Wastin’ Time                                   

The kongoboken site is part Obituary. I anguished for a week over that notion. I welcome it now. It shouldn’t stop the process (just added that last word b/c of the double ss).

But here’s one good result of my weeklong muteness: a new Dad Quote or Life Quote or something of Cosmic significance – became manifested.

Life is a series of daily improvisations. The secret is showing up.

Yes, you can successfully argue the there is way too much Woody Allen in there, it is nevertheless true – very true. Ponder it for a moment – maybe over the next cigarette (I can only wish).

Along the way to that revelation, I discovered (or maybe re-discovered) the fact that I am a “sittin on the dock of the bay” type guy. You know, the kind of guy that likes to watch the tide come in or vice versa. My mother would say “You’re Laaxxey”. She had away about saying it, well… shrieking is more appropriate, that would pierce a tonal wave in my inner ear and I could only see her lips moving – no sounds. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Otis wrote most of Sittin by the Dock of the Bay, sittin on a friend’s houseboat in Sausalito CA in 1965. He’d moved from Georgia and was working hard to break into the music industry with little to show. The song was almost finished in Memphis. Otis said he’d replace the whistling with lyrics at a later date. That later date never happened. Otis Redding died in a plane crash three weeks later. The whistling is still there. He was 26 years old. To be cut short so soon – one can only wonder at the amount of time Otis could have wasted had he lived.

Otis Redding – Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay – YouTube

Pee Wee Herman

died, and a little voice said, “you should write something about Pee Wee Herman”. I haven’t written a thing since. What am I? An obituary site? Maybe I am and maybe I’ve got to feed the little voice lest I go mute. So here goes:

Paul Reubens was an actor best remembered for his Pee Wee Herman character. He played a Pinocchio clad stick-like boy with a high voice and a higher “HaHa” laugh that became his trademark soundbite. Pee Wee wasn’t in the right cosmic time slot for me – I grew up with the Soupy Sales Lunch Hour; so I’ve always sided with the White Fang/Black Tooth fanbase. Pee Wee was competing with Eddie Murphy’s Gumby on SNL in my stoner days.

Pee Wee had another chance to entertain my son with some Movies but couldn’t compete with Transformers and Diablo and Harry Potter. Paul Reubens made a good living and fought his demons and was more successful than many. I would have had him over for dinner for sure. Soupy? I’m not so sure. Officer Joe Bolton? NAAAAA.

Confessions: The Early Years 1 

My parents knew absolutely nothing about raising children. In fact, they sucked at it. I had a toothbrush and toothpaste, but the emphasis was more on not dropping the toothpaste tube top down the bathroom sink drain. I lost my front teeth to decay by 6^th grade. The Grammer school had to call my parents to suggest I have my eyes examined. I’ll NEVER forget the first time I put glasses on. The world EXPLODED in my face; things sparkled! It was unbelievable. I remember as an adult telling my parents: “If you guys ever win the Lottery, I’ll be suing your ass for child abuse.”

I cannot remember if I ever told my parents I loved them. I’d like to think I did, but I cannot for the life of me specifically remember saying “it”. I say it now to my lovely wife and son and my brother. It’s not like I CAN’T say it, its maybe they never said it to me. We were not an “I Love You” type family. But I knew I was loved when I saw my mother’s lovely smile whenever I did something good or got dressed nice. My father – not so much. But I believed. It’s not like I had any comparisons.

2024 President Camp-pain Observations   Part 1                 

It’s good to see Megyn Kelly back interviewing even if it’s not mainstream. I can understand, she’s a handful and most Suit-run Organizations want nothing to do with a real Woman who has opinions and acts like a Man. But she knows that the siren call of Donald J Trump sitting across is both titillating and frightening, AND her destiny! I’ll be watching.

I love Donald Trump because he pisses off all the people I can’t stand.  (Kudos to

@Sassychickie). That and the fact that I believe he did a great job as President. Let me re-phrase that: I believe I was better off under Donald Trump’s leadership. Clear enough?

Nikki Haley is smart and has experience beyond her years. I have this secret notion that a Trump/Haley ticket for 2024 will pretty much guarantee a 12 year run for the GOP (Grand Old Party). I don’t mention it for fear of jinxing it.

Ratso Rizzo (Midnight Cowboy) is how I would describe the rest of the potential candidate pool for President. Most are career politicians who have never worked a day in their lives and only know public speaking. Am I broad-stroking ALL the remaining candidates? Yep, but I used no cuss words! Which wasn’t easy! It is a shame that a country of 300 plus million can only come up with a few old white men, a fake Indian and a giggling idiot to potentially run the country. Tch Tch Tch.

Kathie Browne 

Born on September 19, 1929,  passed away on April 8, 2003. During Kathie Browne’s time in the entertainment industry, it was rumored that TV shows were only produced by the three major networks to give Kathie something to guest star in each week.

Kathie was a beautiful and innocent character who audiences never tired of seeing. She had an almost anime-like quality to her, and her charm and charisma kept viewers coming back for more. In fact, she was such a popular guest star that she appeared on Perry Mason four times and the Love Boat twice!

Of course, the Star Trek guys had her striped down to almost nothing for her TOS appearance. Bill Shatner had high praise for her. He said that she was one of the best kissers he had ever worked with. A comment I’m sure Kathie treasured her entire life. Kathie was married to Darren McGavin and yes, she guest stared in his 1974 series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. After Annette Funicello, Kathie was my second TV Star crush.

Random Thoughts 2:                

The Cubs, Svengoolie, Superdawg and Giordano’s on N Rush, that is Chicago to me. And of course, the Bean, Andy’s Jazz Club, the Navy Pier and bone chilling Lake winds. I’m glad I don’t have a reason to visit Chicago; because I’d hate to have to admit the danger of being killed or hurt outweigh the happiness of visiting my favorite places. That’s a shame. Fuck you, Lori Lightfoot.

Let’s face the facts: the world has not been the same since Tropic Thunder. The Gods cannot easily forget let alone forgive that level of sarcastic satire.

How did Kelly Anne Conway go from a “AAAAAHHHH!!”, to an attractive woman with some mileage showing (and of course there’s those 8 extra teeth!)

In the episode “The Dorcons” of the 1970s television series Space: 1999, we have the following dialogue:

CONSUL VARDA: “Commander, the Psychon will tell you how futile it is to resist us.”

PSYCHON: “Resistance is futile.” (With a grinning nod to Jeff Coopwood).

During the period 2012-2014 there were 1,098 deaths in New York City each year due to unintentional motor vehicle traffic-related injuries, That’s a fatality rate of 28 in 500,000. Just crossing the street! On October 8, 2017 the National Center for Health Statistics showed the fatality rate among bungee jumpers to be 1 in 500,000. Still think bungee jumping is dangerous?

An ominous silence has arisen from Cory Booker, the US Senate’s ruggedly handsome black Tony Curtis best known for immortalizing the fake off the cuff speech with his legendary Spartacus remarks on the Senate Floor during the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. Cory is rumored to be in serious talks with JAY-Z to allow a Booker / Beyonce marriage to be announced before the Democratic 2024 convention.

The Grand Canyon

 is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. I have visited the Canyon many times on many different modes of transportation. The Helicopter from Las Vegas is the best by far. In 1975, my first lovely wife S and I met B, a college roommate and his lovely wife C at Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim for a two-day hike down to the bottom of the Canyon. There are 2 types of people who hike the Grand Canyon: experienced hikers and fools. We 4 were in the latter category. We were also young. There were sighs all over the park warning of the dangers of hiking in the Canyon. There were large lettered notices stating if the Park Service had to dispatch a rescue ‘copter the cost would be $50 per minute!

We took the Bright Angel Trail. It took 6 hours of walking to reach the bottom. Along the way we met a mule team or 2 and had to wait while they passed us. Sweaty tourists hanging on for dear life. It seems all the mules like to pee at chosen spots because occasionally we’d come across a wet area that smelled of uric acid so bad that I started to LIKE the odor ( I think I was heat stroke). It was 105 degrees F at the bottom. We could have stayed in a cabin at the Phantom Ranch if we had made reservations 18 months ahead of time. Instead we all slept on the ground on sheets we’d borrowed from our hotel rooms back in the real world “up top”. The ranch is located at 36°06′18″N 112°05′40″W.

Next morning we filled our water jugs and started up. About 5 hours later when we were maybe half way up I started to mentally calculate how much cash I had and how many minutes I thought it would take for a helicopter to come to rescue me. Somehow we made it. A shower and clean clothes and the whole ordeal started to become “great vacation story” and not “a terrible nightmare”. To this day though – I still have a fond olfactory memory of uric acid.

B relaxing on a break. KB calculating…..

August 1, 1965

Death can bring either of two things, I, at this writing sincerely believe. The first is or will be a state of nothing-ness; the brain will cease to function and with it all reason, understanding, perception, in short – everything will cease to be. There will be no pain, in fact, one might say the only pain involved in death is the dying or that state of “before death” which we must go through. If this first belief is true then death can be considered as an end to all for the person involved.

The next or second of my beliefs is in direct opposition to the first. It is that after death, while all bodily functions cease to be, the intellect will continue; the ego of the departed person will not die but will merely be transported by death to a “second existence”. Something analogous to the fifth dimension. Here, the intellect will continue to exist only without material; indeed, maybe it will even develop a protective shell around it and slowly assume a new body. This last suggestion I do not entirely agree with. My idea is of a free roving pure intelligence – not hindered by a body with specific needs.

But what will be the advantages of this “second existence”? Perhaps my body-bound reasoning cannot imagine at this time just what will be attained. Whatever will come of it is not of prime importance; but history shows that the mere idea of “second existence” has prevailed down through the ages promising an after life of some sort; this shows that man needs something to look forward to. Some reward to receive after death. The subject of complete nothing-ness is shunned by all men because they can’t imagine themselves just ceasing to be.. This last fact might have laid the foundations for the first religions founded by men.

Indeed, here we have arrived at the very basic need for any religion. At this moment, however, I wish to avoid going into the delicate issues of religion as involves God or gods until I believe myself able to answer these questions without having conscience pangs after.

(note: I was 14 years old. KB)

A Book in a Few Words (A kongoboken service to save you the time…)

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements is a non-fiction book authored by the American social philosopher Eric Hoffer. Published in 1951, it tries to explain why mass movements arise to challenge the status quo.

In a Few Words: The dis-enfranchised and the “New Poor” are the most likely source of converts for mass movements. A variety of what Hoffer terms “misfits” are also found in mass movements. Examples include “chronically bored”, the physically disabled or perpetually ill, the talentless, and criminals or “sinners”. In all cases, Hoffer argues, these people feel as if their individual lives are meaningless and worthless.

The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World is a book by Pedro Domingos released in 2015. Domingos wrote the book to generate interest from people outside the field of AI.

In a Few Words: Nothing to see here. Move along, please.

The Bible: is a collection of religious texts or scriptures, some of which, are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthology, a compilation of texts, originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. 

In a Few Words: There is a God and God created everything. When God was finished creating everything, God made Man and then God made Woman. God only made two genders. God mostly loves all God’s creations. God knows the end story but isn’t telling. Be nice (just in case).

Toys:

The first PC based video game I was obsessed with was called Starflight; it was described as a space exploration, combat and trading role-playing game created by Binary Systems and Published by Electronic Arts in 1986. That was followed by Wing Commander 1&2 and a short dalliance in Fantasy with King’s Quest. My son’s early years were taken with Doom, Wolfenstein, Duke Nukem the early Star Wars, of course. Then J went down the KOTOR and Diablo and then WOW path and I went the Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout ,Mass Effect, Far Cry path. I still have fond memories of herbing in Oblivion and that soothing music. Ahhhhh!

Ironically, it’s possible the last video game I will be obsessed with will be called Starfield and released by The Oblivion people and is indeed dubbed “Oblivion in Space”. Suits me to a Tee. BTW the new Starfield game has been described as a space exploration, combat and trading role-playing game. Happens to be one of my few skills (and I love the irony).

Speaking of BTW: my Nana had a sock monkey for as long as I can remember. I’m pretty sure it was her only toy. I know this because she’d tell me I could play with her monkey but had to give it back because when I wasn’t there, she would play with it. I called her monkey Rags. Nana called her monkey, My Monkey. When my son was collecting a mountain of stuffed animals, I’d think of buying him a sock monkey. I always deferred; some memories should be left in their time.