Phillipe

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  1. Everything I Need To Know About Life

    in Cultural Arts Archive

    Posted · Edited by Phillipe

    Argonius' poll and song listing from Queen's A Kind of Magic album got me to thinking about how much I truly enjoyed the Highlander TV series. I was never much for the movies, with the exception of Sean Connery's turn as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez - somehow they disturbed my "timeline" of the Highlander universe, and Christopher Lambert is no Adrian Paul. :P

    But then it struck me: Duncan was supposedly this guy who had centuries to study martial arts, specifically the sword.

    I've only had about 38 years worth of practice.

    He lived in a loft and taught downstairs; I lived in a loft and taught downstairs.

    He drove weird cars; I drove weird cars. :lol:

    Later in the series, he lived on a houseboat in Paris; I lived on a houseboat, too - unfortunately, NOT in Paris.

    He always got the hot chicks, even though most of them died; I got the hot chicks, but I died every time they left me. :shy:

    He had the ponytail, the boots, the long duster; yep, had 'em since well before the series.

    He was my long-lost brother! :fear:

    But it was the little morality plays that were played out in each episode that hooked me. Friendship, trust, love, respect, revenge, the futility of war and the eternal quest for peace...each was a riveting life-lesson. Each showed the pain and sacrifices needed to carry yourself as a scholar-warrior in this life (and in Duncan's case, many lives), as well as the necessity to enjoy yourself even when facing imminent death (witness his countless drunken bouts and wench-chasing).

    That was one character who knew his Tao and followed it!

    Darn - now I have to go out and get that whole-series DVD set...

  3. Green Literature?

    in Creative Expression & Cultural Arts

    Posted

    Putting greenness aside just for a moment...

    Maybe I'm too old-school, but there's a kind of magic about real books. You can feel their weight, smell them and put them in order on your bookshelf. You can leave one open to the page where you fell asleep, and like a good and trusted friend it will be waiting for you when you awaken. If you're especially strange like me, you'll actually look forward to moving, because that gives you an excuse to handle all of your books and once again experience the wisdom and enjoyment they'd previously given. There's a tangible aura to books, especially the old ones, that just can't be replicated (yet!) on the Net.

    It's like keeping a journal (OK, "diary" :blush: ) - I've experimented with keeping both on- and off-line electronic journals. Yes, it's nice to have the technology to add photos, sound bites, etc., but there's no LIFE to them. I much preferred (before they were stolen :( ) my old hard-copy versions...I know that I wrote in them, not some clattering machine; I can actually feel the ink from my calligraphy pen on the page; my writing, both style and actual penmanship, changed over the years. On this page, a coffee stain...on that, a section crossed out until it becomes a black hole, covering some unwanted, painful memory.

    Technology is wonderful, yes...but it isn't everything.

  6. Used Bookstore

    in Creative Expression & Cultural Arts

    Posted

    Well, that's a horse of a different color...

    They supposedly got their royalties when the book was originally sold, so they can't expect to collect double or triple the amount. That's just the way the system is set up. In part, that's why the writers went out on strike, because of the pretty-much-eternal quality of Internet and electronic media copies of their work.

    They're funny things, royalties...depending on how the publisher / your agent come to terms, you might do quite well or you might be eating beans for a few years. One of my last traditionally-published books consistently does better in international sales than domestic, and I get a higher royalty for those sales than I would for domestic ones. Yet, I lose royalties on returns from the bookstores, book-club sales, review copies, etc.

    That's why I'm getting into self-publishing now - much more control.

  7. Happy Birthday Phillipus Regis I

    in Prayer & Good Wishes Archive

    Posted

    Congratulations on staying alive! :thumbu:

    Daniel, you don't know how very, very true that is. Was just reflecting yesterday that I've outlived all my nuclear family members. It was kind of a close call, though, because a few hours before my official birth time I started getting the sweats - you know, those all-over flop-sweat-kind-of affairs? This is a bit unusual for me since I rarely become ill, and my first thought was, "DARN! There goes the record!" :lol:

    Luckily it passed within a half-hour and I went on to enjoy my current state of glory. Maybe it was just that electric prune juice... :blush:

    Murph! You did a Me! Yay! :devil:

    Fozzlenacht - that's the night that the lights went out in Georgia...

    ______________________________________________________

    Sung to the tune of:

    "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia"

    He was on his way home from Geezertop

    Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop

    At Chow's Strip Club and have a prune 'fore he went home to her

    Andy SoLow said "Hello"

    And he said "High, what's doin', Low?"

    "Phil, sit down, I got some bad news, it's gonna hurt"

    He said "I'm your best friend and you know that's right"

    "But your young wench ain't home tonight"

    "Since you been gone she's been playin' with that battery pack"

    Well, he got mad 'n' he saw red and Andy said "Boy, don'tcha lose your head"

    " 'cause to tell ya the truth, I been prunin' with her myself"

    That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia

    That's the night that they hung an innocent man

    Well, don't trust your soul to no older-than-dirt lawyer

    'cause the judge in the town's got prune juice on his hands

    Well, Andy got scared and left the bar

    Walkin' on home 'cause he didn't want a scar

    See, Andy didn't have many friends and he'd just lost him one

    Brother thought his wife musta left town

    So he went home and dressed like a clown

    The only thing Papa had left him, that was a popgun

    And he went off to Andy's house

    A'skippin' through the backwoods like Lenny with his mouse

    Came upon some prunes too small for Andy to fake

    He looked through the screen at the back-porch door

    And he saw Andy lyin' on the floor

    In a puddle of prune juice and a box of Shake-n-Bake

    Well, the Georgia Patrol was a'makin' their rounds

    So he fired a shot just to flag 'em down

    And a big-bellied sheriff got his gun and said "Why'dya do it?"

    And the judge said "Guilty" in a make-believe trial

    And slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile

    Said "Prune juice's waitin' at home and I gotta get to it"

    That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia

    That's the night that they hung an innocent man

    Well, don't trust your soul to no older-than-dirt lawyer

    'cause the judge in the town's got prune juice on his hands

    Well, they hung my brother before I could say

    The prunes he saw while on his way

    To Andy's house and back that night were mine

    And his cheatin' wife had never left town

    And that's one body that'll never be found

    See, lil' Prunella don't miss when she aims her gun

    That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia, oh-oh-aah

    That's the night that they hung an innocent man, ah-huh-unh

    Well, don't trust your soul to no older-than-dirt lawyer

    FADE

    'cause the judge in the town's got prune juice on his hands

  18. Your Final Tunes

    in Cultural Arts Archive

    Posted

    There's a scene in the movie "Soylent Green" that always stuck in my mind...

    Edward G. Robinson ("Sol Roth") elects euthanasia during the film and during the process watches an AV presentation which includes:

    • Symphony No. 6 ("Pathétique") by Tchaikovsky
    • Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral") by Beethoven
    • "Morning Mood" and "Åse's Death" from the Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg

    While his choices are a bit..refined...for my own tastes, I can appreciate the role of music during our lives and, presumably, at the end of them.

    Just from the top of my head, I think I'd like:

    • "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan
    • "Who Wants To Live Forever" by Queen
    • "Fields of Gold" by Sting

    What music would you like to listen to when your time has come?