Have you ever thought about that?  For example:

• “Gone South”  –  Metaphor meaning things went wrong.
• The South Side  –  Always the roughest part of a city; Where Bad, Bad Leroy Brown met his demise;  the “Baddest part of town“…Jim Croce
• The Deep South  –  Where science and reason are left at the border.
• The South Pole  –  Desolation. Even Santa and Superman picked the North Pole or Arctic for their primary residence.

You can make the word south much better by simply adding the letters ern at the end.

• Southern Hospitality  –  While perhaps a thing of the past they used to be nice down there.
• Southern Comfort  –  The standard by which all fruit flavored whiskey liqueurs are judged!
• Southern Fried Chicken  –  Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!
• Southern Charm  –   Sweeter than clover honey dripping off Aunt Jody’s homemade biscuits!

Editor’s Note:  While Fred has historically not been very complimentary regarding the Southern States, he wants his scores of friends condemned to live in that unpleasant geography to know that he only says these for their humorous value and for the fact they are true.  He offers the same advice to you he would to residents of homes occupied by Freddy Krueger,  Jason Voorhees or Leatherface: “GET OUT!”

(While still on the subject of Nietzsche, see yesterday’s post…)

I, of course, refer to my friend and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche whom I happened to run into the other day on the #5 bus going to the beach.  Freddy, as his friends address him, said the following, “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”   It seems he must have been referring to Vampires, *(I know he was a huge Buffy fan while I found Willow Rosenberg much more alluring, a topic of many a good natured argument between us).  When you lose a fight to a vampire you do become a vampire whereas if you lose a fight to Godzilla you are a mere appetizer and gone forever.

There are those who believe Nietzsche was actually saying that in any type of altercation, verbal, mental or physical, strive to maintain your humanity even when your adversary does not.  Sure.  How many people can we name that live or lived by that?  Jesus, Gandhi…Gandhi…Jesus…Ga…certainly none of us on Facebook!  

We can learn many life-altering lessons from important quotes.  Here are a few that are much more to our liking and easier to follow: “All’s fair in love and war.”  “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing!”  “Tuesday is Senior Discount Day, proof of age required.” 

When Friedrich Nietzsche wrote the often quoted phrase in his book “The Gay Science” in 1882, he was not saying that the Christian God had died. He wrote the phrase to illustrate that Enlightenment had eliminated the possibility of the existence of God. 
But many have knowingly misinterpreted the statement to use Nietzsche’s phrase to bolster their own specious arguments.  You know, the same people that think it’s a good idea to wear a tin foil hat, overturn an election and follow the Kardashians.

Well, it is August 13th and for all you idiots…sorry, that was unkind.  I refer to all you people of greatly diminished intelligence that have been wandering in a daze under the influence of the orange golem saying “all will be revealed” with regard to the previous election.  I hope you will acknowledge nothing was revealed and apologize, or at least STFU.
Just a suggestion given with the purest of intentions.  It’s for your own good.

Tropical Depression Fred is headed to Florida.  With any luck it will complete the job there and then scoot across the Gulf to Texas!
That would certainly ease Fred’s depression.

 

Name-calling is the lowest form of social discourse.  People who resort to this form of communication to express dissatisfaction with someone holding an opposing point of view are, in most cases, ignorant, inarticulate and acting out because they have not been given everything they want on a silver platter without having to put in the work (see millennials), or are quite possibly just an egomaniac with an insatiable lust for adoration.

But a very few highly intelligent, humble and eloquent humanitarians such as myself, use it in a witty, satirical manner to address those people unaffected by facts and common sense.  

So if you refuse to wear a mask in public or have not been vaccinated out of fear or a misguided notion your rights are being violated then I am referring to you, you stupid, ignorant, jerk-faced butt-munch!

Thought for the Day from EdgarCayce.org:

“(Q) What can I do to get along better with people? To make them like me?
 (A) Do not MAKE people like you! Rather be yourself.”    (ECRL 982-4)

One moment while I react to the message:  Hahahahahahahahahaha! (That’s LOL for people over 60).
What a crock!  Here is a better way to go to get people to like you:

1. Keep your insane conspiracy theories to yourself.
2. Wear your baseball cap with the brim facing forward.
3. Give them money.

It’s just common sense people!

OK Walt:  We know you are changing for the better.  Prince Charming will no longer inflict life-saving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Snow White without her permission and The Pirates of the Caribbean will stop groping the wenches and politely invite them to tea under the strict supervision of their legal guardians.

But you need to extend your newly acquired conscience to the animal kingdom.  Since his birth on the drawing board in 1932 Dippy Dog, his original name, has been saddled with the derogatory name of “Goofy.”  If he is intelligent enough to talk he should be treated with more respect.  Admittedly his southern accent does give insight to why he is considered to be of limited intelligence, but we know now that occasionally a southerner can have a modicum of common sense.  Use the name “Godfrey” and you won’t have to change his bath towels.

Cartoon dogs have enjoyed a much higher status in other studios.  In 1959 Warner Brothers introduced Mr. Peabody, a Beagle and inventor of a time travel machine used to teach history to Sherman, an intelligent adolescent boy thirsting for knowledge. (although there is some controversy regarding whether or not Mr. Peabody had secured the necessary permissions to take Sherman to other time periods and geographic locations). 

So c’mon Disney.  Fix it!  And while doing so look into the Pluto problem.  If he does not have the power of speech like Godfrey, at least provide him an interpreter proficient in sign language.

         

Dear Fellow Posters:
      For six days we write tons of drivel on all forms of social media, like this site, with the belief that people out there are reading every word and changing their minds to our point of view.  And under the guise of freedom of speech we spew racist and homophobic rants (I hear the angry sighs, “not me!” Yes, you!)  and pure lunacy including imagined fantasies about the 2nd amendment and the value in buying a product that was pretend developed by a Kardashian.
     Everyone regardless of religion, race, creed, or species should be allowed a day of rest.  So take one today.  Seriously, give it a rest!

Linda and I watched a series on BritBox called “The Café.”   It takes place in Weston-super-Mare, a city located in the historic county of Somerset, on a sandy bay of the Bristol Channel, southwestern England.  Although I have heard quite the opposite, in the show it appears to be a lovely and welcoming seaside village.  Our plan for next year includes a return trip to Blighty to have lunch at Cyril’s Cafe.  You can imagine our crushing disappointment when we learned that the cafe is only a wooden structure built as a set in which to film the show!   That really throws a spanner in the works.  Can you fathom the temerity of a show on the telly using a phony set to film a location program?  What a load of Codswallop!  I was willing to overlook polluted beaches and a high crime rate in exchange for posh coffee and chips at the legendary Cyril’s.  But this unexpected development turned our seemingly tickety-boo travel plans into a dog’s dinner. A POX UPON THEM!

(You may have noticed I am attempting an affectation of a written British accent.  If you think I come by it naturally due to my time in England and or possibly my high regard for our dear friends across the pond, please be assured that is not the case.  I am simply being a pretentious arse, a skill I have honed over these past 70 years. For more on pretentious arses see Madonna; the pseudo-British singer, formerly the wife of English film director Guy Ritchie, not the Virgin Mother).

But resilient we are, so make new travel plans we will! (Whoops, sorry. That’s Yoda-ish not British)