Companion piece

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

I'd mentioned going home again, but that was some time ago... it almost goes without saying that I haven't actually read anything by Thomas Wolfe (as opposed to Tom Wolfe), but I've got Look Homeward, Angel on my reading list.

I think there's a more interesting questions than, "What's in your wallet?" [who cares what's in your wallet except someone trying to sell you something (and they're hoping for some form of payment). I mostly have tiny bits of useless paper in my wallet. That's not intended as a critique of our current monetary system--things I haven't yet thrown out.]
So: What's on your reading list? This says a lot about a person, the things to which they aspire but may never quite attain... doesn't everyone's reading list grow at an exponetial rate, much faster than anyone could ever keep up? [I can imagine that some people's doesn't, but if they're reading this they're here by mistake. As we say, "keep coming back!"]

I wouldn't want to offend...

That is, I wouldn't want to offend any particular group. As the saying goes (I think I've already exploited this one), some of my best friends are... Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, etc. So, don't think of this as a judgment against a group: it's intended personally.

Who has my pen?

Mai disappeared for a period of time, during which Mr. Miro took a trip back home... I still can't find that pen, though.

Deep thoughts...

Sometimes, this is as deep as it gets.

But what were the charges?

Perhaps I should include links to exploding dog and toothpaste for dinner, even though the original inspiration is pre-Simpsons "Life in Hell" and Dada and/or Surrealism.

I Miss Joey and Johnny

Let's all go to the mall!

I'm not sure who the other fellow is, but he doesn't appear to be happy. But then, he seems to be speaking French, so what can you expect?

Back from Hiatus

If Trudeau can do it, so I can. You don't want me to end up like Gary Larson or Bill Waterson, do you?

A Cheery post for a cheery day

The funny thing is, he probably is telling the truth. You can never tell.

The best laid plans...

It seems like every time I make elaborate plans, it turns out like this... not really a 'detail' person. Does that make me a 'big picture' person? Obviously not; but 'cartoon person' is an overlooked and misunderstood category.

Fortune Cookie

I haven't gotten this one lately, but then, there aren't any good Chinese restaurants in town.

Does this need any comment?

He said at Five o'clock on a Monday...

Mr. Miro doesn't want to answer that question, because the answer threatens his own place in the order of things... except for the very wealthy and those who have already given up on the system, we each hang on to what little we have.

Blackburn and the expressive nature of value-judgments

Expression of approval, worn on its sleeve.
The object of that approval, however, is not clear. Any thoughts?

Or for that matter, objections; because after all what we have here is a theory in which moral judgments are merely expressions of approval. I'm not really sure that I agree with emotivism, but I find it appealing in my more skeptical moods.

First Day of Spring

A cheery thought on the first day of Spring--bunnies, eggs, and such reminding us of rebirth. Or more snow, depending.

Contemptibility

This seems to follow more closely along the "Mr. Miro gets a job" vein than the more recent appearances of Mai, but in some respects it summarizes her nicely.
She, of course, is denied a response: she can get her own blog.

Bike riding on a Sunday afternoon

I wonder if Mr. Miro ever exceeds the speed limit.

St. Patrick's Day

As the saying goes, some of my best friends are Irish... and although I haven't heard them comment directly on Lucky the Leprechaun, I suspect that they would find him a demeaning stereotype concocted by racist Englishmen. But perhaps not. In any case, this really has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day, or the Irish in general. Please, don't pelt me with cabbage.

The curse of perfection

I think it's generally true that the qualities of others that we find most irritating are aspects of ourselves that we don't really like. For instance, a person who cuts other people off in conversation--or traffic--will be most annoyed when it happens to them. I don't really have that problem myself, though.

Friday Morning...

and here I am again. I hope you're somewhere, too.

The funny thing is...

I struggle with the question, does an already captioned cartoon need an additional caption? What else is there to say? And, does my ability to say more in fact require me add an explanation?
The Robot Song-Off at piecesofflair is gaining more momentum than I could have possibly imagined. April 5th seems a long, long way off.

Meet Lima

We actually haven't seen Lima in a long time (there's another cartoon about that that I may post at a (much) later date); but I still don't like people throwing rocks.

Max and Vanna

Sometimes the reason for not doing something becomes the reason to do it very quickly and unexpectedly. Take this cartoon, for instance. I thought, "no one will understand this." But, while I was trying to explain why I wouldn't post this cartoon, it quickly dawned on me that this was an opportunity to fill in some much needed cultural awareness. "Who is Max... whatever you said?" Even the phrase "New Coke" got a puzzled look. So here it stands, an icon to the horror that was the late eighties.

This should have been first...

but of course I didn't think of it until now. Hi, I'm Mr. Miro.

Strings?

Does this cartoon need an explanation? This was drawn before I had read Ted's book, but it seems to summarize the problem pretty well.

Ted, Dan, and the tiny robots

This blog has its roots in the song, "Tiny Robots," which has been the subject of some controversy of late which need not concern us here at this time. However, I feel that the song itself requires explanation, and this seems an appropriate place to do so.
Ted Peters is a Lutheran theologian who has written a number of books, including Playing God? (Notice that I have not included the near-obligatory link to Amazon). In that book, particularly chapter two, Ted discusses the issue of free will. I will not question Lutheran dogma, but Ted's account really doesn't make any sense; "Tiny Robots" is a quick stab at the more obvious flaws.
Daniel Dennett, on the other hand, is a philosopher at Tufts, whose book Freedom Evolves provided the specific inspiration. While Dennett can be arrogant (especially when he's talking about the "brights"), he's been dealing with the issue of free will for quite a while now, and has a good handle on what has been written and how most of the arguments are fundamentally mistaken.
I can post more if people are interested, but quite frankly I'm more interested in the cartoons.
In the interest of fairness, I've provided links to the homepages of each to the right; I've even put Ted's first.

The Color of My Dreams

Snow

Snow falling, with lamp post, on an evening in November.
It did not snow today. Or yesterday.

Mr. Miro on the web

Given the recent activity at piecesofflair.blogspot.com, I feel that I ought to have my own voice and ability to control my creative output, such as it is. However, I don't really have much to say; but isn't that what a blog is really about?