Last night I dreamt I was under attack. I was defending a "grand house" (not quite a mansion?) on the shore, against an invader on a ship. He sent waves of men ashore who fought with my men. They wiped each other out.
He had exhausted his normal soldiers, so began sending special attackers. Attackers who used magic. (yes, there was magic in my dream... get over it) My wizards met theirs, and great puffs of smoke revealed only a couple of my men remained. I went to a room where I had a powerful telescope, and watched as he sent a handful more to his boats to come ashore. I found that if I could see their eyes through the telescope, I could project to their minds. I made man after man go into a catatonic state, stumble, and fall into the sea. This attacker must have had greatly advance knowledge, as he detected my trick. A barrage of rockets hit near me, destroying my telescope. I could just make out his last boat, and five people boarding it.
They landed, and I could feel his presence. He came ashore with his last boat! I headed to the field in front of the house, with my last few men, and met them.
His last group appeared unarmed. One woman approached me and reached for my sword. One of my men intercepted, and grabbed her hand. She touched him with her other hand, and my man crumbled away to dust. A flurry of arrows sailed from my side into theirs, quickly dispatching the witch, and three others in their party. The arrows seemed to vanish as they reached the one remaining man. That was him! He raised his hand and the arrows reappeared, in flight at my archers, all dead before their bodies fell to the earth. He made off for the house. but stumbled as he negotiated the path, and I caught up with him. I reached for him and he transformed into a butterfly, nearly eluding my grasp. I grabbed at him, and somehow caught him between my fingers. I looked at my hand, and he had transformed again, into a small feather. This great magician, somehow unable to attack without his companions, could only pretend to be something harmless. I held the feather down, and drew my knife-blade across it, separating the downy base from the colourful end. Before my eyes, the feather burned, without flame, to a pile of ash, then blew away.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
From a conversation I had late last night...
...You're right. Intelligence is just one of many factors that define someone. One could argue that there are an infinite number of ways to analyze or measure a person. If I found the right person; caring, compassionate, loving... Those would be more important than intelligence or beauty. Beauty is just a conversation starter. The appreciation of it is hard-wired. It's gotten me in trouble before, and I dare say it will again. Intelligence can take those conversations that beauty starts, and make them more interesting. Care, compassion, and love... they make the conversations worth it.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
So I had this nightmare Saturday night...
I opened my eyes, and found I was standing in a big underground chamber. There were six other people, men and women, standing with me, in a sort of semicircle, about 40 feet across. The room was dimly lit, as if from torches, or fires, which I could not see. I felt tired and sore, as if I had been beaten. I tried to sit down, but could not. There was a steel collar around my neck, with chains attached. Those chains were attached to the ceiling of the chamber, and were too short to allow me to sit. All seven of us had the same collar and chains. We all looked weak, tired and dirty. I tried to speak to the others, but could only manage a grunt or a moan. I had no words. The others were the same.
There was the sound of a heavy steel door being opened. Mechanical latches, metal screeching on metal giving the impression of a huge thick door. Then there was the sound of shuffling feet, and chains being dragged on the stone floor. Out of the shadow in front of us came this huge animal. In size, it was larger than an elephant, but had more of a lizard's body. It had the same collar we all wore, and chains dragging behind it. It hissed and looked us over. It sniffed at the four people to my right, then puffed up a chamber on the front of its throat. It quickly collapsed the chamber, blowing a sort of foamy spit at the people to my right. A little spray hit the two on the outside of the group, but the two in the center were nearly covered. Their grunts and moans became blood-curdling screams, as their skin blistered and peeled where the creature's froth had landed. The beast advanced toward the two, now hanging by their collars, appearing lifeless. It closed its jaws around the head of the person three positions to my right and bit it cleanly off. It took another few bites off the corpse, then repeated its technique with the other victim that hung two spots over.
The creature turned and looked at the three of us on the other side of the circle. Again, it puffed up its throat chamber, and blew froth in our direction. A wider spray this time. The woman two spots to my left got doused on both legs, and collapsed screaming, hanging by her collar, almost supporting her weight on her knees. The man to my immediate left got sprayed in his face only, and silently slumped toward the ground. It took a moment to realize that my chest was covered. Searing pain ran through me, as the giant lizard came closer to me and sniffed at my burning, bubbling flesh. As it got closer and bared its teeth, I watched my hands reach to the center of my ribs. My fingers pressed into my own tissue, finding a handhold on each side of my sternum. I gripped both halves of my ribcage and pulled my chest open. A brilliant blue beam of light emanated from the center of my chest cavity, lighting up the chamber, and reflecting as bright white off of the huge creature. It shrieked and tried to back away, but wherever the light hit it, it quickly turned black, and began to turn to ash, right before my eyes.
That's where I woke up...
There was the sound of a heavy steel door being opened. Mechanical latches, metal screeching on metal giving the impression of a huge thick door. Then there was the sound of shuffling feet, and chains being dragged on the stone floor. Out of the shadow in front of us came this huge animal. In size, it was larger than an elephant, but had more of a lizard's body. It had the same collar we all wore, and chains dragging behind it. It hissed and looked us over. It sniffed at the four people to my right, then puffed up a chamber on the front of its throat. It quickly collapsed the chamber, blowing a sort of foamy spit at the people to my right. A little spray hit the two on the outside of the group, but the two in the center were nearly covered. Their grunts and moans became blood-curdling screams, as their skin blistered and peeled where the creature's froth had landed. The beast advanced toward the two, now hanging by their collars, appearing lifeless. It closed its jaws around the head of the person three positions to my right and bit it cleanly off. It took another few bites off the corpse, then repeated its technique with the other victim that hung two spots over.
The creature turned and looked at the three of us on the other side of the circle. Again, it puffed up its throat chamber, and blew froth in our direction. A wider spray this time. The woman two spots to my left got doused on both legs, and collapsed screaming, hanging by her collar, almost supporting her weight on her knees. The man to my immediate left got sprayed in his face only, and silently slumped toward the ground. It took a moment to realize that my chest was covered. Searing pain ran through me, as the giant lizard came closer to me and sniffed at my burning, bubbling flesh. As it got closer and bared its teeth, I watched my hands reach to the center of my ribs. My fingers pressed into my own tissue, finding a handhold on each side of my sternum. I gripped both halves of my ribcage and pulled my chest open. A brilliant blue beam of light emanated from the center of my chest cavity, lighting up the chamber, and reflecting as bright white off of the huge creature. It shrieked and tried to back away, but wherever the light hit it, it quickly turned black, and began to turn to ash, right before my eyes.
That's where I woke up...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Some favourite quotes...
Citing the Bible as evidence for anything is like saying that the sun is in fact a chariot of fire that races across the sky because we read about it in Greek mythology. — Stephen Ban
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. — Albert Einstein
An atheist doesn't have to be someone who thinks he has a proof that there can't be a god. He only has to be someone who believes that the evidence on the God question is at a similar level to the evidence on the werewolf question. — John McCarthy
I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say that one is an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or agnostic. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time. — Isaac Asimov
Our society is in the grip of a perverse mindset. Those who uncritically accept unproven supernatural mythologies are revered as having reached the highest levels of morality. Those who courageously apply the faculties of reason and logical thought are looked upon as immoral and as embodying ultimate evil. The conscientious nonbeliever, incredibly noble in courage and in willpower to follow reason through to its ineluctable conclusions, is shunned rather than lauded. — Edward Tabbash, Free Inquiry 20:4, 62
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. — Seneca the Younger (4? B.C. - 65 A.D.)
God used to be the best explanation we'd got, and we've now got vastly better ones. God is no longer an explanation of anything, but has instead become something that would itself need an insurmountable amount of explaining. — Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
The most ridiculous concept ever perpetrated by H. Sapiens is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of his creations, that he can be persuaded by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not receive this flattery. Yet this ridiculous notion, without one real shred of evidence to bolster it, has gone on to found one of the oldest, largest and least productive industries in history. — Robert A. Heinlein
What was it that Adam ate that he wasn't supposed to eat? It wasn't just an apple. It was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The subtle message? 'Get smart and I'll fuck you over' sayeth the Lord. God is the smartest, and he doesn't want any Competition. Is this not an absolutely anti-intellectual religion? - Frank Zappa
If you ask the wrong questions you get answers like 42 or God. - Douglas Adams
Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish. - unknown
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day, but give him a case of dynamite and soon the village will be showered with mud and seaweed and unidentifiable chunks of fish.
Power corrupts;
Absolute power corrupts absolutely;
God is all-powerful.
Draw your own conclusions
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. — Albert Einstein
An atheist doesn't have to be someone who thinks he has a proof that there can't be a god. He only has to be someone who believes that the evidence on the God question is at a similar level to the evidence on the werewolf question. — John McCarthy
I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say that one is an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or agnostic. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time. — Isaac Asimov
Our society is in the grip of a perverse mindset. Those who uncritically accept unproven supernatural mythologies are revered as having reached the highest levels of morality. Those who courageously apply the faculties of reason and logical thought are looked upon as immoral and as embodying ultimate evil. The conscientious nonbeliever, incredibly noble in courage and in willpower to follow reason through to its ineluctable conclusions, is shunned rather than lauded. — Edward Tabbash, Free Inquiry 20:4, 62
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. — Seneca the Younger (4? B.C. - 65 A.D.)
God used to be the best explanation we'd got, and we've now got vastly better ones. God is no longer an explanation of anything, but has instead become something that would itself need an insurmountable amount of explaining. — Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
The most ridiculous concept ever perpetrated by H. Sapiens is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of his creations, that he can be persuaded by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not receive this flattery. Yet this ridiculous notion, without one real shred of evidence to bolster it, has gone on to found one of the oldest, largest and least productive industries in history. — Robert A. Heinlein
What was it that Adam ate that he wasn't supposed to eat? It wasn't just an apple. It was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The subtle message? 'Get smart and I'll fuck you over' sayeth the Lord. God is the smartest, and he doesn't want any Competition. Is this not an absolutely anti-intellectual religion? - Frank Zappa
If you ask the wrong questions you get answers like 42 or God. - Douglas Adams
Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish. - unknown
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day, but give him a case of dynamite and soon the village will be showered with mud and seaweed and unidentifiable chunks of fish.
Power corrupts;
Absolute power corrupts absolutely;
God is all-powerful.
Draw your own conclusions
Saturday, January 10, 2009
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