Fifty years ago.......................

Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas..........................Little Children

 

Some days we could all use a little help...

for a brief (11 seconds) video of an alligator hatching, go here

Malthus will always be wrong.............

....because us pesky humans can be endlessly clever.  John Kay illuminates:

"The most important source of economic advance comes not from doing the same things better, but from achieving the same objective in a completely different way."

Connecting.........................

"It is clear to all that the animal organism is a highly complex system consisting of an almost infinite series of parts connected both with one another and, as a total complex, with the surrounding world, with which it is in a state of equilibrium."


"It is not accidental that all phenomena of human life are dominated by the search for daily bread - the oldest link connecting all living things, man included, with the surrounding nature."

"Perfect as the wing of a bird may be, it will never enable the bird to fly if unsupported by the air. Facts are the air of science. Without them a man of science can never rise."

"Don't become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin."

-Ivan Pavlov

On schooling..........................

When I was young my teachers were old.
I gave up fire for form till I was cold.
I suffered like a metal being cast.
I went to school to age to learn the past.

Now I am old my teachers are the young.
What can't be molded must be cracked and sprung.
I strain at lessons fit to start a suture.
I go to school to youth to learn the future.

-Robert Frost

It just keeps on flowing.................................

The Allman Brothers Band...............................Blue Sky

 

AND...........................................

Good to know....................................

WASHINGTON—According to a poll released Monday by the Pew Research Center, the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine has left Americans sharply and bitterly divided along ignorant and apathetic lines, with the nation’s citizenry evenly split between grossly misinformed and wholly indifferent factions.

-Full Onion treatment here

Fifty years ago...............................

Beach Boys........................................Fun, Fun, Fun



better audio version can be found here

Hmmm...........................................

It has been a long winter.....................

Security...........................

"Only the insecure strive for security."
-Wayne Dyer

cartoon via

..........here in my bag.........................

Simon and Garfunkel.............................America

 

Experience............................

EXPERIENCE, n.  The wisdom that enables us to recognize as an undesirable old acquaintance the folly that we have already embraced.
-Ambrose Bierce,  The Devil's Dictionary

cartoon via

Passion.........................

Those of us who follow the View From the Ledge know that Jeff Kopito is passionate about books ... the real things:  paper, ink, and bindings.  If you asked Jeff to name ten sacred spaces in his world, I'd be willing to bet twenty-five cents that five of them would be small and independent book stores.  Now, I've never met Jeff, but we have become good friends in an Intertunnel sort of way.  Because of that friendship, whenever I mention Kindle on this blog I tend to include the words "sorry Jeff."   Here is our latest exchange:

My comment:    Not being familiar with that work, the Colossus Amazon was consulted.  Since the spot price on a new hardback copy was $77.10, I did the next best thing and (sorry Jeff) Kindleized it. 

Jeff's response:    Actually if you head on over to AbeBooks, you can find if for a couple of dollars. Yeah, a bit worn but well read and respected. Powell's has a copy for $5.50 - and if you try IndieBound, they may even be able to find it for you locally...in a bookstore...I'm just sayin'... :) - J.

Update:   Passion on display here.

Fragile "rights" are.........................

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing:  the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances..."
-Victor Frankl

image via

Fifty years ago....................................

Sarah Vaughan..............................Maria (from West Side Story)

 

Uh-oh...........................................

"It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it."
-Aristotle

Carry................................

Mission Impossible...................

This poll found in the Intertunnel:

Picking my favorite Beatles song?  You've got to be kidding.  Depends on the day and the mood, although I'm pretty sure it's not on this list.