Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year!!

Pierre Cloutier

Last Thoughts of the Year 2014

 

 

Well I'm glad this year is over and a new one is beginning.

 

Pierre Cloutier

Garden June 2013

Just some Garden pics of my garden from the late spring / early summer as we head into winter.

Spring Fever

I just spent the day, (March 29, 2013) outside doing garden work. It was today a rather nice bright spring day. There was virtually no snow left and plants were beginning to peep out from the ground. All in all a pleasant day to do out door work.

June Garden

Just some pics of the Garden taken in June of this year.

Why?

Blank

There is an old joke / urban legend that circulates among students and faculty in North American Universities and it goes as follows.

More Garden Pics

Here are some pictures of my garden that I took in June of this year.

A Thing of Beauty

is a Wonder to Behold

Snow Leopards

Below are some pictures and a few paintings of an animal that is so beautiful and handsome has to be magical. I have found that just looking at these wonderful pictures of this animal restores my spirits, soothes the soul and restores my peace of mind. Just when you think the world is truly terrible place with so much ugliness it is good to know that there is this almost unearthly creature on it. In some respects contemplating this creature is better than prozac.

Perhaps some other time I will talk about this creature some more. Right now however just look at these pictures and be awed.

200

Well this is my 200th posting and I thought I would entertain my many fans(?) With some of my thoughts about why I’m doing this.

Pictures of the Garden in Winter

January 2011

Pierre Cloutier

Trip to New York

I am in New York right now and have been here since May 4, 2010. I am coming back to Toronto tomorrow, May 11, 2010.

While in New york I saw various museums. More specifically I saw The Museum of modern Art, the Met and the Museum of nature. I have plenty of pics some of which I will post here.

One thing I have found out is that TV and movies give a very poor idea of what New York is really like. The city is a god deal safer and less violent tan media would lead you to believe.

Well that is all for now. It is late and I am tired, so more later.

Pierre Cloutier

A Play fragment
Andromache and Hector

The following is a prologue soliloquy from a play I've been writing off and on for the last year or so. The play is inspired by Greek myth and concerns, in part, the fate of Andromache wife of the Trojan hero Hector after the sack of Troy (Ilium). The other part is the fate of the cursed House of Atreus, in this case Agamemnon and his children Orestes and his sisters Electra and Chrysothemis.

I have taken many liberties with the material, but I have I hope remained respectful of the material and the Ancient Greek concepts that underpinned their mythological traditions.

(It is winter in Epirus. The setting is the audience hall of the Royal palace. The Throne, on a dais of two steps, is in the centre back. The throne is polished dark wood with a crimson cloak draped over one of its arms. In front to the right is a long table with simple seats with no backs, were the Royal councillors sit. It is late at night and except for several torches burning the room is dark. Sitting at the table unable to sleep and lost in thought is Andromache. She is Queen of Epirus, called also Molossia and its people Molossians. In the back hedged by black curtains is a large window through which can be dimly seen mountains covered with snow. It is cold and Andromache, wearing a white full length tunic has covered her head and shoulders with a shawl.)

(Raising her head)

Andromache:

The wind moves down from the mountains into this room and I shiver from it. One might think that being Queen I would at least be warm. For is it not by my word that men live or die? But how that is or better came to be is a story. How did Andromache daughter of (unknown), dweller of well-walled Ilium and wife of Hector, tamer of horses end up here in this wintry mountain land far away from the Scamander’s meanderings? How did I become undisputed mistress of Epirus, Queen of the Molossians? Here my word is law and my commands obeyed. Yet once I was simply Hector’s wife, with just the household slaves and servants to command, not, armies, fleets. A whole kingdom!! If I could, I would undo all this and again be Hector’s wife. Then I was happy, but happiness is hubris, which the Gods do punish. For to call oneself, or any man happy is to tempt the providence of the Gods and earn their wrath. Call no one happy until they are cold and buried.

So what is the story of my fate?

My fate was cursed by Helen and Paris. Did not Paris return after being cast away by his parents to die, for prophecy said he would destroy Ilium. But die he did not and when he returned out of love and guilt his parents took him back glad that their infanticide had failed. Loving my own children I blame Priam and Hecuba neither for the fear that made them cast out Paris nor the love with which they embraced him upon his return. But like a scorpion he betrayed them. Knowing the prophecy he insisted on fulfilling it. Instead of being mild and meek, he boldly embraced his desires and destroyed us all.

His partner in this madness was Helen. As beautiful as the mountains and has pitiless! Paris conceived a reckless passion for her and she for him. Helen was married to Menelaus. Who by marrying her had become King of un-walled Sparta. So rather than say goodbye to Helen and her aching loins, which no man could ever satisfy, Menelaus was compelled in order to remain King of Sparta to get her back. He called upon his brother, the vile and blood-splattered Agamemnon, husband by force and murder of Clytaemnestra sister of Helen, King of rich in gold Mycenae, to help him. Now Agamemnon was high King of the Greeks and so he called his vassals to his side at Aulis and from there they sailed to Troy.

There for 10 long years they besieged Ilium. Not all their bravery or power could break the will of Ilium. My husband Hector, son of Priam led the Trojans. For all their Achilles, Ajaxes and Odysseuses, and so forth, none could match my Hector in valour and none could defeat him. Then Achilles, a man without pity or mercy by a trick defeated and slew my Hector and then tied his body to his chariot and drove round the walls of Ilium. How I wailed my grief that day! How I wished I was dead beside him! Priam by gold got Hector’s body from Achilles, having abjected himself before his son’s murderer.

Impious Achilles was shortly after slain by Paris, who killed him by poison in manner Achilles well deserved. Paris was shortly slain also thus not living to see Troy’s black fate, dying in pain and disgrace. The fruits of his selfish, heedless desires, disdainful of law or honour!

Black-hearted Odysseus, no stranger to lying and treachery, then devised a piece of deception to breach Ilium’s walls. Which stood un-breached despite Hector’s fall. If valour will not work, there is always deception.

I will not repeat the story of the Wooden Horse. How it was pulled into Troy. How that night the Greeks concealed within opened Troy’s gates and the Greeks, who had seemed to leave returned and entered.

Shall I describe the horrors of that night? How Priam, a helpless aged supplicant was murdered clinging to Zeus’ alter. That night the temples were sacrilegiously sacked. In that night my sister by marriage prophecy intoxicated Cassandra, whose virginity was consecrated to the God Apollo, was taken by Agamemnon, right in Apollo’s temple, on the alter. There he enjoyed her in defiance of the God and all justice. Stifling her screams with his hands. Yes the outrages, murders, rapes, impious, acts were never ending. Thus in their victory did the Greeks defy both Man’s and the God’s justice.

But what I remember the most is the day that followed. Pain so great that I did not know I could bear it. The Greeks in council decided that Asytanax, my son and Hector’s should die least he live and grow and rebuilt Ilium and avenge her wrongs. Odysseus, seconded by Agamemnon urged this terrible horror upon the Greeks. With some reluctance the Greeks shed the last of justice and honour and agreed. Only Neoptolemos son of Achilles, and Odysseus could do it. They climbed the ruined wall in order to throw my son into Elysium. At the last moment even those stone men hesitated, but urged by Agamemnon they threw my little one down to shatter on the ground.

I felt and saw nothing. Like a piece of wood I was insensible for hours, nay days. Like a fire in my soul I burned for seemly an eternity. Any parent who loses a child will feel such pain but how much worst is it when it is by man’s cruelty.

I was given to Neoptolemos, Achille’s son. A man hateful to me. Son of the murderer of Hector, and slayer of my son.

So I went with him to here called Epirus by the Greeks Molossia by the inhabitants. For they wanted a great warrior has their King, to unite the tribes and bring them prestige with the Greeks.

I had another child by Hector. Born before he died on the day in honour of Hestia, guardian of hearth and home. So I named her Hestia, although Hector called her also Hecuba in honour of his mother the Queen.

A slave named Kimon, unknowing to me, saved her by claiming the child to be his and her mother a fellow slave who had died. I thought her dead. After all if it was too dangerous to allow Asytanax to live, least he grow up to avenge Troy. Then it must follow that Hestia must die least she marry and have a male child that lives and avenges sacked Ilium.

By the Gods will Kimon was given to Neoptolemos, and since the Greeks could not be bothered with a girl child they allowed him to keep Hestia.

My joy was unbounded when I found that Hestia lived; yet I could not let the Greeks know she lived. Least my joy slay her, I kept the face and manner of a beaten captive.

So some years past in Molossia, with iron hearted Neoptolemos ruling with hatred and terror over the Molossians. They at first thought that his cruelties were just politics to make his rule secure and would once their purpose achieved be moderated. That was not to be for like his blood soaked father Neoptolemos kept death has his most favoured mistress and terror has his favourite councillor.

At this time Neoptolemos become besotted with me. Frankly I suppose because I hated him so and took but little effort to hide my endless hate. Thus he desired me because I would not yield to him.

Certainly he could have taken me by force, his servants holding me down while he satiated his lust. But that meant nothing to him, he wanted me willingly and totally. He wished to possess me utterly. Not just this slave’s body but her mind and soul has well.

He cast about how to do this. At length certain servants out of fear and or for favour told him of certain things I had said too and done with the slave child Hestia.

Neoptolemos seized Kimon and tortured him so savagely that Kimon’s wits left him. But Kimon said nothing, broken though he was. So much for the worthless taunts about “slave honour”. Kimon has more of it than virtually any “nobly” born man.

Leaving Kimon shattered in a dank dungeon. Neoptolemos, that ignoble man, took Hestia and put a dagger to her throat and threatened to kill her while I would be forced to watch until he knew the secret. The point of the dagger cut and red blood was flooding out when I shrieked. “Stop Stop!!! She is my daughter! Stop!!!”. I collapsed and was insensible for a day.

Hestia lived although I’m told it was by mere chance. Maybe but I suppose Neoptolemos’ threat to castrate and disembowel the Doctors and Nurses if she died played a part.

There was no mercy in Neoptolemos’ action for he intended to use my daughter has a weapon against me.

It came to past that once I had regained my senses Neoptolemos told me that has the price of my daughter’s life I must marry him and be an entirely devoted wife to him. Should I falter in this Hestia would die before my eyes. Thus far did Neoptolemos go in his infamous defiance of justice.

How could I do it! I hated him so. Sooner or later I would show the hate I bore him and Hestia would die. Further how could I marry the man who murdered Asytanax!! Who also took part in the impious sacking of Troy? And was guilty of countless other pollutions and sacrilege.

The other Greeks were enraged upon learning that seed of Hector remained and pressured him to slay Hestia. Meanwhile Hermione daughter of Neoptolemos was furious concerning the marriage. For she was betrothed to Orestes the accursed, murderer of his mother, avenger of an ignoble, worthless father. Orestes with his friend Pylades came to Epirus and there they conspired with Hermione to slay Neoptolemos. For Orestes if he could not be king of Golden Mycenae, being banished from there, wanted kingship of Molossia, which he could only get by marrying Hermione and succeeding Neoptolemos has king. Both Orestes and Hermione were fearful that should I marry Neoptolemos I would have a son who would get the Kingship.

I was not aware of Orestes and Hermione’s plans. I instead sought to save Hestia by marrying Neoptolemos and then by the most frightful oaths bind him, upon everlasting torment in Tartarus and execration to the end of time among men, to protect Hestia. Then I would retire to my apartments and slay myself. Thus I would save Hestia.

The Greek pressure to murder Hestia grew so I agreed to marry Neoptolemos quickly. I further did not know that many of the Molossian Nobles hated Neoptolemos to such an extent that they too were conspiring to slay him. For both Noble and Commoner were groaning under him and cursed him. What was keeping them from acting was they could not decide what frightful form of torture to kill him by and who should be King after his well deserved murder. Some of the conspirators got wind of Orestes and Hermione’s plot and decided to let it happen and then move in if it either failed or succeeded. In one case to clean up the mess and ensure Orestes and Hermione did not become rulers of Epirus and in the other to ensure that Neoptolemos was indeed slain.

So the day came and with a false smile and acting happiness I went through the marriage ceremony, knowing not that Orestes and Pylades lay in wait to slay Neoptolemos after the ceremony.

After the ceremony and the Oaths for Hestia, I retired to my room supposedly to get ready for the bridal bed. Has I lay the knife to my wrist I saw. Priam and Hecuba appear.

They cried out “ Daughter No, Oh please daughter NO! NO!”

Then Cassandra appeared and cried out “In the name of Apollo Live sister!”

Hector than appeared behind me, holding me saying “Beloved wife please live on!”

Clutching the knife still I nerved myself to banish those cowardly daemons. But then dearest Asytanax appeared and said quietly “Mother! for my sake d’ont!”.

I dropped the knife and collapsed into a heap. Raging at my cowardice, weeping for my weakness. At length I heard dimly through the door and then louder and louder.

“All Hail Andromache Queen of the Molossians” over and over and over again, until the sound was deafening; until the very roof shook. Then the door opened.

Thrasybullus was at the door He hailed me has Queen between gritted teeth and knelled. For he was one of the conspirators and he secretly longed to be King himself. I was speechless and in a stupor. But enough! this story could last a eternity if I don’t end it.

To get to the end. Orestes and Pylades had murdered Neoptolemos in his chamber where they had laid in wait for him. Piercing him with their swords and laying him dead in his blood splattered bridegroom robe with his marriage garland festooned with his blood and brains. Word soon spread that Neoptolemos was dead by the hand of the cursed Orestes. Instead of hailing him has their hero and deliverer he was cursed has a matricide hated by the gods and all those associated with him similarly accursed. Since I was married to Neoptolemos and much pitied by the people for my miseries the cry arose that it was the God’s will that Neoptolemos die and I be Queen. Before the Conspirators could act the commons, called by the stupid the “mob”, had proclaimed me Queen. They dared not for fear of their lives go against the people and so they went along knowing that I would not be Queen long, or so they hoped. That hope was forestalled by the support the commons gave me through out the land, out of piety and the belief that my ruling was just. It certainly helped that the nobles realized that supporting me was the only alternative to a vicious civil war among many claimants.

So I was crowned, and Hestia proclaimed my heir to Epirus. It has been 10 years since then, 15 since Iluim was made a ruin. Despite the intrigues of Nobles and the alliances and conspiracies of the other Greek states who fear the reborn house of Priam, I am still Queen. The calamines and hatred of the Greeks have merely reinforced the peoples love for me and softened the Nobles antipathy to me. Thrasybullus is my chief Councillor and if I trust him not completely I trust him well enough. And if he still finds it hard to accept me has Queen he prefers it to virtually all other possibilities. Except him becoming King. However he knows he would not survive deposing me. So he stakes his and his families future on his son Creon marrying Hestia. A match I approve of given that Hestia likes Creon much and such a marriage would remove most of the remaining opposition to me and Hestia.

As for Orestes, Pylades and Hermione, they fled into exile still stirring up opposition on behalf of Hermione’s “rights”. Orestes still dreams of becoming king of Golden Mycenae. Electra, Orestes fellow matricide and sister, has married Pylades and has had two still born children. So the God’s curse follows them both.

A new alliance of Greek states is being formed against us. For the Greeks have recovered from the storms both natural and man made that decimated the Greeks upon their homecoming from desecrated Ilium and punished them for their damnable innumerable sins against justice. Fleets destroyed by storms, lands decimated by plague, civil war, family homicidal strife, murder, thievery, dishonour, exile, were their just reward for their “honourable” victory.

Thus did the Gods reward their self proclaimed champions.

But late I heard a secret message from Orestes saying he wishes to meet me so we can “act to our mutual benefit”, and requesting safe conduct for himself, Electra, and Pylades.

Against the advice of my council I have given Orestes what he wants. For I hope what he proposes will weaken if not break the alliance against Molossia that threatens us.

As for my happiness? I have little and it is mostly my daughter. But then I’m a wife again. For upon becoming Queen I freed Kimon, mad though he was, and then married him. My advisers were aghast!! Ha! Ha! I did it for three reasons. 1, I did not wish to have endless disputes and fighting over who would marry me. 2, Hestia already regarded Kimon has her father. 3, Mainly I married him because next to Hector and Priam, not excluding my own father, he is the most honourable man I have ever known. So marrying him was definitely the just and right thing to do.

Kimon is simply my consort and not King and I am pleased to say is now quite sane, most of the time anyway.

But soft I hear someone approaching.

Bibliography

Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth, v. 1 & 2, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MA, 1993.

Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths, Revised Edition, v. 1 & 2, Penguin Books, London, 1960.

Schwab, Gustav, Gods and Heroes: Myths and Epics of Ancient Greece, Pantheon Books, New York, 1946.

Aeschylus, The Oresteian Trilogy, Penguin Books, London, 1956. Contains the plays Agamemnon, The Choephori, (The Libation Bearers), The Eumenies, (The Furies), which I used.

Sophocles, Electra and Other Plays, Penguin Books, London, 1953. Contains Electra which I used.

Euripides, The Bacchae and other Plays, Second Edition, Penguin Books, London, 1973. Contains The Trojan Women which I used.

IBID, Orestes and Other Plays, 1972. Contains Orestes and Andromache which I used.

IBID. Medea / Hecabe / Electra / Heracles, 1963. Contains Electra, and Hecabe which I used.

Racine, Jean, Andromache and Other Plays, Penguin Books, London, 1967. Contains Andromache which I used.

Pierre Cloutier

Winter / Spring Blahs

Well Winter is over, officially that is, and has Winter’s go this one was very much a mouse. I shovelled very little and there was only one storm even remotely deserving the name blizzard.

Its been about a week since my last posting and I have really not found anything to excite my interest since then. I’ve been spending my time contemplating the sheer boredom of existence.

Voltaire said that the three terrors of existence were vice, crime and the worst of the lot BOREDOM!1 Certainly I can vouch for boredom being a truly suffocating entity.

What does this have to do with the Winter / Spring blahs? Well it simply is that this time of year as an inescapable quality of ennui and boredom. Just looking outside, the ground is brown, the trees are dead looking its either cold or cold and wet and everything looks like a corpse. It is depressing.

Just what does one do this time of year to alleviate the inexpressible boredom of this time of year? Soon is going to come that fuzzy feeling known as Spring Fever, that dazed feeling you get as the weather warms up and you begin to adjust to not being cooped up inside and to the increase in the amount of light streaming down each day.

So this period of mind numbing boredom is simply a prelude life bursting out all over. The grass will turn green, flowers will bloom, the trees will leaf, the air will warm up. The long death of Winter will end and the resurrection known as Spring will come.

It can’t come too soon for me.

1. Voltaire said it in Candide.

Pierre Cloutier

Reading List for a Young Friend I

A Early Book

The following list of books is a reading list for a friend of mine who asked me a few months ago for a list of books I could recommend that he read to help him develop as a writer and enlarge his mind and vision.

The following list is a list of books which I think will do that. The choices are mine and reflect my own personal preferences and prejudices. Have divided them into various area of interest such as Philosophy, Novels, History etc. although I vouch for the quality of my selections I do not by any stretch of the imagination claim that this list is comprehensive or complete. I have made an effort to avoid the more conventional choices.

Philosophy.

The Faith of a Heretic, (1962 C.E.) Walter Kaufmann. A book that outlines the importance of thinking outside the box.

The Analects, (6th century B.C.E.) Confucius. A rational approach to human life.

Ecce Homo, (1890 C.E.) Friedrich Nietzsche. Philosophy as the gateway to madness.

The Consolation of Philosophy, (c. 520 C.E.) Boethius. Basically an excellent summing up of classical philosophy.

Mo-zi, (c. 450 B. C.E.)Mo-zi. A clever argument that universal love is logical, practical, useful and in everyone’s self interest.

The Upanishads, (c. 1000 B.C.E – 200 C.E.) Anonymous. Philosophical documents at the fine line between philosophy and religion.

The Age of Reason, (c. 1800 C.E.) Thomas Paine. An effective polemic on the usefulness and primacy of Reason in Human life.

Discourse on Method, (c. 1650 C.E.) Descartes, How to know what to know.

Why I am not a Christian, (c. 1925 C.E.) Bertrand Russell. How reason can be comforting and supportive.

Fear and Trembling, (c. 1855 C.E.) Soren Kierkegaard. The foundation basis for all modern Existential thought.

Religion.

Popul Vuh, (c. 1000-1550 C.E.) Anonymous. The sacred book of the Quiche Maya an exploration into a very different religious mind set.

Tao Te Ching, (c. 600-300 B.C.E.) attributed to Lao Tzu. A Rorschach test of book you find in what you want to find in it to help you.

A Diatribe or Sermon concerning Free Will, Erasmus. A classic short account written in a humble spirit concerning God’s power and man’s freedom.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, (c. 1500-500 B.C.E.) Anonymous. An engaging look at a very different mindset.

Poetry.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, (c. 1200-1100 B.C.E.) attributed to Sin-liqe-unninni. One of the earliest of the great works of literature and its focus is on death.

The Homeric Hymns, (c. 800-400 B.C.E.) Anonymous. A view of the ancient Greeks.

The Gods, (c. 1980 C.E.) Dennis Lee. Interesting poems about what “really” matters.

The Circle Game, (1966 C.E.) Margaret Atwood. Very good poems.

Spice Box of Earth, (c. 1955 C.E.) Leonard Cohen. Classical Leonard Cohen.

The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster, (1968 C.E.) Richard Brautigan. Very good and a great deal of fun.

The Poetry of Li-Po, (c. 700-800 C.E.) Li Po. Excellent poetry by a man who lived for the good times.

Poems, (1st century B.C.E.) Catullus. A collection of excellent poems about love and loss.

Poems, (late 19th early 20th century) Rabindranath Tagore. Jewel like poems.

The Cursed Poets, (late 19th Century) Paul Verlaine et al. Poetry as a way of challenging societies precepts.

Flowers of Evil, (1857 C.E.) Charles Baudelaire. Pushing the envelope with some purpose.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, (c. 1100 C.E.) Omar Khayyam. Crystal clear poetry about the fleeting nature of life.

The New Life, (c. 1300 C.E.) Dante, Romantic poem about poetry and romance.

The Waste Land, T. S. Eliot. A caustic view of modern life.

Novels.

Lady Susan, (c. 1792 C.E.) Jane Austen. Austen being nasty; really nasty!!

Grendel, (1971 C.E.) John Gardner. Beowulf from the monster’s point of view.

The Source, (1962 C.E.) James Michener. Not a great novelist or a great novel by a long shot however the section called The Law is deeply human and moving.

The Ten Peg, (1978 C.E.) Aritha van Herk. A biblical story retold and transformed.

I Claudius, (1934 C.E.) &

Claudius the God, (1934), Robert Graves. Perhaps the best English historical novels of the twentieth century.

Gulliver’s Travels, (1727 C.E.) Jonathan Swift. A lacerating satire by a man who loved people but hated mankind.

I the Supreme, (1986 C.E.) Augusto Roa Bastos. A novel about political madness.

Hard Times, (c. 1855 C.E.) Charles Dickens. Dickens under control is excellent.

The Sorrows of Young Werther, (c. 1785 C.E.)Goethe. Life sucks when your young and in love with a married woman.

Funeral Games, Mary Renault. The aftermath of Alexander the Great's death was pretty dramatic.

The Tale of Genji, (c. 1020 C.E.) Lady Murasaki Shikibu. Probably the worlds first true novel.

The Story of the Stone, also called The Dream of the Red Chamber, (18th Century C.E.) Cao Xueqin and Gao E. Rise and fall of a Chinese Mandarin family. The great masterpiece of Chinese prose writing.

The Carpetbaggers, (1965 C.E.) Harold Robbins. Probably the worst English language novel of the twentieth century should be read to find out how NOT to write.

Life Before Man, (1978 C.E.) Margaret Atwood. Yep a novel that faces up to the fact the human race could become extinct.

The Temptations of Big Bear, (1972 C.E.) Ruby Wiebe. A look at another point of view.

Beautiful Losers, (1966 C.E.) Leonard Cohen. A look about how nasty we can be and how beautiful we can be.

The Idiot, (1869) &

The Brothers Karamazov, (1881) Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Brilliant insights into the human condition and of course The Brothers Karamazov brought us the story of the Grand Inquisitor.

Against Nature, (1884 C.E.) J. K. Husymans. A very strange novel about a very strange man.

Live from Golgotha, (c. 1992 C.E.) Gore Vidal. Bizarre and very funny.

The Master and Margarita, (written in the 1930’s C.E.) Mikhail Bulgakov. Probably the supreme magic realism novel.

As for Me and My House, (1941 C.E.) Sinclair Ross. A novel about how loves blinds and enables one to see.

The Tin Drum, (1964 C.E.) Gunter Grass. A brilliant parody of twentieth century Germany.

Science Fiction.

Foundation Trilogy, (1950-1953 C.E.) &

I Robot, (1951 C.E.) Isaac Asimov. Some of the Best Science Fiction ever.

We, (1921 C.E.) Yevgeny Zamyatin. The first great dystopian novel.

The Last Man on Earth, (1830 C.E.) Mary Shelly. Little read today and yet has had enormous influence on the end of the world novel.

A Boy and his Dog, (1969 C.E.) Harlan Ellison. Profoundly unsettling and funny.

Ape and Essence, (1948 C.E.) Aldous Huxley. A hate letter to the human race with a hopeful ending.

The War of the Worlds, (1898 C.E.) H. G. Wells. The baseline for the alien invasion story.

The Dispossessed, (1974 C.E.) Ursula Le Guin. A novel about the interaction between a Utopian world and a non Utopian world. The subtitle says it all “An Ambiguous Utopia”.

Lest Darkness Fall, (1939 C.E.) L. Sprague de Camp. A time travel story that involves changing history; much imitated but not improved upon.

Paris in the mid Twentieth Century, (c. 1855 C.E.) Jules Verne. An almost incredibly accurate prediction of what life would be like in the late twentieth century written in the mid 19th.

Two Misc. items.

The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh, (1876-1890 C.E.). The letter of Vincent to his brother Theo, moving, and a brilliant insight into the mind of an artist.

The 120 Days of Sodom, (c. 1785 C.E.) Marquis de Sade. Not for the squeamish or delicate of stomach but definitely a frightening portrayal of evil.

That is it for the time being later on I may add to the list.

Pierre Cloutier

Slant Sayings

Moose greets Cat? Or is it Cat greets Moose?
Here are just a few of my favorite twisted sayings.

Whats mine is mine and whats everyone else's is mine also.

Do unto others before they do unto you.1

Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until next week.2

May the Lord have mercy on you because I will not!.3

The greatest thing since sliced bread.4

A rolling stone goes nowhere fast.

Sex without love is an empty experience but as empty experiences go it is one of the best!5

Murphy said “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”. Murphy was an optimist!6

Canada could have had American technology, British government and French culture, instead Canada got British technology, French government and American Culture.7

Always tell the truth unless a lie is more convenient.

The only Christian died on the Cross.8

Putting others ahead of yourself is a sure way to get ahead.

Other people’s deaths are always worth while if you personally benefit.

With royalty lay on flattery with a trowel.9

To everything there is a season and that includes getting herpes.

Always remember that a man will sooner forgive the murder of his father and / or mother than the theft of his property.10

Government – Hands off my Medicare!!11

God save the Queen she ain’t no human being.12

There is no there there!13

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice macrame.

I used to miss him but my aim is improving.14

Before you blow kneel first.

I saw, I conquered, I came!

Blessed are the cheese makers.15

I may not be Mr. Right but I am Mr. Right now!

You can’t escape death, taxes and running out of toilet paper.

Never let your moral sense prevent you from doing what is right.16

Those are just some of my favourite slant sayings. Some are my own, or at least I think they are others are from things I’ve read and heard.

1. No idea where I got that one from although it definitely is not something I thought up.

2. IBID.

3. IBID.

4. My own perverse variation of “The greatest invention since white bread”.

5. Woody Allen of course.

6. A known variation of Murphy’s Law.

7. A common Canadian joke.

8. From the German philosopher Nietzsche.

9. From the British politician Disraeli.

10. From the Philosopher Machiavelli.

11. From a Teabaggers rally.

12. From the Sex Pistols song.

13. Attributed to the American Writer Gertrude Stein.

14. Title of a self-help book.

15. From the Film The Life of Brian.

16. From Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy.

Pierre Cloutier

The Beard

One of the most interesting sexual differences between the sexes is the male ability to grow beards. Of course the ability to grow a beard varies from person to person and among some groups of people male facial hair is sparse or nearly nonexistent. But generally most of the world’s men have facial hair and this has given rise to a whole host of attitudes and reactions.

Just why for example most men can grow some sort of beard is a bit of am mystery; after all it certainly is not to keep our faces warm or to shield them from the sun. The most likely explanation is that the trait is linked to sexual selection in some manner.

For example it is possible that in the past women selected as mates men who had the most impressive amount of facial hair linking the beard with some sort of proof virility and ability to be a good mate. Possibly it was linked to making the male look more threatening by making his jaw and chin look larger. There is some evidence that facial hair does in fact make men look more threatening and in control.

Certain studies have for example indicated that beards make men look more authoritative and serious. Certainly from talking to younger men who look babyish; that they have told me they are taken more seriously if they have a beard.1

However Beards have often taken on a negative quality. It is of interest that much of the time the popular media associates beards with letting yourself go, and having difficulties. Further beards are often associated with being unclean and dirty.2

Exactly why this phobia emerged is of interest and why the tidal shifts of beards being in fashion and then not in fashion occur. However the horror against beards in the West has a long history.3

An example of the phobia against beards is the rather absurd example of Joseph Palmer, (1791-1875 C.E.). Now Mr. Palmer was a bit of a celebrity, abolitionist and all round did not take shit from anyone character. Not a great deal is known about his early life. He was a veteran of the war of 1812 and he was a farmer who had a small farm near the town of Fitchburg Massachusetts. Mr. Palmer was married and had a son. And sometime during his life he grew a truly magnificent set of whiskers. When in 1830 he moved to Fichburg he had a truly Patriarchal beard.4

Joseph Palmer’s Tombstone

Why he grew it and when for the first, (and last) time is not known, however what is unpleasantly known is the truly disgusting way in which his neighbours reacted.

Now this time period was one in which virtually the entire male population of the USA, with again virtually no exceptions was clean shaven and like far too many communities Fichburg was very intolerant of anyone who was “different”. The result was that Mr. Palmer was subjected to a rain of abuse that is truly sickening. The whole thing would be funny given the truly stupid reason for the persecution, except for the fact that Mr. Palmer and his wife and son had to endure this abuse for years.

So when in 1830 Mr. Palmer moved to Fitchburg what happened? Well the evidence indicates that Mr. Palmer was an honest and kind man but also a man of unbending principle and that included the right to wear a beard.

Aside from his wife and son being harassed, the windows on his house were repeatedly broken and he himself was publicly ridiculed by his “good” neighbours. A local reverend, George Task attacked him for his beard. Mr. Palmer replied by quoting the passages in Leviticus forbidding men from trimming their beards. Others openly said he should be prosecuted for wearing a beard. On his occasional visits to Boston crowds followed him poking fun at him.

As time went by in 1830 things got worst. Once at communion during a Church service the Pastor ignored him. Deeply wounding the very religious Mr. Palmer. He stopped attending Church. Not long after 4 men tried to shave his beard. They seized him and tried to do so forcibly. Mr. Palmer fought them off with a jackknife despite being injured in the assault. Mr. Palmer was charged with an unprovoked assault, arrested and fined. He refused to pay it and was jailed. He was in jail for over a year.

Mr. Palmer smuggled out letters describing his jail conditions, and anything else he had on his mind and of course complaining loudly that he had a right to wear a beard. Several attempts were made to forcibly remove Mr. Palmer’s beard while he was jailed. They all failed. His letters, which were published in newspapers made Mr. Palmer a celebrity and deeply embarrassed the good people of Fitchburg. He was finally told to just get out. However being a curmudgeon and very angry he refused to leave until he got an apology and the charges dropped and it was publicly proclaimed it was alright to wear a beard. He proved so difficult that eventually they were forced to lift the chair he was sitting in and move him and the chair out into the street outside the jail.

Afterwards Mr. Palmer became a sort of minor New England celebrity much involved in literary, Abolitionist and Temperance circles. He also lived along (1875 C.E.) enough to see beards become fashionable.5

Now what does Joseph Palmer’s rather bizarre story have to do with beards today? Well despite the amount of time that as past since this rather absurd series of events. There are large elements in our society that when they see male facial hair go EEEEEEWWWWWW YUCK!!! Men with beards are accused of “hiding” their appearance, of being unclean etc. Often a beard is described as an affectation. This is of Interest since if anything is an affectation it is shaving it off, which can be described as a form of bodily mutilation. Since having a beard is “natural” for most men, shaving it off is clearly “unnatural”, and that is the affectation.

The period of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century during which beards were fashionable did not last and beginning with the first world war and after beards declined and then almost completely disappeared and in fact by the 50’s even moustaches were rare among North American men. Of course this time period was also a period of truly stifling conformity in terms of looks. What with similar, haircuts, dress and all clean shaven men looked very much alike.6

So the beard fell into disrepute and even movies during this time period had hirsute individuals from history clean shaven. A classic example of this is Charlton Heston’s clean shaven Judah Ben Hur from the movie Ben Hur. It is highly unlikely that a believing, Palestinian Jew of the 1st century C.E., would NOT have a beard. Of course Jesus had to be shown with a beard because that is part of the iconography of the image of Jesus. That it is also correct is basically an accident.7

Now I know from people I’ve talked to that and from working with job finders that it is recommended that when you are looking for work that you shave off the beard because a lot of people react negatively to beards.

The arguments that beards are unclean sort of ignores the fact that shaving rips the skin of your face to shreds. The itch that many guys feel after stopping shaving is usually their skin healing!8

As to why men in today’s society grow beards? Well in my case it is because I can’t stand shaving. I would grow a full beard but I cannot, so I have this goatee. I still get people who tell me that I would look better if I shaved it off. Well I can only say is you can take my beard off after I’m dead; as far as I’m concerned it is staying on until then.

The Author

This lingering phobia about beards which goes with a lingering phobia about body hair in general is a rather deeply entrenched dislike which I think is rooted in attitudes towards cleanliness and death. Body hair being associated with un-cleanliness and filth and hence death.9

If a beard is good enough for Jesus; it is good enough for me.

Jesus Christ

1. Muscarella, Frank, & Cunningham, Michael R., The evolutionary significance and social perception of male pattern baldness and facial hair, Ethnology and Sociobiology, V. 17, No. 2, 1996, pp. 99-117.

2. Locke, Philip, Male Images in the Gay Mass Media and Bear-Oriented Magazines: Analysis and Contrast, The Bear Book, Editor Wright, Les, Harrington Park Press, New York, 1997, pp. 103-140, at pp. 106-108.

3. Mackay, Charles, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Woodsworth Editions Ltd., London, 1995, pp. 346-353.

4. Holbrook, Stewart, The Beard of Joseph Palmer, The Bear Book II, Editor Wright, Les, Harrington Park Press, New York, 2001, pp. 95-102, at p. 96. Originally published in The American Scholar, v. 13, No. 4, (Autumn 1944), pp. 55-58.

5. IBID, pp. 96-102.

6. Brian, Greg, Growing a Beard, Here.

7. Shaving in Judaism, Wikipedia, Here.

8. Shaving, Wikipedia, Here.

9. Locke, pp. 104-108.

Pierre Cloutier

My Garden
I really don’t have anything to discuss right now so here are some pictures of my Garden that I and my partner are helping to create.

The dates are wrong it was actually in July 2009.

Pierre Cloutier

Hello?

Pierre Cloutier

Well this is my first post and I frankly don't know what to say. I have yet to develop a philosophy about what the hell I'll be doing with my Blog so I'll just say that I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts and feelings with everyone on the web.

So does anyone else have thoughts they want to share?

Pierre Cloutier