Lawrence R. Spencer's Blog, page 123
December 3, 2021
NIRVANA
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A hexagram (Greek) or sexagram (Latin) is a six-pointed geometric star figure . It is the compound of two equilateral triangles. The intersection is a regular hexagon.The hexagram is a mandala symbol called satkona yantra found on ancient South Indian Hindu temples. It symbolizes the nara-narayana, or perfect meditative state of balance achieved between Man and God, and if maintained, results in “moksha,” or “nirvana” (release from the bounds of the earthly world and its material trappings).
In Indian religions moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष mokṣa; liberation) or mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति; release —both from the root muc “to let loose, let go”) is the final extrication of the soul or consciousness (purusha) from samsara and the bringing to an end of all the suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and rebirth (reincarnation). — Ref: Wikipedia.org
(Art by Lily A. Seildel. Copyright 2011.)
December 2, 2021
Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek EVER
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THIS IS THE FIRST PAGE OF A VERY EXCELLENT ON-LINE “COMIC BOOK” ABOUT NIKOLA TESLA. READ THE ENTIRE THING HERE: Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived – The Oatmeal
Additional notes from the author:
If you want to learn more about Tesla, I highly recommend reading Tesla: Man Out of TimeAlso, this Badass of the week by Ben Thompson is what originally inspired me to write a comic about Tesla. Ben’s also got a book out which is packed full of awesome.There’s an old movie from the 80s on Netflix Instant Queue right now about Tesla: The Secret of Nikola Tesla. It’s corny and full of bad acting, but it paints a fairly accurate depiction of his life.The drunk history of Tesla is quite awesome, too.X-rays: just to clarify, Tesla did not discover x-rays, but he was one of the early pioneers in its research.Cryogenic engineering: I’m referring to the cryogenic engineering that has to do with using liquified air to cool a coil and reduce its electrical resistance (Patent No. 11,865), not freezing people and waking them up in the future so they can fight Wesley Snipes.Transistor: Tesla’s influence on the modern transistor can be found in patents 723,188 and 725,605. (a better explanation here)Radio: Tesla was the nicest geek ever until he decided to sue Marconi a few years later. 8 months after Tesla died, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Marconi’s patents on the invention of radio. So Tesla eventually won that battle, although he was dead by then.Tesla VS Edison: I could write a novel on the differences between Tesla and Edison, but seeing as how this comic is already huge I decided to leave many things out. For instance, Edison killed cats and dogs, but Tesla loved animals and had a cat as a child. Originally Tesla wanted to be a poet, but after getting zapped by static electricity from his kitty he was inspired to study the effects of electricity. One could vaguely construe that Tesla’s cat was responsible for the second industrial revolution, which arguably makes it the most awesome cat who ever lived.Edison believed that fossil fuels were the future and that there were enough resources in South America to provide for the next 50,000 years. Tesla believed that renewable energy sources like hydroelectric, solar, and wind power were the future. This is remarkable because in the 1890s there was no such thing as “going green,” so Tesla’s ideas on conservation were very forward-thinking at the time. (From OATMEAL)
BREAD OF LIFE
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“Much like Leonardo da Vinci, I worked intermittently on this single painting over a period of many years, never satisfied that it was finished, and continually improving upon the original. This painting is my personal Mona Lisa, my daughter, Maria. We had a live-in servant for many years, named Tanneke Everpoel, hired and paid by Maria Thins. She did all of the “heavy labor”, as it were: cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, carrying water, tending fires, and a myriad other chores, including helping with the children. However, the expense of paying her wage and room did not include standing for endless hours, day after day, while I painted this portrait! My daughter, Maria, was lovelier and much more readily accessible for the task of standing for this portrait.
It is argued, convincingly, that the immortal painting by Leonard was his own self-portrait as his own, feminine reflection. What man, or woman, regardless of sexual preference in a given lifetime, has not inhabited the flesh of ten thousand bodies, some human, many not, through a nearly infinite cascade of galaxies, stars and planets come and gone. Is not survival a nearly infinite game, in which we interchange ourselves as the players of many parts?
Leonardo kept his portrait with him all his life. He never considered that it was complete or perfect. Nor did he ever intend to sell it. How could one sell a most cherished reflection of himself? It is more meaningful than one’s own body, which only disguises the inner self, the essence of spirit that animates the fragile flesh. In fact, a body hides the reflection of the soul! How can any substance, especially that as rude and fragile as meat, reveal the inherent qualities an immortal nothingness? Indeed, it is the fundamental challenge and the most formidable task of an artist to reveal it!
The name given to this painting by others, “The Milkmaid”, is a sacrilege! It rivals the incomprehension others have for Leonardo’s personal masterpiece. Yet, how can anyone truly understand that a painting is meant to reflect the essence of an immortal being, seen through the eyes of another?
She is painted with angelic colors: blue, gold and white, in contrast to the menial nature of her station in life. From her issues, for me, the Milk and Bread of Life. Life is embodied in her and through her. Women, are the source of children, the source of energy, the source of care. There is no more vital responsibility for any being who plays the game of life, than to confront dreary daily tasks. To humbly make the daily loaf. To soak that bread, mix and soften it with milk, make it warm and feed it to a teething child. Survival is made of such things.
In those days I viewed life as idyllic. My dreams were more real than reality. All things were a possibility. Tragedy could not find me. Until it did, of course. Even when we lost a child, which we did with several, my wife, Catharina, remained resolute in her Faith. God guided us. He did what was best. We knew not why and need not question His purpose for us.
I have no such faith in predetermination. A loaf of grain, clean water and a bed was my fare. Time and a place to paint, uninterrupted, were necessities. My love, shared with wife and family, was the staple diet of my life. I assumed, as a Fool who knows not his own mortality, that they would endure, even when I was gone.”
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Excerpt from the book VERMEER: PORTRAITS OF A LIFETIME, by Lawrence R. Spencer
DOWNLOAD THIS BOOK FROM
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/vermeer/id443800993?mt=11
December 1, 2021
FLASH GORDON in “Planet of Peril!” (1936) SATURDAY NIGHT SERIAL
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POP UP A BATCH OF POPCORN, KIDDIES, AND SNUGGLE UP ON THE SOFA TO WATCH ALL 13 EPISODES OF THE CLASSIC SCI-FI SERIAL filmed in 1936: FLASH GORDON (Starring Buster Crabb) encounter with the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless in “The Planet of Peril!” (Remember, this is 1936 when Hitler was rising to power in Fascist Germany and the world was in a economic depression caused by International Bankers. It was filmed BEFORE the discovery of “RADIOACTIVE ENERGY”, which is mentioned in the film! Another interesting line of dialogue from this film when the “Emperor of the Universe” his slave-bride to be brainwashed: “Science can overcome all things — even the human emotions.”
When I was a kid my Mom gave me 10 cents to go see the “Saturday Matinee” in my little town of 2,000 people. This was really cheap baby-sitting back then. 3 hours of freedom for my Mom and 3 hours of freedom for the kids! Every week the theater would show black and white “serials” and a cartoon (Bugs Bunny was my favorite) before the featured film started. Some of the “serials” I remember best were the Science Fiction ones, based on comic strips. There were two that I love the most: 1) Flash Gordon and 2) Commando Cody. There were other Western serials, like The Lone Ranger, and Hopalong Cassidy. But I loved science fiction the best, and still do to this day.This is one of the truly ground-breaking, creative productions of science fiction on film. If you haven’t seen Flash Gordon, you don’t know what REAL Science Fiction films is about. Enjoy, Citizens of Earth!!
(Learn more about FLASH GORDON here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Gordon )
November 30, 2021
November 29, 2021
EPHEMERAL MAN
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“Think continually how many doctors have died who often knit their brows over their dying patients, how many astrologers who had foretold the deaths of others as a matter of importance, how many philosophers who had discoursed at great length on death and immortality, how many heroic warriors who had killed many men, how many tyrants who had used their power over men’s lives with terrible brutality, as if immortal themselves. How often have no whole cities died, if I may use the phrase, Helike, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and innumerable others? Go over in your mind the dead whom you have known, one after the other: one paid the last rites to a friend and was himself laid out for burial by a third, who also died; and all in a short time. Altogether, human affairs must be regarded as ephemeral, and of little worth: yesterday sperm, tomorrow a mummy or ashes.”
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — 26 April 121 – 17 March 180 AD) was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus’ death in 169. He was the last of the Five Good Emperors, and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers.
During his reign, the Empire defeated a revitalized Parthian Empire in the East: Aurelius’ general Avidius Cassius sacked the capital Ctesiphon in 164. In central Europe, Aurelius fought the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians with success during the Marcomannic Wars, although the threat of the Germanic tribes began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was suppressed immediately.
Marcus Aurelius’ Stoic tome Meditations, written in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration.
IN MAMMARIES WE TRUST
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If you were born as a mammal, as many humans are, you were immediately attracted to mammary glands, and probably still are…
PROTEST SHIT
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