THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better [person].
~~Benjamin Franklin

WINTER MORNING POEM

By Ogden Nash:

"Winter is the king of showmen
Turning tree stumps into snow men
And houses into birthday cakes
And spreading sugar over lakes
Smooth and clean and frosty white
The world looks good enough to bite
That's the season to be young
Catching snowflakes on your tongue
Snow is snowy when it's snowing
I'm sorry it's slushy when it's going"

THE IMAGINATION OF TERRY GILLIAM

By Andy Kubis, from The Bob Edwards Show blog:

"I bet that every American middle school has at least one kid who knows the lumberjack song by heart, or the Dead Parrot sketch, or can do John Cleese’s Silly Walks…my nephew could do the silly walk before he could talk. For Monty Python’s entire 40-year history, there has been a new generation of fans waiting in the wings. In fact, there’s an entire Monty Python channel on You Tube.

"Terry Gilliam was the sole non-Brit in the comedy troupe, and was mostly responsible for the cartoons. That giant foot that crushes the show’s title at the end of the opening credits (see above)… it was his idea. It is the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Bronzino masterpiece. That foot — and Gilliam’s style in general — are the visual trademarks of Monty Python. One of my favorite of Gilliam’s cartoons is suicidal leaves, worth the :59 seconds of your time.
"Terry Gilliam’s imagination has to be getting better with time. His movies — Time Bandits, Brazil, The Fisher King, and now The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus — prove it. This newest is Gilliam’s first original script since Brazil. It is a fantastical morality tale set in the present-day. The film stars Christopher Plummer as the title character, musician Tom Waits as the devil, and Heath Ledger as a mysterious stranger. It was Ledger’s last film; he died while the movie was being made. Gilliam decided to have three other actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law & Colin Farrell) fill in, sharing the role. You can watch a trailer at this link.
"Gilliam has said that he doesn’t care if people leave the theater loving his films or hating them… he just wants a reaction. That he often succeeds in getting one is made clear by the frequently retold story of a woman who saw The Fisher King and walked home afterwards. .. 20 blocks in the wrong direction."

SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLAINED

Alexis Ohanian, one of the founders of Reddit, talks not about Reddit per se, but how social media create memes and why the process is important. Thanks to TYWKIWDBE.

MERRY CHISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Whatever your philosophical bent, we wish you and yours a delightful, heartwarming holiday.

Zztopdog and Family


Artwork by Jim Shore

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep, and not to."
~~F. Scott Fitzgerald

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"Be gentle with yourself. If you will not be your own unconditional friend, who will be? If you are always playing an opponent and you are also opposing yourself, you are going to be outnumbered."
~~Dan Millman

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me."
~~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

BLIZZARD WARNING

And we're not talking about DQ! Five to eight inches of snow expected overnight, with 40 to 50 mile per hour winds!
A good night to stay home.