I discussed some theories about the Breaking Bad finale in my penultimate post about the show. Let’s review my hits and misses, then a bit of a digression, then finish up with links to Breaking Bad content on the web.
I finally found a high-resolution image of Diogenes [that you like, at least] to use for the banner. In the process I discovered that the image is from one of my favorite painters, Jean-Leon Gerome. [yes, yes, we love the Academics it’s true. and Monet; rhymes with “cliché”]
Here is the full image, click to be taken to the source page:
Ancient Greek dogs don’t look as impressive as Ancient Greek men, it must be said. I could go for some Diogenes fan fiction with a beagle.
So now that I’ve got a good banner image, I’m shutting down the blog. Just kidding! Well, actually I’m not kidding – this is one of the last posts I’ll be making on the blog. I think I’ve got one more Breaking Bad post, one more Good News post, and one more Quote post left in me. The shutdown is unrelated to the banner image. It’s also unrelated to the crazy fools in the House Republican caucus and their shutdown of the Federal government. [we would totally blame them if we could, though]
“I also take it as granted that every created thing, and consequently the created monad also, is subject to change, and indeed that this change is continual in each one.”
Gottfried Leibniz was a remarkable man. He was a genius thinker and inventor at a time when one such man could have a truly remarkable impact on every field of human endeavor.
Like Descartes, Leibniz was in general a rationalist and in specific came at philosophy from a mathematical point of view. Such philosophers always seem to me fun to read and engage, but not very valuable when it comes wisdom for every day life. To wit, this is fun:
“I do not conceive of any reality at all as without genuine unity.”
I love mentally masturbating with this idea and I suppose I can remember it every day… …but whatever. It’s no tao teh ching:
“Nature does not hurry and all is accomplished.”
That shit makes every day of my life better. That’s just me, of course. For someone not predisposed to see the universe in unity, Leibniz is probably just as useful as Laotse is to someone who is impatient and demanding at every turn of events. [yeah dude, that’s us]
I admit I haven’t read Leibniz in a long time and I bet I would fall in love with him again if I did. [that’s because you fall in love with all of them, every time] Except Kant. [well yeah, not Kant *shudder*]
I also remembered vaguely a great Leibniz quote about music, which Google helped me rediscover in full:
“Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.”
Somewhere in my mind this thought is bouncing around any time I am consumed by Bach. [oooohhhh ich liebe die Musik von Bach] So instead of hating on Leibniz for being too abstract, let me leave you with that music quote and an assist by Johann Sebastian to make it experiential. Enjoy the counting…
Jon Hamm with a fantastic beard and a snow leopard. (h/t The Dish)
Happy Friday, readers! Here is a quick recap of some good news from the last few days.
It makes me feel good, deeply good, to know that our collective fear of death (inflicted most cruelly on the dying) may be beginning to alleviate. According to Bloomberg and The Atlantic Wire, there is an emerging trend of “death dinners, designed to lift the taboo around talking about death” and make end of life decisions easier for the dying and the living. There is even a website to help you plan your own Death Dinner.
This is news both somber and good. On a personal note, I was very close to my maternal grandfather; he died alone in a room at a nursing home a few years ago. Just over a year later, my beloved dog died in my arms, at home, surrounded by a circle of friends and family. A man ought to be able to die better than a dog, not the other way around. This is something that has to change in our culture, and big kudos to the folks throwing these dinners and to the folks attending them. Continue reading →
The synergy of socialism and oxytocin could be a game changer. [dude did you just say synergy?!]
Enrollment in health care exchanges starts next Tuesday, October 1st. Coverage begins on January 1st. The good news is millions more Americans will have health insurance. [can we stop calling it insurance? insurance is something you think you might not use. we all know we are going to use healthcare.] Fair point! Millions more Americans will have healthcare and all Americans will enjoy some new benefits in the healthcare system.
Also good news is that the implementation of Obamacare is putting the full range of American stupidity and our deranged polity on display. Here is a rundown:
Republicans are afraid that Obamacare will not prove to be a bureaucratic nightmare — that Americans, in fact, will find they actually like it. The GOP fears that Obamacare will even be credited with slowing the rise of health-care costs to a more manageable rate. There are signs, in fact, that this “bending of the curve” is already taking place: Medical costs are still rising much faster than inflation but at the slowest rate in decades.
Much of the program’s success depends on young, mostly-healthy Americans enrolling in the program. [hey that’s us!] Brian Beutler has a powerful piece at Salon encouraging young folks – and everyone eligible – to enroll in the program. His story is about being shot; mine would be about getting a chronic prostate infection. [dude, TMI!] Either way, you’re never too young or too healthy to get sick or injured. Sign up!
If powerful stories of gun shots and my over-sharing aren’t enough to convince you, see if the Adorable Care Act tumblr can persuade you to enroll.
While I would like to make it all the way through this post without giving any attention at all to the whack-job Senator from Texas, I must at least acknowledge Ted Cruz’s senate-floor tantrum enough to introduce this segment from The Daily Show, wherein Jon Stewart demolishes the Bore-ax:
So that’s the good, the bad, the cute, and the funny news along with the deeper truth about Obamacare today. Stay tuned for the rest of the good news this afternoon.
Achtung! This post is spoiler free until you hit Continue Reading – then it is spoilers galore. Come on, you know you want to. [no, really you want to – spoilers should be called sweeteners, anyway]
So… …yeah. There are some problems. We’ll discuss them after the jump.
Welcome back, fellow Breaking Bad fans! Whether you’re a Diogenes-come-lately to the show like myself, or a long time watcher, this post will have something for every fan to enjoy. Speaking of my beloved readers, one wrote in during my break:
Dear Anonymous Blogger,
You promised Breaking Bad links on Monday… It’s Wednesday and still no love! I’ll never trust or love again. Sigh.
Do you feel abandoned and betrayed? I guess that makes you my Pinkman, bitch! Maybe you should call me Heisenblogger. [dude, really? you better get started on the links before you drive away the pageviews]
Even though, as linked at the top, I believe spoilers are sweeteners I understand that many folks disagree. Netflix has your back with this new tool to avoid Breaking Bad spoilers on Twitter.
A wedding being canceled is bad news, or good news if the couple would have been unhappily married. At any rate, the planned reception being donated to feed 200 homeless folk is definitely good news! It’s the one good news item I could find today, thanks to The Root. The reception was donated to a charity called Hosea Feed the Hungry (scroll down to the bottom of the page to donate via PayPal).
The Doggery recently posted a collection of Pope Francis’ recent controversial (in a good way) statements. Not included in that post were two posts over at The Dish by Andrew Sullivan, a Catholic bear. Sullivan is excited by Pope Francis and what he sees as The Rebirth of Catholicism and the resulting Theocon Panic. Both posts are worth your time on a slow good news day.
Be careful – plenty of bad news out there today. Don’t make the mistake of believing it’s important to you. It’s actually just harming you, a lot.
It’s very likely that you’ve seen this, but I thought I’d share in case you haven’t. I love the one you posted, and this is another favorite.
Thank you, reader, for selecting today’s Louis C.K. clip! Let’s say that this bit of philosophizing is a roundabout extolling the virtue of gratitude by way of lampooning the all-too-common American attitude of disenchanted entitlement.
Note: This blog is in no way responsible for how you choose to conduct yourself on an airplane after viewing this video. It is not recommended to holler in flight unless, as described in the video, everyone else is hollering with you.
Good morning! Starting with the good entertainment news, J.J. Abrams finally said something about his plans for the next Star Wars film:
I remember reading a thing somewhere, someone wrote about just wanting [the new film] to feel real; to feel authentic. I remember I felt that way when I was 11 years old when I saw the first one. As much of a fairy tale as it was, it felt real. And to me, that is exactly right.”
Hooray! Perhaps Abrams can do as fine a job rebooting this franchise as he did with the 2009 Star Trek reboot. Of course the key is to only let him make Episode VII. If he gets a shot at Episode VIII he may end up freezing a Skywalker into carbonite while Han Solo battles a Sith, thereby turning the whole movie into a travesty. [for real JJ, wtf was up with that scene inStar Trek: Into Darkness??!?! You can’t do that toThe Wrath of Khan, dude, it’s just not right. Do this to Star Wars and you will be punished. It will be a nerd death – by lethal pinching: we’ll put you under with a Vulcan nerve pinch so you don’t suffer too much while you get force-choked. Fans will line up for blocks to be one of the lucky few to witness your demise. Do not betray our trust again. Just saying…]
Doggery 
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