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The Lost Axe

Once upon a time there was a craftsman who lost his Axe. He thought hard, and finally suspected his neighbor of stealing it. When he saw his neighbor walking, he thought that he walked like an Axe thief. When he meet his neighbor, the others countenance was just like that of an Axe thief, and when he saw him in conversation with others, he even talked like an Axe thief.

Not long afterward, the craftsman found his Axe where he had mislaid it. Strangely enough, from that time on, his neighbor ceased to walk, look and talk like an Axe Thief.

Reference:A Taoist Miscellany p. 67

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Shake that Bird!

I received this video from Olaf with this remark: “for me, this is evidence for musicality and ego (wait for the end!) in certain other species…” This parrot sings for itself. I would like to know of similar cases of animal musical disorder! And here is the original longer version with our new born star:

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Learning is Not the Path

Nansen said: “Mind is not Buddha. Learning is not the path.”

Mumon’s comment: Nansen was getting old and forgot to be ashamed. He spoke out with bad breath and exposed the scandal of his own home. However, there are a few who appreciate his kindness.

When the sky is clear the sun appears,
When the earth is parched rain will fall.
He opened his heart fully and spoke out,
But it was useless to talk to pigs and fish.

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Doctor Strangelove Now or Never

Stanley Kubrick’s sensational and hilarious dark satire “Doctor Strangelove” from 1964 with Peter Sellers shaping three protagonists in a nuclear race of “hot war” against the Russians is still relevant with all the war maniacs around today in 2006; people (leaders of countries) who really think and thoroughly believe that they can solve the problems of the world with the instrument of war.

Here are some quotes from the “War Room” with the Cabinet of maniacs including the US President on the usage of the Doomsday weapon against the Russkies:

[Strangelove admits that he investigated making such a machine]
Dr. Strangelove: Based on the findings of the report, my conclusion was that this idea was not a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious.

Dr. Strangelove: Sir! I have a plan!
[standing up from his wheelchair]
Dr. Strangelove: Mein Führer! I can walk!

Dr. Strangelove: It is not only possible, it is essential.

[Strangelove’s plan for post-nuclear war survival involves living underground with a 10:1 female-to-male ratio]

Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious… service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

Dr. Strangelove: Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn’t you tell the world, EH?

Dr. Strangelove: It would not be difficult, Mein Fuhrer. Nuclear reactors could easily provide power for several… Im sorry, Mr. President…

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb imdb.com

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Todays Quote

Nuclear powered vacuuum cleaners will probably be a reality within 10 years.
— Alex Lewyt (President of the Lewyt Corporation,
manufacturers of vacuum cleaners), quoted in The New York
Times, June 10, 1955.

This morning when I opened my terminal on my local computer a new tcsh shell popped up with this strange thought provoking cookie! “Fortune” is a well known little nifty Unix app that servers the cookies. You can find fortune cookie files all over the net. And you can easily write your own cookie files with your own profound sentences and make them into .dat files with “Strfile” that is readable with “Fortune”. Take a look at the man fortune and man strfile. Unfortunately not all Unix systems today comes with the fortune app out the box – but then go and hunt for it!

Btw I found some profound quotes at the goblogua yesterday that I have compiled into a goblogua.zip file for download for use with the Fortune app (Right click to download – both files are used and remember to leave the .dat part out i.e. just Fortune goblogua ).