Subliminal oasis

It’s just so easy to forget, this time
skims past oval shoulders, loses footprints
to the shore, curling after an instance.
An impression left to stay, to believe
just in the brightening of a life beckoned,
lapped in the mind for an awakening call.

To claim a surge, sail underneath a blue
tint of a sky to the advance of dawn.
To encircle all, push hands into air,
smudge a creative edge that meets promise
for a sheen of thoughts, a coolness.

A taste of this is what I need to be free.

As hands holding water as one breath,
one fullness held halfway in the throat,
swallowed as science and nature combined,
clearly defined serenity.

Searching seems all there is, it unfurls
the calendar, an expressive train getaway,
speeds on through the night. One faceless ticket
gives concessions for early arrivals, all could be
collected in a backpack of latterday heroes
framed alongside the greatest guitar riffs.

Someday,  maybe destiny will be smooth, easy,
just a walk through the park to a marbled bench
that shows scuffs from kicked off shoes.

Andy Kaufman/Tony Clifton with muppets!

One of Andy Kaufman’s creations, “Tony Clifton”, this man IS music, and
with The Muppets what more could you ask for? Okay, you could ask for
a lot more, but let’s not get piggy, erm or too Miss picky.

Kaufman had his own style of comedy, perhaps ahead of its time, and
along with his writing partner Bob Zmuda, his pranks were devised to
cause an audience reaction, good or bad, it didn’t quite matter. The main
thing was to provoke some reaction out of the norm, and stir things up.

His loud mouthed, bad cabaret act “Tony” is an example of this. I still find
this alter ego of his quite funny in the vein of it’s so bad, it’s good, particularly
the fill-in dance steps in between the tribute song, which I can’t help but
laugh at.

He certainly didn’t comprise for the ABC network. Often misunderstood,
but he was undoubtably unique at the time, and best known for his character
Latka Gravas in the sitcom “Taxi”. Incidently, part of Kaufman’s own conditions
of contract before agreeing to appear in Taxi was to have Mr Clifton in some
of the shows (nobody knew who Clifton really was at that early stage)

The band R.E.M. refers to Andy Kaufman, his Elvis impersonation and other
facets of his life in their song “Man on the Moon” from the 1992 CD Automatic
for the People.  Man on the Moon is also the title of the movie about Andy
Kaufman (played by Jim Carrey), directed by Miloš Forman in 1999.

Morecambe & Wise : Andre Previn

Perhaps, Eric and Ernie’s finest moment.

Previn is initially enthusiastic as a guest, but he is perplexed by the news that he will not, after all, be conducting Yehudi Menuhin in Mendelssohn‘s Violin Concerto, but Edvard Grieg‘s A minor Piano Concerto with Eric as piano soloist:

Previn: Goodnight, gentlemen.
Ernie: No, no! Please don’t go, Mr Preview!
Eric: Privit.
Previn: Previn.
Ernie: I can assure you that Eric is more than capable.
Previn: Well—all right. I’ll go and get my baton.
Ernie: Please do that.
Previn: It’s in Chicago.

At this point in the sketch Morecambe punches the air with his fist and ad-libs the line “Pow! He’s in! I like him! I like him!”.The television executive Michael Grade has observed that it was Previn’s expert delivery of his lines that caused Morecambe to visibly relax: “Eric’s face lights up as if to say, ‘Oh, yes! This is going to be great!”

Bob and Ray – STOA

Sing

The Italian Job – Mystery solved

Turns out he did have a great idea after all — The Italian Job’s cliff-hanger ending has been solved after almost 40 years.

The classic 1969 film ends with Caine’s gang in a bus filled with gold, hanging over the edge of the ravine. If Caine move towards the loot, the bus topples closer to the edge. But if anyone tries to leave, they all go over anyway. All seems lost.

But then Caine’s character chirps up: “Hang on lads, I’ve got a great idea.” And then the film ends.

The debate over just how Croker would have saved the gold has raged for decades. So in an attempt to solve it once and for all, the Royal Society of Chemistry recently held a competition to find the best explanation.

Around 2,000 people sent in entries. Our favourite came from twelve-year-old Thomas Nixon. He said the gang should sing until they got “frogs” in their throats, and then the frogs start jumping up and down, rocking the bus. The gang then use the “rocks” to weigh the bus down and when their throats are sore from singing, they use the “saw” to cut the gold in half. And because two halves make a whole, the gang use the “hole” to escape. Neat.

But it was a more practical entry from John Godwin in Surrey that eventually won the contest. According to his plan, the gang first smash the windows at the back end of the coach to improve the weight ratio. Then one of the gang is lowered outside to deflate the wheels. To even out the weight ratio further Croker turns on the engine and drains the fuel tank of its 140kg of petrol. Then one of the men leaves and brings back rocks to stablise the front of the bus and remove the gold.

On balance that makes more sense than our solution, which basically relied on the sudden appearance of an alien space craft.

Final point!

Bow…………………………..bow.

Serve!

Pa ta ping……………………plup pong.
Pa ta ping……………………plup pong.
Pu po ping…………………..plup pong.
Pow da ping…………………plup pong.
Pa ta ping…………………….plup pong.
Pu paw ping!!……………….plup, yawn, pong.
Power pu ping!!…………….plup, distant……………………………pong.
Spin di Ping………………….pong swerve.
Concealed ping……………..missed Pong.
Da da da da!!!……………….%$%#@!!!

Bow…………………………….bow.

The ball went back and forth,
sometimes long and slow
other times fast and furious,
but fury of the ball
paled against the face
of he who lost.

(A collab with RGarfield)

This Makes Me Sick | ASP Badass Diary from Hell

I saw this on another blog and thought it quite humorous, below is the
link to the eclectic blog.

This Makes Me Sick | ASP Badass Diary from Hell.

Today while walking back from a discussion group about vampirism I saw something that blew my mind and filled me with rage.

I saw a bird.

Eating a worm.

I’ve heard about this phenomenon in books, plays, and rap music, but I’ve never actually seen it happen. What the hell, bird? I glared at him indignantly. Why do you eat that worm? Just because cultural norms dictate that you, as a bird, are highly interested in worms, doesn’t mean that you are obligated to do so. You know what you are, bird? A walking stereotype.

By reinforcing assumptions about the behavior of birds, you are making it even more difficult for your bird brethren to break through the social barriers and make their own destiny. It’s because of you there are no sparrows in college.

Unfortunately, the bird was not receptive. He merely stared at me with a vacant expression that screamed, “This is all I know.”

The worm was also silent.

Wonders

I bet you never knew there were so many!

_

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

• The Great Pyramid of Giza
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• The Colossus of Rhodes
• The Pharos of Alexandria

The Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind

• Stonehenge
• The Colosseum
• The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
• The Great Wall of China
• The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
• The Hagia Sophia
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Seven Natural Wonders of the World

• Mount Everest
• The Great Barrier Reef
• The Grand Canyon
• Victoria Falls
• The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
• Paricutin Volcano
• The Northern Lights

The Seven Underwater Wonders of the World

• Palau
• The Belize Barrier Reef
• The Galapagos Islands
• The Northern Red Sea
• Lake Baikal
• The Great Barrier Reef
• The Deep Sea Vents

The Seven Wonders of the Modern World

• The Empire State Building
• The Itaipú Dam
• The CN Tower
• The Panama Canal
• The Channel Tunnel
• The North Sea Protection Works
• The Golden Gate Bridge

The Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World

• Angel Falls
• The Bay of Fundy
• Iguaçú Falls
• Krakatoa Island
• Mount Fuji
• Mount Kilimanjaro
• Niagara Falls

The Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World

• The Clock Tower (Big Ben)
• Eiffel Tower
• The Gateway Arch
• The Aswan High Dam
• Hoover Dam
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial
• The Petronas Towers

The Seven Forgotten Wonders of the Medieval Mind

• Abu Simbel Temple
• Angkor Wat
• Taj Mahal
• Mont Saint-Michel
• The Moai Statues
• The Parthenon
• The Shwedagon Pagoda

The Forgotten Wonders

• The Aztec Temple
• The Banaue Rice Terraces
• The Borobudur Temple
• The Inca City
• The Statue of Liberty
• The Mayan Temples
• The Temple of the Inscriptions
• The Throne Hall of Persepolis
• Petra
• The Suez Canal
• The Sydney Opera House
• The Red Fort in India

Some great quotes by comedians -

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I’m halfway through my
fishburger and I realize, Oh my God….I could be eating a slow learner.”
–Lynda Montgomery

~

“The Swiss have an interesting army. Five hundred years without a war.
Pretty impressive. Also pretty lucky for them. Ever see that little
Swiss Army knife they have to fight with? Not much of a weapon there.
Corkscrews. Bottle openers. ‘Come on, buddy, let’s go. You get past me,
the guy in back of me, he’s got a spoon. Back off. I’ve got the toe
clippers right here.’”
–Jerry Seinfeld

~

“I was a vegetarian until I started leaning towards sunlight.”
–Rita Rudner

~

“I was such an ugly kid – When I played in the sandbox, the cat kept
covering me up”
–Rodney Dangerfield

~

“USA Today has come out with a new survey: Apparently three out of four
people make up 75 percent of the population.”
–David Letterman

~

“I had a dream last night, I was eating a ten pound marshmallow. I woke
up this morning and the pillow was gone.”
–Tommy Cooper

~

“My neighbour asked if he could use my lawnmower and I told him of course
he could, so long as he didn’t take it out of my garden.”
–Eric Morcambe

~

“If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet,
what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?”
–Steve Wright

~

“I think that’s how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York
said, ‘Gee, I’m enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn’t
cold enough. Let’s go west.’”
–Richard Jeni