Intermezzo - or smell the roses

Intermezzo - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2013

This is not an intermission between the two parts of a very long film to enable you to fill up your popcorn, although that is one interpretation. It is also not a break in the proceedings or meeting to allow for coffee. For me it has a deeper meaning.

In music, in the most general sense, it is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work.

The Gift of Flight - Part 3 - Flying the Husky to Victoria

The Gift of Flight - Part 3 - Flying the Husky to Victoria - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2013.

I have obtained permanent residence in Canada this year, and now live in Edmonton. One of the logistical issues was to ship my Husky aircraft to Canada - a few simple words, but a very daunting task, in hindsight. I shipped the Husky in February and was told that it would arrive ten weeks later in San Francisco, from where I would fly it to Canada - a very daunting task, but very simple in hindsight.

The Hunting of the Snark

The Hunting of the Snark - An agony in eight fits - by Lewis Carroll.

I have read thousands of poems and find this one the most enjoyable - so please take the journey with me in volleys!

Fit the First

"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true."

Thanks to all my readers

Thanks to all my readers - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2013.

I wish to thank all my readers for supporting my Blog, and for your comments and encouragement - I really appreciate that.

 

As you might have seen, I have tried to develop these articles and arguments without bias, giving both sides of the coin a fair hearing, and I mostly did not know what the outcome of the arguments were, until I finished the relevant article.

That which has no existence …

That which has no existence … - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2013

I have had a discussion with someone recently on starting a flying community at our local airport. There is no formal or informal structure to bind the lots of people together who are interested in flying. Well … here it comes … an interest in flying is not a material or physical thing - it is an idea or notion.

And what struck me immediately were the words of White from The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy:

White:    I want the dead to be dead - forever. And I want to be one of them. Except that of course you can't be one of them. You can't be one of the dead, because what has no existence can have no community.

Liberal, Liberty, Liberation … Liquidation, Perdition

Liberal, Liberty, Liberation … Liquidation, Perdition - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2013 

If there is one universal theme which comes up again and again in almost all facets of our lives, it is the struggle and conflict between free will and determinism.

It is the conflict between conventional wisdom and innovation, between orthodoxy and heresy, between the well-trodden path and the one less travelled, between the heart and the mind, between the good and the evil, between freedom and regulation, between socialism and capitalism, between revenge and forgiveness, between war or violence and peace, between the flesh and the spirit, between honesty and corruption … and between a lot of others.

Slavery and Addiction

Slavery and Addiction - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2013

Men are born free, but everywhere they are in chains ... Jean-Jacques Rousseau

If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be ... Thomas Jefferson

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Joh. 8:36 

After many years of meditation, I still have not come to grips with the meaning of the words Slavery and Addiction, much less have I been able to free myself from the bondage of both.

A parody on time

It's about time - a parody on time - by P.K.Odendaal - April 2013

Words ... words ... words. How do I start a parody with an article name which is already so ambiguous? Is the article about the subject time or is it the long expected thing to do? Is the parody on the subject of time or is it on the appropriate time?

And of course, everything about time is so slippery that I could not even think of an article name which is not slippery - and as this is positively not a material thing, I think I should call in our two conversationalists named GLC (God Loving Creature) and Atheist (our materialist), to whom you have got so used to by this time, to lead us into this subject. Their views are so widely divergent so that it might help us to understand the concepts of time better.

Fun With Maths - Part 3 - The Bush Calculator

Fun With Maths - Part 3 - The Bush Calculator - by P.K.Odendaal

So we are in the bush, and we quickly need to calculate the number of stars in the night sky and our children are not there with their calculators. What do we do?

We draw a few lines in the sand.

We need to multiply two double digit figures with each other. Let's say 22 x 23 = 506.

Passion and Meaning

Passion and Meaning by P.K. Odendaal – April 2013

I'm afraid I've been thinking, a dangerous pastime, I know ... from Beauty and the Beast

A previous article I wrote about Passion, Emotion and Delusion left many questions unanswered and thus prompted me to rethink the subject - and this opened new perspectives in my mind. I never could have thought that passion and meaning were such integral and connected concepts.