A Parenthesis: Symphony no. 9 - A Retreat for the Spirit

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Symphony no. 9 - A Retreat for the Spirit

This is a beautiful Saturday morning in Southern California. I drove along locally and spontaneously, I just felt like listening to Beethoven's Symphony no. 9. This is an exceptionally long symphony lasting more than an hour. I occasionally indulge myself with listening over an hour of Symphony No 9 during the weekend. I felt wonderfully refreshed afterwards.

This is a symphony can take your mind away from mundane daily grind. At that invigorating moment, my spirit hiked in the celestial realm of heaven. I was transported from movement to movement in this glorious musical compositions that was hailed as one of the greatest masterpieces of Beethoven. It was also one of the highest achievement of man ranking along with Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The following is part of the English translation of Ode to Joy, the "Choral"

Oh friends, not these tones!

Rather let us sing more

cheerful and more joyful ones.

Joy! Joy!

What custom sternly divides;

All people become brothers

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Lighten Up

▲ There was a man sitting at a bar, and he looks over at the gentleman sitting next to him and says, "Hey, you look familiar. Are you from around here?" The man answers, "Yeah, I live down the street." "No kidding?" says the first man, "Well, so do I. And hey, you look about my age. Where did you go to high school?" "Oh I went to Francis Lewis over on Utopia. Graduated in '66. How 'bout you?" "Get out. I went to Francis Lewis. And I graduated in '66, too." "Where'd you go to college?" "Beloit, in Wisconsin." "No way! I went to Beloit too. What dorm?" "Kevin Sullivan dorm." "Sullivan? You're not going to believe this . . ." Joe the bartender walks over, and the first guy says, "Joe, you won't believe it in a million years. This guy went to the same high school as me, graduated the same year I did, and went to the same college. We were even in the same dorm. Isn't that amazing?" Joe looks at them both and says, "Yeah, that's just plain amazing." A third man comes in and says, "Hey Joe. What's new?" Joe says, "Not much. The Johnson twins are drunk again."
▲ Two philosophers were sitting at a restaurant, discussing whether or not there was a difference between misfortune and disaster. “There is most certainly a difference,” said one. “If the cook suddenly died and we couldn’t have our dinner that would be a misfortune __ but certainly not a disaster. On the other hand, if a cruise ship carrying the Congress was to sink in the middle of the ocean, that would be a disaster __ but by no stretch of the imagination would it be a misfortune
▲ Three leaders of the big beer companies meet for a drink. The president of Budweiser orders a Bud. Miller's president orders a Millers and the president of Coors orders a Coors. When it is Guinness turn to order he orders a soda. Why didn't you order a Guinness everyone asks? Nah Guinness replies. If you guys aren't having a beer neither will I.
▲ “I’ve never flown before, said the nervous old lady to the pilot. “You will bring me down safely, won’t you? “All I can say ma’am,” said the pilot, “is that I’ve never left anyone up there yet!”
▲ Young Son: "Is it true, Dad? I heard that in some parts of the world a man doesn’t know his wife until he marries her” Dad: That happens in every country, son
▲ A customer comes into a computer store.“I’m looking for a mystery adventure game with lots of graphics. You know, something really challenging.” After a while the clerk replied, “have you tried Windows 2000?”
▲ An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah, you're an engineer — you're in the wrong place." So the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements. After a while, they've got air conditioning, flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is becoming a pretty popular guy. One day God calls Satan up on the telephone and asks with a sneer, "So, how's it going down there in hell?" Satan replies, "Hey, things are going great. We've got air conditioning, flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next." God replies, "What??? You've got an engineer? That's a mistake — he should never have gotten down there; send him up here." Satan says, "No way! I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him." God says, "Send him back up here or I'll sue." Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah right. And just where are YOU going to get a lawyer?"
▲ The man applied for a job with a chain food store. “What is your experience with groceries?” asked the interviewer. “Well,” said the applicant. “I’m eating them all the time.”
▲ A poet and a scientist were traveling together on a plane. The scientist was bored and said to the poet, "Hey, you, do you want to play a game? I'll ask you a question, and if you get it wrong, you give me $5. Then, you ask me a question, and if I can't answer it, I'll give you $5." The poet thought about this for a moment, but he decided against it, seeing that the scientist was obviously a very bright man. He politely turned down the scientist's offer. The scientist, who was really bored, tried again. "Look, I'll ask you a question, and if you can't answer it, you give me $5. Then you ask me a question, and if I can't answer it, I'll give you $50." The poet agreed. "Okay," the scientist said, "what is the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon?" The poet, obviously not knowing the answer, didn't stop to think about the scientist's question. He took a $5 bill out of his pocket and handed it to the scientist. The scientist happily accepted the bill and promptly said, "Okay, now it's your turn." The poet thought about this for a few minutes, then asked, "All right, what goes up a mountain on three legs, but comes down on four?" The bright glow quickly vanished from the scientist's face. He thought about this for a long time, taking out his notepad and making numerous calculations. He finally gave up on his notepad and took out his laptop, using his Multimedia Encyclopedia. As the plane was landing the scientist gave up. He reluctantly handed the poet a $50 bill. The poet accepted it graciously, getting ready to stand up. "Wait!" the scientist shouted, "you can't do this to me! What's the answer?" The poet looked at the scientist and calmly put a $5 bill into his hand.
▲ A husband asks: Why do you weep and snuffle over a TV program and the imaginary sadness of people you have never met? Wife: For the same reason you scream and yell when a man you don’t know makes a touchdown.
▲ Hoss rode into town to buy a bull. Unfortunately, when he bought it, he was left with one dollar. Hoss needed to tell his wife to come with the truck and get the bull, but telegrams cost one dollar per word. Hoss said to the telegram man,"OK. I have my one word-'comfortable'." Why do you want to tell her that?” asked the telegram man. "Oh, she's not the best reader," Hoss said. "She'll read it really slowly". (Com-for-ta-ble, get it?)
▲ The factory foreman inspected the shipment of crystal vases leaving the plant, and approached his new packer. He put his arm around the man’s shoulder and said, “Well, Ole, I see you did what I asked. Stamped the top of each box, ‘This Side Up, Handle With Care.’” “Yes sir,” the worker replied. “And just to make sure, I stamped it on the bottom too.”
▲ A man had been crossing a street when a car slammed into him. The pedestrian sued the motorist, whose lawyer made the following statement at the end of the trial. “Your honor, my client was not at fault. He has been driving a car for thirty years, and has never had an accident, nor gotten so much as a speeding ticket. I do not think I need to say any more.” Unimpressed, the lawyer for the plaintiff rose. “Your honor, since counsel insists on bringing up the matter of experience, may I remind the court that my client has been walking for over seventy years…”
▲ Mr. Marlow was strolling through the country when he saw a stable with the most beautiful horse he ever laid eyes on. It was seventeen hands high and white, with rippling muscles and a fine, flowing mane. Mr. Marlow struck a deal to buy it from the owner who did, however, pass on one key piece of information. "We are a religious family, Mr.Marlow, and we've instilled those values in our horse. To get him to gallop you must say 'Thanks God' to get him to stop you must say 'Our Father Who Art in Heaven," Settling into the saddle, Marlow said " Thanks God," and the animal took off. They rode for miles; suddenly they were coming up to a cliff. Unfortunately, Marlow couldn't remember the phrase to make the animal stop and tried every Biblical passage he could think of until, just a few feet from the edge of the cliff, he shouted, " Our Father Who Art in Heaven! The animal stopped instantly. Shaking and perspiring, Marlow reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "Thanks God," he said as he mopped his brow.
▲ At a divorce court a family of bears is waiting for the judge to grant custody of little bear. The judge asks the baby bear; “do you want to live with papa bear?” The baby bear replied; "No he beats me. " The judge asked, so do you want to live with mommy bear! The baby bear said, "No she beats me too." The judge asked, "Then whom do you want to live with?" The baby bear says, "The Chicago bears, they don't beat anyone!"
▲ A famous art collector is walking through the city when he notices a mangy cat lapping milk from a saucer in the doorway of a store and he does a double take. He recognizes that the saucer is extremely old and very valuable, so he walks casually into the store and offers to buy the cat for two dollars. The storeowner replies "I'm sorry, but the cat isn't for sale. The collector says, "Please, I need a hungry cat around the house to catch mice. I'll pay you twenty dollars for that cat." And the owner says "Sold," and hands over the cat. The collector continues, "Hey, for the twenty bucks I wonder if you could throw in that old saucer. The cat's used to it and it'll save me from having to get a dish." And the owner says, "Sorry buddy, but that's my lucky saucer. So far this week I've sold sixty-eight cats."
▲ Q. How do you make holy water? A. Boil the hell out of it.
▲ This man in a Ford Granada pulls up next to a guy in a Rolls Royce at a stop sign. Their windows are open and he yells at the guy in the Rolls: "Hey, you got a telephone in there?" The guy in the Rolls says, "Yes, of course I do." "I got one too... see?" "Uh, huh, yes, that's very nice." Then the man in the Granada says, "You got a fax machine?" "Why, actually, yes, I do." "I do too! See? It's right here!" "Uh-huh." The light is just about to turn green and the guy in the Granada says, "So, do YOU have a double bed in back there?" And the guy in the Rolls says, "NO! Do you?" "Yep, got my double bed right in back here — see?!" The light turns and the man in the Granada takes off. Well, the guy in the Rolls is not about to be one-upped, so he goes immediately to a customizing shop and orders them to put a double bed in back of his car. About two weeks later, the job is finally done and he picks up his car and drives all over town looking for the Granada. He finally finds it parked alongside the road so he pulls his Rolls up next to it. The windows on the Granada are all fogged up and he feels a little awkward about it, but he gets out of his newly modified Rolls and taps on the foggy window of the Granada. The man in the Granada finally opens the window a crack and peeks out. The guy in the Rolls says, "Hey. Remember me?" "Yeah, yeah, I remember you. What's up?" "Check this out — I got a double bed installed in my Rolls." And the man in the Granada says, "YOU GOT ME OUT OF THE SHOWER TO TELL ME THAT?!"
▲ A man who was just married was flying to the Florida Keys for a business trip. His new bride was to accompany him the next day. When he got there he E-mailed his wife to let her know he made it there safely. When he sent the E-mail he miss-typed the address. In Boston, a grieving widow, whose husband has recently passed away, receives the E-mail. She reads it, screams, and faints. Hearing her grandmother’s cry, the widow's 18-year-old granddaughter runs into the living room to see the computer on with a message. It reads: Dear love, Just got here. Preparing for your arrival tomorrow. Can't wait to see you. Love, Me. P.S. Sure is hot down here.
▲ A lady was walking down the street to work and she saw a parrot on a perch in front of a pet store. The parrot said to her, "Hey lady, you are really ugly." Well, the lady is furious! She stormed past the store to her work. On the way home she saw the same parrot and it said to her, "Hey lady, you are really ugly." She was incredibly ticked now. The next day the same parrot again said to her, "Hey lady, you are really ugly." The lady was so ticked that she went into the store and warned she would sue the store and kill the bird. The store manager replied profusely and promised he would make sure the parrot didn't say it again. When the lady walked past the store that day after work the parrot called to her, "Hey lady." She paused and said,"Yes?" The bird said, "You know."
▲ Through the pitch-black night, the captain sees a light dead ahead on a collision course with his ship. He sends a signal: “Change your course 10 degree east.” The light signals back: “Change yours, 10 degrees west.” Angry, the captain sends: “I’m a navy captain! Change your course, sir!” “I’m a seaman, second class,” comes the reply. “Change your course, sir.” Now the captain is furious. “I’m a battleship! I’m not changing course!” There is one last reply. “I’m a lighthouse. Your call.”
▲ A Sunday school teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."
▲ This guy needs a job and decides to apply at the zoo. As it happened, their star attraction, a gorilla, had passed away the night before and they had carefully preserved his hide. They tell this guy that they'll pay him well if he would dress up in the gorillas skin and pretend to be the gorilla so people will keep coming to the zoo. Well, the guy has his doubts, but Hey! He needs the money, so he puts on the skin and goes out into the cage. The people all cheer to see him. He plays up to the audience and they just eat it up. This isn't so bad, he thinks, and he starts really putting on a show, jumping around, beating his chest and roaring, swinging around. During one acrobatic attempt, though, he loses his balance and crashes through some safety netting, landing square in the middle of the lion cage! As he lies there stunned, the lion roars. He's terrified and starts screaming, "Help, Help, Help!" The lion races over to him, places his paws on his chest and hisses, "Shut up or we'll BOTH lose our jobs!"
▲ When Albert Einstein was making the rounds of the speaker's circuit, he usually found himself eagerly longing to get back to his laboratory work. One night as they were driving to yet another rubber-chicken dinner, Einstein mentioned to his chauffeur (a man who somewhat resembled Einstein in looks & manner) that he was tired of speechmaking. "I have an idea, boss," his chauffeur said. "I've heard you give this speech so many times. I'll bet I could give it for you." Einstein laughed loudly and said, "Why not? Let's do it!" When they arrive at the dinner, Einstein donned the chauffeur's cap and jacket and sat in the back of the room. The chauffeur gave a beautiful rendition of Einstein's speech and even answered a few questions expertly. Then a supremely pompous professor asked an extremely esoteric question about anti-matter formation, digressing here and there to let everyone in the audience know that he was nobody's fool. Without missing a beat, the chauffeur fixed the professor with a steely stare and said, "Sir, the answer to that question is so simple that I will let my chauffeur, who is sitting in the back, answer it for me."
▲ A beginner rider at the stables was trying to saddle a horse. “Excuse me,” said the old hand, “but you are putting that saddle on backwards.” “How do you know,” snapped the student. “You do not know which way I’m going.”
▲ A fellow bought a new Mercedes and was out on the interstate for a nice evening drive. The top was down, the breeze was blowing through what was left of his hair and he decided to open her up. As the needle jumped up to 80 mph, he suddenly saw flashing red and blue lights behind him. "There's no way they can catch a Mercedes," he thought to himself and opened her up further. The needle hit 90, 100.... Then the reality of the situation hit him. "What am I doing?" he thought and pulled over. The cop came up to him, took his license without a word and examined it and the car. "It's been a long day, this is the end of my shift and it's Friday the 13th. I don't feel like more paperwork, so if you can give me an excuse for your driving that I haven't heard before, you can go." The guy thinks for a second and says, "Last week my wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back!" "Have a nice weekend," said the officer.
▲ Selling at an auction was halted when the auctioneer announced, “Someone in the room has lost his wallet containing $2,000. He is offering a reward of $500.00 for its immediate return.” After a moment of silence, there was a call from the back of the room, “$550.00”
▲ Socrates came upon an acquaintance that ran up to him excitedly and said, “Do you know what I just heard about one of your students?” “Just a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before you tell me I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Test of Three. “The first test is Truth. Are you sure that what you will say is true? “Oh no,” the man said, “Actually I just heard about it.” “So you don’t really know if it’s true, Socrates said. Now let’s try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?” “No, on the contrary..” “So,” Socrates interrupted, “you want to tell me something bad about him even though you’re not certain it’s true?” The man shrugged, rather embarrassed. Socrates continued. “You may still pass though, because there is a third test, the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me at all?” “Well it ..no, not really..” “Well, concluded Socates, “If what you want to tell me is neither True nor good nor ever Useful, why tell it to me at all?” The man was defeated and ashamed. This is the reason Socrates was held in such high esteem. It also explains why he never found out what Plato was up to.
▲ A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop. The surgeon was there, waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike. The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey, Doc, can I ask you a question?" The surgeon a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?" The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic... "Try doing it with the engine running."
▲ Four high school boys afflicted with spring fever skipped morning classes. After lunch they reported to the teacher that they had a flat tire. Much to their relief she smiled and said: "Well, you missed a test today so take seats apart from one another and take out a piece of paper." Still smiling, she waited for them to sit down. Then she said: "First Question: Which tire was flat?"
▲ Before going to Europe on business, a man drives his Rolls-Royce to a downtown New York City bank and asks for an immediate loan of $5,000. The loan officer, taken aback, requests collateral. "Well then, here are the keys to my Rolls-Royce," the man says. The loan officer promptly has the car driven into the bank's underground parking for safe keeping and gives the man the $5,000. Two weeks later, the man walks through the bank's doors and asks to settle up his loan and get his car back. "That will be $5,000 in principal, and $15.40 in interest," the loan officer says. The man writes out a check and starts to walk away. "Wait, sir," the loan officer says. "You are a millionaire. Why in the world would you need to borrow $5,000?" The man smiles, "Where else could I find a safer place to park my Rolls-Royce in Manhattan for two weeks and pay only $15.40?"
▲ Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Police Officer sees a car puttering along at 22 MPH. He thinks to himself, this driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!" So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies -- two in the front seat and three in the back -- wide eyed and white as ghosts. The driver, obviously confused, says to him, Officer, I don't understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem? "Ma'am," the officer replies, you weren't speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers. Slower than the speed limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit exactly... Twenty-two miles an hour! "The old woman says a bit proudly. The State Police officer, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that 22" was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error. But before I let you go, Ma'am, I have to ask... Is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven't muttered a single peep this whole time, "the officer asks. Oh, they'll be all right in a minute officer. We just got off Route 119."
▲ A passerby noticed a couple of city workers working along the city sidewalks. The man was quite impressed with their hard work, but he couldn't understand what they were doing. Finally, he approached the workers and asked, "I appreciate how hard you're both working, but what the heck are you doing? It seems that one of you digs a hole, and then the other guy immediately fills it back up again. One of the city workers explained, "The third guy who plants the trees is off sick today."
▲ Earl and Bob, both obsessed with baseball, never missed their favorite team’s game. They promised, whoever died first, and went to heaven, would come back to earth and tell the other if there was baseball in heaven. One day, Earl died. Bob waited for him to come back. Finally Earl did. He said to Bob. "I have good news and bad news. I'll tell you the good news first. There is baseball in heaven." Bob said, "That’s the best news!" Then Earl said, time for the bad news....”You're pitching tomorrow night."
▲ A musical director was having a lot of trouble with one drummer. He talked and talked and talked with the drummer, but his performance simply didn't improve. Finally, before the whole orchestra, he said, "When a musician just can't handle his instrument and doesn't improve when given help, they take away the instrument, and give him two sticks, and make him a drummer." A stage whisper was heard from the percussion section: "And if he can't handle even that, they take away one of his sticks and make him a conductor."
▲ A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... They must be Gods! A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... I must be a God!
▲ A tourist stopped a local in a village he was visiting and asked; “what is the quickest way to the lake? The local thought for a while. “Are you walking or driving?” he asked the tourist. “I’m driving.” “That is the quickest way!” the local said.
▲ Vicky was at a business conference. During a break, she decided to call home collect. Her six-year-old son picked up the phone and heard a stranger’s voice say, “We have Vicky on the line. Will you accept the charges?” Frantic, the six-year-old dropped the receiver and came charging outside screaming, “Dad! They have Mom! And they want money!”
▲ The Antartian reported for her university final examination which consisted of "yes/no" type questions. She took her seat in the examination hall and stared at the question paper for five minutes. In a fit of inspiration, she took her purse out, removed a coin and started tossing the coin and marking the answer sheet - Yes for Heads and No for Tails. Within half an hour she was all done, whereas the rest of the class was still sweating it out. During the last few minutes, she was seen desperately throwing the coin, muttering and sweating. The moderator, alarmed, approached her and asked what was going on. Her reply was, "I finished the exam in half and hour, but I'm rechecking my answers."
▲ A defendant was asked if he wanted a bench trial or a jury trial. “Jury trial,” the defendant replied. “Do you understand the difference?” asked the judge. “Sure,” replied the defendant. “That’s where twelve ignorant people decide my fate instead of one.”
▲ A little girl had just finished her first week of school. “I’m just wasting my time,” she said to her mother. “I can’t read, I can’t write and they won’t let me talk!”
▲ Three young boys were boasting about their grandpas. The first boy said: "My grandpa is a great swimmer. He can swim for hours before getting out of the water!" The second boy said, "That's nothing. My grandpa always goes swimming at 6:00 in the morning every day, and only comes back at 9:00 pm because my mom says he has to!" The third boy says, "Your grandpas are both bad at swimming! My grandpa started swimming in this pond 20 years ago, and he hasn't come out since!!!"
▲ Two old-time political aides are walking through a shabby, overgrown cemetery, writing down names from the headstones. One of the men works very fast, stopping only by upright stones where he can read the names clearly. The other works deliberately, gone from one stone to the next, kneeling down and clearing away the grass and wiping away the grime in order to see the name clearly. "Why are you spending so much time doing that?" the first man asked. "I'll tell you," the second man said. "This is a free country with a Constitution and everything. Each one of the people has as much right as the next to cast his vote."
▲ The husband came home from work and asked the wife how things were. The wife said " Honey, I have good news and bad news". The husband said " I am dead tired, just give me the good news first". The wife said "well, the airbag works".
▲ A guy walks into Dunkin’ Donuts. He says. “Excuse me; miss … how many cups of coffee do you think this thermos will hold?” The girl says, “I think it’s a seven-cup thermos.” The guy says, “All right …. Give me two black, three cream and sugar.”
▲ Q: What is the difference between a lawyer and a cat? A: One is an arrogant creature that will claw you out of house and money, and the other is a cat.
▲ In today's news...32 more planets were found outside of our solar system bringing the total to 400. And..., not a sign of intelligent life, not even here.
▲ A doctor got a phone call from one of his colleagues. “We need a fourth for poker,” the voice on the phone said. “I’ll be right over,” replied the doctor. As he was putting on his overcoat, his wife asked, “Is it serious?” “Oh yes, quite serious,” he said gravely. “They’ve had to call in three other doctors as well.”

Heaven's Grocery Store

As I was walking down life's highway many years ago
I came upon a sign that read ' Heavens Grocery Store '.
When I got a little closer the doors swung open wide
I soon realized that I was standing inside.
I saw a host of angels.

They were standing everywhere, one handed me a basket and said “My child, shop with care".
Everything a human needed was in that grocery store
and what you could not carry you could come back for more.

First I got some Patience.
Love was in that same row.
Further down was Understanding, you need that everywhere you go.
I got a box or two of Wisdom and Faith a bag or two.
and Charity of course, I would need some of that too.
I couldn't miss the Holy Ghost it was all over the place.
Then some Strength and Courage to help me run this race.
My basket was getting full but I remembered I needed Grace,
and then I chose Salvation for Salvation was for free. I tried to get enough of that to do for you and me.

Then I started to the counter to pay my grocery bill,
For I thought I had everything to do the Masters will.
As I went up the aisle I saw Prayer and put that in,
For I knew when I stepped outside I would run into sin.
Peace and Joy were plentiful, the last things on the shelf.
Song and Praise were hanging near so I just helped myself.

Then I said to the angel "Now how much do I owe?"
The angel smiled and said "Just take them everywhere you go."
Again I asked "Really now, How much do I owe?"
"My child" he said, "God paid your bill a long, long time ago."

From - Soul of Life

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

By William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)

Have A Laugh! it's on me!

● Atom Bomb, An invention to end all inventions.
● Committee, Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.
● Office, A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.
● Doctor, A person who heals your ills by pills, and kills you by bills.
● Politician, One who shakes your hand before elections and your Confidence after
● Boss, Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early
● Criminal, A person no different from the rest....except that he/she got caught
● Father, A banker provided by nature
● Conference Room, A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on
● Compromise, The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece
● Conference, The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.
● Lecture, An art of transferring information from the notes of the Lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through "the minds of either
● The hydraulic force, by which masculine willpower is defeated by feminine waterpower.
● Divorce, Future tense of Marriage.
● Marriage, It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her masters..
● Nurse: A person who wakes u up to give you sleeping pills.
● School, A place where Parents pay and children play

Books that illuminated My Path

● The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle
● Playing the Enemy, Neslon Mandela and the Game that Made A Nation, by John Carlin
● Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingston by Martin Dugard
● Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices
● No Good Deed: A Story of Medicine, Murder Accusations, and the Debate over How We Die by Lewis Mitchell Cohen
● Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire by Victor Sebestyen
● Cheating Death - The Doctors and Medical Miracles that are Saving Lives Against All Odds by Sanjay Gupta, MD.
● My Stroke of Insight - A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.
● E=MC2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis
● The Path Between the Seas - The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 by David McCullough
● Guests of Ayatollah - The First Battle in American War with Militant Islam by Mark Bowden
● How to Grow Fresh Air - 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office by B. C. Wolverton
● Black Hawk Down - by Mark Bowden
● The Lightworker's Way, Awakening Your Spiritual Power to Know and Heal - by Doreen Virtue
● The Eagle and the Rose - A fascinating spiritual adventure.... by Rosemary Altea
● The Unforgiving Minute - A Soldier's Education by Craig M. Mullaney
● Memory Lessons, A Doctor's Story - by Jerald Winakur
● Along the Roaring River, My Wild Ride from Mao to the Met - by Hao Jiang Tian
● War Child, A Child Soldier's Story - by Emmanuel Jal
● Side Effects, A prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial - by Alison Bass
● John Adams - by David McCullough
● Spirit Walker - by Miroslav Juricek
● One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War - by Michael Dobbs
● Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - by Doris Kearns Goodwin
● A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - by Ishmael Beah
● A Parenthesis in Eternity - by Joel S. Goldsmith
● A Still Small Voice: A Psychic's Guide to Awakening Intuition - by Echo Bodine
● Adventuring With Boldness: The Triumph of the Explorers - by Bruce Paton
● Against The Tide - How A Compliant Congress Empowered A Reckless President - by Senator Lincoln Chafee
● At All Cost: How a Crippled Ship and Two American Merchant Mariners Turned the Tide of World War II - by Sam Moses
● Autobiography of a Yogi - by Paramahansa Yogananda
● Beyond Knowing - by Janis Amatuzio
● Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant - by Daniel Tammet
● Buddha Mind, Buddha Body - by Thich Nhat Hanh
● Conscious Dreaming - by Robert Moss
● Cosmic Consciousness - by Richard M. Bucke
● Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See - by Robert Kurson
● Dream Work - by Jeremy Taylor
● Dreaming True - by Robert Moss
● Dreams From My Father - by Barack Obama
● Echoes of the Soul, Moving Beyond the Light - by Echo Bodine
● Electric Universe, How Electricity Switched on the Modern World - by David Bodanis
● Endangered Species - by Stephen M. Younger
● Enrique's Journey: A story of a boy's dangerous odyssey to reunite with his mother - by Sonia Nazario
● Entering the Circle, Ancient Secrets of Siberian Wisdom Discovered by a Russian Psychiatrist - by Olga Kharitidi
● Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming - by Stephen Laberge
● Fighting for Dear Life: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo and What It Means for All of Us - by Terri Schiavo
● Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality - by Pauline Chen
● For One More Day - by Mitch Albom
● Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living from a Forensic Pathologist - by Janis Amatuzio
● God's Fool - The Life and Times of Francis Assisi
● How Starbucks Saved My Life - by Michael Gill
● How to Rig an Election, Confessions of A Republican Operative - by Allen Raymond
● Into the Wild - by Jon Krakauer
● Into Thin Air - by Jon Krakauer
● Journey of a Soul - by John Roger
● Kite Runner - by Khaled Hosseini
● Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon--Survival of Bodily Death - by Raymond Moody
● Life before life : a scientific investigation of children's memories of previous lives - by Ian Stevenson
● Lightening Strike - by Donald Davis
● Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives - by Brian Weiss
● Memories, Dreams and Reflections - by Carl Jung
● Mind Accelerator - by Volition Thought House
● Muhammad - A Prophet for Our Time - by Karen Armstrong
● My Life with Saints - by James Martin SJ
● On Call In Hell - by Richard Jadick
● One Billion Customers - by James McGregor
● One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong - by Don Brown
● Our Ultimate Reality: Life, the Universe and Destiny of Mankind - by Adrian Cooper
● Overcoming Life's Disappointments: Learning from Moses how to cope with frustrations - by Harold S Kushner
● Reinventing Medicine - Beyond Mind Body To A New Era of Healing - by Larry Dossey, MD.
● Seven Storey Mountain: An Autobiography of Faith - by Thomas Merton
● Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II - by Robert Kurson
● Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything - by Phil Bolsta
● Talking to heaven: A Medium's Message of Life After Death - by James Van Praagh
● The Bhagavad Gita (Classics of Indian Spirituality) - Translated by Eknath Easwaran
● The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, & Miracles - by Dr. Bruce Lipton
● The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science - by Norman Doidge
● The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness - by Gary R Renard
● The Divine Matriex: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief - by Gregg Braden
● The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe - by Lynne McTaggart
● The Five People You Meet in Heaven - by Mitch Albom
● The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II - by Gregory Freeman
● The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank - by David Plotz
● The Handbook of the Navigator - by Eric Pepin
● The Hidden Messages in Water - by Masuro Emoto
● The Impersonal Life - by Joseph Benner
● The Justice On the Grass: Three Rwandan Journalists, Their Trial for War Crimes and a Nation's Quest for Redemption - by Dina Temple Raston
● The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - by Robin Sharma
● The Secret of the Soul - by William Buhlman
● The Spiralcase - by Karen Armstrong
● The Varieties of Scientific Experience - by Carl Sagan
● Truman - by David McCullough
● Understanding the System
● When Huai Flowers Bloom: Stories of the Cultural Revolution - by Shu Jiang Lu
● You Have Chosen to Remember - by James Blanchard

Health Care Reform - See what your doctor has to say!

The American Medical Association has weighed in on National Health Insurance.

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception. Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, "Oh, grow up!"

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.

The Anesthesiologists thought the idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Symphony no. 9 - A Retreat for the Spirit

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