Update on the International NOTEFLIX production of “Troubles in the Garden”: Mamzelle Pinkie, having had a spiritual experience (See past posting) has decided to improve herself and leave her frivolous ways – but just before she does that – she goes back to the olive man for one more taste of the good life. Little does she know that there are many more irresistible temptations in the Land of the Humans and Other Dangerous Creatures. (Continued below)
…GOOD TIMES, THEY COME WITH THE WIND.” (-Waylin Jennings/ J. Coulter)
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LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE. (But how much is enough? That is the question.)
- Years ago, I read when The Roman Empire was Great – they had a motto which went like this: “The Empire Sits Around The Hearth.” What this meant, apparently, was the strength of Rome was in its families – and the families sat around their fires at home at night and talked about things and stayed close and strong in their knowledge and comfort of each other. Something like that. So I got to thinking: Where is our hearth of today? Then, a few weeks ago I read that books became a cheap form of education and entertainment in America, right after WWII. Books entered the home and their contents helped shape our national conversations, they added to our moral values – our collective conscience. The “Middle Class” was reading books. Sort of the ‘Hearth’ of the day. Then came TV, the personal computer, the Smart Phone, Netflix, Amazon, 5G…so many movies you cannot decide what to watch, so much on U-Tube you get lost in the options, so much entertainment – you can go mad with it – and more and more…and where is our ‘Hearth’ today?
- Currently, I find there are too many articles and news alerts which tempt me to read – and take my attention away from subjects I really want to know about. Here is a sampling from last week, examples of articles which came to my screens from out of nowhere, which could have taken my eyes off the “home-fires”: “See Famous People You Did Not Know Were Poor Or Homeless”, “See Child Stars – Then & Now”, “A Salamander In Eastern Europe Did Not Move In Seven Years” (It moved the other day), “Why Some Are Allergic To Male Dogs Only”, “Why Penguins Do Not Live In The South Pole”, “Does Tossing Pizza Dough Make Better Pizza?”, “A Dentist Filmed Himself Extracting A Tooth While On A Hover-board”… (I clicked on the Pizza tossing story, I’ll admit.) Are we entertained to a fare-thee well? Are we frivolous? Am I? Is anybody “In The Know” anymore? Were they ever?
- And then, on top of the countless weekly articles, there is “Fake News” – and it is almost impossible to distinguish the fake from the real…and it is hard trying to figure all this out – and the community is splintered up reading and viewing thousands of stories, articles, opinions, lies, truths. Most everybody choosing to take in only what they want. There is no ‘Hearth’ – and the Rome of today is falling apart. Nobody can agree on the important stuff and the child star of yesterday is unrecognizable. If I click on the enticing Pizza article, does some program somewhere know I clicked and then send me ads for the rest of my life related to pizza dough?
Go out there, and enjoy.
“Troubles in the Garden”, update continued: At last, our hero, The Bluebird of Happiness, has found his love, Mamzelle Pinkie, and is ready to swoop her up and out of the Olive Man’s den of Gluttony. Mamzelle Pinkie feels safe and is happy to be with our hero. But WAIT! Is that Jack the Rich and Aging Prince? (At the lower right.) Did he find a worm-hole, too? Is he still in amorous pursuit of our Mamzelle Pinkie? And will he cause problems for our Duo? (See next week’s action!)
