RADIFIED

The Nietzsche Experience - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-11-02T18:02:00Z

In her book titled » The Untouched Key, little Alice Miller quotes a guy (named Richard Blunck, on page 88) who devoted himself to Nietzsche's life & work for 40 years. This is possibly the best thing I've read on what it's like to actually read Nietzsche & grapple with his ideas .. something you might call » the Nietzsche experience. (Incoming!)

Blunck's comments confirm & validate my earlier impressions .. to a remarkable degree.

In an intro to a two-thousand-page biography on Nietzsche by Curt-Paul Janz, Blunck writes (my emphasis):

"Those who come across a book of Nietzsche's for the first time, immediately sense that more is required to understand it than mere intellect, that more is involved here than following someone's logic from premise to conclusion.

They will feel they have wandered into an immense force field that is emitting shock waves of a far deeper nature than can be registered by the intellect alone. They will be struck less by the opinions and insights expressed than by the person behind those opinions & insights.

Readers will often react defensively, as if they have something to defend. If readers pursue these ideas that confront, and sometimes even assault..."

That's right .. this is the guy selected to write the intro to a two-thousand-page biography (published 1987). The mother of all biographies. Now, here's what I wrote in a previous entry (dated Oct 11, 2010, before I found Alice's book):

* "Reading Nietzsche feels like someone walking thru your mind wearing a bandolier of grenades, lobbing them, one after another, at everything we (in the Christian Western world) hold sacred."

and also:

* "Need to armor-up before entering Nietzsche's garden .. cuz you know it's coming at you. Protective gear. Bulletproof vest. Kevlar, the lightweight one. Lock-n-load. Incoming!"

and also:

* "Reading Nietzsche feels like a self-induced spiritual crisis. Yes, it's good to challenge ourselves. (I hope.) Yo Friedrich, bring it, Dawg. Bring your Nazi-inspiring philosophy."

and also:

* "Nietzsche challenges me like that. Tho in a different way. He goes deep .. to the very foundations of our Western belief systems. An area normally off-limits."

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That guy (Richard Blunck) devoted himself to Nietzsche's writings for 40 years. Surprising how closely my observations parallel his, no?

I'm surprised I was able to articulate my impressions so quickly .. in considerably less than 40 years. (Must be the Moleskine.)

Common theme » reading Nietzsche is a battle that goes deep, beyond the intellect. (That's why grappling with his ideas can be fatiguing.)

Never heard anybody describe the things I was sensing ('til now), so I wondered if I was the only one.

The reason Nietzsche goes deep .. is cuz he questions our values, some of which have bypassed our intellect and been deposited there & assimilated via our culture (.. which is why different cultures esteem different values, and even the same values are esteemed differently).

Nietzsche also notes that our values affect our will. Then he examines our values in light of the things we will. (We all have a free will, right?)

Considering Blunck dedicated 40 years of his life, he obviously fancies Nietzsche. He said some other things tho, that are hard to swallow .. such as:

"If you stick with Nietzsche (thru the labyrinth & past the minotaur) he will bring you closer to life and its secrets than any other thinker."

Whoa! Normally I'd dismiss such comments as hyperbole. But the way I sync'ed with his ealier comments made me look again. I haven't read enough Nietzsche to confirm or deny such statements.

One of the key terms Blunck uses in conjunction with his description of Nietzsche's work is » authenticity (.. something I strive for here .. by limiting the scope of my topics of discussion to things for which I have first-hand experience).

Here's another quote that lifted both eyebrows:

"Such authenticity does not consist in collecting knowledge and ordering things in a rational manner, little as can be done without such processes, but is a feature of the heart's courage, and the dauntless and indefatigable nature of the mind. It must be lived and suffered if it is to attain that intellectual force which Nietzsche's work demonstrates."

That passage touches upon the notion I've been hinting at in every Nietzsche entry to date .. about how I have this vague impression that Nietzsche's insanity (..somehow..) actually validates his ideas .. which is opposite what you'd normally think.

Note how the terms 'lived' & 'suffered' imply the notion that experience trumps mere intellectual knowledge and academic theorizing.

If you want to write about and discuss ideas that are supposed to take the human race into the next millenium (beyond the astrology & religious dogma of previous milleniums), you have to actually GO THERE .. to the place where those ideas live. No? I mean, if you want to be taken seriously.

[ Most ideas can be safely explored without actually adopting them for yourself. But Nietzsche's are so far out there, or maybe cuz they're so strong, or maybe cuz they go so deep .. that they somehow affect you .. even when you don't consciously adopt them as your own. Tho I'm not sure why. Or how this can be. ]

And if you go on a journey to a faraway place, there's a chance you might not return. (Ground Control to Major Tom.) Only the courageous would dare go on such a journey (.. or the crazy).

What is insanity anyway but a one-way trip .. wherein the casual tourist cannot return (.. or chooses not to).

A famous Nietzsche quote:

"When you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

Only someone who has gazed (for long) into it would know what how it feels to assimilate the abyss. The abyss is not pretty or a pleasant place.

When Baudelaire said he felt "the wind of the wing of madness," he was standing near the abyss, watching birds fly in & out. Big black ones .. that can take you with them.

Do you recall that old Seal song with lyrics » "We're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy"?

You don't have to be a prophet to look at the history of the human race here on planet earth, note the dominant trends (.. wars & rumors of wars with ever increasingly powerful weapons), and venture a prediction of the future (.. boom).

I mean, unless human nature changes .. the future's horizon looks rather threatening & bleak.

One more (.. from Blunck):

"Nietzsche's authenticity, when combined with a profound understanding of human nature and a prophetic farsightedness and clarity of vision, is apparent to an extent unequalled in the history of Western thought."

Quite a boast, no?

Today's entry follows one I made last week, titled » How Little Fritz Became the Great Nietzsche. I actually cut today's entry off the end of that one, and pasted it here, cuz it seemed to suggest a new topic heading, and last week's entry was growing longer than I wanted.

It's really extraordinary that we're able to get to know this man - quite intimately - who lived a hundred years ago. And that his ideas are still able to exert such force.

Here's the gist of what Nietzsche said (I'm paraphrasing) » "Don't let them seduce you with things that *sound* nice .. but will actually do you harm."

For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » friedrich nietzsche

In other news, Frontline released a new feature titled » The Spill. Haven't seen it yet, but I bet it's good.

How Little Fritz Became the Great Nietzsche - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-10-27T17:27:00Z

If history could've buried Nietzsche, it would have. Cuz he said things that were not merely offensive, but downright heretical (.. such as 'God is dead'). The Dark Ages would've had him drawn & quartered. Progress.

Few people with whom I spoke -- and I chat with some fairly educated folk, including professors -- knew very much about the man. The ones who did tho, seemed to like him the least.

The more religious a person was, the more they disliked Nietzsche, as a general rule. And 'dislike' is putting it mildly. I mean, people got pretty fired up reading his aphorisms .. especially those on religion & morality.

I'm like » Dude, I didn't write the book. Okay? I'm just reading it.

But you don't have to read many headlines these days to know that organized religion has had its share of problems. We're talking BIG problems.

Serious morality issues continue to plague the church. You know. You read the news. And that's hypocritical, cuz they claim to represent & champion the moral standard.

» Nietzsche & Religion

So, at least in our day, it's not unreasonable to find fault with religion. And I doubt things were much different back in Nietzsche's day.

The reason history hasn't been able to bury Nietzsche .. is cuz he was brilliant. Remarkably perceptive. No doubt about it. Anyone who grapples with his ideas - even on a casual level - will readily admit.

That's why he's still one of the youngest ever tenured professors (at age 24). And note that being a professor meant his intellect was highly developed.

Most people associate Nietzsche with an arrogant 19th century intellectual who found fault with religion because of its hypocritical morality.

Yeah okay. But Nietzsche wasn't the first or only to do so. Remember what Jesus said?

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, saying the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

For they say and do not. You don't hear that verse preached from many pulpits. Seems little has changed over the centuries.

No one is immune to error cuz we're all human, and therefore fallible (by definition). You know anybody who's not-capable of making a mistake? I don't.

But hypocrisy is particularly odious .. such as that practiced by politicians when they write laws to punish those who do the very same things they themselves do in secret (.. in an airport bathroom, for example).

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» Little Alice Miller

Of all the people I read after .. on how Fritz became Nietzsche, little Alice Miller climbed the furthest up his butt and shined the most penetrating & insightful searchlight on his life.

Impressive women. (She died earlier this year in France at age 87.)

In her book titled » The Untouched Key, she dedicates Part Two (of this 3-part book) to Nietzsche. And she digs way deeper, psychologically, than anyone else I found.

There's also some stuff in there on Stalin, Hitler, Dostoevsky & others (Kafka), but the meat of her book focuses on little Fritz. (That's what his family called him.) And there she focuses her formidable powers (of perception & insight) .. because she was a Polish Jew (born 1923), who suffered under the Nazis.

And the Nazis used Nietzsche's words to validate their plans and stoke up the people. Supposedly the soldiers carried his sayings with them in their backpacks as they marched off to war.

In a way, Alice is similar to Nietzsche. She speaks her mind and doesn't sugar-coat. In discussing her motivation for the book, she says (page 75, translated from the German):

My work with the Nietzsche material made me realize that society's ignorance about the injuries inflicted on children represent a great danger for humanity.

Sentences from Nietzsche could never have been misinterpreted in support of fascism and the annihilation of human beings if people had understood his words for what they were: the encoded language of of a child who was forbidden to express his true feelings.

Young men would never have been willing to march off to war with his words in their pack if they had known that his ideology promoting the destruction of morality and traditional values such as charity & mercy stood for the raised fist of a child starved for truth who had suffered under the domination of hypocrisy.

Those are fairly obtuse terms, but they capture the thrust of where she's headed. And go there she does. With very detailed specifics. Like I said, no one I read offered anywhere near the psychological penetration Alice did.

Alice is famous for writing The Drama of the Gifted Child (1981), which I have not read. (Library lists it as 'missing'.) I first heard about her when she died earlier this year. She wrote about a dozen books.

» No Fun for Little Fritz

Little Fritz was the only male in a house that included his young mother, grandmother, two paternal aunts, and a sister .. all of whom tried to outdo each other (day after day), training him to be a "strong" man.

His father lost his mind when Fritz was 3 or 4. Dad continued living with the family for nearly a year before he finally died.

As you might imagine, his dad's insanity & death really messed with the young boy's head. He loved his father.

Medieval Discipline

Little Fritz was locked in a dark closet (isolation) whenever he had an outburst.

"He was not allowed to cry, scream or be in a rage. He was only supposed to be well-disciplined and do brilliant work."

Alice doesn't buy the syphilis story:

Historians locate the cause of his tragic ending in a venereal disease he supposedly contracted as an adolescent. The outcome is in keeping with moral standards: the just, though delayed, punishment, in the form of a fatal disease for having visited a prostitute. This is similar to the present attitude toward AIDS.

But what those who raised and taught Nietzsche actually did to the boy did not happen so long ago that we can no longer find out about it. Young graduate students can uncover the story, read the letters from his sister and others.

And then she takes off .. for 50 pages, presenting facts & insight. Fascinating. The movie » Good Will Hunting comes to mind. Brilliant but troubled youth.

Basically, Alice Miller comes at it from the standpoint (I'm paraphrasing) » Dear parents, you mistreat your children (thru ignorance, abuse & neglect) at your peril .. and this mistreatment presents a risk to society at large and humanity itself. So ya might wanna lighten up, hoss, and get with the program.

You should see the way she shined a light up Stalin's butt. Most impressive. (Coulda swore I saw him smile.)

And especially her look at Dostoevsky .. who I am familiar with. That's where she won my respect. Cuz she caught things that I knew but failed to connect. I didn't put together one and one .. things that were obvious in retrospect, but only after she shined her light on certain observations. What insight.

Nietzsche was a professor at the University of Basel (Switzerland) where Alice Miller did her post-grad work after the war. Interesting coincidence.

I could continue, and probably won't be able to resist adding to it later, cuz there is so much more to share, but I'd really like to keep today's entry short as possible (.. unlike the Che entry, which grew rather large). The curious can read her book for themselves.

It is not easy to distill Nietzsche (the madman whom the Nazis idolized), so today's entry represents a challenge.

» Nietzsche's Insanity

Okay, one more thing. Uno mas cosa. The question of insanity plays a key role in the Nietzsche story .. cuz it speaks to the issue of credibility .. depending upon how a person might approach his ideas.

Was it syphilis or did he go stark raving mad on his own? Of course, nobody knows for sure.

But I think, from reading him, and reading about him, you definitely get the feeling it would not be unreasonable to think Nietzsche went mad on his own .. withOUT the syphilis, I mean. Just a hunch, but I have reasons, too.

Me? My gut says it wasn't syphilis. There ya have it. That and $1.60 will buy you a cup of Ethiopian coffee here in Newport Beach. =)

But syphilis is definitely the kinder, gentler, more palatable explanation .. especially for Nietzsche scholars. (Otherwise their hero is a nut-case.)

And it's not like the family wasn't conducting a full-scale public relations campaign for years .. trying to preserve his reputation. Especially his sister Elizabeth, whose income depended on her brother's writings.

I think the main point is that it wouldn't be unusual to think Nietzsche cracked on his own. No, that would not be a stretch.

» Childhood Snapshot

I'll close with this snapshot as the best illustration I found on Nietzsche's formative years (pg 81):

Soon after the death of his father, Nietzsche's little brother died too, leaving Fritz as the only male in the house in a household of women. This might have turned out well if one of these women treated him with tenderness.

But they all tried to outdo one another in teaching him self-control and other Christian values.

The originality of his imagination and the honesty of his questions were too much for their sense of morality, and so they attempted to silence the child's curiosity, which made them uncomfortable, by strict supervision and a stern upbringing.

Here comes the good part:

What else can a child do, when so completely at the mercy of a regimen like this? Except to adapt and suppress his genuine feelings with all his might? That is what Friedrich did, and he soon became the model child and a model pupil.

One biographer describes a scene that clearly illustrates how extreme the boy's self-denial was. Caught in a heavy rain on the way home from school, Friedrich did not quicken his pace but continued to walk slowly with his head erect.

His explanation was that, "Upon leaving school one must go home in a calm and mannerly way. For that is what the regulations require."

We can only imagine the training that must have preceded such behavior.

What do you think now? Would be hard NOT to go nuts, no? Yes, this is how little Fritz became the great Nietzsche (.. whom the Nazis adored). Seems the ladies succeeded, in a way. At a cost.

» Training for the Family Profession

And here's the kicker. Both of Friedrich's parents came from families where the dad was a Protestant minister (Lutheran, I think). For generations both families (.. the mom's & the dad's) had produced a succession of such ministers (.. pastors, I think).

Now, what did his mom + grandmother + both aunts + sister Elizabeth all train little Friedrich to be? That's right » a minister. Just like his dad, and his dad's dad, and his mom's dad, and their dads before them.

And if you're gonna be a mnister and working for the Big Guy himself, well then, of course, your behavior needs to be beyond reproach. Right? At least that's the idea that comes with the job. Else you'd be a hypocrite, right? (.. a topic about which Nietzsche seemed to have some things to say).

That would be a heavy load for any boy. Doesn't sound like much fun, does it?

See it? They were preparing little Fritz for his religious profession .. the one he inherited from his dad .. who lost his mind and babbled incoherently for close to a year before he died .. after he spent his life serving God.

Doesn't seem right, does it? Doesn't seem fair .. certainly not to that little boy who loved his dad. Betcha Fritz had a few questions he wanted God to answer. Questions he had to answer himself.

Being the only remaining male offspring meant Friedrich (at age 4 or 5) was expected to carry on in his father's sted. (Here's where my lightbulb lit up.) Easy to see how he might've had a problem with religion. Think about it. For him, God was dead.

There's Nietzsche. It ain't pretty, but his ideas should make more sense.

People who really like Nietzsche seem to like him because of the way he gave the finger to religion (.. with intellectual vigor). And people who don't like him .. don't like him for the very same reason. Interesting, no?

But that doesn't mean his points & ideas weren't valid.

» Effects of Witnessing Parental Insanity

The most freaked I've ever been .. was when I called my mom once. She had cancer and was home, but had gone back into the hospital.

She lived up in Connnecticut while I was working down in Pennsylvania.

What are you doing back in the hospital, mom? I asked. She started repeating » "The black lady. The black lady. The black lady..."

A chill shot thru me. It was like I was paralyzed. Extremely uncomfortable.

Nurse grabbed the phone (bet it was a black nurse) and explained that mom had had a reaction to the chemo. (She was always very sensitive to drugs and chemo is poison they pump straight into your veins.) Soothing voice, the nurse. Very calm.

Mom saying things that sounded like she'd lost her mind really freaked me out. Caught me completely off guard. Suk'ed the air right outta my lungs. Like a punch in the gut. The person whose belly you climbed out of.

I was shook up for days. Spooked. The cancer itself didn't freak me out like that.

I was in my 20's and we had only spoke on the phone for a minute. So I can only imagine how freaked little Fritz musta felt and what effect it might've had on him.

[ Mom was okay later. I mean, she never said any more crazy sounding things. (No more chemo, either.) But cancer is very bad. All my friends liked my mom. Mom stayed with me & the Dog when she visited me in Hawaii.

We were living downtown Waikiki (.. the Dog being a city-boy, who loves the soothing sound of traffic & police sirens.) Ala Wai blvd .. right below 2 strippers. Sandy & Bambi =) ]

Always interesting to see how these entries turn out. Must be the yoga.

And note I haven't even gotten into what Nietzsche actually said. But that kind of commentary is much easier to find.

Nor have I expounded upon the notion that Nietzsche's insanity - in a way - can be viewed as validating his ideas .. the opposite of what we might ordinarily expect. (Something I alluded to in both previous entries on Nietzsche.) But I need to ponder that idea more first. It's there, but still vague.

Nietzsche lived ~ a hundred years ago. Some people live that long. So Nietzsche didn't live so very long ago .. in the grand scheme of things.

That's it. I'm done. Don't try to get me to write more.

Nietzsche is a trip. For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » nietzsche.

Newport Back Bay - 5 Photos - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-10-19T17:19:00Z

Special treat today. Took my camera to the Back Back this weekend (.. here in Newport Beach). Major estuary .. where fresh water meets & mixes with ocean water (.. depending on the tide). It was overcast, but the light is nice for taking pictures when skies are gray. Bright sunlight tends to wash out colors.

Five photos. First one posted here » Newport Back Bay #1.

I cropped out most of the sky (using Fireworks) and resized down from the camera's default resolution (2272 x 1704). Used high-quality jpeg encoding, so each photo is ~100 KB (.. way down from ~2 megs each in the camera).

This one is the biggest, at 146 KB. The zillions of lines of grass are hard to encode without using lots of bytes, even with encoding quality set lower.

This one is my favorite. This place is the coolest, being there. Kinda spiritual.

Hope you enjoy. The Back Bay is like my mental-health clinic. I go there to get away and lick my wounds. You'll usually find me there with a poet or two.

About 60,000 birds come to the Back Bay for the winter months .. from far away as Alaska.

Saw a coyote there this weekend. First one I've seen there. Big guy. Biggest coyote I've ever seen. Obviously well fed. Traipsing down the trail at a comfortable clip. Acting like he owned the place. The trickster.

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Got a few pictures of him, but they didn't come out well. My optical zoom is only 3X and I left the tripod home. Hard to get a clear hand-held picture at full zoom. Surprising how much better image quality a tripod can deliver.

For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » newport back bay newport beach california

Nietzsche's Garden, Nebuchadnezzar & the Foreboding Sign - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-10-11T17:11:00Z

It's good to challenge ourselves from time to time. To run a marathon, for example. Or log a new personal best for the 10K. Learn a new technology. A new sport. Anything that might test our mettle. Personal growth via increasingly challenging experiences. You know » Tony Robbins stuff.

Nietzsche challenges me like that. Tho in a different way. He goes deep .. to the very foundations of our Western belief systems. An area normally off-limits.

Anything considered part of our belief system automatically gets password-protected and receives appropriations from the defense budget. This area is heavily guarded and protected at all costs.

Normally I'm not receptive to people or things that question & challenge (attack) my most basic beliefs. (Few are, from what I can see.)

Seems however, like it might be a worthwhile exercise. Like weightlifting .. where we endure an uncomfortable struggle (temporarily) .. that leads to growth & development.

» Grenades

Reading Nietzsche feels like someone walking thru your mind wearing a bandolier of grenades, lobbing them, one after another, at everything we (in the Christian Western world) hold sacred.

He does this with the following rationale » I have seen where your belief systems are taking you and it suks to the point of being pathetic.

Yet he also describes WHY (it suks). And here is where Nietzsche flexes his philosophical muscles. Rather impressively. He makes his points well.

The most prominent 'feeling' I got from reading Nietzsche is » What balls! What gigantic huevos rancheros!

He goes after (attacks) the very foundation of Western civilization itself .. and he doesn't stop until until he arrives (axe in hand) at the doorstep of Christian morality. Cajones gigantos.

Nietzsche's father was a Lutheran pastor, as was his daddy before him. Friedrich's use of scripture makes it clear he was familiar with both the bible & Christian doctrine.

From there, he takes the reader to the floors below Christian morality. When the elevator door opens, he starts poking around, saying (I'm paraphrasing):

"Look over here, dude. You're getting your knowledge from your beliefs. You got it backwards. There's the source of your problem. No wonder you're so screwed up. Can't believe nobody has pointed this out before. You should be getting your beliefs from your knowledge. You need to believe less and doubt more."

» Nebuchadnezzar & Insanity

Let's pause here a moment to note that Nietzsche went insane. He had a mental breakdown in his mid-40's and never recovered. Spent his last 10 years as toast. Then he died (August,1900, age 55).

Remember the story of Nebuchadnezzar? (~600 B.C.) He went crazy, too. God layeth down the smack on ol' king Nebby. Ka-blammo! Next thing you know, Nebby is out in the field munching grass beside the cows.

"You will .. live with the wild animals and eat grass like cattle .. until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign.."

Not very regal, is it? [ Some think it was syphilus, and not God that/who drove Nebby nuts. Sames goes for Nietzsche. ]

» The Sign

It's probably just my imagination .. but I see a foreboding sign hanging over the entrance to Nietzsche's garden (more like a minefield, maybe even an asylum):

Beware! All who dare enter here
Remember what happened to Nietzsche.
Signed: God
P.S. This is the guy who said 'God is dead'.

If you listen, you can hear the howls of FN echoing from the nearby forest .. where he's searching for more tasty grass. Same forest Nebby roamed.

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» Enter at your Peril

Now I've obviously ignored that sign and entered Nietzsche's orchard. (I've been known to have some cajones myself from time to time.)

I picked some of the low-hanging fruit I found there .. to share with you, so you might get a flavor for this guy.

Anyway, I'm looking around. And the first feeling I get is » Holy krap (.. to use less-profane vernacular). My initial impression is » No wonder he went nuts.

Of course, I don't live there. I'm only a visitor (.. for reasons mentioned at the beginning of today's entry).

Purely reconnaissance. Scouting the foreign territory. Assessing his positions. Identifying his fortifications. Mapping FN's strongholds. Vigilantly on the look-out for exposed weaknesses. You know » populate the database.

I do not yet possess enough information to offer a proper critique. He has been called one of the most misunderstood philosophers in history. His ideas, thus far, have been quite entertaining.

Need to armor-up before entering Nietzsche's garden .. cuz you know it's coming at you. Protective gear. Bulletproof vest. Kevlar, the lightweight one. Lock-n-load. Incoming!

So now, back out here .. in the 'real' world, I have to ask myself » Do I feel a little crazy? The answer » Maybe I do. Maybe I do. =)

» Bring it.

Nietzsche's most famous quote (I'd guess) is » What does not destroy me, makes me stronger.

That embodies the Nietzsche spirit.

The quote sheds light on what I said in the previous entry .. about using Nietzsche's insanity as a (backwards) way of validating his ideas. I'll expound on that idea in a future entry.

I mean, I know (or accept) it was the siphylus. But there is talk that a form of "mental pathology" ran in the Nietzsche family (on his dad's side), something the Nietzsche family tried to cover-up after FN's death .. records show.

Nietzsche's sister (younger, only) was the most enthusiastic conspirator. This isn't surprising, since she had the most to lose should her brother's reputation be tarnished .. after she assumed control of his work, aka the Nietzsche Archive.

The conclusion that the cause of his dad's death was not hereditary "seems" justified. But nobody can say for sure .. cuz we're talking rural Germany in the mid-19th century. So everyone must draw their own conclusion. In the end, does it really matter?

Cuz here's what I know for sure:

FN said some remarkably insightful stuff.
He said some crazy-sounding stuff.

Seems we're left to determine which is which.

Note how his quote represents a bold, daring, winner-take-all approach. (Some might even say 'reckless'.) You can almost hear him say, Bring it.

No wonder the Nazi's were so enchanted with him. (Tho not the other way around, since FN died long before Nazis came to power.)

Regarding the much-discussed Nietzsche-Nazi connection, it should be noted evidence exists that Nietzsche's sister (Elisabeth) was an anti-semite who both assembled & edited Will to Power (Der Wille zur Macht) from her brother's notes. I think the 'connection' begins there.

Take a moment and note that Nietzsche found his breaking point, which (according to General Corman) every man has. Crashed thru with spectacular starburst colors. Never to return. Wild man. Did he push himself that far/hard? See his quote from 1873 published » here, which says:

"For what purpose humanity is there should not even concern us: why you are there, that you should ask yourself: and if you have no ready answer, then set for yourself goals, high and noble goals, and perish in pursuit of them! I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible..."

[ For what it's worth, both Nietzsche & Che were sickly children. Interesting data-point. Both warlike as adults. Hey, notice both men have 'che' in their name. Coincidence. Reminds me of Porsche. ]

Speaking of coincidences, I've been feeling run-down & beat-up lately, after reading Mr. Grenade-tosser .. enough to pop an Advil & pick up some Floradix (iron supplement) at Mother's Market. [ Yes, my body is adjusting to the yoga. I'm sure that's part of it. ] Think I needed the iron, cuz I'm starting to feel better already.

» Cajones Gigantos

Check out the following hair-raising passage .. contained in the Preface (written June 1885) to Beyond Good & Evil (.. considered one of Nietzsche's greatest books):

"How could such a disease infect Plato, the most beautiful outgrowth of antiquity? Did the evil Socrates corrupt him after all? Was Socrates in fact the corrupter of youth? Did he deserve his hemlock?

But the struggle against Plato, or to use a 'popular' idiom, the struggle against Christian-ecclesiastical pressure of millennia -- since Christianity is merely Platoism for the people -- has created a magnificent tension of spirit in Europe, the likes of which the earth has never known."

Socrates is the philosophical founder of our Western civilization. A demigod, revered by all Western scholars. (Well, almost.) Could also be he's just the philosophical father of its founder (Plato). But it's one or the other.

Even the book's subtitle » A Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future .. seems to suggest a ballsy » "While all you loser-philosophers busy yourself with the past & the present, I'll be taking us into the future. Step aside, Dawg."

The book starts deep and heads immediately for open water. You're swimming from the get-go.

» Socrates

Socrates himself claimed to know nothing .. except that he knew nothing. (Yeah, right.) And he had a way of telling people, You don't know jack, either.

He would get people to take a position on questions .. such as:

Is moral social behavior good because it is pleasing to the Gods, or is it pleasing to the Gods because it is good?

Then he'd back them into an unsustainable corner .. by presenting them with a series of increasingly pointed questions, which I think is called dialectics. What's really brilliant, tho, is that he could do this regardless of which position a person took.

He pissed people off. The wrong people. Powerful people. They condemned him to death (.. by drinking hemlock, a poison) .. for corrupting the youth. You know the story.

And everybody knows » one man's corrupter-of-youth is another man's bringer-of-enlightenment. (Just as one man's terrorist is another man's freedom-fighter.)

» Perspective

Which brings us to something Nietzsche called » perspectivism. His holy grail. It all depends on which side of the fence you stand, no?

Knowing where you stand (knowing thyself) helps you see more clearly, more fully. Certainly more accurately. This is why the ancients made such a big deal about 'knowing thyself.'

Difficult to chart a course if you don't know where you're starting from.

Similar difficulties might arise if a person (not you or me, of course) don't know who they really are. This might affect decisions made charting a moral course, no?

And while discovering things about ourselves, we're bound to bump up against things people have told us that we are .. or maybe even demanded that we be .. or suggested, or inferred.

Incongruity here (.. between how we really feel about something and how we think we ought to feel..) can generate 'pressure' (or 'tension') .. something gay people are very much aware of, I'd guess.

Which is also why ignorance is sometimes associated with bliss. (Speaking of bliss .. the courtroom is very much about perspective.)

I'll leave you with a quote from the book [epigram #153]:

"Whatever is done out of love takes place beyond good & evil."

How does he know that? Is it self-evident? I don't think so. I think you have to experience that. (And I could not agree more.) Nietzsche was a lover? Now there's a radical thought.

Nothing about Nietzsche is sugar-coated. Industrial strength ideas. Savage at times. He bends your thoughts hard, vigorously, like a strong, aggressive wrestler.

It's hard to describe (and sounds a bit wacko) but you can actually feel this bending. Not physically, but something inside gets torqued when you apply Nietzsche's ideas full strength. There is a wrestling or sorts, of ideas. And like real wrestling, it too can be fatiguing.

Okay, one more passage (.. from chapter 9, titled » What is noble?):

"You cannot entertain any illusions about how an aristocratic society originates. The truth is harsh. Let us not be deceived about how every higher culture on earth has begun.

Life itself is essentially a process of appropriating, injuring, overpowering the alien and the weak .. oppressing, being harsh, imposing your own form, incorporating, and at least, the very least, exploiting."

Nothing sugar-coated about that. Caring for an insane Nietzsche .. doubt that was a picnic.

This is not the bit on Nietzsche I mentioned doing here. This is merely an intro and a status report, which you might find interesting. Need to mull over everything he has said before I can offer pointed insight.

Nietzsche is not easy to figure out .. much harder than Che. (I'm not surprised he has been called one of the most misunderstood philosophers in history.)

Nietzsche's birthday is this Friday (.. the 15th).

For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » nietzsche

All FN's online works posted » here.

Reading Nietzsche feels like a self-induced spiritual crisis. Yes, it's good to challenge ourselves. (I hope.) Yo Friedrich, bring it. Bring your Nazi-inspiring philosophy, Dawg.

Exploring Nietzsche & Yoga - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-10-05T17:05:00Z

Been looking at Nietzsche (1844-1900), digging into his life. (He was born in October.) Finding lots of interesting stuff there. Not only did he say many thought-provoking things, but he was also a fascinating character (.. if not a bit of an @sshole). Remarkably perceptive.

His quotes are more easily weaponized than those of most other philosophers.

I'm considering doing a Rad bit on him .. trying to figure out how to keep it short-n-sweet. (The bit I did on Che grew rather long.) Nietzsche short & sweet .. could be a challenge.

Reading Nietzsche makes my brain/mind feel like it did on Calculus (.. fit, trim, strong, surplus of intellectual energy) which is probably the most finely tuned it has ever been.

Does this suggest that Nietzsche (& his ideas) employ a larger portion of your brain than normal?

If not careful here I could easily slip into Nietzsche-mode and get carried away. But Nietzsche deserves a well-planned entry.

It will be fun. Nietzsche is a trip. I like to play Freud and try to figure out what makes a person tick (.. even if I'm totally wrong) .. what motivates a person to do & say the things they do.

Tell me about your childhood, Friedrich. Was it happy?

Nietzsche is intellectually stimulating. He has a sense of humor and is not afraid to offend. That's sorta the price you pay to do Nietzsche.

Controversy surrounding his ideas .. cuz he said many controversial things. He had a nervous breakdown and was basically toast his last 10 years, so some feel he was always a bit of a lunatic.

The dividing line on opinions about Nietzsche, I feel, falls along whether or not a particular reader takes offense to his ideas. I mean, cuz he can pretty offensive.

But there's no denying he was remarkably perceptive & insightful, and dedicated to things like truth & knowledge .. to a ruthlessly admirable degree. [ He begins BG&E with 'truth'. ]

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Nietzsche was only 24 when he became a professor. To this day, he is still among the youngest of the tenured Classics professors on record. So there were obviously people impresed with him early on. He wasn't always crazy (.. which some imply).

But yes, he does say some wild, crazy-sounding stuff. Everything he wrote by age 44 or 45, so you can find youthful vigor in his writings & ideas. I wouldn't call him 'conservative'.

If you're a member at the Rad Forums, you'll note that (Nietzsche's) 'Übermensch' is one of the highest ranking member categories, right below 'Demigod'. [ Those are fun to make up. See the bottom-right part of the page, beginning with 'N00b'. ]

Best thing about Nietzsche is that he bases his positions on experience, rather than theory.

If you've been radiified any length of time, you know how I value firsthand experience. Learn by doing. Practical experience always trumps theorectical concepts.

I get the impression he's a real thinker. That he does it naturally. That he doesn't need to try. That he can't turn it off .. which might be why he went crazy. (Or maybe it was syphilis.)

He was playing with some potent ideas. It's not totally surprising that he went nuts. In a way, you might even use this fact as a way of validating his ideas. But I need to explain that .. later.

I am reading Beyond Good & Evil, a book I was assigned in college (for Philosophy 101), but never read. It's subtitled » Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future, which is actually a more descriptive title.

The main title gives some people trouble .. as does his declaration that » God is dead. Nothing subtle about that. Tho I didn't read the introduction cuz I didn't want to prejudice my opinions.

Nietzsche's father was a Lutheran pastor, as was his father before him. So it's surprising that Nietzsche is most famous for taking issue with (attacking) the Christian model of morality (.. which he calls a slave mentality). Consequently I feel a little naughty reading Nietzsche.

Who me? No, I wasn't actually reading, Mother Superior. I was just, uh .. looking at the pictures.

Do you recall that old Seal song? .. with lyrics that say » We're never gonna survive unless we get a little .. crazy. Nietzsche would qualify there.

All FN's online works posted » here.

» Yoga

I started doing YOGA last week. (Ouch.) If you are stiff, yoga is hard, If you are very stiff, yoga is very hard.

I hate Down Dog. My version is more like » Grunting Gorilla.

Can't figure out why my biceps are so sore, cuz I don't recall any asanas that target them.

Powerful stuff, yoga .. and not just physically. Can be emotional. (Ooh, where did *that* come from?) Interesting how long-lost memories are free to wander the corridors of your mind when you're busy stretched like a pretzel. Thought I had that dude locked away in a closet.

Yoga can also be both spiritual & unifying (.. unifying or synchronizing » body, mind, spirit with breath). Anything that lasts 5 thousand years is impressive.

During the warm-up phase, where they have you connect with your breath .. I sometimes get so relaxed that I no longer feel like working out. Makes me feel like lying down & napping.

Began my program on the hottest day here - ever. If I was gonna wuss out, that woulda been a great excuse. Withering heat. Welcome to autumn in SoCal.

Nietzsche for the head. Yoga for the body. Strong medicine.

First Month of Kindergarten - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-10-03T17:03:00Z

Hey, Fancy Pants! an Asian boy called out .. wearing a smile, early one morning this week .. happy ring in his voice .. hurrying toward his classroom (I assumed). Hey! the Bug responded with a waive .. as I locked his bike at school. The boy was obviously older.

What'd he call you? I asked.

That's my nickname, dad, he said. They call me 'Fancy Pants' here. That boy there started it.

Hey, Fancy! another kid called out, half-running in the same direction. Also older.

While we walked toward the place where the Bug assembles with his class, I heard someone say » Hey, Mister Fancy Pants! But I didn't see who said it, cuz there were so many kids everywhere. But it was a boy's voice.

Seems the school has a computer lab .. where kids learn basic computer skills. The Bug said » Fancy Pants is way harder than the stuff we do there. They also have some high-end gaming PCs at an after-school daycare there, along with a Nintendo Wii (.. or was it an Xbox?).

» Mr. Fancy Pants Himself

One of the girls who works there later told me (about the Bug, aka Mr. Fancy Pants) » Yeah, he taught all the kids how to play.

Does he play Fancy Pants, too? I asked the Bug about the Asian boy.
Yeah.
Is he good? I asked.
He's okay. But sometimes I have to help him.

Seems the Bug is teaching upperclassmen to play Fancy Pants and helping them when they get in trouble. Making a name for himself. Literally. (Cracks me up.)

Tho here at the ranch, he has moved on to a new game called » Chaos Faction 2 .. very fast game. [ Totally kicks my butt. ]

He loves that game. The neighbors can hear his cries of laughter & delight. Hey, dad, he called out. Watch me rock his butt! =)

» Video Games in the Classroom

Speaking of 'games' .. perhaps you've heard about the experiment being conducted at a noncharter public school in New York City (.. in Manhattan, near Gramercy Park).

The NY Times published a series of articles recently on the use of video games in the classroom, as a tool to help kids learn.

Watch the video & hear for yourself the kids (& parents) saying how much better they enjoy school now. See here » Learning by Playing.

At the heart of the Learning-by-Playing model, you'll find this quote:

Not learning with games, but rather problem-based learning, in which kids practice skills as they solve problems. Today our schools focus on facts and information, but not problem solving. Thus, many students cannot solve problems, even when they can pass tests on facts and information.

and this one:

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Nearly every aspect of life at Quest-to-Learn is designed to be gamelike, even when it doesn't involve using a computer. Students don't receive grades but rather achieve levels of expertise, denoted on their report cards as "pre-novice," "novice," "apprentice," "senior" and "master."

They are enlisted to do things like defeat villains and lend a hand to struggling aliens, mostly by working in groups to overcome multifaceted challenges, all created by a collection of behind-the-scenes game designers.

I played that video for the Bug. Of course, he said, I wanna go there.

Most of the games he plays (not all) are challenging enough that we've had to consult a walk-thru (.. which tells/shows you how to solve the various levels). My point is .. you're constantly devising & deploying strategies & tactics.

A good example of this is » Bob Came in Pieces ($10). Unfortunarely my 5-year old laptop struggles to play it smoothly.

Some strategies work. Some don't. So you have to re-evaluate and try something different. More than once I've been impressed by a suggestion the Bug offered. Dad, how about if we tried this...

Math is all about solving problems. So is programming. Notice how the focus on problem-solving jibes with the hacker mindset. Here's a direct quote (How to be a Hacker):

Being a hacker is lots of fun, but it's a kind of fun that takes lots of effort. The effort takes motivation. Successful athletes get their motivation from a kind of physical delight in making their bodies perform, in pushing themselves past their own physical limits. Similarly, to be a hacker you have to get a basic thrill from solving problems, sharpening your skills, and exercising your intelligence.

I know what ESR is talking about. The mental act of grappling with a problem that seems to offer no approach .. engages far more of your brain than merely memorizing facts & figures & dates .. especially when Why do I need to know this? is a constant question .. when you can't see how you'll ever need or use this fact.

When I went to school (grew up in Connecticut), I was bored out of my mind. It actually felt like my brains were being sucked out of my skull .. as teachers taught dry material to the lowest common denominator (.. going over the same stuff, over & over).

Not always, but most of the time .. definitely up 'til 5th grade or so. Wasn't until the Navy turned on their academic firehose and said, "Have a drink of this, sonny," .. that I began to feel challenged. But there I was mostly challenged by the sheer volume, not the concepts themselves.

So no, I don't want him to be bored with school.

» Surprisingly Handsome

At 5 years old, the Bug is getting rather handsome. Of course, all parents feel their children are gorgeous (.. as they should). And I am no exception.

Tho I always thought his toddler cutes would wear off. But has has actually gotten more handsome as he's gotten older.

His eyes are a little darker as more maturity comes to his face. Summer tan. Blonde hair. Happy, confident. Impressive vocabulary. Fun-loving. [ Most compliments reference his vocabulary. ]

A reader from Sweden (Fredrik) wrote to say:

"Your son is lovely. I have 3 children myself, quite good-looking - so much so that when they were small, total strangers would come up and exclaim how lovely they were. But your son is actually better-looking. Good luck with him. Hope his good looks don't spoil him. He seems too smart for that."

Photos were taken in July. BTW - Fredrik has read all 3 Stieg Larsson books (.. but did not know the author personally).

While Oscar from "La piel del Toro" (Spain) says:

"Now I understand a lot of your entries involving parenthood. My God, he does look both cool and bold! Hard to believe he's only 5. I feel much of your spirit in his eyes."

Nigel from New Zealand said:

"He's quite a striking young man."

Could make parenting interesting (.. not that it hasn't been so far). I was feeling a little insecure this week. This parenting stuff is hard enough. Maybe I should say 'complicated' enough. I don't wanna screw it up.

[ I had no sisters, so my advice about dealing with women kinda suks .. speaking of which... ]

When we were leaving school Friday, I heard someone call his name (.. not Fancy Pants, tho). His real name. It was a girl. A girl in a different kindergarten classroom.

Her eyes had that magic sparkle. I swear she was batting her lashes at him. He threw her a little waive and said, Hey, as we walked away. Very cute. (Remarkable how charming little girls can be .. naturally.)

Who's that, pun'kin? I asked.
That's my new girlfriend.
You *are* the man! I said. =)

Seems both the boys & girls like him .. from what I can see.

» Sperm Donor

An old Jewish lady told me I should place an ad for $perm donor services. "All you have to do," she said, "is let them see your son. They'll all want one." [ I have some funny friends, huh. ]

Actually I did have one offer. What would you call that? A solicitation? From a lady named Kristen Carter (from California). She said:

"Look, I'm 33. My biological clock is ticking and I want a child. If I don't find Mr. Right in the next year or two .. maybe you'd consider donating your genes.

You're tall. You're intelligent, handsome. You have an easy-going personality. You're sensitive, fun. Great sense of humor. [ My ego loves this stuff. Do please continue. ]

You could be involved as little, or as much as you'd like. Maybe an uncle who comes over for dinner once in a while. I'd be a great mother."

I gave her points for knowing what she wanted. But it's not the first time I've had the impression that women didn't want me .. just my genes. Know what I mean, Vern?

Should be obvious I could never do something like that. [ Tho I wouldn't mind trying. =) ]

That girl could sing. She used to sing to me, while strolling down the super-wide sidewalks of New Haven .. in the summer at sunset. (I really enjoyed that.) She sang better than most singers I heard singing on the radio.

I accompanied her to weekend recording sessions, where they set me in a cushy chair by the fireplace and brought me one beer after another while she did her thing with the microphone.

She was an old soul with young legs and a yen for Kierkegaard. Very easy to be with. But with relationships, like comedy, timing is everything.

Miss Carter eventually found her man. (I knew she'd have no trouble there.) Her mom later told me:

"She doesn't trust me with the baby. Everything has to be so particular. She forgets I raised a few kids of my own."

Her mom had a job caring for a retired Hollywood movie actress .. from the silent picture era .. in this amazing home up in Burbank (Los Angeles). Huge .. like a museum. Biggest dining room table I've ever seen. Kristen's mom was very cool.

My family liked her. Even Nana, who can spot a bad one a block away (.. and who has never been wrong).

When you're nice, you tend to believe everybody is nice. (Same goes for the unscrupulous.) Nana however, didn't have that problem.

» Wisdom of Confucius

When the Bug was barely a year old, we stopped for lunch at the Tommy Bahamas over by Fashion Island. An elderly Asian man sat there in a booth. He looked like Confucius. (.. old, wise & thin, with a wiry chin-beard).

He'll keep you young, he said. (And that was all he said.) His words echoed inside .. enuf that I can still hear them today. Heavy words from the small, quiet man.

In retrospect, I can see he was right. Tho not for the reason I originally thought. I originally thought he meant cuz of the » exercise .. I'd get chasing the Bug around. (No, chasing around a toddler will not keep you young.)

But now I see .. the real reason is cuz » he makes me laugh.

And everybody knows there's something therapeutic about the sound of a child's laughter. Maybe that's why I feel so good when he's happy.

Satan, Bean Burritos & Western Union - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-09-25T16:25:00Z

"To keep me from getting the big head," wrote Paul to the Corinthians, "because of all these super-cool things God has been doing for me .. there was given me a pain in the @ss » a messenger of the Evil One himself, sent to chew on my butt .. like an insatiable alligator." [ the Rad Contemporary translation, loosely paraphrased ]

"There was given me..." I'm no apostle, but I know that feeling.

It is not a feeling you get after a week, or a month. Or even a year. Takes *years* to get there. Hope springs eternal. To a point.

For years, well-meaning people have been telling me, It's gonna get better. To which I always reply » I've been hearing that for years.

If you keep reading, you'll notice where Paul himself (the guy who wrote 2/3rds of the New Testament) seems frustrated, where he wrote:

I repeatedly asked God to get this thing off me. But he said..."

» Resignation & Hungry Gators

Now you can interpret that verse however you like, and even reflect on the notion (as Nietzsche puts it) that » we are punished best for our virtues (.. BG&E #132).

Complete this sentence » No good deed...

Many different explanations exist as to what exactly God's response there means. But you must admit it doesn't sound as cool as (God saying) » I'll handle it for you.

My point is .. I've reached a point -- after half a decade -- where I finally accept the fact that hungry gators are a part of my life .. and they really like the taste of my butt. Hear that 'chomping' sound? Yeah, that's my butt you hear.

An academic might term this feeling » resignation. An investor » capitulation. I'm resigned to the fact that the feeling of 'Incoming!' will never end. Not for good, anyway. So I might as well get used to it (.. which, unfortunately, I have).

Don't get me wrong. The final outcome is always positive. Good things always follow bad. (So far.) So I no longer freak out like I used to. But it's just so surprising .. how many dang alligators there are in the world.

And having your butt gnawed by a toothy reptile is never a very pleasant experience .. no matter how well you're able to spin the uncomfortable sensation.

» The Elusive Bean Burrito

The Bug loves bean-n-cheese burritos. He even tried a little hot sauce this week.

At Del Taco, they have 3 hot sauces » mild, the 'scorcher', and the 'inferno' (.. guaranteed to torch your BVDs).

After we finished splitting the first one, he wanted a second. But I only had 72 cents left, so I broke out the plastic (.. for a 99-cent burrito).

The girl swipes my card. Denied, she says.

No way, I said. I got 20 bucks in there. I checked just yesterday. Swipe it again.

Same result. She hands me the card. Long line behind me. Pretty embarrassing. Okay, I said. Lemme call my bank.

Did you order the burrito, dad?
No, pun'kin.
Why not?

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» Financial Vaporization

Called my bank. They said, There was a legal action on your account yesterday. All the money has been taken. (Every last penny.)

My balance was $0.00. And my account is now closed (.. cuz they close automatically on zero balance).

So now I got no money, no bank account (.. no car, no driver's license), and no burrito. Suks. That's a lot of no's. No? Big no's. [ I got more, if you want (.. but not more than Paul). ]

Like I said, those gators are insatiable. (If not a little sadistic.) But the burrito is the only thing bothering me at the moment.

Not the first time this has happened. Nor the second. Or the third. (You get the picture.) The last time was just a few months ago. (July, I think.) I know the drill, but it still suks.

But when you can't buy your boy a 99-cent burrito .. that suks pretty bad. Me? Heck, I could stand to lose a few pounds. But him? Doesn't seem right. But what to do now? Cuz 72 cents ain't gonna get me to the end of the month.

» Ego

Not sure if you can tell from my writing .. but I am not without ego. Now, however, it looks like I might have to call my brother. My younger brother. The doctor. The surgeon.

[ If you ever need an operation, I can get you a good deal. ]

It's like Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (.. where it's reported he sweat blood) » Dear Lord, if there be any other way...

Hard for me to ask for $help .. as it is for most people, I'd imagine (.. especially all you narcissistic ego-maniacs).

Hard to depend on anybody. For anything. Mom told me she raised me "to be independent" (.. whatever that's supposed to mean). Maybe that's why I'd rather stick needles in my eyes. (Could it be mere pride?)

Asking for money (because you need to) is horribly embarrassing .. especially in our capitalistic society .. where our value as a human being is largely defined by the size of our bank accounts & the car we drive. And where the first question most people ask is » What do you do? [ The subtext here is » If you have nothing, you are nothing. ]

The experience is humiliating, demeaning & humbling. (All that stuff that's supposed to build character. Sir, yes sir!)

» The Abyss

It's like looking into the abyss and seeing no other option but to jump.

From a standpoint of sheer psychological distress .. it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. We're talking heart-pounding hyper-ventilation.

I'd rather go a week without food. (If it were just me, I would.)

What do I say when he answers? The words don't exactly come flowing out .. of their own accord. No, you have to make them.

"Hi, bro. I uh, I'm having a little trouble, er, with my checking account. I have a paycheck coming, but not until the end of the month. I have 72 cents. Can you send me, uh, 50 bucks .. to tide me over?"

Of course my brother is very cool » Yes. Absolutely. No problem. I understand. I'll send it out first thing in the morning. You sure a personal check is okay? You need it faster?

We chat a little. My bother is the funnist person I know. It's like he gets ahold of your tickle spot and won't let go. This is hard, I say before hanging up. You make it easy. I'm feeling the love.

I understand, he says. No problem. Been there, done that. Glad to help.

» Western Union to the Rescue

Ten minutes later, bro calls back.

Mail can get lost, he says. I'm gonna wire you the money. Western Union. I'll call back in 15 minutes. Need to drive down the hill.

Twenty minutes later he called back & said:

Wasn't worth it for me to drive all the way down the hill for only 50 bucks. So I sent you 250. It was the wife's idea. The guy here says the funds will be available for pick up in 15 minutes. They had two options: 24 hours and 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes cost only $8 more, so I did that.

Long story short » within 60 minutes of the first phone call, I had $250 cash in hand. Been a while since I seen a Benjamin up close & personal. The Bug asked, Dad, how much candy can we buy? =)

Let's go get that burrito, pun'kin.

This isn't the first time I had to ask for money. Tho it's the first time bro used Western Union. Last time was the beginning of last year .. for court-ordered co-parenting classes, called Kids First .. for parents who can't get along. That cost $300. It's never easy to ask for money.

After he sent the first check, I tried to repay by sending $25 each month. Bro called.

What are you doing? he says. It wasn't a loan. You can keep sending them [the checks] if you want, but I'm just gonna keep tearing them up. So you might as well save the postage.

» Priorities & Self Knowledge

Best part of my week comes when I arrive outside the Bug's kindergarten classroom .. to pick him up .. and see the way he lights up when he spots me.

[ Hey, where'd all the hungry gators go? ]

Sometimes he doesn't even wait for the teacher to call his name. He comes blasting out like a missile. (We had a little chat about that.)

A smile forms on my face (all by itself) as I approach his classroom. Lots of parents there, but none smiling quite so broadly. So he is not the only happy camper.

These experiences have taught me many things .. things you're unlikely to find in a book. They help clarify what's really important. (And what's not.) And for that, I'm genuinely grateful.

I've also learned much about myself. For example, I learned that I'm far more resilient than I ever dreamed possible. I learned that some people think I have a Zen attitude. And I know what a cannonball-to-the-chest feels like (.. not good). Still trying to recover from that one.

Few can share a heartbreaking experience that I can't empathize with .. on multiple levels. Cuz I been there. I been to the abyss. Heck, I have my own private cabana there. Pass the sunscreen, Dawg.

So today, I am pretty wiped out .. physically, mentally, emotionally. Did I say 'physically'? Feel like I'm starting to get sick. Two Advils so far. They don't seem to be working.

P.S. - At kindergarten, the Bug gives his "girlfriend" a hug every day before leaving. So cute. (I see no other kindergarteners hugging.)

Later, the little girl's mom asks the Bug his name. The mom then asks her little girl (sweetly), Is this the boy you've been telling me all about?

She's a cutie. A cute little girl is going home and telling her mom "all about" him. =) [ I've tried to be affectionate .. despite. ] He makes her laugh. Adorable.

END.

Maybe related » Cirque du Soleil & a Confession (March 14, 2010)

Tennyson & the End of Summer - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-09-22T16:22:00Z

Autumn begins today .. at 8:09 tonight PDT. That's when the sun slips quietly across the equator, heading south. Adios, amigo. Say hi to our friends down under. See you next spring.

My favorite time of year. Warm days, brisk nights. The weather lends itself to clear-headed thinking.

I grew up back East (in Connecticut) where the leaves change color. Dramatically so. People would come from all over to see.

No matter where I've lived -- and I've lived in a dozen different states over the years -- I've always felt a special affinity for the beginning of autumn. Even in Hawaii, you can feel autumn's arrival. (Comes in the air.)

Sunday I got into the spirit by riding my bike to the Back Bay (here in Newport Beach), where I said 'goodbye' to summer .. by enjoying its last weekend of the year.

Gorgeous day. One hand rested on the rubber grip of my handlebar; the other held a book of poetry .. by Tennyson (1809-1892), which included Charge of the Light Brigade. What a poem. (True story. Brits vs the Russians. October, 1854)

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd.
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Can you hear the hooves pounding the ground as the horses gallop? That's the first two stanzas. (I can recite the first three from memory.) The poem can be viewed as glorifying military ineptitude (something I'm familiar with) .. but still incredibly lyrical.

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Rolling down the dirt path, I heard voices coming the other way .. along with the sound of my tires rolling over the gritty, hard-packed trail.

One girl was preaching to another. They must've just gotten out of church, cuz they were dressed nicely .. and were talking about love. Love, love, love.

".. but love is the most important thing," one said as they approached. Felt like we were having church outside .. on a gorgeous, Sunday afternoon. Preach it, sister, I said.

Felt like God sent them there .. to say beautiful things .. just for me. Seemed like my wheels were rolling a good 6-inches off the ground.

The back cover of my book says:

T.S. Eliot, retrieving Tennyson from years of prejudice & neglect, described him as 'the most instinctive rebel against the society in which he was the most perfect conformist'.

Before he threw away his genius by attempting to conform to the Victorian idea of a Poet Laureate, Tennyson wrote some of the most beautiful lyrics in the language.

His poetry is personal, non-moral and sublimely resistant to literary criticism and psychoanalysis. Tennyson's greatness consists in a natural ability to express loss, desolation, despair and other irreducible emotions (.. which is probably why I enjoy his work so much).

Look in his eyes. He has seen a thing or two in his day, no? Everybody loves Tennyson. He had no other occupation except that of a poet.

I also read the Lady of Shalott .. a little further down the trail, where I got off and walked.

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

Beautiful. Is that not incredibly lyrical? You can feel the atmosphere. (It goes on.) It's nectar days like this that sustain me thru the hard times.

Moleskine » The Little Black Notebook & its Legendary Marketing - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-09-14T16:14:00Z

Hemingway. Picasso. Matisse. Van Gogh. Names synonymous with creativity. Were they really more creative than you & me? Or did they merely have better tools? .. to capture inspiration when the Muse spoke.

My quest for the perfect notebook began last week, when the Bug started kindergarten. I wanted to capture some of the precious things he was saying. [ So cute. ]

Which led me to Moleskine (pronounced mol-a-skeen'-a). The company is based in Italy (Milan), hence the pronunciation. Tho the notebooks themselves are made in China.

But most Americans just call them mole-skin .. like the blister aid you buy when backpacking Yosemite.

If you walked into a bookstore and asked for a "mol-a-skeen-a," the sales-person would probably hand you their wallet and say, "Please don't shoot."

Avant-garde artists & writers such as those mentioned above used a notebook of similar design .. to what the folks at Moleskine manufacture today .. which comes with the following features:

lays flat when open. Its most important feature (Most bindings tend to spring shut)
quality paper that won't bleed thru with wet ink
paper has a slight yellow tint (creamy, like they made in the old days .. not bright white like the stuff made for today's laser printers)
elastic enclosure to keep it shut when you're done. No crumpled corners
accordion pocket in the rear, to hold your receipts & things
single satin marker ribbon
hard-cover, wrapped with black oil-cloth .. for a classic look with tactile sensuality. Feels better than leather & far more cow-friendly. I saw one leather knock-off which looked horrible (shiny) & felt 'cold'

Moleskine's marketing is gimmicky -- The Legendary Notebook of Hemingway, Picasso, Chatwin -- because the company was only formed in 1998.

So they are not the originator of the product used by Hemingway & Picasso. They merely re-launched a style that had been lost & forgotten.

Their prices are .. pricey. MSRP $18. Even $12 for a discounted book, with no words, no story, is hard to ju$ify in this economy. So many (like me) opt for knock-offs.

But you still might wanna take an original for a test-drive .. just to see what everybody is raving about. Cuz Moleskine is the standard by which all knock-offs are judged.

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They come with paper that is lined, plain or graphed. I prefer plain pages, which offer more freedom. But that's merely personal preference.

[ As is your choice of writing instrument. For which I prefer a Pilot Vball (3-pack for 5 bucks).

Pretty much any rolling ball pen with black ink works for me. Tho many prefer a fountain pen .. like the Twsbi. ]

I originally thought the elastic closure was pointless .. maybe even a nuisance. But it seems it actually serves a purpose .. beyond merely keeping the book shut.

Seems the Muse is more willing to whisper in your ear when the elastic has been set. Maybe she thinks you won't be able to capture her secrets with the closure in place. =)

The most famous knock-off is made by Piccadilly, sold at Borders and other places for 5 bucks. [Review] Right now I'm using one made by Foray, which I picked up at Office Depot for $6.99. I like this particular model cuz it's a little wider than the standard size.

Speaking of standard sizes .. I use the classic 5x8-inch notebook. It fits into the oversized pockets of my parachute-style pants.

Tho you can feel the notebook knocking against your knee when you walk. And it's heavy enough to throw you off balance slightly when you run.

So if you need something more portable, you'll want the smaller pocket-sized version.

But if you're already carrying a laptop, or a briefcase, or a hip-pack (like me), the 5x8 is way better than the 3x5-inch pocket version.

I don't like shiny covers. Ick. Duller the better. Flat black better than semi-gloss. Naturals oils from your hands/skin will enhance its look-n-feel (texture & appearance) over the months you use it.

See here for a nice video intro .. and here for a comparison of the various sizes available.

As we continue to move toward a paperless society, paper becomes increasingly precious. If you're going to take the time to write, make it count.

Beyond the gimmicky marketing, it's easy to see why Hemingway & Picasso chose this style of notebook to capture & record their inspirations. The design is all about » function. It's not just hype. And you could certainly spend way more.

Some pooh-pooh the co$t, claiming the same can be accomplished with a 99-cent notebook. And they're correct. But the difference in craftmanship is readily obvious. And certainly that counts for something .. even in this sucky economy.

I'll be bold here and argue you'll be more likely to use a Moleskine .. than one of those 99-cent cheap-o's. No? And one good idea can pay for many Moleskines. Just ask Pablo or Ernest. (Probably don't wanna ask Vincent, tho. He never made much money.)

[ Note - a reader wrote to inform me that you can't ask Ernest or Vincent .. cuz they both killed themselves. Suicide. Real tortured artists there. ]

Court your Muse with a Moleskine. [ # Talk to me, Goose. ] Rumor has it Jesus used a Moleskine to pen the Sermon on the Mount . =)

Note that the Artist's Way, a book about developing creativity, recommends you begin each day by writing 3 pages .. of anything. Content doesn't matter. Purpose is to silence your inner critic .. by giving free reign to your inner artist.

[ # The term moleskin reminds me of Lani. She was the Queen of Moleskin .. whenever we went camping or hiking.

She had the kit and every evening the doctor would make tent-calls to dress those blisters. Notice she's wearing a "little black" dress (.. like the notebook).

I originally didn't notice the 'e' at the end, so I thought Moleskine notebooks were covered with Lani's blister aid (.. which might come in handy out in the back-country).

Seasoned Rad readers might be wondering what ever happened to little Miss Lani. She shaved her head & got married. (Yeah, in that order.) Bet she's wearing a pair of Birkenstocks right now. ]

One last thing. The original Moleskine notebooks are made in China .. with a chemical known to cause cancer. See the California Prop-65 warning listed on the Moleskine page at Amazon.com, where its BestSeller's ranking indicates that *lots* of people are buying them.

I think it's due to a chemical they use to soften the oilskin. (Must admit - their covers do look gorgeous .. not the least bit shiny.)

Cancer aside, Moleskines are the butterfly nets used to capture the winged ideas set loose by your Muse. And something magical happens when you catch one.

Catching these magical creatures in a net similiar to what Hemingway & Picasso used .. is very romantic. In a bohemian sort of way. Even in our digital society, analogue still has a place.

The folks at Moleskine certainly deserve our gratitude .. for resurrecting a style that had faded from memory .. tho not necessarily our business .. as that's a decision each one must make individually (.. after consulting le budget).

For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » moleskine notebook journal knock-off

First Week of Kindergarten - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-09-12T16:12:00Z

Hey dad, the Bug said, as I arrived at his classroom to pick him up. Did you see that girl that just left?

You mean the one with the black shirt? I asked, squatting to get my hug.

That's my girlfriend, he said, matter-of-factly, giving me a kiss & handing me his lunch box.

You're pretty fast, I said, standing up. First week of school. I waited 'til 6th grade before I had a girlfriend.

She couldn't open her sandwich container at lunch, he said, as we headed for his bike. So I opened it for her.

Cuz you're so strong? I asked. Yeah, he said, returning a high-five.

This was his first week of kindergarten .. something I've been dreading. Already I've caught myself dividing his childhood into before & after .. with this week representing the imposing demarcation.

Feels like a major shift. Like a big change. Whole new world.

Feels weird, too .. handing off your child to someone you hardly know. Can't really say it feels natural. His teacher however, seems very nice.

The kids all line up outside, and she goes down the line after the last bell rings, and greets each child by name, and says something personal to them, and is able to elicit a smile from each one. Every day. With parents watching. No small feat. Hard not to be impressed.

Need somebody good to ensure their initial scholastic experience is positive. 25 kids in his class. Kindergarten gets out early. I was there, first in line, when they unlocked the gate to let in the parents. [ # They wouldn't let me pitch a tent outside the gate. It wasn't very big. ]

And you shoulda seen the lunch I made for him. Enough to feed 10 kids. [ How am I ever gonna fit this dang turkey into his lunch box? ]

I put a note in an envelope in his lunch box .. for the first lunch I made this week.

The envelope contained a print-out of the pant-colors & trophies he won in Fancy Pants 2 .. over the course of the summer. He really liked that.

Those trophies were hard to get .. especially the purple pants and the Afro-Ninja trophy. He explodes with happiness whenever we're able to win one.

And we even beat the Big Bad Bunny .. at the very end .. to win the game. Very difficult. That BBB is one bad dude.

[ # One of the best dads I ever knew said, Find out what your kids like to do .. and go do that with them. ]

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The skills they develop at this age are remarkable. And the things they say. Oh. My. Gawd. (So honest.)

I even bought a new notebook (Moleskine knock-off) .. to try to capture some of his more entertaining comments. [ # I'm planning to make a separate entry, regarding what I discovered in my quest to find the perfect little black notebook. Cuz it's very cool. Maybe next week.

Update - here it is » Moleskine » The Little Black Notebook & its Legendary Marketing ]

What's your favorite part of school? I asked. After thinking a while, he said, When we get in line to go get our parents.

I made some phone calls .. after coffee Saturday morning .. to family & friends. Had them laughing pretty good .. all over the country. (Stuff I can't write here.)

You know how everybody makes a big deal over starting school. So he might've been a little apprehensive. But by the end of the week he seemed noticeably more confident, relaxed, independent.

Lemme show you how we do kindergarten here, Dad. Might wanna step back. Wouldn't want you to get hurt. Oh yeah, and these are my home-girls. He didn't actually say that, but that seemed his attitude.

He has been wanting me lately to read Star Wars books to him .. light sabers, clone troopers, the force, the dark side. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan, Yoda & R2. (Never got into Star Wars myself.)

Kindergarten (I learned this week) is a German word that literally means » children's garden. 1 week down .. 13 years to go. [ # Here's hoping I make it. I won't pretend like it hasn't taken a toll. ]

Shakespeare under the Stars

I went to a Shakespeare play last night (in Garden Grove) » King Lear. Outdoor venue .. sky & stars above. Bring a cushion for your dupa and a blankey for your lap.

Went with the Judge. His granddaughter played the part of the fool.

King Lear has 3 daughters. The eldest 2 don't like the youngest. They conspire to encourage their father to give them their parts of his kingdom before he dies. (Their inheritance early.) Which he does .. in a big ceremony.

But not long afterward .. the sisters kick dear ol' dad (the former king) out of the country. And he goes stark, raving mad .. living like a wolf in the forest. [ # There's a lesson there somewhere. ]

3 hours long (8 'til 11.). Started getting tired near the end. Still tired today .. but managed to fix a rockin' batch of puttanesca. Added Italian sausage for the first time. Yummy comfort food.

First Peek into Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-09-01T16:01:00Z

Took my first peek today into Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). This is something I've postponed until good-n-ready .. cuz I heard OOP's concepts can be difficult to digest, especially those introduced at the outset.

I'm currently reading the Gilmore book (among others). Jason says (.. in chapter 6, under heading labeled » Benefits of OOP):

"It is the most powerful programming model on the planet."

Uh, actually he said it's » the most powerful programming model YET DEVISED. I substituted the phrase on the planet for dramatic effect. =)

Same thing. So you can see why this statement got me all hot-n-bothered. [ # Tho Nigel said OOP is not very different. ]

The flip-side of OOP is called 'procedural' programming. I reckon it'd be better for me to learn OOP before becoming too indoctrinated into the Procedural method. Less to unlearn this way. You know how difficult it can be sometimes to change-over to a new paradigm (way of thinking) .. once you've become comfortable with your current method. Old dogs & new tricks.

The OOP model shifts the focus away from (conceptually) a program's procedural events .. to the REAL-LIFE things the programming model represents.

This modeling-of-real-life lends itself (I've found) to making comparisons with how programming applies to REAL-LIFE itself (.. and vice versa).

Sorta meta-physical stuff .. which I won't delve into right now. But thought-provoking nonetheless, and maybe worth discussing some other time.

The focus on REAL-LIFE entities (or 'objects') tends to make programming with OOP less obscure .. than the regular procedural method .. which mimics a foreign language.

Regarding OOP being conceptually daunting .. here's a statement I had to read several times in order to grasp (.. we're still talking about the advantages of OOP):

The developer can change the implementation of the application without affecting the object user because the user's only interaction with the object is via the interface.

So no, it's not rocket science, but the going early on is pretty slow indeed. But it's also very rich, which makes it rewarding. [ # I've heavily marked-up the first few pages of this chapter, as ideas & concepts were exploding all over the place. ]

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» Classes = Characteristics + Behaviors

Objects are created from a standardized template known as a CLASS. The CLASS tells you everything about the object. The class DEFINES the object. So the two terms seem almost synonymous (on a certain level).

OOP is really all about two things (seems to me) » Characteristics & Behaviors (C+B) .. which define the CLASS (.. which in turn defines the OBJECT). They are the nouns and verbs .. to the OBJECT's sentence. Things and actions .. the actions these things do.

Take the class 'Employee' for example. It can have a characteristic of 'pay-rate'. The CLASS of 'Employee' can have different sub-classes (e.g. Clerk, Programmer, Engineer) each with its own 'characteristic' pay-rate.

In PHP, characteristics are called FIELDS, and behaviors are called METHODS (.. F&M). Okay, I can see why they chose the term 'methods,' but not sure how they came up with 'fields'.

» OOP's 3 Foundational Concepts

The most complicated of OOP's 3 foundational concepts is » Polymorphism .. which is probably why the book discusses it last. (I'll address it first.)

Polymorphism simply means you can implement the same (inherited) C+B differently in different classes. Poly means multiple. Morph = change the form. Able to change the form (of C+B) in multiple ways.

A Ferrari & a Volkswagen bug are, for example, two different "implementations" of the B+H for the class CAR. [ # Made up that illustration myself. =) ]

I'm just an OOP n00b, but I can't see how OOP would/could work if you were unable .. to implement the C+B differently in different classes. Programming that way would be so limited. No?

The other two foundational concepts are » Encapsulation & Inheritance. Inheritance simply means sub-classes get all the C+B of their parent classes. No great conceptual feat there. I learned about Inheritance from working with CSS. But the book points out that the OOP model places great stock in Inheritance.

Encapsulation is explained using a microwave oven. You don't have to know all the technical details of how one works in order to use it, cuz it uses a standardized 'interface'. Same with your television and car. The technically daunting parts are 'encapsulated,' so you don't see them. Each OBJECT operates independently of the others.

I believe the term 'abstraction' can be applied here, tho the book doesn't specifically use it. Either way, it seems like a method to control complexity.

The text uses simple examples that help clarify concepts, but they would take too much space to include here. I'm reading several texts concurrently .. in order to get a broader introduction to OOP's foundational concepts.

Tho it seems to me that, once you step inside the world of OOP, you're still left with standard procedural techniques to get your programming job done. No? So it's not an either/or proposition (.. either OOP or procedural.)

» An OBJECT is like a Puzzle Piece

The problem with OOP (seems to me) is that I can't give you a graphic or image of an 'OOP' .. cuz it's sorts like an idea, or a concept, which embodies a set of techniques for programming .. which defy concrete imagery.

The closest image you might associate with OOP (from what I've read) is the puzzle piece. Check out the following quote .. which lies at the heart of the Jason's discussion on the benefits of OOP:

OOP-minded developers design each part of the application so they're INDEPENDENT from the others. This enables developers to assemble components LIKE A PUZZLE .. rather than tightly lash, or couple them together. These components are called OBJECTS.

I mean, if we want to grasp Object Oriented Programming .. it would seem we first need to understand, and form a concept regarding the OBJECT. No? And for that (seems to me) the best place to start is with a puzzle piece. This is why the #1 term that comes to mind when I think of the OOP model is » MODULAR.

» OOP & Design Patterns | Pro's & Con's

Might be worthwhile, before we close today, to wax philosophical. OOP can be viewed as a 'design pattern' of sorts. In other words, it forces the programmer to adhere to a number of prescribed methods & formats which bring about a degree of standardized uniformity to the code.

The question naturally arises » is this good or bad? Liberating or enslaving? And of course (.. since most everything in life comes with a trade-off) the answer is » it depends.

It's good (liberating) for the n00b like me, because it prevents me from committing a whole host of errors I might otherwise make. But it's bad (enslaving) for the experienced stud-programmer .. cuz it forces them to conform to a model that might not represent the 'best' way to accomplish a certain task.

It forces them to jump thru hoops they wouldn't ordinarily jump thru. So 'best' is a relative term. You can see how the more programmers you have working on a particular project, the more valuable these design patterns become. MODx, for example, is written in OOP-based PHP.

In the end, it all depends on what you want to do. And IF you want to build something big and cool, then you'll probably need lots of programmers .. working together. And IF your team has members who are NOT expert programmers, then a design pattern starts looking mighty attractive .. even if it's not OOP, specifically.

Again, I'm brand-spanking new to OOP. My goal, initially, is to get to the place where I know enough about PHP in order to ask effective questions. If I've made any GCE's (gross conceptual errors), I'm counting on you gurus to set me straight. Danka.

Note: PHP5 is the first version that comes with a full-blown OOP feature set. Version 4 had some OOP features, but they suk'ed pretty bad. The C++ and Java programming languages also have a rich OOP feature-set. The Luke-n-Laura book says (on pg 159):

PHP's OO implementation has all the features you would expect in a fully object-oriented language.

The books I'm reading review OOP's feature-set .. dedicating a chapter or two. Note that OOP is big enough topic to warrant an entire book.

Just realized a coincidence .. the book I've been reading to the Bug lately is titled » OOPs .. about a piggy family whose house is destroyed because of spilt milk. A series of unfortunate events, you might say. It has been his favorite for weeks.

The Internet vs the World Wide Web | Origins & the Hyperlink - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4

2010-08-25T15:25:00Z

We have the Russians to thank for the Internet. In 1957 they won the race into space by launching Sputnik (satellite with a cool name), which remained in orbit for some 3 months. Shortly thereafter (early '58) DARPA was formed .. by the U.S. military, with the purpose of keeping up with the Jones-niks. Technologically.

[ Seems like a great time to join the nascent military-industrial complex. No? Where do I sign up? ]

Nearly a decade earlier (in '49) the Soviets had acquired the bomb (4 years after Hiroshima & Nagasaki).

So it's no surprise that surviving-a-nuclear-strike would become an objective for the boys at DARPA.

That's where the idea originated for a 'robust' network .. that would eventually grow into the global Internet we now take for granted.

In other words, the Net was originally conceived as a 'nuclear grade' network of sorts. So you could say it's somewhat 'radified'. =)

On the other hand .. it surprised me to learn that the Web (World Wide Web) is less than 20 years old. The Web runs on the Net, as a 'service.' The Net predates the Web .. by 10 or 20 years.

If you look up the terms 'net' and 'web' in any dictionary, you'll see how similar their definitions are. But the net & web that WE use are different. How so? you ask?

»» The Internet = Hardware + TCP/IP

The Net = hardware (servers, routers, switches, wires, etc.) + the TCP/IP protocol ..

.. which makes the data stored on the web servers available to you & me (.. via the URL, entered into your browser of choice).

Not sure if your PC, when it's connected, is considered part of the Internet. Probably .. especially if it's acting as a server, which many PCs do these days.

The Internet sorta got its 'start' in 1965, when a project to create a 'robust' network was launched at DARPA.

[ Can almost hear the Stones playing in the background » (Can't Get No) Satisfaction. ]

The first connection came 4 years later in October 1969, between UCLA (Los Angeles) & the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California (.. which would become part of Silicon Valley, just south of San Francisco). UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah were added (to the connection) shortly thereafter.

So you could argue the Internet began in 1969. This is definitely the coolest of the 3 dates I propose. It's the one I prefer to use and probably the most popular. [ Can amost hear the Beatles playing » Come Together. ]

The Internet that we all know & love so well uses the TCP/IP protocol (software). TCP/IP got its start in 1973 at Stanford (Palo Alto).

The term 'Internet' was first used in 1974 .. to describe a global TCP/IP network. So, you could also argue the Internet (that we know today) began in 1973 (.. with TCP/IP).

The first TCP/IP-based wide-area network was operational in January 1983. So, you could also argue the Internet began then. But no later.

Note the Internet has a backbone, which helps to conceptualize it. Our system of road-works seem to offer a suitable analogy .. with bigger/faster sections branching out into smaller/slower ones. All being controlled by rules (protocols) to maximize flow and minimize collisions.

During the '80's the TCP/IP protocol became increasingly popular. And here we are. I just don't know when the first non-U.S. connection was added .. to fill in my mental timeline, cuz I like to learn about the things I use on a regular basis. But Nigel says (in an email):

Trying to pin a date on the Internet is pointless. What mattered was the things you could *do*, not the specific technology. During the 70's lots of folks could already do lots of "internet" things (mail, forums, etc.). Only missing was the mass accessibility on a global scale.

Speaking of mass accessibility on a global scale...

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»» The World Wide Web by Tim B-L

The Web on the other hand, was the brainchild of Tim Berners-Lee, who was working at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, at the time.

It's based on the HTTP protocol and was released (to the Internet) in August 1991.

The Web is a web of what? » web pages .. hypertext documents .. that are interconnected via hyperlinks and URLs. The page you're reading right now is such a document and is therefore part of the Web.

Web pages can contain text, graphics, audio and video. The Web was designed to allow people to work together by combining their knowledge in a web of hypertext documents (web pages).

Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in '55, he graduated from Oxford in '76, and was knighted in 2004. (No, you are not worthy.)

The World Wide Web program had its conceptual origin as a data storage program called 'Enquire' that TB-L wrote for his own personal use in 1980 while at CERN. Enquire employed 'random associations' .. which eventually became the hyperlink.

But the real WWW .. that you & I use today .. got its start a decade later in 1989 .. when Tim B-L proposed a global hypertext project. As mentioned earlier, the WWW (based on HTTP protocol) was released to the Net in August 1991. Not so very long ago.

So you can see that the software (protocol) that powers the Web took only a year or so to 'build' .. while the Internet, which consists of the hardware & TCP/IP protocol .. took a good decade or two. The Web itself grows daily with each document added .. while the Internet grows with each server added.

Again, to recap, the Web runs as a 'service' (using HTTP) on the Internet (which uses TCP/IP). Most of us (you & me) use the Web 99% of the time when we connect to the Internet.

My little piece of the Internet consists of a Virtual Private Server (VPS) that runs on a physical server, located downtown Chicago. In other words, the document you're reading right now is stored on a server in Chicago (.. if I haven't moved the site to a new web hosting provider by the time you read this).

You can use the Internet without using the Web (.. by using e-mail which uses the SMTP protocol, or by transferring files using FTP). But the Web seems pointless without the Internet. Much more info is available (on the Web) about the origins of the Net .. than the origins of the Web.

»» Mother of All Hyperlinkers

The hyperlink is the thing that makes the Web so cool .. in terms of practical, everyday use.

It's the mechanism by which we make the actual connection .. in terms of ideas.

Of course the 'Net is always underneath the Web, facilitating that global connection with its monstrous infrastructure.

I read somewhere that the hyperlink was designed to mimic how your brain works. A thought or idea that LEADS TO another thought (or idea). I tend to think that way, and I'd imagine most everybody does.

I like hyperlinks, and have created many of them over the years. They provide me with an easy-to-use (clickable) mechanism that provides readers with access to additional info they might need or want. Quality supporting links (like footnotes) can lend credibility to a document, and shows an author has done his homework.

Sometimes I also use hyperlinks to inject humor. Hidden treats to make you laugh.

In fact, I may very well be the king of hyperlinks .. as I tend to season my pages with a generous sprinkling. Do you know anybody who uses more? (I don't.) If someone has created more hyperlinks than me, they are one hyperlinking dude.

This is one of the main reasons I create my entries (like today's) in Dreamweaver. Only after that sucker is done do I copy-n-paste into Movable Type (blogging software). Cuz creating links in MT goes much slower .. enough to make me not wanna add very many. It's the same with ANY web-based interface. Dropping a link in Dreamweaver is fast & slick.

If you stop to consider all the info contained in all the links included here, you can see how the document becomes almost multi-dimensional.

I've made enough entries over the years that I'm now able to link up many other documents (web pages) that I've written myself .. rather than linking to external sources (.. which may go bad). Rad links are always reliable. I hate lot-rot.

And I've also started using (last month) anchor links .. which are links to different PARTS of a web page. (See the '»»' links at various heading titles.) They've been coming in handy. Wish I woulda started using them much earlier.

Do any of you Linux gurus know how I could write a shell script to go thru my entire site and count the number of hyperlinks in the pages that I've created? I'm kinda curious now. And I'd like to be able to back-up my boast with a hard number.

I would need to exclude some directories, such as the forums. But that's beyond my skill-set.

UPDATE: JW suggested the following script (.. from the Netherlands):

find /location/of/files -name '*.html' -execdir sed 's/\


But it gives me get an error » find: sed terminated by signal 13. Uh, signal 13 .. that can't be good.
UPDATE - Figured it out. The last character in the script is a letter, not a number. Dang, I shoulda known that. (Note: the PuTTY SSH client that I launch from within WinSCP does not allow me to copy-n-paste.)
The number of links for the whole site for pages ending with *.html = 100,103. When I ran the same script for *.htm files, I get » 159,765. That doesn't make sense, cuz there are far more pages with *.html extentions than those with *.htm, which I stopped using long ago.
The forum's posts/threads are stored as *.txt files, so those shouldn't be counted by the script .. tho the forums contain many links, as you might imagine. The forums contain nearly 50-K posts in over 5,000 separate threads.
Today's entry, for example, contains ~90 links that I selected and created myself. There are another 30 that the Movable Type software creates automatically. But I don't think those show up when I run the script because they aren't created until the page is requested. But maybe I'm wrong.
I'll run the script on just this page and see what I get. » 130. Hmmm. Not what I expected. (Or maybe I just can't count.)

The pages contained in Ye Olde Rad Blog v4 contain 4,270 links (.. as of August 30, 2010).
The pages contained in Ye Olde Rad Blog III contain 18,973 links.
The pages contained in Ye Olde Rad Blog II contain 12,806 links.
The pages contained in Ye Olde Rad Blog contain 20,264 links
TOTAL: 56,313 .. not counting the guides and daily entries not converted to blog entries (.. with Movable Type). Note these are JUST the individual archives, and the monthly archive, but not the category archives.
So there IS some redundant counting. Because the first part of the daily entry (called the daily archive) is included in the monthly archive. Maybe 20% I'd guess. Since the monthly archive is stored in the same (monthly) directory with the individual entries, I can't NOT count it.
»» The Web Works Like the Sun (Fusion)
In nuclear physics .. the COMBINING of two light nuclei (atoms) is called » fusion. Fusion is what the sun uses .. to make heat/energy.
On the other hand, the SPLITTING of a larger atom (into 2 smaller parts) is called » fission. Fission is what your friendly neighborhood reactor plant uses .. to keep your lights on & power your Xbox.
It's far easier to split a 'big' atom than combine smaller ones .. because it takes FAR more energy to combine them. But the result tho, is » far more energy released (from fusion) .. too much for us to control. We only use it to blow stuff up. That's why we have no fusion reactors. (Least not yet.)
Since the Net/Web CONNECTS things together (people with information) .. it seems to operate similarly (metaphysically speaking) .. to fusion (.. which releases a tremendous amount of energy). And yes, the 'Net took lots of 'energy' to build. (Input.)
My point » a tool that connects people (anywhere on the planet) to ideas (everywhere on the planet) is a POWERFUL tool. (It's hot.)
After today's introduction, the next step would include a discussion on » packet switching. But that's beyond the scope of this entry. And I suspect it would be amiss to discuss the 'Net's origins without mentioning Unix. Unix and the 'Net go together like .. well, like Unix & the 'Net.
So, thank-you Moscow. And thank-you Dept of Defense. And thank-you Tim Berners-Lee. For helping to get the hyperlinked ball rolling.
P.S. - That must be something of an ego trip, no? I mean » TB-L: "I invented the World Wide Web. Maybe you've heard of it? How about a date Saturday night? I'll tell you all about it. Say, 7 o'clock?"
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » internet vs world wide web origins timeline history



End of the Magic? - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4
2010-08-21T15:21:00Z
Feels like the end of the magic. The Bug begins school in a few weeks. Kindergarten. I can feel it hovering nearby, like a heavy cloud over the horizon .. headed this way.
Months ago the idea of kindergarten was freaking me out. Now it's bumming me out. Feels like the end of the magic is nigh.
For years people have been telling me, They're only small for a short time. Enjoy it while it lasts.
I always thought that an obvious remark. (Duh.) But now I can see » they weren't talking about size. Rather, they meant » the magic. A child's enchantment.
The coolest part of being a parent .. is that for a few 'short' years .. you get to be part of their enchanted little world. Part of being a parent involves cultivating this enchantment. (I endeavor to share a little of that magic here.)
These last few weeks, the Bug has been the happiest I've seen. I mean, he has always been a happy kid. But these last few weeks with him have been .. one nectar day after another .. from the moment he wakes. Everything in my world feels 'sparkly' when he's laughing.
I have a video of him .. imprinted into the database of my mind .. walking across the length of the coffee shop .. on his way to get a cookie (snickerdoodle) .. swinging his arms like a sailor in port. Radiating happiness. Of course, he came back with two. Grinning cuz he got the second for free.
» Ice Cream Trucks
Yesterday we rode our bikes to In-n-Out .. to split a burger & fries.
On the way there, the Bug spotted an ice cream truck .. in heavy traffic, heading the opposite direction .. just like the one that patrols our neighborhood. (He * loves* ice cream trucks.)
Ice cream trucks are better than In-n-Out, he says.
Ya know, I said, I couldn't hear very well back there cuz traffic was pretty loud .. BUT .. it sounded to me like you said .. ice cream trucks are better than In-n-Out.
Yeah, he says.
Now wait a cotton-picking minute, I said .. repeating the whole thing about how I couldn't hear very well. The idea is that I can't believe anybody would prefer an ice cream truck over In-n-Out. But he was finding it humourous, so I continued my schtick .. all the way to In-n-Out, while he defended his position.
Few minutes after we placed our order, an orange van-like truck pulls into the parking lot. Hey, look, I said, A surfboard truck. Cuz a picture of a surfboard is painted on the side.
But on closer inspection, I can see the words 'ICE CREAM' printed below the surf board.
It's actually an ice-cream truck, for Longboards Ice Cream .. of Huntington Beach (.. which lies up the road a few miles .. known as Surf City USA, where the U.S. Open was held earlier this month .. won by Brett Simpson, an HB native, for the second year in a row).
One guy stayed in the truck (to guard the cold gold) while the other headed for the walk-up window.
Hey, the Bug calls out to the guy approaching, Is that an ice cream truck?]]>
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Yeah, the Longboard guy says, Ya want one?
Can I, dad? he asked .. with big eyes.
Sure, I said. It seemed such a coincidence .. especially after I made such a big deal about In-n-Out being superior to ice cream trucks .. all the way there. I mean, I've never seen an ice cream truck at In-n-Out before. And I've been there dozens of times. Maybe even hundreds.
Anyway, the guy opened his truck and got the Bug an ice cream of his choosing (chocolate). Free. Super-yummy, too. I sampled a bite (or two). Real creamy, but not too sweet. Tasted like the good stuff.
That's my favorite, too, the Longboard guy said, adding how they make their own ice cream. Home made. Needless to say, the Bug didn't eat much of his burger. Must admit, the ice cream truck really WAS better than In-n-Out. =)
»» Love Brings the Magic
These kinds of magical little incidents don't happen every day .. but far more frequently than I would've imagined.
Makes me feel fortunate & grateful to be a part of his enchanted little world. But it feels like it's coming to an end.
I suspect, and have for some time, that love brings the magic. Real love brings real magic. (Or maybe it just seems that way.)
That it can't be 'manufactured,' so to speak .. as the artificial process introduces a variety of contaminants. Rather it must be channeled .. from its pure source .. deep within.
So we become a pipe. 'Cleaning the pipes' and keeping them clean becomes the job of the lover. Not an easy job, sometimes. Life has a way of clogging our pipes. With stuff.
There's a line in the movie » Into the Wild:

When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines upon you.
God's light .. that's another way of saying » the magic. So maybe it's not the end of the magic .. just the end of the enchanted years.

Sometimes I wonder » if the Bug wasn't so cool, would I love him as much? Certainly I'd like to think so. But there's no way to know for sure. He is easy to love. Very easy. With the coolest voice.
An elderly man rose from his table and approached me as I gathered our things to leave .. at the restaurant where the Bug & I sometimes get brecky. Guy said » The wife & I were talking. If he grows into that voice, he's gonna be one big boy. =)
Being a parent, I've learned, also teaches you a lot about yourself. In a variety of ways .. some of them rather ruthlessly.
[ You shoulda seen the Bug at the library this week .. giving a clinic to 5 or 6 kids, all huddled around his computer screen, showing them how to play Fancy Pants. Cracked me up. Every once in a while, a cute little girl would bat her eyes and say, Could you help me? ]


Answering the Handsome Doctor Question | Che Guevara - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4
2010-08-10T15:10:00Z
I haven't forgotten about the handsome doctor question. Just having trouble condensing my thoughts into a single entry. So many interesting tidbits to share. The long version I have in mind is still too long, the short one too short.
I put down the book weeks ago .. to begin digesting the info. So I've had time to reflect.
What the heck. Let's give it a shot.
What *did* drive a handsome doctor down the path (up the path?) of becoming the world's most popular militant revolutionary? Certainly the most celebrated.
The 'short' answer (.. get ready) » a girl. Yeah.
You probably knew it all along. I mean, what else could it be? What else drives men so crazy? 
Yes, there were many things in Ernesto's childhood (.. both genetic & environmental factors) that you could argue would encourage a person to pursue a radical career path (.. tho religion was not among them).
But the only place where I find enough raw emotional energy (.. the nuclear grade stuff) .. is with the GIRL. And this event was closest to the time when he went 'radical'. Certainly closer than any of his childhood experiences.
Her name was Maria del Carmen "Chichina" Ferreyra. She was 16 when they met. The term 'lightning bolt' was used to describe how hard Ernesto fell for her. Feelings were mutual. He was 19 or 20. She was a beauty they say.
 »» The Wealthy Become a Target
Chichina was from a wealthy family. Ernesto too came from blue-blood Spanish descendants. But her family was super wealthy.
They didn't mind their daughter dating Ernesto, cuz they found him intelligent and entertaining. But when the question of marriage came up, they discouraged her.

[ Ernesto badmouthed Winston Churchill at the dinner table once, dismissing him as another "ratpack politician." Churchill's name was invoked with reverence in the Ferreyra home, and this insult offended Chichina's father enough that he left the table. 
Soderberg, who directed the movie, made it clear (in the supplemental DVD) that Che wasn't the best at winning friends & influencing people. Warm-n-fuzzy he was not, regarding his interpersonal skills. ]
And who did Ernesto go after when he became 'Che'? That's right » the wealthy. I don't think it was a conscious decision. But I think his emotional wounds took long to heal. Permanent scarring? Probably. Pain can be a powerful motivator, especially for the hot-blooded.
There's no way to know for sure, but I bet, if her parents had given their blessing, and the lovers were free to marry (.. and Ernesto had been a fan of Churchill) .. the world would never know anything of a militant revolutionary from Argentina nicknamed 'Che.']]>
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Heck, didn't the Argentines invent machismo? (.. right before they invented the Tango.)
Becoming a revolutionary seems like an emotional decision .. does it not? I mean, cuz there's a good chance you'll end up dead.
[ Only 22 of the original 82 men who set out for Cuba (aboard the Granma) that November in 1956 lived to see a Cuban sunrise. Those don't seem like very good odds, do they? ]
Almost seems a little suicidal, in that respect. No? [ Literature of most every language contains stories of the heartbroken commiting or attemping suicide. Think about it. ]
The movie does not address his time in Cuba after the revolution. But he executed a lot of people there. Hundreds I believe. I mean, he was in charge of that. And the wealthier you were, the greater your chance that Che's boys would come a-knocking. And if you were ever mean to the peasants, God help you.
So you could argue he had a bone to pick .. with the wealthy & the powerful. Seems like retribution, no? Payback? If he had succeeded in Bolivia, how long do you think 'til he made his way down to Argentina?

Speaking to the 'wealthy' issue Guevara addresses .. what does it say about a country when elections are decided by a candidate's ability to raise money? (.. campaign contributions). How much of the money raised is 'given' without the expectation of a quid pro quo IOU?
Who will deny money's corrupting influence? Besides our politicans, I mean. Are they for $ale? The system seems designed to favor the wealthy. No? (More wealth = more favor.) How can it not? Or maybe it has just become far more conspicuous of late. 
In the movie, DVD1 ends with Fidel's gang victoriously on their way to Havana. DVD2 begins with Che's fatal campaign in Bolivia. The entire time in Havana was skipped. That's where Che's detractors focus their attacks.
He looks so serious in the classic stylized image above, but in reality, growing up, Ernesto was a big joker. And something of a daredevil.
The guy who wrote the book (Jon Lee Anderson) just presents the facts. Must be a temptation to draw conclusions along the way. Something I found myself doing constantly while reading.
 »» Asthma
The thing that surprises people MOST about 'Che' the revolutionary .. is that he was an asthmatic.
The first scene in the movie, where they show him tromping thru the Cuban back country, trying to avoid the Cuban military .. he's wheezing very badly. Revolution is difficult enough, even for those in perfect health.
Suffice to say Guevara was highly motivated .. to pursue such a radical & arduous path, despite his asthma. He was originally brought on because of his medical skills .. not because he was a great warrior or soldier.
Ernesto's parents spent huge amounts of intellectual & emotional energy dealing with their son's asthma. It pretty much ruled their life. We're talking South America in the early 1930's.
 »» Student of Philosophy
The place where I felt something most in common with Guevara .. came while reading about how he kept a notebook that contained a list of all the most important philosophers of his time, along with a description of their ideas.
I did a similar thing here » Philosophical Thought thru the Centuries. Tho Guevara actually wrote many such notebooks. Six or seven, I think.
The idea there, if he's anything like me, is that you wanna find out what thinkers are thinking, and evaluate whether their ideas are worth further consideration. But I also learned that not every idea which appears valid in theory translates well into real-world application. 
Che personally met with some philosophers, such as Sartre. And with many world leaders (.. photos availble online) .. tho ones the U.S. considered 'bad guys.'
He was also a writer. He kept a diary, a journal. (The closest thing to a 'blog' of his day.) Something I've been known to do.
I feel no special kinship here, but understand that the writer must first clarify ideas in his OWN mind .. before he can have any hope of communicating them clearly to others (.. which is why it took a month before I could even begin crafting today's entry). In this respect, I feel I have some insight.
The book confirms that he spent much time investigating, researching & pondering the ideas he held. Play any of his speeches (via YouTube) and you'll note the conviction that comes as a result of in-depth study. [ It's easy for me to converse about subjects I've already written on. Very easy. ]
I imagine he was something like the Dog, who is also very well read. I never debate politics with the Dog, cuz he has facts. Many facts. And he is eager to deploy them. He toys with me before lowering the boom. 
Politics depresses me too much, so I find it a painful topic to research. (I already have plenty to depress me.) Tho I do make an effort to avoid abject ignorance.
 »» Poetry
The biggest surprise (after learning about the asthma) was discovering that he would memorize and could recite long passages of poetry. Pablo Neruda (Chile) was his favourite.
I have some of my favourites committed to memory. But very few, cuz it's not easy. I don't know a single person who can recite an entire poem from memory.
He was well read. Very. Lotsa powerful ideas swimming around in his cabeza. The effect these ideas had on him would be Factor #2 on my list .. after the girl (.. and her über wealthy family of obstructionists). These ideas were the dynamite, so to speak. While the demise of his relationship with Chichina created the spark that lit the revolutionary fuse. I believe.
Can't have one without the other, but we always wanna know what lit the fuse. Cuz it usually makes for a more dramatic story. [ 'Timing' would probably be #3 on my list. ]
So he spent untold hours molding his thoughs to idealistic concepts & causes .. cuz that's what poets & philosophers usually write about. But the asthma is what embued his ideals with perseverance .. cuz that's what he spent much time in bed doing. (Reading philosophy & poetry.)
I could stop here .. or go on. This seems like a good place to wrap for today. Many more interesting tidbits to share. Maybe El Che round 2 next month.
 »» Parental Discipline
Okay. Scratch that. One more thing .. that needs to go in the initial response .. is » his parents did not discipline him much. Maybe not at all.
They felt guilty about Ernesto's asthma. His mom took him swimming (in a river) in May .. which is like our November, here, cuz their winter comes when we have summer. (Buenos Aires lies on a latitude similar to Atlanta.)
Ernesto was only 2 at the time. That's when the attacks began. They were very bad. And they lasted for days. Here's a quote (pg 18):

The father was never able to discipline his eldest son, and Celia (his mom) never tried.
So you could say he was babied. Pampered. Treated with kid gloves. Home-schooled 'til age 9. One more quickie before I quit (pg 21):

They would evolve and mature in the coming years, but the character traits that later acquired legendary dimension were already present in the boy » his physical fearlessness, inclination to lead, stubbornness, competitive spirit, and self discipline.
 »» Self Discipline
The self discipline came as a result of the asthma, or should I say » dealing with it. His diet was restricted during an attack. Severely. Sometimes for a week or two. Afterwards he was known to consume large quantities.
Ernesto wasn't the only sibling with asthma, so it likely had genetic roots (.. from the mom), and not a result of reckless parenting (.. as his dad sometimes accused the mom).
So his legendary self discipline seems to have been an adaptive result of dealing with recurrent adversity (asthma) .. his entire life. Hmmm.
But if he wasn't in bed, he was out raising hell. Fearless daredevil. All boy. Parenting this teenager was no picnic.
The highlight of his 'career' came at the United Nations, where he gave a fiery speech on December 11, 1964. [ Funny how both sides claim to be fighting for FREEDOM, while accusing the other of trying to supress it. Actions always speak louder. ]
One final thought » you'll never see a photo of Che looking old & wrinkled .. like Fidel. Were he alive today, he'd be 82. Yet he will always be pictured vibrant .. trying to change his world .. one country at a time. Looking vital, vigorous, handsome. That's what assassination in the prime of life does for you.
 »» The Unites States in Latin America
I should probably close with a quote from Che himself.
On his trip thru South America (beginning with Argentina » Chile » Peru » Columbia » Venezuela...) popularized by the movie (Mototcycle Diaries) that was made from his journal .. he writes about Chile, before heading into Peru (regarding how the U.S. owned & ran the world's biggest open-pit mine there, which was the primary source of Chile's wealth):

"The biggest effort Chile should make is to shake the Yankee from its back. That task is, at least for the moment, Cyclopean, given the dollars invested and the ease with which they exert economic pressure the moment their interests seem threatened." (pg 79)
Rad note: This actually came true, tho not until 1970 when Salvador Allende became the "hemisphere's first popularly elected Marxist Socialist president" .. whose first priority was to nationalize the mines. However, within 3 years, Allende's government was "violently overthrown by a U.S.-backed military coup" led by Pinochet on September 11th, 1973.
Which makes his caveat somewhat prescient. And don't forget the U.S. was in Cuba when he wrote that (early 1952). Less than five years later (December 1956), Ernesto would be on the boat (heading to Cuba) that would make him Che. The circle closes.
And .. as you can see, there was no love lost between Che & the U.S. - which he considered a great evil. A League of Nations report said Chile, Peru, and Bolivia suffered the world's worst depression. Argentina couldn't have been very far behind. 
[ Well eDawg, how did I do? ]
P.S. - This is definitely longer than I hoped to keep it. Coulda easily broke it into two separate entries. (Something I may yet do.) But there is simply too much info necessary for even the most basic response.
Yet I feel confident the novice will be hard-pressed to find a document that paints a more revealing & insightful image in fewer words.
I've tried to remain objective. But it's obviously impossible to discuss the life of someone as polarizing as Che Guevara without injecting bias .. because the issues he raises affect both people & society on such a deep level.
If you want more facts and less speculation .. to make up your own mind .. John Lee does a much better job.
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » ernesto che guevara cuban revolutionary


Inception Review & Game Levels - Ye Olde Rad Blog v4
2010-08-06T15:06:00Z
Couldn't stand it any longer & went to see » Inception .. the new movie (starring Leo) everybody's talking about .. how it represents a generational divide. Younger viewers love it (totally), while old farts don't get it. (Huh? Say what?) Unable to follow the 'dense narrative'.
Let me tell you. I am sooo glad I get it. Cuz that means I'm not an old fart. (Least not yet.) But I was worried.
The movie is mentally stimulating. I love movies that do that. No, I didn't find it difficult to follow. Not at all. I don't get what there's not to get.
And there have been other movies that WERE difficult for me to follow (.. such as Syriana). Yes, you *do* have to pay attention.
Inception is defined as » beginning, start, origin, source. So, the question naturally becomes » Beginning of what? The origin of what? [ Answ » an idea. ]
Biggest thing that struck me was the recognition of an 'idea' as something powerful. Dangerously so. That ideas can grow & spread & grow some more .. until. [ Check out some of the ideas contained in the book titled » The Great Thoughts, which you can open to at any random page .. for examples of ideas that have grown. ]
The driving force of the plot is the goal of planting an idea into someone's subconscious .. so deep that they think the idea *originated* with them. That it was their own idea. That they believe *they* were the source. Hence the film's title.
And dreams are how you go deep, because our protective psychological defenses are suppressed during sleep. But to go real deep, you need to have a dream within a dream. All of a sudden, your point-of-reference for reality becomes obscured.
This is where you need to pay attention, and where older viewers might depart from narrative 'reality.' The film actually does a 'triple' » a dream within a dream .. within a dream. Where am I? would not seem a strange question at this point.
The scene from which I grabbed the screenshot posted above is destined to become a classic in the annals of 'special effects'. In the trailer, it's cool. But in the theater, on the big screen, with big, honking speakers turned up loud, it's a real trip.
And they just sit there .. on the sidewalk at the cafe. (Just like you in your seat at the theater.) Great contrast with everything going to pieces around them. That one scene is reason enough to see Inception on the big screen.
They're sitting in an unreal world called a dream. You're sitting in an unreal world called a movie. What's the difference? I'm sure you've always wanted to know what it feels like to have your world go to pieces around you.
Other James Bond-like effects were thrown in. All nicely done. Maybe even better than.]]>
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»» New Level = New World
Critics explain the generational divide this movie represents by looking at GAMERS. Here's a quote:

"The same narrative density that puts off the older viewer is a delicious challenge for the gamer."
Like the movie, video games are structured with different levels & worlds .. things gamers understand. New level = new world (new map). And what kid does not play video games?
That's how Fancy Pants works .. the game the kids were playing just last week.
Beyond game levels however, the movie is really about » lucid dreaming .. where you're in control of your dreams. In the film they call it » 'pure creativity'. (The architect girl returns because she can't resist something so addictingly creative.) [ Similar things have been said about the creative potential offered by programming. ]
I started drooling when they said, "Pure creativity." If you've ever visited my splash page (» splash.rad), you know how I respect & value & admire creativity. The web definitely offers an element of creativity.
[ In nuclear power, they don't want you experimenting with creativity. No, just follow the procedure, please. Verbatim compliance. Do not begin step #2 until you've completed all of step #1. Very different world. ]
I used to know a girl who could dream lucidly. Ever since she was little. As she got older, she honed her techniques. I never really got the hang of it, tho. Too tired. I sleep like a dead man. She was the only person I ever knew who claimed to be able to dream lucidly. (Interesting girl. Sensitive. Remarkably intuitive.)
The Bug has told me he's had dreams where he was FLYING .. .. just like Peter Pan, dad. I thought that very cool. Been having some wild dreams myself, lately, too.
In the movie, I loved the part where they get in the old freight elevator .. the one with the button labeled 'B' (.. for Basement). That's where everybody keeps their gnarliest, ugliest secrets hidden away. Only the brave dare venture down there. (Or the crazy.)
If I had to describe the film with a single word, I'd have to say .. It's a » 'trip'.
»» Goethe Quotes
Speaking of dreamy ideas .. I've been tripping recently on the quotes of a German dude named » Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced gur-tuh, 1749-1832). He had some interesting ideas. .. the most famous of which, is probably:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, & magic in it.
» But my favourite is:

This is the highest wisdom I own » freedom & life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.
I keep a link to that quote on my desktop. Read it dozens of times. In fact, that's what inspired me to quit drinking coffee (for a week) last month. I also like this quote (.. about raising kids).
»» Love is...
For Father's day, the Bug made a card at school. On the line following where it said, "I love my dad because..." was written » "He helps me with the hard levels." =) [ He's talking about playing games. ]
One other idea in the movie that struck me was » Your mind is not limited in sleep as it is during your waking hours, where it's limited to ~10% capacity. Is that true? How would you measure?
My favorite line was » "Down is the only way forward." =) That brought a smile to my face. I know that feeling. [ Been there, done that. ]
When you get to the end however, you learn the story is really about » a dad trying to get back to his kids .. and going thru hell to get there. (Similar to what you find in » Finding Nemo.) So yeah, I could relate.
Have you noticed how Leonardo seems to specialize in films that feature a tortured soul fighting a closet full of demons? starring in both Shelter Island & Inception, which both depart from reality (psychoses), tho in different ways.
Speaking of actors, my friend the lucid dreamer once said, What kind of person wants to be someone else? Think about it. (She enjoyed acting, but not actors. Found them strange.)
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » inception review film movie christopher nolan dicaprio