2010.09.09 19:00 - Pursuit of Happyness

The Guardian for this meeting was Calvino Rabeni. The lack of comments is by Calvino Rabeni.

Lucinda Lavender: Hi Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Luci!
Bruce Mowbray: hello, Luci
Lucinda Lavender: things are quite slow today
Bruce Mowbray: we're just getting started. . .
Bruce Mowbray: Here's Cal to get the ball rolling.
Bruce Mowbray: Hi, Cal.
Bruce Mowbray: See! What did I just tell you?!
Calvino Rabeni: Hey, where did that kimono clad beauty pop in from ! ?
Bruce Mowbray: Hi, steve. Come on over and join our happy throng.
Calvino Rabeni: Bruce, cinda, steve, minus Cinda - hello
stevenaia Michinaga: what happened to Lucinda
Bruce Mowbray: I think you scardd Luci away, Cal.
Bruce Mowbray: scared.
Calvino Rabeni: Yep
stevenaia Michinaga: happens alot
Bruce Mowbray: When she pops back in, steve, she will probably arrive on top of you.
stevenaia Michinaga: how many is a throng?
Calvino Rabeni: that's what I was thinking
Calvino Rabeni: A sarong?
Bruce Mowbray considers quantifying "throng."
Calvino Rabeni: two's company, three's a throng
Bruce Mowbray: Then, that makes us a throng.
stevenaia Michinaga: no wikipidia entry, but there are definitions
stevenaia Michinaga: I don;t think we quality
Bruce Mowbray: Don't forget to include Blub in the census.
Calvino Rabeni: Why are fishes so intelligent ... because they're aways in school
Bruce Mowbray: ha ha ha!!
Bruce Mowbray: Good one!
stevenaia Michinaga: recalibrates my sence of humor for this evening
Calvino Rabeni: I would certainly hope so Stevenaia, for all our sakes
Bruce Mowbray: Hey, Cal, your contributions at the theme session today were wonderful.
Bruce Mowbray: Some many brilliant metaphors -- to add to my collection.
Calvino Rabeni: TY, well I had a lot to say, I hope others got a word in edgewise
Bruce Mowbray: It was GREAT ---
stevenaia Michinaga: link to session?
Bruce Mowbray: Just a sec -- I will get it, steve.
Calvino Rabeni: OK all you PaB log readers, PLEASE interrupt me any time the spirit moves you :)
stevenaia Michinaga: thx
stevenaia Michinaga: oh, as I was posting my recent sessin I left come good comments for you cal
stevenaia Michinaga: but I couldn;t find the "indent" tool
Calvino Rabeni: Hmm, it can't be lost ? ?
Bruce Mowbray: Ooops.. Chat log for that session (1 p.m. this afternoon) not posted yet.
stevenaia Michinaga: loved spellcheck and the elimination of the "follow me" format tools
stevenaia Michinaga: that drove me silly
Calvino Rabeni: I've been using computers so long, I was silly even before Al Gore invented the Internet
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: nods, I had one of those timex-sinclair computers
Bruce Mowbray: I had a Commodore 64.
stevenaia Michinaga: guess we are older than we look
Calvino Rabeni: Just how long ... (bragging contest?) well my father brought home colored wires from the computer lab for me to play with in the crib
Bruce Mowbray: Actually, before the '64' I had an earlier model of the Commodore.
Calvino Rabeni: They hadn't invented "ASCII" yet
Calvino Rabeni: And it was a great innovation when a "bit" was a square hole in a piece of paper
Bruce Mowbray: Mmmm.. I was programming in DOS about 5 or 6 years before Windows came into being.
Calvino Rabeni: We used to program using toggle switches and one push button
Bruce Mowbray: I remember when "Turbo Basic" happened on the scene -- and it had a "compiler" and I thought I'd found heaven.
Bruce Mowbray: So -- you were using assembly language, then, Cal?
Bruce Mowbray: sort of rock bottom?
stevenaia Michinaga: ok, I was programing fortran in high school with punchcards for each line
stevenaia Michinaga: that was a pain to edit
Bruce Mowbray: wow. . .. That's amazing, steve.
Bruce Mowbray: Hi, Ewan.
stevenaia Michinaga: hi Ewan
Ewan Bonham: Hi guys..
--BELL--
Bruce Mowbray: I forget what they called it -- Assembly language -- or "machine" language. . . .?
Calvino Rabeni: Hi Ewan. Same here, Stevenaia.
Calvino Rabeni: And then someone invented high level language for the "rest of us" and said
Calvino Rabeni: LET A = A + 1
Calvino Rabeni: And I thought - lotta good that will do ...A can't be something and something else at the same time.
stevenaia Michinaga: and there was A-1
Bruce Mowbray: ;-) and there was light -- and it was good.
Calvino Rabeni: but did a double take at first
Bruce Mowbray: Do you do any computer programing, Ewan?
Calvino Rabeni: And the next quantum leap - was variables A1 - A9 through Z1 - Z9
Calvino Rabeni: all the variables anyone could ever possibly need
Ewan Bonham: No, I have not had the privilege or th interest.
Ewan Bonham: I do make use of much software and web based applications..
stevenaia Michinaga: nice you can program with w/o code now
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, we all do, I guess. . . such is the way of the world.
Ewan Bonham: And i do not care to be that meticulous and detailed..:))
Bruce Mowbray: The only programing I've done has all been recreational. . .
Bruce Mowbray: and now I use only Visual Basic. . .
Bruce Mowbray: It is a fun discipline --
Bruce Mowbray: Computers are dumber than screw drivers -- so you have to be precise.
Bruce Mowbray: I'll be out walking -- or something -- and an idea will pop into my head. . .
Bruce Mowbray: like, why not try to make a program that solves Sudoku puzzles...
Bruce Mowbray: and then I go home and write that program.
Bruce Mowbray: Purely for fun.
Ewan Bonham: hmmmm..
Bruce Mowbray: (weirdly wired, I guess).
stevenaia Michinaga: it should be for "fun"
Ewan Bonham: if it is fun, then it is worth it..:)
Bruce Mowbray: yeppers.
Bruce Mowbray: I'd starve if I had to do it for a living.
stevenaia Michinaga: I'm amused that people pay me for wht I do
Bruce Mowbray: ;-) really?
stevenaia Michinaga: you really don;t need compensation for the fun stuff
stevenaia Michinaga: except to eat, ofcourse
stevenaia Michinaga: I thought Paradise was away this next week ot two.
Ewan Bonham: If it is fun, then i find I can do it better..
Bruce Mowbray: It's cool how our species (any others, as well) seemed to be geared for "fun."
stevenaia Michinaga: "Play"
Bruce Mowbray: Evolution knew what she was doing, maybe.
Bruce Mowbray: Maybe not.
Ewan Bonham: I think fun is our natural state..
Bruce Mowbray: I would like to think so --- but then addiction creeps in. . . for some.
Calvino Rabeni: They will be pretty good at it compared to any cat that grows up alone
stevenaia Michinaga: well, there is life liberty and persuit of Happyness
Calvino Rabeni: I have 2 kittens, and they spend a lot of the day play-fighting
Bruce Mowbray: So, "play" is a way of learning survival skills?
Bruce Mowbray: OMG!!!
Bruce Mowbray: I can't believe you said that, Steve.
Calvino Rabeni: Indeed
stevenaia Michinaga: Happyness=fun?
Bruce Mowbray: I just finished watching a DVD of that movie!!!!
Bruce Mowbray: Will Smith and his son.
stevenaia Michinaga: which movie?
Bruce Mowbray: I cried.
Bruce Mowbray: The Pursuit of Happyness.
Calvino Rabeni: I remember it
stevenaia Michinaga: yo would recommend it?
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/
Bruce Mowbray: omg, yes!
Bruce Mowbray: Wonderful flick.
Bruce Mowbray: 2006.
Bruce Mowbray: Setting is San Francisco - 1981.
Calvino Rabeni: Yes, the poignant scene took place in a restroom
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Benjamin.
Calvino Rabeni: (as I recall? maybe in the subway)
--BELL--
Benjamin Greycloak: hey bruce
Benjamin Greycloak: and others
Bruce Mowbray: Oh -- The restroom scene (the "cave" in the BART station) -- absolutely broke me up.
Calvino Rabeni: I remember it well
Bruce Mowbray: How wonderful that father's love for his son.
stevenaia Michinaga: don't they all?
Calvino Rabeni: Where did it end, back with the son's mother?
Ewan Bonham: Steve, are you just having trouble rezzing tonight?
Ewan Bonham: Or are you being transparent?
Calvino Rabeni: Steve looks svelte to me
stevenaia Michinaga: drins
Bruce Mowbray: It ended with --- wait -- I can't give away the ending (!)
stevenaia Michinaga: grins
stevenaia Michinaga: I often miss the obvious
Bruce Mowbray: The movie raised all sorts of "father" issues for me -- and answered them - though vicariously.
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Pila
Pila Mulligan: greetings
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2866449408/tt0454921
Bruce Mowbray: Hi, Pila.
Ewan Bonham: Hi Pila
Bruce Mowbray: Aloha!
Pila Mulligan: hmm ... significant lag
Bruce Mowbray thinks: Takes a long time to cross the Pacific Ocean.
Calvino Rabeni: I liked this movie - Secondhand Lions - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327137/
Bruce Mowbray: Oh yes. . . I liked that one, too!
Bruce Mowbray: I have it on DVD, in fact -- as well as The Pursuit of Happyness.
Ewan Bonham: That was a touching film..
Calvino Rabeni: I have it and Ratatoille
Calvino Rabeni: It was touching - some good thoughts on many soft subjects
Bruce Mowbray: Hey Cal -- Did you see "Legends of the Fall" ?
Calvino Rabeni: No, is it a western?
Bruce Mowbray: powerful men's issues movie.
Bruce Mowbray: It is a sort of "western" -- but with deep issues for men.
Ewan Bonham: Yes, i like those reflections
Bruce Mowbray: Good, Ewan. You saw the movie?
stevenaia Michinaga: men, I remember them
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110322/
Ewan Bonham: Yes, i did..
Ewan Bonham: Some time ago..
Bruce Mowbray: I saw the show when I was sitll in my men's group -- and it provoked weeks of discussion.
Bruce Mowbray: 1994 it came out.
Bruce Mowbray: Epic tale of three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of 1900s USA and how their lives are affected by nature, history, war, and love.
--BELL--
Bruce Mowbray: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4019519769/
Ewan Bonham: The times may have changes...but the enduring bond between th men remained..
Bruce Mowbray ponders "the enduring bond between the men. . . "
Bruce Mowbray ponders: "the underground river. . . "
Ewan Bonham: I do think that is true for all people...but in the case of this movie, it was between men.
Ewan Bonham: And the men grew to be quite different outwardly..
Bruce Mowbray: Yes -- agreed, Ewan.
Ewan Bonham: But they had the same roots and deep down a devotion to each other..
Bruce Mowbray: A deep devotion.
Pila Mulligan: maybe as siblings they also had a strong karma relationship (Meher Baba once said karma is strong among siblings)
Calvino Rabeni: do you know memer baba, pila?
Pila Mulligan: maybe as fictional siblings in a story of course
Bruce Mowbray knows nothing about karma -- except theoretically.
Pila Mulligan: Meher Baba -- yes
Pila Mulligan: Memer ... :) ?
stevenaia Michinaga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meher_Baba
Pila Mulligan: "From July 10, 1925 to the end of his life, Meher Baba maintained silence" -- but he still communicated and wrote books
Bruce Mowbray: Sufi, Vendata, Mystic -- yes.
Bruce Mowbray: died in 1969.
Bruce Mowbray: Folks -- I am to bed.
Bruce Mowbray: May all be well and happy.
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, me too
stevenaia Michinaga: thanks
Bruce Mowbray: Good night.
stevenaia Michinaga: night all
Bruce Mowbray: Thank you.
Pila Mulligan: bye
Calvino Rabeni: Greetings to PaB from archy and mehitabel by way of the time machine
Calvino Rabeni: http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/
Pila Mulligan: "Mehitabel is an alley cat with a celebrated past -- she claims she was Cleopatra in a previous life" -- must be from Marin County
Ewan Bonham: LOL
Calvino Rabeni: yep
Pila Mulligan: :)
Calvino Rabeni: this was beat poetry before there was beat
Pila Mulligan: heavily populated with former Egyptian royalty
--BELL--
Pila Mulligan: "Marquis was a writer for The Evening Sun in New York when, in 1916, he introduced Archy the cockroach in his daily column, The Sun Dial." -- that really was early
Calvino Rabeni: And the rumour was archy was a poet reincarneated as a cockroach for writing free verse poetry
Pila Mulligan: 30 years before Kerouac
Pila Mulligan: :)
Calvino Rabeni: reminiscent of what passes for writing in the text chats of the world
Pila Mulligan: sent off to join the ancients, eh :)
Ewan Bonham: Who could substantiate the rumor.
Calvino Rabeni: Because he was a cockroach, Archy was unable to operate the shift key on the typewriter (he jumped on each key to type; since using shift requires two keys to be pressed simultaneously, he physically could not use capitals), and so all of his verse was written without capitalization or punctuation"
Calvino Rabeni: Archie threw his whole body into each and every character that he typed
Calvino Rabeni: it took tremendous energy and force of will
Calvino Rabeni: resulting in a certain focus and power of expression
Calvino Rabeni: and a koan like quality
Calvino Rabeni: that cockroach was the man
Ewan Bonham: Notunlike us..
Pila Mulligan: so in the story archie's change of species (man to cockroach) was played as a favorable thing, it seems
Pila Mulligan: human*
Calvino Rabeni: there is always something to be thankful for you would not think that a cockroach had much ground for optimism but as the fishing season opens up i grow more and more cheerful at the thought that nobody ever got the notion of using cockroaches for bait archy
Pila Mulligan: :)
Ewan Bonham: lol
Pila Mulligan: the cockroach family represents the oldest critters on earth I believe
Ewan Bonham: Aside ferom bacteria
Ewan Bonham: from
Pila Mulligan: "earliest cockroach-like fossils are from the Carboniferous period between 354???295 million years ago."
Pila Mulligan: that's pretty ancient
Pila Mulligan: so archie had a strong genetic memory
Calvino Rabeni: so archy was saying something like
Calvino Rabeni: well i am a little disappointed about the roach poison
Calvino Rabeni: down in the furnace room
Calvino Rabeni: i just dont get the kick out of it that i used to
--BELL--
Pila Mulligan: well, I'm off to RL for a while -- nice to see you Cal and Ewan -- bye for now
Pila Mulligan: oh, and hi and bye Lucinda
Lucinda Lavender: hi Pila
Ewan Bonham: Bye Pila..
Ewan Bonham: Hi Lucinda
Lucinda Lavender: I was bumped off earlier...
Calvino Rabeni: Bumped off ? someone put out a "hit" on you?
Lucinda Lavender: well not that kind of bump I guess
Ewan Bonham: LOL
Lucinda Lavender: what has been your topic this eve?
Lucinda Lavender: wow...pretty slow tonight
Ewan Bonham: We were talking about relience..
Ewan Bonham: Resilience
Lucinda Lavender: oh... interesting
Ewan Bonham: At first in men and then in cock roaches
Lucinda Lavender: :)
Calvino Rabeni: How's you're weekend coming Cinda?
Lucinda Lavender: more empty spots:)
Lucinda Lavender: done working on the rental
Calvino Rabeni: And by any chance are you in need of plums ? :)
Lucinda Lavender: yes...
Lucinda Lavender: it has been a first week of school...pretty busy...and I look forward to a normal weekend
Lucinda Lavender: how about you both?
Ewan Bonham: Well, good night and thanks for the nice chat.
Lucinda Lavender: good night Ewan...
Calvino Rabeni: I have to go too ... take care Cinda