing about that is: (a) I miss those after work outings, and (2) Friday night parties are often kind of low-key because everyone’s tired after a work week. Saturday night you’ve had a chance to charge your batteries, and you’re ready for what comes before Part B.
Part A!
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27 Comments | tags: Captain Picard, Darmok, Doctor Crusher, Star Trek, The Inner Light, The Naked Now, TNG, Yesterday's Enterprise | posted in TV
A very simple Wednesday Wow for today: a glorious picture of the Space Shuttle’s last flight as it flies low over Los Angeles on its way to land at LAX.
As a life-long fan of space and spaceflight, and as a long-time former resident of Los Angeles, this both wonderful and poignant. It’s sad that the shuttles will fly no more and even sadder that we’ve bowed out to the space program as much as we have.
As least we’re still exploring Mars.
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9 Comments | tags: Los Angeles, Space Shuttle, STS | posted in Wednesday Wow
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