Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Slivers Are Outnumbered

I saw the quotation below yesterday evening in the myriad of news and social media reports concerning the senseless bombings during the Boston Marathon. 

It's from a comedian I've never heard of before:
Patton Oswalt. (Putting in a little research here and there about the man I discovered he's been all over the place.) 

His words not only hit home but they stuck fast. I thought I would pass them along:

"Boston. Fucking horrible.
"I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, 'Well, I've had it with humanity.'
"But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.
"But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

"But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

"So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, 'The good outnumber you, and we always will.'"
 

.......... Ruprecht ( this senselessness needs to STOP )

Monday, April 15, 2013

#42





April 15th, 1947. Opening Day for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the start of the first season for Jackie Robinson in the major leagues breaking baseball's color barrier. 

Additionally it's the 5th annual commemoration of Jackie Robinson Day where - over the next few days - all major leaguers wear the number "42" on their jerseys among other festivities.



"My first thought was 'Can he help us win the pennant?' I didn't care about the color of his skin ..."
- Ralph Branca


"I do not care if the guy is yellow or black or if he has stripes like a fuckin' zebra. I'm the manager of this team and I say he plays."
- Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher
stating emphatically to his team in 1947
 
"I still don't think people understand how much it plays into the Martin Luther King situation. The revolution that occurred at that particular moment, it mattered. That had to happen first to set that whole thing up. So when you're talking about Jackie Robinson, I don't think people realize the significance and really courage that went behind that, and in the movie it points that out - the courage to not fight back, to be able to win over that particular mind set to be able to make all of this work."
- Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP thinking baseball's boring )

 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The Theater Of The Obvious - Talk Talk


Ladies & Gentlemen:


For your dining and dancing pleasure, may I present a real-life newspaper example of ... The Obvious:




.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

I'm A Feng Shui Master

I was discussing a few things with an estate sale "stager" the other day while inside a house going up for sale and the following conversation took place ...

"If you have a moment, do you mind running through the house with me to let me know what I can and cannot take?" I asked the stager.

"Sure," she replied.

"This room: What would you like left?"

"Just about everything. Anything removed from it will make it look empty. But ... you can definitely take the mirror."

"I thought that would be one thing you'd want to remain, being it will leave a gaping hole on the wall over the mantle. Are you certain?"

"Yes," she said. "It's not Feng Shui."

"Really? How so?"

"Any negative energy from outside the house would be reflected into the house with the mirror facing the window like that. That's against Feng Shui principles."

"Hmmmmm. Well ... what about any negative energy projected by new tenants from inside the house? Wouldn't the mirror, in that position, deflect that energy outside? But ... I guess that wouldn't be fair to the neighborhood ... would it?" I punned at her.


I got rewarded with a dirty look.


.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )
As in ... stop taunting Feng Shui believers 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Right Thinking


I awoke early this morning as usual and it immediately occurred to me:
"You know? I bet there are probably 4 things - no ... wait ... 5 things! - I probably don't know about Neanderthals ..."

Imagine my surprise ...


.......... Ruprecht ( STOP thinking )
"... but ... I thought ..."

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Theater Of The Obvious - Kwikies


There aren't too many people who don't get the irony of The Maine State Lottery's proposed revamp of their scratch tickets and its consequences ...
 

... well ...
 

... except for The Maine State Lottery, that is. 

And Gerry Reid, director of the Maine Bureau Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations: "It’s not the state’s intent to be provocative."
 
Scratch tickets become ‘Kwikies’ in lottery rebranding,
retailers ‘very upset about it’

 

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )